Meeting: Cabinet (County Hall, Durham - Committee Room 2 - 22/01/2009 10:00:00 AM)
Item: A1 Minutes of the meeting held on 8 January 2009
DURHAM COUNTY COUNCIL
CABINET
AT A MEETING of the
CABINET held at the County Hall, Durham on
THURSDAY 8 JANUARY 2009 at
10.00 a.m. PRESENT COUNCILLOR HENIG in the Chair
Cabinet Members: Councillors Foster, Hodgson, Hovvels, E Huntington, Nicholls, Robson, Stephens, Vasey and B Young.
Other Members: Councillors Armstrong, Arthur, Avery, Burn, Burnip, Chaplow, Charlton, Crooks, Hancock, N Harrison, Hopgood, G Huntington, Johnson, Jopling, Lethbridge, Martin, Moran, Murphy, O’Donnell, Rodgers, Shuttleworth, Southwell, Stradling, Temple, Thomson, Tomlinson, Wilkes, Wilkinson, Williams and Zair.
A1 Minutes The Minutes of the meeting held on 18 December 2008 were confirmed as a
correct record and signed by the Chairman.
A2 Declarations of interest Councillor Martin in respect of Minute A3 as a public governor of the County Durham and Darlington Acute Hospitals Foundation Trust.
Councillor Wilkinson in respect of Minute B10.
A3 “Seizing the Future” - proposals for NHS service reconfiguration in County Durham and Darlington - Response to the public consultation by the Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee The Cabinet noted a Report of the Head of Overview and Scrutiny (for copy see file of Minutes) presenting the findings of
the Health Scrutiny Working Group’s review of NHS service reconfiguration proposals contained in the public
consultation document “Seizing the Future”.
In the ensuing discussion the Cabinet heard ongoing concerns expressed by a number of Overview and Scrutiny Members. The Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and the Vice Chairman of the Health Scrutiny Committee pointed out that the report had been unanimously agreed by the Health Scrutiny Committee on 5th January 2009 and indeed the recommendations therein had been made in the light of the extensive evidence gathering exercise undertaken by the Working Group established for this purpose.
Resolved: That the report be noted.
A4 LGR Update The Cabinet considered a Report of the Chief Executive (for copy see file of Minutes) providing an update on the LGR
programme.
Councillor Henig explained in relation to Area Action Partnerships that a Report, which was to be considered by the
Constitution Working Group on 9th January 2009, had been circulated to all County Councillors to keep them informed of
the position.
Resolved: That the report be noted.
A5 Tyne and Wear City Region - Contribution to Costs 2007/08, 2008/09 and 2009/10 The Cabinet considered a Report of the Corporate Director, Environment (for copy see file of Minutes) setting out the
residual costs of Durham County Council’s engagement with the Tyne and Wear City Region (TWCR) during the 2007/08
financial year, the costs for the current and future years, and seeking approval of these.
Resolved: That the recommendations in the Report be agreed.
A6 Dog Control Order [Key Decision ENV/LGR/01/08].
The Cabinet considered a Report of the Corporate Director, Environment (for copy see file of Minutes) seeking agreement to commence the process for introducing a “Fouling of Land by Dogs (County Durham) Order 2009”.
Resolved: That the recommendations in the Report be agreed.
A7 Covenant of Mayors - Climate Change In the opinion of the Chairman of the meeting this item was of sufficient urgency to be considered because a decision was required before 15th January 2009 about the County Council becoming a signatory to the Covenant of Mayors
Accordingly the Cabinet considered a Report of the Corporate Director, Environment (for copy see file of Minutes) about the introduction of an important European Initiative to tackle Climate Change, the “Covenant of Mayors” and recommending that the County Council becomes a signatory.
Resolved: That the recommendation in the Report be agreed.
A8 Consett Sports Complex: Business as Usual The Cabinet considered a Report of the Corporate Director, Resources (for copy see file of Minutes) providing an
outline of the Consultant’s work done so far in relation to a proposal for a new sports complex in Consett and proposing
the commissioning of a final piece of work to enable Cabinet to make a decision about the proposed development.
In the ensuing discussion the Chairman explained that no commitment could be made about the future of the project until this additional piece of work had been completed and considered by Cabinet.
Resolved: That the recommendation in the Report be agreed.
A9 Exclusion of the Public Resolved: That under Section 100 A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be exclude from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 1 of Schedule 12 A to the said Act.
B10 Local Authority School Governors - Esh Winning Primary School The Cabinet considered a Report of the Corporate Director, Children and Young People’s Services (for copy see file of
Minutes) about the appointment of a Local Authority Governor to Esh Winning Primary School using the processes
agreed by Cabinet on 18 July 2008.
Following a lengthy discussion it was
Resolved: That the Mr. P. Venn be appointed as a Local Authority Governor at Esh Winning Primary School.
Attachments
01.08.09.pdf