Agenda and minutes

(N.B. Councillors Polhill and Wharton declared a Disclosable Other Interest in the following item of business as they were Board Members of the Mersey Gateway Crossings Board)

          Council considered a report of the Operational Director, Legal and Democratic Services, regarding the Road User Charging Scheme (RUCSO) for the Mersey Gateway Bridge and the Silver Jubilee Bridge.

          IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED: That Council

1)    Confirm that no further consultation is required in respect of the RUCSO;

2)    Confirm that no public inquiry is required to be held into the making of the RUCSO;

3)    Make the RUCSO in the form (or substantially the same form) as that in Appendix A, attached to the report, and to delegate to the Operational Director, Legal and Democratic Services, the authority to make any non-material or consequential amendments to the RUCSO as are necessary to give it effect;

4)    Resolve that the charging scheme under the RUCSO come into effect on 1 July 2017, subject to the RUCSO being made by the Council (the appointed day);

5)    Resolve that the charging scheme be suspended in full from the appointed day until the date that the Mersey Gateway Bridge is operational and fully open to all traffic (the “permission to Use Date”); and

6)    Authorise the Operational Director, Legal and Democratic Services to take all necessary steps to:-

i)                 bring the RUCSO into effect;

ii)               to suspend the charging scheme until the Permission to Use Date; and

iii)              lift the suspension and impose the charging scheme from the Permission to Use Date.

          Council considered a report of the Strategic Director, Enterprise, Community and Resources, on the adoption of Part II of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976.

          RESOLVED: That

1)    to the extent that they are not already in force, the provisions of Part II of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 (the 1976 Act) (other than Section 45), are to apply to the whole area of the Council on and after the appointed day;

2)    the appointed day for the purposes of this resolution shall be 24 October 2016 (being not before the expiration of the period of one month beginning with the day on which the resolution is passed); and

3)    all powers, duties and provisions in the Council’s Constitution relating to Part II of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 and all existing policies, practices and conditions relating thereto shall continue to apply on and after the appointed day.

          Council considered a report of the Strategic Director, Enterprise, Community and Resources, on the designation of streets for the purposes of Street Trading.

          RESOLVED: That

1)    to the extent that they are not already so designated for the purposes of Schedule 4 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982, the streets listed in the Schedule to this resolution shall be designated on and after the designation day as prohibited streets or consent streets as indicated in the Schedule;

2)    the designation day for the purposes of this resolution shall be 24 October 2016 (being not before the expiration of the period of one month beginning with the day on which this resolution is passed);

3)    all powers, duties and provisions in the Council’s Constitution relating to the provisions of Schedule 4 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 and all policies, practices and conditions relating thereto shall continue to apply on and after the designation day; and

4)    the Operational Director, Legal and Democratic Services, be directed to publish the (Schedule 4) notices required by Schedule 4 Paragraph 2 (9) of the 1982 Act.

        In this case Council has a discretion to exclude the press and public and, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted, it is RECOMMENDED that under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, having been satisfied that in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information, the press and public be excluded 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 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act.

Please note that if this resolution is passed, members of the press and public will be asked to leave the room prior to the consideration of the following business.

                 Council considered:

(1)                                                                                        whether Members of the press and public should be excluded from the meeting of the Board during consideration of the following item of business in accordance with Sub-Section 4 of Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 because it was likely that, in view of the nature of the business to be considered, exempt information would be disclosed, being information defined in Section 100 (1) and paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972; and

     (2)                                                                                         whether the disclosure of information was in the public interest, whether any relevant exemptions were applicable and whether, when applying the public interest test and exemptions, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed that in disclosing the information.

       RESOLVED: That as, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information, members of the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item of business in accordance with Sub-Section 4 of Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 because it was likely that, in view of the nature of the business, exempt information would be disclosed, being information defined in Section 100 (1) and paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.

          Council considered a report of the Strategic Director, Enterprise, Community and Resources, regarding a decision taken by the Chief Executive, under urgency powers on the proposed development at Venture Fields, Dennis Road, Widnes.

          RESOLVED: That Council note the action taken by the Chief Executive under urgency powers, to include £6m in the Council’s Capital Programme in respect of the Venture Fields development, agreed by Executive Board on 14 July 2016.

          The Mayor had recently attended the opening of the museum at Norton Priory, Runcorn. He congratulated all those that had been involved in the project and encouraged all to visit the new facilities.