Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were given on behalf of Councillor Aiden Gray, Labour Group Spokesperson

There were no declarations of members' interests.

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and noted that Councillor Donna Jones wished to make a deputation in favour of the recommendations in the report.

The decision relating to the report entitled " Naming Rights proposal for the Spinnaker Tower " is a Key Decision for the purposes of the Forward Plan as defined in Article 13 of the Constitution but was not included in the Forward Plan for the period from 14 May 2015 until 31 July 2015 and is therefore an omission from the Forward Plan and also an omission of explanation of exempt information contained in the exempt appendix

Article 13 defines a Key decision as an Executive decision which is likely to:

·          result in the Council incurring expenditure or the making of savings which are significant having regard to the local authority's budget for the service or function to which the decision relates, or

·          be significant in terms of its effects on communities living or working in an area comprising 2 or more wards in the city's administrative area.

The Chair of the City Council's Scrutiny Management Panel has been notified of and agreed to the decision being made, in accordance with the City Council's Constitution (General Exceptions, Section 15) and (Special Urgency, Section 16).  As the decision must be taken by such a date that it is impracticable to defer the decision until it has been included in the next forward plan, this decision will not be subject to call-in.

The "Naming Rights proposal for the Spinnaker Tower" report by the Director of Community and Communication requires the decision to be taken by a particular date which is why urgent action is necessary.

The Cabinet Member for PRED noted that the decision relating to the report entitled " Naming Rights proposal for the Spinnaker Tower " is a Key Decision for the purposes of the Forward Plan as defined in Article 13 of the Constitution but was not included in the Forward Plan for the period from 14 May 2015 until 31 July 2015 and is therefore an omission from the Forward Plan and also an omission of explanation of exempt information contained in the exempt appendix.

Article 13 defines a Key decision an Executive decision which is likely to:

·         result in the Council incurring expenditure or the making of savings which are significant having regard to the local authority's budget for the service or function to which the decision relates, or

·         be significant in terms of its effects on communities living or working in an area comprising 2 or more wards in the city's administrative area.

The Cabinet Member for PRED further noted that the Chair of the City Council's Scrutiny Management Panel had been notified of and agreed to the decision being made, in accordance with the City Council's Constitution (General Exceptions, Section 15) and (Special Urgency, Section 16).  It was also noted that as the decision must be taken by such a date that it is impracticable to defer the decision until it has been included in the next forward plan, this decision will not be subject to call-in.

The Cabinet Member also noted that the "Naming Rights proposal for the Spinnaker Tower" report by the Director of Community and Communication requires the decision to be taken by a particular date which is why urgent action is necessary.

(NB Please note that appendix 1 of this report is Exempt and if Members wish to refer to it, there is provision to do so following the exclusion of the press and public)

That in view of the contents of the following item on the agenda the Portfolio Holder is RECOMMENDED to adopt the following motion:

“That, under the provisions of Section 100A of the Local Government Act, 1972 as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) Act, 1985, the press and public be excluded for the consideration of the following item on the grounds that the appendix to the report contains information defined as exempt in Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act, 1972”.

Under the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) England Regulations 2012, regulation 5, the reason for exemption of the listed item is shown below.

(NB     The exempt/confidential committee papers on the agenda will contain information which is commercially, legally or personally sensitive and should not be divulged to third parties.  Members are reminded of standing order restrictions on the disclosure of exempt information and are invited to return their exempt documentation to the Senior Local Democracy Officer at the conclusion of the meeting for shredding.)

The public interest in maintaining the exemption must outweigh the public interest in disclosing the information.

It was agreed that the meeting would remain in open session for as long as possible - that is until any discussion or reference to the exempt appendix was to be made.

RESOLVED that before there was any discussion on the exempt appendix, the meeting would move into exempt session

The purpose of the report is to consider the proposal to obtain the Naming Rights of the Spinnaker Tower.

(TAKE IN REPORT)

The Cabinet Member for PRED invited Councillor Jones to make her deputation which she did.  She spoke in favour of the recommendations in the report which she encouraged members to support as she viewed the deal as hugely beneficial to the city.  She thanked all officers for their hard work - in particular Debbie Benham.

The Cabinet Member for PRED asked whether officers present wished to add any comments.  The Deputy Chief Executive said there was still much to do concerning the Heads of Terms referred to in the report, but that he was confident that these could be agreed.

At this point, a Member wished to ask a question relating to the exempt appendix.

RESOLVED that, under the provisions of Section 100A of the Local Government Act, 1972 as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) Act, 1985, the press and public be excluded for the consideration of the following item on the grounds that the appendix to the report contains information defined as exempt in Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act, 1972"

An explanation of how the figures in the exempt appendix had been calculated was given by the Finance Manager.

The meeting then moved back into open session.

The Cabinet Member for PRED said that he would approve the recommendations in the report which he thought represented a very good deal and which showed one of the benefits Portsmouth was deriving from hosting the America's Cup. He said that the deal also meant that Portsmouth was associated with a very good brand and that the financial aspect of the deal would go some way towards making the savings that were necessary.

The Deputy Chief Executive collected in all the exempt papers at the end of the meeting and everyone was reminded that the contents of the papers were to be kept confidential.

DECISION:

Subject to satisfactory Heads of Terms being agreed in accordance with Paragraph 3.8 of the report,

1.         Agreed to Naming Rights for the Spinnaker Tower for a minimum period of five years.

2.         Agreed to the financial proposition as set out in the exempt appendix.

3.         Agreed to the branding of the Spinnaker Tower as set out in the exempt appendix to the report.

4.         Agreed to the immediate painting and application of the proposed branding to the Spinnaker Tower.

5.          Agreed to deliver the installation of branding, ground level signage and internal signage for the Spinnaker Tower no later than Friday 17 July 2015.

The meeting concluded at 8.50am.

………………………………….

Cabinet Member for PRED