16th March 2010 Trafford Town Hall,

Stretford

Dear Councillor,

Your attendance is requested at a meeting of the Council of the Borough of Trafford on WEDNESDAY, 24TH MARCH 2010, at 7.00 p.m. in the COUNCIL CHAMBER, TRAFFORD TOWN HALL, STRETFORD, for the transaction of the following business:-

Enclosure
No.
1. / Minutes
To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the Meeting of the Council held on 24th February 2010 for signature by the Mayor as Chairman. / 1

2. / Announcements
To receive any announcements from the Mayor, Leader of the Council, Members of the Executive, Chairmen of Overview and Scrutiny Committees and the Head of Paid Service.
3. / Questions By Members
This is an opportunity for Members of Council to ask the Mayor, Members of the Executive or the Chairman of any Committee or Sub-Committee a question on notice under Procedure Rule 10.2.
4. / Membership of Committees
To note that the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Leader of the Council, agreed that Councillor Shaw would replace CouncillorMrs.Dixon as a member of the Overview and Scrutiny Core Committee, with effect from 1st March 2010.
5. / Scheme of Delegation to Officers – Amendment to Cover Service of Notices Under Legislation Relating to High Hedges
To consider a joint report of the Chief Planning Officer and the Director of Legal Services. / To Follow
6. / Motions
To consider the following motion submitted in accordance with Procedure Rule 11:
(a) Motion submitted by the Labour Group
“The Council has recently been notified that there are some serious financial difficulties with regard to Stretford Town Centre Mall.
In light of the above and of the lawful consent of 80,000 sq ft of food retail at white City, and the recent decision made by the Planning Committee to support the application to build a mega 175,000 sq ft Tesco superstore, both of which are situated near to Stretford Town Centre, this Council recognises the urgent need to support the regeneration of Stretford town centre and the Mall.
To this end the Council resolves to:
·  Do everything it can to support the Town Centre Mall in these difficult times.
·  Develop a proper and thorough Town centre plan and strategy.
·  Develop a new improved and strengthened Town Centre partnership, and the development of a more effective partnership role with whoever becomes the new owners of the Mall.
·  Ring fence the income from the mall and re-invest it back into Stretford town centre and the Mall.
This Council recognises that investment in our town centre’s has been proved to be effective in protecting them and making them fit for the future, helping them to serve our local communities. This has been proved to be successful in Sale, Altrincham and Urmston, this Council recognises that it is now time to look at Stretford.”
(b) Motion submitted by the Conservative Group
“Following the shocking news of the appointment of LPA receivers to Stretford Mall on top of the recent insolvency of the owner of the Grafton shopping arcade in Altrincham, this Council is gravely concerned about the impact of the Labour Government’s policies on local businesses. More companies have gone bust than in any other downturn since records began. The Government have:
·  failed to help sound companies obtain credit to keep them running through the downturn;
·  failed to deliver on promises to ease the burden of red tape, especially on small and medium-sized firms; and
·  failed to understand businesses' cash flow problems and are actually planning to increase them with a 1% rise in National Insurance Contributions in 2011- a straightforward tax on jobs.
This Council therefore calls for the following immediate measures from the Government to ease the burden on small and medium sized businesses in Trafford:
·  The scrapping of Labour's proposed National Insurance rise in 2011;
·  the abolition of tax on new jobs created by new businesses;
·  reductions in the burden of regulation with a 'one-in, one-out' rule for new regulations, introducing regulatory budgets and sunset clauses to give businesses more freedom and greater flexibility;
·  cuts to the Small Companies' Corporation Tax rate; and
·  small business rate relief to be automatic.”
(c) Motion submitted by the Conservative Group
“Trafford Council, through the work of Adult Social Services officers, is the only Authority in the Country to gain the prestigious Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA) Innovation Award for ‘Taking Control of Care – Empowering Adults to Control their own Care’.
This means that Trafford residents with care needs now have their care packages tailored and personalised to meet their own requirements, as opposed to a ‘one size fits all’ approach. This is down to the transformational approach to the provision of care by ensuring involvement of service users, families and carers in determining what care is needed, how it will be delivered and what it will provide. The IDeA also highlighted Trafford’s strength in engaging with people, including disadvantaged and hard to reach groups and how the work is helping to make things better for many local people who are caring for relatives or friends.
Therefore this Council would like to place on record our thanks for the hard work and determination of officers in Adult Social Services in ensuring that residents with care needs are put at the heart of care provision. “

Yours sincerely,

Chief Executive