Agenda and minutes

The minutes of the extra-ordinary council meeting held on 16^th July 2019 were approved and signed as a correct record.

(Moved by Councillor D Cook and seconded by Councillor Dr S Peaple)

The Mayor highlighted that amendments had been proposed to minute 12 of the draft council meeting minutes of 10^th September 2019, which were as follows:

The minutes of the council meeting held on 10^th September 2019, as amended above, were approved and signed as a correct record.

(Moved by Councillor D Cook and seconded by Councillor Dr S Peaple)

The minutes of the extra-ordinary council meeting held on 19^th November 2019, including the following typographical amendment at minute 17, were approved and signed as a correct record:

(Moved by Councillor D Cook and seconded by Councillor Dr S Peaple)

There were no Declarations of Interest.

Announcement from the Mayor

“Councillors, Officers and members of the public.

After every council meeting I reflect on my performance as Mayor.  In the past I have even listened to the full audio recording made of meetings to learn and improve.  As Mayor one of the primary functions, when chairing a meeting is to show fairness and respect to everyone in equal measure.  Hopefully you will also recall that I try and explain proceedings to members of the public so that they can keep up with the way business is conducted.

At the last meeting on 19^th November, my performance fell below the standard fellow councillors, which you should expect of me or indeed anyone filling the role of mayor.  At one point during the meeting I raised my voice to a member who was speaking in an attempt to get them to stop.  Whilst I stand by my reasons for asking the member to stop talking, the manner in which I did so caused offence and distress.  Namely by the phrase “stop it” in a loud voice and raising my hand at the same time.

It was the celebrated 18^th century English poet and Freemason Alexander Pope who wrote in “An essay on Criticism” the often quoted “To err is human, to forgive is divine.” So I humbly apologise for making a mistake and for being human.  I can only hope that all of you who were present and Councillor Michelle Cook in particular, can follow a divine like path and forgive me.  I must try harder in future.  Thank you Councillors.”

Councillor Dr S Peaple

“Thank you Mr Mayor, taking note of what you said.  Can I just ask that all members remind themselves that the protocol is that if you speak they should take their seats, so once you intervene it’s a bit incumbent upon all of us to sit down for you to make your point, and then carry on, and I think that helps a lot because then you are not having to make a second harder intervention. 

And the other thing I would like to say for the benefit of those not in Prayers, it was very interesting when the vicar talked about proverbs and he talked about those in power and he immediately turned to our Chief Executive.  If that does not bring the rest of us into perspective, I don’t know what does.  Thank you Mr Mayor.”

The Mayor announced

“We have with us tonight a much respected member of our community, Di Wells, who as you know was Mayoress of this Borough back in 2005/6.  Di as you know does an awful lot of work with the local history group and has produced an absolutely wonderful book. Di is here tonight because she has got some incredible books for you to have a look at, it’s a book which has been put together not only by Di but by the whole history project team, please do have a look,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.

QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL NO. 1

Under Procedure Rule No 11, Councillor J Faulkner will ask the Portfolio Holder for Assets and Finance, Councillor R Pritchard, the following question:-

“I am sure that the Deputy Leader of the Council has seen reports of the suspension of trading in the M&G Property Portfolio. Given the volatility of the market, what does the portfolio holder anticipate to be the possible consequences for our own property fund investments and what consequent action does he propose?”

Councillor R Pritchard gave the following reply:

Thank you Mr Mayor.  I will provide a written answer to Councillor Faulkner in the morning.

WRITTEN ANSWER provided by Councillor R Pritchard

Firstly, it is important to note this fund is only marketed to retail customers and not to institutional investors like Councils.

Also, the rational for the suspension is being put forward as “unusually high and sustained outflows” which it puts down to Brexit worries and a retail downturn – I am informed that this fund has 37.5% exposure to retail property. No council investment exceeds 13% retail.

It needs to be stressed that the news about the suspension of trading does not mean that the fund is not sound - this type of investment is not liquid. It is dependent on sales of property to release funds for redemptions.

Several retail funds did the same thing around the time of the referendum vote in 2016, and this did not impact on those funds that are marketed to institutional investors.

While there is no indication that this will affect the Councils investments in property funds, Officers have already had an update meeting with one fund manager and are planning another meeting to discuss this issue, as well as the fund’s performance and what their outlook is for the sector and their fund.

This comes back to the basis of our investment view, not just about security, liquidity, yield, but first and foremost about appropriateness.

The Council has invested nearly £4m in 2 different property funds to date. Neither council investment property funds exceeds 13% retail.

As the member will appreciate, the council has the view that we will invest for the long term (over 10 years), appreciating that prices can both rise and fall in the short term, and that over that long term, given the cash rate outlook, their performance should outstrip returns from cash deposits.

 When the Council went through the selection process, officers looked at things like the current fund structure, asking why it is so and how the manager may adjust this as market situations change etc.

As you will remember, the Council undertook a Property Fund Manager selection exercise during 2017/18, appointing Link Asset Services to provide support and advice in the identification and selection of suitable UK-focussed property funds.

At the outset, the Council was looking to engage with funds that had a broad remit of exposures to different property types, rather than being focussed on one particular area, such  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23.

RESOLVED that Agenda items 6 (Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme 2020/21 onwards), 7 (Treasury Management Strategy Statement and Annual Investment Strategy Mid-year Review Report 2019/20) and 8 (Adoption of the Proposed Licensing Policy 2020-2023) be moved to a vote en block.

(Moved by Councillor D Cook and seconded by Councillor Dr S Peaple)

(Report of the Portfolio Holder for Assets and Finance)

The Report of the Portfolio Holder for Assets and Finance advised members that the Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme for working age customers for 2020/21 should include continued alignment to Applicable Amounts with those of Housing Benefit.

(Report of the Portfolio Holder for Assets and Finance)

(Report of the Portfolio Holder for Regulatory and Community Safety)

The Report of the Portfolio Holder for Regulatory and Community Safety sought Council approval and adoption of Tamworth’s Statement of Licensing Policy 2020-2023 and Cumulative Impact Assessment 2020 – 2023 under the Licensing Act 2003.