Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on the 27 June 2024 be confirmed and signed by the Chair as a correct record subject to Councillor J Hart being marked as present in the attendance list.

RESOLVED that the attendance matrix be noted but amended to include Councillors J Hart and Ovens as being in attendance at the meeting on the 27 June 2024.

The Mayor

The Mayor announced that over the last couple of months he had attended over 30 engagements stating that so far it had been a busy but enjoyable time.

After a request from the Mayor, Commsave Credit Union had kindly donated £1000 to Zoe’s Place Baby Hospice Bath Appeal and would also be donating £1000 towards St John’s Church roof appeal.

He had two charity fundraising events lined up so far, on Friday, 27th September a Charity Race Night at Cleveland Golf Club and on Friday, 8th November a Charity Night at Loftus Social Club involving the Beer Pigs. Details would be sent out soon and he hoped that Members would be able to lend their support.

The Leader

Members stood for a minute’s silence as a mark of respect and to remember the victims of the Southport tragedy.

“A new initiative which will save some of our families hundreds of pounds a year has been approved.

 We will enrol children entitled to free school meals automatically, rather than parents being required to opt-in to register.

Hundreds of households will benefit from the new registration scheme, although parents and guardians will be able to opt-out if they wish.

As well as saving families about £400 a year per child, more enrolment could lead to extra Government funding amounting to hundreds of thousands of pounds for schools across the borough.

The scheme will bring a better outcome for our families and our schools.

Our officers have been speaking at schools across the borough the dangers of vaping after some vapes across the North East were found containing Class B drugs such as ‘spice’ and cannabis.

Trading Standards officers and Cleveland Police officers toured secondary schools to warn about the serious health conditions which could be caused by the dangerous vapes.

Four new ‘micro-woods’ would  be to created in our borough for people to enjoy for generations to come.

They are part of a national scheme to create woodland in urban areas which are easily accessible to the public.

At least two of the woods will be at locations in the Eston area, complementing the wider Eston regeneration work, and further details will be announced in the coming weeks.

A pot of money is now available both to people who want to start a business in Redcar and those running existing businesses.  

The Town Centre Grant Scheme aims to encourage entrepreneurial activity and growth in Redcar.  

In total, the pot is worth £250,000 made available to applicants on a match-funded basis across categories which encourage more business activity in Redcar.  

Finally, it is excellent news to see Coronation Park in Loftus is now being enjoyed by our residents.

The restoration of the park was driven by a strong sense of community spirit and the new facilities enhance the other public services nearby.”

There were no announcements from the Manging Director.

Question 1 Question from M Melling to Councillor Richardson, Cabinet Member for Climate and Culture.

“In relation to the cabinet meeting of 19th March 2024, Councillor Head requested that any proposed SLA between RCBC and a community group taking over Laburnum Road Community Library be made available to all members prior to any final decision, can you confirm this will happen?

Will the RCBC Laburnum Road Community Library still be branded as an council Library and be part of the council library services offer in the event that it is taken over by a community group?

What current council services will RCBC ensure are still offered at Laburnum Road Community Library in the event that it is taken over by a Community Group?

Appendix attached:

RCBC current services include but not limited to:

• Bus Passes new/renewal/lost

• Blue badge applications

• Access to Public PCs

• Scanning, photocopying and printing (including from their own device)

• Referral of customers to housebound service if appropriate

• Audiobook service for sight impaired

• Ancestry Online

• Which Online

• Book request from any library in Redcar & Cleveland

• Activities and events throughout the year weekly/monthly

• Assisting with BorrowBox (eBooks, eAudiobooks and ePress)

• Support with applying/paying for other council services (where capacity allows), for example, recent Annual Green Waste Subscription

• Customer Service trained staff in all library buildings so a wide variety of queries can be assisted.”

Question 2 Question from M Edwards to Councillor Richardson, Cabinet Member for Climate and Culture.

“In the event that  Laburnum Road Community Library is taken over by a community group, will the library continue to be an all inclusive space at all times and be open 5 days a week as opposed to the current 2?

In the event that the Laburnum Road Community Library is taken over by a community group, will the Community Group volunteers be trained by RCBC to ensure continued Library and Council Services Standards are met?

If the preferred community group is unable to continue operating, what is the RCBC contingency plan for Laburnum Road Community Library?”

Question 3 Question from E Finley to Councillor Richardson, Cabinet Member for Climate and Culture.

“In the event that the Laburnum Road Community Library is taken over by a community group, will the RCBC library service Sparks software system remain and be operated by the Community Group at Laburnum Road Community Library?

In the event that the Laburnum Road Community Library is taken over by a community group, will RCBC continue to provide and maintain computers for free public use?

In the event that the Laburnum Road Community Library is taken over by a community group, will RCBC continue to provide and maintain printer and scanner for public use?”

Question 4 Question from J Overfield to Councillor Richardson, Cabinet Member for Climate and Culture.

“1. In the event that the Laburnum Road Community Library is taken over by a community group, will all activities within Laburnum Road Community Library  ...  view the full minutes text for item 116.

Children in our Care and Care Leavers Update Report.

The Cabinet Member for Children updated Members on the work undertaken by the Council’s Children in our Care and Care Resources Service.

RESOLVED that on the successful motion of Councillor Suthers and duly seconded by Councillor Brown that the information in the report be noted

Report of the Leader of the Council:

A)   Decisions Taken Under Urgency Provisions                (HEREWITH)

The Leader provided a summary of decisions that had been taken recently using provisions as set out in the Council’s Access to Information Procedure Rules and that required reporting to Council.

Auto-enrolment of Free School Meals and maximising Pupil Premium Funding across Redcar and Cleveland.

Potential value: £1,575,000-£2,200,000

:-NOTED.

No Motions had been received.

Where there are vacancies or changes in appointment:

·         To appoint Members of Council Bodies and Representatives to serve on other bodies to which Members are appointed by the Council; and

·         To approve any changes to Committee membership and to appoint Chairs and Vice Chairs where appropriate.

RESOLVED that the following change to Committee Membership be approved:-

TVCA Audit and Governance Committee

Councillor P Grogan to replace Councillor C Pugh

Questions to the Chair, Members of the Cabinet, Chairs of any Committee or Sub-Committee, Members of the Fire Authority, Police and Crime Panel or the Tees Valley Combined Authority Scrutiny Committee, for which notice has been given.

Question 1: Question from Councillor Martin to Councillor Brook, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods.

In May I asked the following question about enforcement:

“I, like most of our fellow councillors and residents are sick and tired of illegal and dangerous parking within Redcar and Cleveland. When reporting to enforcement we are told that officers will attend but it's often too late.

When speaking to the team I was shocked to learn that there are only 12 enforcement officers in the whole of Redcar and Cleveland which means there are 4 – 8 staff on duty at any one time. Enforcement deals with everything from parking, fly tipping, littering, dog fouling, untaxed vehicles and certain anti-social behaviour. 

How can this small team deal with the pressures we put on them and offer the service that our residents deserve? This is the only service which theoretically pays for itself through revenue raised by issuing fines.

No matter which Ward I am in throughout the day, I will see 10 - 20 cars daily parked on yellows lines. This is potentially £700 - £1400 a day in lost revenue (a fine for parking on double yellow lines is £70).

Investment in additional enforcement officers will more than pay for itself in the revenue raised for the council, in turn keeping our streets safer and our residents happy.

Will the Cabinet consider increasing the number of enforcement officers so that we can improve services for our residents and at the same time, increase revenue for the Council?”

The response to this was that Cllr Brook does not want to develop a fine culture within R&C, that it's more about education, and there is no money for extra officers.

On Saturday 20th July, Cllr Brook made a Facebook post saying he had instructed enforcement to take a hardline on littering on our coasts.

Do you think it's acceptable to instruct enforcement to clamp down on littering when road safety and the safety of residents is at risk due to illegal and dangerous parking? Surely this should be higher up the list for enforcement than littering?

By instructing officers to clamp down on littering, isn't this going against what you previously said regarding my question, not wanting to have a fine culture and that it's about education?”

Councillor Brown replied as follows:-

In the absence of Councillor Martin the member will get a written response to his question.

Question 2: Question from Councillor Smith to Councillor Brown, Leader of the Council.

“Saltburn residents and Ward Councillors feel that they have been let down yet again by this Labour Administration in trying to address the many historic road traffic problems and issues we have along Marine Parade.

The protest group Saltburn Against Promenade Changes appear to have a hot line to, and the ear of your party.

Can I ask what hold do this group have over this administration?”

Councillor Brown replied as follows:-

“This particular group hold no hold over this administration whatsoever. They did extend  ...  view the full minutes text for item 121.