Agenda item

(Copy herewith)

Councillor Markham submitted her Leaders report and elaborated thereon.  It was noted that the 7 Borough and District Councils in the County had been working collaboratively together to explore options relating to proposed unitary local government status. She praised the achievements of Northampton Town Football Club who were on the edge of promotion and noted the intention to hold a civic ceremony for the Cobblers, provisionally on the 5^th May 2016. The Elections team was congratulated for their hard work with a significant increase of residents being on the Register. She updated Members by explaining that there had been issues with the St Edmunds site, but that the Council had agreed to secure the site for clearance.

In response to questions asked, the Leader noted that she would have pass on comparison figures to Councillor Birch regarding the electoral registration for last year.

Councillor Hallam submitted his Cabinet Member report and stated that 100,000 Council Tax bills and benefit notifications had been sent out and thanked the work of officers.

In response to questions asked, Councillor Hallam commented that with regards to Business Rates, should people be struggling, they should contact the Council and they would be happy to communicate with anyone experiencing problems. Councillor Hallam further stated that money had been invested in the Southfields and Goldings area and this had been done through Section 106 agreements.

Councillor Bottwood submitted his Cabinet Member report and explained that recently, equipment had been seized from an unlicensed tattooist who had been operating from a house and had posed a risk to public health. It was further noted that during the ‘Clean for the Queen’ litter picking campaign had resulted in over 6 tonnes of rubbish having been removed by over 40 volunteers.  He corrected two parts of his report, section 3, “Environmental Services” which should have read ‘East Midland in Bloom’ and section 8, should have read Farmfield Road.

In response to questions asked, Councillor Bottwood confirmed that the system for reporting abandoned shopping trollies had not changed but that patience was needed as some were in very precarious places to reach. He further reported that the G4S officers working on fixed penalty enforcement wore body-cams and could therefore issue on the spot fines for those seen  littering. In response to further questions asked, Councillor Bottwood declared that a lot of work was being undertaken to tackle fly-tipping but that perpetrators were becoming more adept at hiding their identities and therefore were more difficult to catch.

Councillor King submitted her Cabinet Member report and elaborated thereon. She reported that there had been Weeks of Action for a number of areas which saw multi-agency work and activities being carried out which had been very well received.

In response to questions asked, Councillor King stated that the Hate Crime Unit had been disbanded but figures relating to such crimes could be gathered and collated for the next Council meeting. She confirmed that the Youth and LGBTQ Forum had undertaken work relating to Hate Crime and that a more comprehensive updated could be given after the PCC election.

Councillor Eldred submitted his Cabinet Member report and noted that since May 2015, £71,554 of the Councillor Community Fund had been spent and any unspent funding would be carried over into the next year. He commented that there ewer numerous events to be held in Northampton including a Food Festival, Beer Festival, Race for Life and Carnival Parade.

In response to questions asked, Councillor Eldred confirmed that he was unaware of any charges being applied on voluntary orgainsations being charged to use parks in area. He confirmed that the allocation for the Councillor Community Fund would not be affected for the next 3 years as it had been a Manifesto pledge to remain the same throughout the Administrations term. In response to a request from another Member, Councillor Eldred confirmed that he would meet them and the members of the Residents Association to discuss the Southfields Community Centre.

Councillor Hibbert submitted his Cabinet Member report and elaborated thereon. It was noted that work continued on the Rough Sleeper strategy and that efforts were being made to resolve the shortage of emergency accommodation and as such had planned to use the former British Rail Social Club.

In response to questions asked, Councillor Hibbert confirmed that data had been gathered relating to the demographics of homeless people and some had been helped to return to their country of origin. Responding to further questions, Councillor Hibbert explained that the outreach workers had counted rough sleepers on the basis that if they had bedded down or were on top of their beds, they were considered to be sleeping rough and noted that the Rough Sleepers Strategy would go some way to alleviate the problem.

Councillor Hadland submitted his Cabinet Member report and noted that he would resolved to work with Mr Stretton to deal with the lighting issue in his area. He that the Cabinet Advisory Group had worked closely to develop the Local Plan and asked Councillors and members of the public to feed into the consultation process. He noted that Phase 1 of the Guildhall Road had been completed early and noted that the lift refurbishments in the Grosvenor centre had been completed.

In response to a question asked, Councillor Hadland commented that the cleaning of chewing gum from the streets was undertaken as part of the Amey contract.