Agenda and minutes

The Council observed a minute’s silence in memory of former Councillor Eleanor Meredith.

Prayers were offered by Reverend Nigel Irons.

RESOLVED:

That the Minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 12 October 2022 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

1.    Disclosable Pecuniary Interests

2.    Other Interests

The following declarations were made:-

The Chairman thanked members for attending his recent Carol Service at St Edwards Church, Leek.

Recommendation

That the Council approves the changes to the current Policy subject to the following amendment with regards to the requirement for licensed vehicles to comply with the emission requirements:

·         At renewal – From 01/04/20242025 vehicle licences will not be renewed in respect of any licensed vehicle that does not meet or exceed Euro 6 emissions standards (Diesel) Euro 4 (Petrol) emissions standards.

RESOLVED:

That the changes to the current Policy be approved subject to the following amendment with regards to the requirement for licensed vehicles to comply with the emission requirements:

• At renewal – From 01/04/20242025 vehicle licences will not be renewed in respect of any licensed vehicle that does not meet or exceed Euro 6 emissions standards (Diesel) Euro 4 (Petrol) emissions standards.

Recommendation

That the Council adopts the revised Code of Conduct

RESOLVED:

That the revised Code of Conduct be adopted.

The Council notes the widespread dismay caused to residents of Leek by the activities of the street preachers.

It agrees that there is no place for the utterance in public spaces of homophobic or misogynistic comments which residents have been subject to for some time.

The motion believes that residents are proud to live in a diverse and tolerant society.  Hateful comments have no place in our community.

SMDC will work with the police and other community safety partners, Staffordshire County Council and town and parish councils to challenge and prevent such behaviour.

SMDC wishes to assure all its residents and visitors that they are valued members of the community.

Councillor B. Cawley

NM:    “The Council notes the widespread dismay caused to residents of Leek by the activities of the street preachers.

It agrees that there is no place for the utterance in public spaces of homophobic or misogynistic comments which residents have been subject to for some time.

The motion believes that residents are proud to live in a diverse and tolerant society.  Hateful comments have no place in our community.

SMDC will work with the police and other community safety partners, Staffordshire County Council and town and parish councils to challenge and prevent such behaviour.

SMDC wishes to assure all its residents and visitors that they are valued members of the community.”

Having been PROPOSED and SECONDED, upon being put to the vote, the MOTION was CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

(At least two clear days notice required, in writing, to the Proper Officer in accordance with Procedure Rule 11.3.)

1.     Question to the Leader of the Council received from Councillor John Jones:

“Why are hybrid meetings no longer being allowed?”

Response:

The Leader of the Council explained that meetings were taking place in person to allow full debate and ensure that all members have the opportunity to vote on formal decisions.  A hybrid approach for meetings would be used when appropriate.

2.     Question to the Portfolio Holder for Customer Services received from Cllr Linda Malyon:

“When will the Council fully open the one stop shops so the public can access services and advice?”

Response:

“The public can access advice and services through many different means and locations including Biddulph Town Hall, Cheadle Library and Moorlands house as well as on the website, and via the telephone. As we have indicated to all councillors previously, from this week we are going to be opening Moorlands house until 3pm every day by re-allocating resources from the customer services team to the front of house operation. This will bring the hours the reception is open to 27½ (compared to 37½ hours pre-covid). As we have indicated in the email that has gone out, the trade-off for this is that people may experience slightly longer wait times on the phone as we’ve had to move staff out of that department. With regards to the one stop shops, we are assessing the demand at each location. We understand that some people have been visiting the one stop shops where they couldn’t access services face to face in Moorlands house, so the demand for this may vary slightly with the extension of those opening hours.

The customer services department is short of around 5 members of staff to be able to operate at full capacity, and this has been an ongoing problem since the pandemic where the labour market locally has not allowed us to fill those vacancies as quickly as we would like, a problem that is encountered by nearly every business in the Staffordshire Moorlands and beyond. Post-pandemic, it is taking some time to quantify the level of demand for any change and to set the correct level of resource back to one of seeing people and helping them face to face vs the virtual environment that lasted far too long. The opportunity to engage with the Council now over a wider variety of channels, however, does mean that all enquiries are being dealt with fully, and an outcome of the change to our lives through covid is that the populace has adapted to its engagement with the Council in the way we have all adapted to all manner of opportunities e-commerce presents. As an example, the pre-covid level of in-person enquiries being dealt with was c.350/week (9.3/hour). Since extending the opening the Moorlands House opening hours at the beginning of October 2022, there were an average of 66 in person enquires during the 9:30am to 1:00pm period (3.8/hour) and 6 during the extra opening (to 3:00pm) on Monday and Wednesday (1.5/hour), a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44.

The Chairman to move:-

“That, pursuant to Section 100A(2) and (4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings whereby it is likely that confidential information as defined in Section 100A (3) of the Act would be disclosed to the public in breach of the obligation of confidence or exempt information as defined in Section 100 I (1) of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act would be disclosed to the public by virtue of the Paragraphs indicated.”

RESOLVED:

That, pursuant to Section 100A(2) and (4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings whereby it is likely that confidential information as defined in Section 100A (3) of the Act would be disclosed to the public in breach of the obligation of confidence or exempt information as defined in Section 100 I (1)  of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act would be disclosed to the public by virtue of the Paragraphs indicated.

1.     Question to the Portfolio Holder for Communities received from Cllr Linda Malyon:

In response to a question raised by Councillor L. Malyon with regards to the operation of the Council’s CCTV system the Leader of the Council confirmed that political group leaders would be invited to visit the CCTV monitoring station.