Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors  S Smith, P Thompson M Bailey, J Jones and G Coates

The Mayor made the following announcement

I would like to mention, I’m sure some of you would have seen the Offa procession through the town at the weekend.  I would like to put it on public record that in my opinion it was one of the greatest, finest parades and one of the most worthy things that we have done for a good many years.  There was so many smiling faces round to the Town as we processed, there was a fantastic performance by the Thegns of Mercia re-enactment society in the church and they were doing the re-enactment of Offa signing the various deeds and records in Tamworth and I can’t begin to think how much better it could have been. I think congratulations are certainly in order to Lara Rowe, who was mainly behind organising and everyone who was involved, the Church the Civic Society and thanks for putting on a really good show.

Tonight marks the final appearance of our esteemed Chief Executive Mr Andrew Barratt, he is leaving to take up retirement in the Isle of Wight and I’m sure that we all feel the same that we are going to miss a man who is respected throughout the Council whether that be by Councillors, Officers, or anyone else involved.  He is a thoroughly knowledgeable, modest, sagacious man we will miss his advice and his lovely smiling personality, I have never known him not be able to smile.  He’s always got a smile on his face always optimistic, incredibly helpful and admired by everyone, I’m sure.  We are going to miss him terrifically not only for his personality but for his integrity, personality and he is a thoroughly decent nice man who is incredibly good at his job. 

Councillor D Cook

It would be remiss of me not to speak this evening on the matter you have just raised, as the Leader of the Council who originally signed Mr Barratt’s original contract of employment as Chief Executive.  I recall when the previous CE Tony Goodwin was announcing his intention to retire Mr Barratt said to me he had no ambition to be Chief Executive of this Council, none whatsoever.  What was really strange was at the time as Assistant Director Mr Barratt was in control of Marmion House.  Utter control, when I say control, he decided who sat in what office, which department had which floor, and on the 8^th floor were all the Assistant Directors were and in the smallest office up there Mr Barratt was in.  You are in control of the entire building, and you give yourself the smallest office on the floor.  I walked down the corridor when I found out Mr Barratt wasn’t intending to apply to be the next Chief Executive and I sat in his office and I said what the hell do you think your’re doing, he said I have no ambition for this, after about 30 minutes his application went in for Chief Executive and he  ...  view the full minutes text for item 92.

QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL NO. 1

Under Procedure Rule No 11, Councillor R Pritchard will ask the Leader of the Council, Councillor Thomas Jay, the following question:-

We are suffering from a serious issue in my ward, we are seeing raw sewage spew out of a manhole on the Ashby Road whenever it rains. It’s clear this is cause by water flow from the new Arkall Farm development. Will the Leader, and this council, join me in calling for Severn Trent Water to fix this issue and prevent more raw sewage from running of into drains, watercourses and the adjacent River Anker.

The Leader Councillor T Jay gave the following response

Thank you, Cllr. Pritchard for bringing this question to Full Council, and well done on your campaigning to get this issue resolved for residents.

I’m sure that your hard work on important issues like this won’t go unnoticed by the residents of the Spital Ward.

I thoroughly agree that this is a serious issue.

Children have been witnessed crossing nearby and getting splashed by this sewage whilst waiting to cross the road.  It is extremely serious. 

I will ask that Tamworth Borough Council’s CEO writes to Severn Trent Water on behalf of the Council and your residents asking them to address this issue with urgency.

If this doesn’t get action, I would suggest that we try and get the nearby developers, planning for Lichfield & Tamworth, and Staffordshire County Council together as interested partners with Severn Trent Water.

Thanks again for bringing such an important issue to Full Council.

QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL NO. 2

Under Procedure Rule No 11, Councillor R Pritchard will ask the Portfolio Holder for Housing and Planning, Councillor S Smith, the following question:-

It’s been confirmed that an appeal has been submitted by developers looking to build houses on land behind Browns Lane. Will the Leader reassure me that the council will make a robust argument to the Planning Inspector and continue to resist this development?

Response was provided by the Leader of the Council in Cllr Smith’s absence

Thanks again for this question. I know that you have campaigned hard on this issue over many years.

I’m sure many will remember the campaigning you did against the Browns Lane One and Arkall Farm developments.

This resulted in significantly fewer properties being built on our borders than previously planned – a massive win on behalf of residents, not just in your Spital Ward but across Tamworth as it would have impacted us all.

Regarding this specific development, I can confirm that discussions have already begun by Tamworth planning officers with the neighbouring authority Lichfield planning officers to coordinate appeal activity.

As Leader of our Conservative Group, I’m committed to fighting for what is right for our town and I know our group is also fully committed to this.

I therefore strongly support Cllr Pritchard’s view that a robust argument should be made, and you have my word that it will be.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 93.

(Report of the Leader of the Council, Finance and Governance)

Report of the Leader of the Council to report details of Tamworth Borough Council’s Pay Policy Statement so that statutory guidance set out in S38 of the Localism Act is adhered to.  In addition, the Gender Pay Gap report is also included for consideration and approval.

Cllr Dean thanked the Officers for all the work that was put into this report

(Report of the Leader of the Council, Finance and Governance)

The report of the Leader of the Council to provide an overview of current service provision and outlines several options for future consideration of the council’s customer service offer for Tamworth residents.  The report also provided an update on work completed to date as well as an update regarding disposal and future utilisation of Marmion House.

Councillor R Kingstone moved the following amendment.

Agree the three recommendations in the report but add in a fourth recommendation:

That a fully costed proposal is presented to this Council at the first meeting in the autumn for this council to consider and agree a way forward to be implemented in financial year 2025/26

(Moved by Councillor R Kingstone and seconded by Councillor J Wadrup)

The amended motion was then withdrawn

Councillor D Cook moved the following motion

To amend recommendation 1 to read

Agreed that Council commits Officers to explore options for a town centre location and delivery model to provide long term face to face customer services for Tamworth Borough Council, supporting the strategy to dispose of Marmion House. 

(Moved by D Cook and seconded by Councillor R Kingstone)

Councillor R Kingstone moved the following motion

Under rule 4.14.10 (d) that the question now be put

(Moved by Councillor R Kingstone and seconded by Councillor D Cook)

A vote took place 10 votes for and 14 against.  The motion was not carried. 

Following a remark by Councillor M Summers stating that some Councillors had lied to the public about there being no front desk, Councillor Kingstone asked that the Councillor withdraw the word lie from his statement.  Councillor Summers changed his statement and withdrew the word lied and changed to mislead the public.