Agenda and minutes

There were no disclosable pecuniary interests.

a)  To agree the Minutes of the meeting held on 5 February, 2024

b)  Any matters arising

The minutes of the meeting held on 5th February 2024 were agreed and signed as a true record.

There were no matters arising.

Report of the Director of Law and Governance

1.  A petition relating to ‘Cancelling proposed increased car parking charges at the War Memorial Park’ bearing 673 signatures has been submitted. The petition is being supported by Councillor J Lepoidevin, a Woodlands Ward Councillor, who has been invited to the meeting for this item, along with the Lead Petitioner.

2.  A petition relating to ‘Stopping the proposed cuts to tackling fly-tipping in our city’ bearing 185 signatures has been submitted. The petition is being sponsored by Councillor T Sawdon, a Wainbody Ward Councillor, who has been invited to the meeting for this item, along with the Lead Petitioner.

3.  A petition relating to ‘Reviewing pre-budget proposals to reduce funding to Grapevine’ bearing 68 signatures has been submitted. The petition is being supported by Councillor J Gardiner, a Sherbourne Ward Councillor, who has been invited to the meeting for this item, along with the Lead Petitioner.

The Cabinet Member for Strategic Finance and Resources considered a report of the Director for Law and Governance relating to petitions that had been received in relation to the budget setting proposals for 2025/26 to 2027/28. In line with the Council’s Petition Scheme, the petition organisers/sponsors had been invited to attend the meeting to outline their concerns to the Cabinet Member.

On 10 December, 2024, Cabinet approved the Pre-Budget Report for 2025/26 which outlined, for consultation, a set of new revenue budget proposals for 2025/26 to 2027/28 which represented changes to the Council’s existing Budget. The proposals are subject to a consultation period which ends on 28 January, 2025. The outcome of the consultation process will be included in the final Budget Setting Report for 2025/26, which will be considered by Cabinet and Council at their meetings on 25 February 2025.

Three petitions had been received in relation to the proposals and the report outlined those petitions. The first petition had been submitted headed ‘Cancel proposed increased car parking charges at the War Memorial Park’, bearing 1442 signatures, relating to the proposal to remove the current 3 hours free parking at the War Memorial Park and standardise parking charges with those at Coombe Country Park, as follows:

Up to 1 hour - £1

1-2 hours - £3

2-4 hours £3.50

The petition was sponsored by Councillor J Lepoidevin, a Woodlands Ward Councillor, who attended the meeting and spoke on behalf of the petitioners. The Petition Spokesperson was unable to attend the meeting.

Councillor Lepoidevin spoke in support of the petition

Councillor Male spoke in support of the petition, concurring with Councillor Lepoidevin’s comments,

The issues raised were summarised as follows:

Officers responded, advising of the following

A second petition had been submitted headed ‘Stop the proposed cuts to tackling Fly-tipping in our City’, bearing 203 signatures, relating to the proposal to a £690k reduction in the Streetpride (cleansing) service, impacting the City Centre and priority neighbourhoods. The pre-budget report indicates that the “reduction in fly tipping clearance response times could lead to an increase in overall fly-tipping. Response times for graffiti removal and emergency cleansing would also increase”.

The petition was sponsored by Councillor T Sawdon, a Wainbody Ward Councillor, who attended the meeting and spoke on behalf of the petitioners. The Petition Organiser attended the meeting and spoke on behalf of the petitioners.

Councillor Sawdon and the Petition Organiser raised the following issues:

Officers responded, advising of the following:

Councillor Male agreed with Councillor Sawdon and the Petition Organiser’s comments,

The Chair responded

The final petition had been submitted headed ‘Council Cuts to Grapevine Preventative Support’, bearing 920 signatures, relating to the proposed Adult Social Care - Voluntary Sector Review. The pre-budget report indicates that Grant Aid agreements with 12 voluntary sector organisations end on 31 March 2025. The proposal is to commence a tender against a series of service areas for a total value of half of the current spend of £1.5m.

The petition was sponsored by Councillor  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

There were no other items of public business.