Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Trafford Town Hall, Talbot Road, Stretford

Contact: Ian Cockill  Democratic Services Officer

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Items
No. Item

69.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 238 KB

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the Meeting of the Council held on 31 January 2018 for signature by the Mayor as Chairman.

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Minutes:

That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Council held on 31 January 2018, be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

70.

Questions By Members

This is an opportunity for Members of Council to ask the Mayor, Members of the Executive or the Chairman of any Committee or Sub-Committee a question on notice under Procedure Rule 10.2.

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Minutes:

The Mayor reported that no questions had been received under Procedure Rule 10.2.

71.

Motions

To consider the following motions submitted in accordance with Procedure Rule 11:

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Minutes:

RESOLVED: That Council notes that the Motion on Social Care Funding deferred from the previous meeting held on 31 January 2018, will be considered at the next Council meeting on 21 March 2018.

72.

Budget 2018/19 pdf icon PDF 453 KB

       To consider the joint reports of the Executive Member for Corporate Resources and the Chief Finance Officer, set out at 5 (a) - (d) below, and adopt the resolutions contained therein.

 

              To set and approve the Council Tax Requirement for the District for the year beginning 1 April 2018, in accordance with the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as amended.

 

              To set and approve, in accordance with the Local Government Finance Act 1992 as amended, the amounts as the amounts of the Council Tax for the year 2018/2019 for each of the categories of dwellings included in the respective valuation bands A to H.

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Minutes:

(Note: PROCEDURAL ARRANGEMENTS - In respect of the main item of business on the agenda, the Mayor announced that the Leader of the Council (or his nominee) would have a maximum of 15 minutes to make the initial speech and a further maximum of 15 minutes to summarise the debate. The Leaders of the Labour and Liberal Democrat Groups (or their respective nominees) would each have a maximum of 15 minutes to make their initial speeches and a further maximum of 5 minutes to summarise on behalf of their respective Groups. The Mayor also outlined the approach for dealing with amendments. Members were instructed that, should an amendment be made to the main motion, the mover of that amendment would have a maximum of 3 minutes to make their speech. The Mayor further confirmed that, the time for all other speeches would be restricted to a maximum of 3 minutes.)

 

The Executive Member for Corporate Resources presented a number of reports setting out the proposed budget for the forthcoming year, together with the recommendations from the Executive meeting held earlier that evening.

 

It was moved and seconded that the Executive’s recommendations for the budget, circulated to Members at the meeting, be approved.

 

Councillor Cordingley responded to the Motion on behalf of the Labour Group and gave notice of an amendment. Councillor Bowker then responded to the Motion on behalf of the Liberal Democrat Group.

 

Dealing with the amendment signified, it was moved and seconded as an amendment that:

 

“Trafford Labour Group notes with disappointment the ongoing policy of successive Conservative-led governments since 2010 to target local government cuts. This policy choice leads us to the position we find ourselves in this evening whereby we face a budget gap of some £22.95 million for the forthcoming financial year 2018/19. This latest budget round takes the total amount stripped from the Trafford budget since 2019 to more than £128 million – a process that over the past 8 years has seen this Council close libraries, children’s centres, day centres and centres supporting those with learning disabilities.

 

The Labour Group believes that this policy position is increasingly untenable and notes with concern the financial crisis engulfing Conservative-led councils such as Northamptonshire. In Trafford the budget process continues to be an enormous financial challenge and as an authority we recognise the significant issues faced by some of our most vulnerable people as austerity continues to pile pressure on those services the Council remains able to deliver. In particular we note with concern ongoing issues in adult social care, the lack of any effective youth provision in the borough and the impact this is having on young people and our communities, and the problems facing Trafford residents as a result of welfare reform and the failed policies of the national Tory Government.

 

With this in mind the following alternative budget proposals are put forward by the Labour Group in the interests of protecting our most vulnerable residents:

 

Alternative Budget proposals –

 

Saving:

 

Special Projects  ...  view the full minutes text for item 72.

73.

Informal Meeting of the Council

 

Note:          At the conclusion of the meeting it is intended to hold an informal meeting of the Council to consider issuing invitations to Members of Council to be the Mayor and Deputy Mayor of the Borough for 2018/2019.

 

 

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Minutes:

(Note: At the conclusion of the formal meeting of the Council, an informal meeting was held to extend an invitation to:

 

Councillor Tom Ross to be the Mayor of the Borough of Trafford for 2018/19;

 

and

 

Councillor Rob Chilton to be the Deputy Mayor of the Borough of Trafford for 2018/19.

 

The informal meeting concluded at 9.14 p.m.)