Agenda and draft minutes
PDF 340 KBVenue: The John Meikle Room - The Deane House. View directions
Contact: Clare Rendell Email: c.rendell@somersetwestandtaunton.gov.uk
Webcast: View the webcast
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Apologies
To receive any apologies for absence. Additional documents: Minutes: Apologies were received from Councillors I Aldridge, S Buller, D Darch, H Davies, D Durden, A Govier, B Hall, M Hill, M Kravis, C Palmer, M Peters, F Smith, A Trollope-Bellew, T Venner, B Weston, K Wheatley and G Wren. |
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Minutes of the previous meeting of Full Council
To approve the minutes of the previous meeting of the Committee. Additional documents: Minutes: (Minutes of the meeting of Full Council held on 5 July 2022 circulated with the agenda)
Resolved that the minutes of Full Council held on 5 July 2022 be confirmed as a correct record. |
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Declarations of Interest
To receive and note any declarations of disclosable pecuniary or prejudicial or personal interests in respect of any matters included on the agenda for consideration at this meeting.
(The personal interests of Councillors and Clerks of Somerset County Council, Town or Parish Councils and other Local Authorities will automatically be recorded in the minutes.) Additional documents: Minutes: Members present at the meeting declared the following personal interests in their capacity as a Councillor or Clerk of a County, Town or Parish Council or any other Local Authority:-
The following Councillors further declared a personal interest on agenda item 15, as Trustees of the Albemarle Centre: Councillors Caroline Ellis, Richard Lees and Sue Lees. The following Councillors further declared a personal interest on agenda item 12: Councillors Andrew Hadley, Andy Sully and Loretta Whetlor. Councillor Sarah Wakefield further declared a personal interest on agenda item 13. |
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Public Participation
The Chair to advise the Committee of any items on which members of the public have requested to speak and advise those members of the public present of the details of the Council’s public participation scheme.
For those members of the public who have submitted any questions or statements, please note, a three minute time limit applies to each speaker and you will be asked to speak before Councillors debate the issue.
We are now live webcasting most of our committee meetings and you are welcome to view and listen to the discussion. The link to each webcast will be available on the meeting webpage, but you can also access them on the Somerset West and Taunton webcasting website. Additional documents: Minutes: No members of the public had requested to speak on any item on the agenda. |
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To receive any communications or announcements from the Chair of the Council
Additional documents: Minutes: The Chair of the Council advised Councillors that nominations for the Civic Awards were due soon and advised that an email would be sent with further information detailed within. |
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To receive any communications or announcements from the Leader of the Council
Additional documents: Minutes: The Leader of the Council highlighted to Councillors that there were several consultations open for feedback, they included the following topics:- · Council Tax Support Scheme for the New Council · Local Community Networks · Somerset Panel for Members. |
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To receive any questions from Councillors in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 13
Additional documents: Minutes: No questions had been received in relation to Procedure Rule 13. |
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Constitution Update - Somerset wide Member Code of Conduct
This matter is the responsibility of the Leader of the Council, Cllr Federica Smith-Roberts.
The Committee on Standards in Public Life’s report into Local Government Ethical Standards recommended that ‘the Local Government Association (LGA) should create an updated model code of conduct, in consultation with representative bodies of councillors and officers of all tiers of local government’. The Local Government Association (LGA) undertook consultation with local authorities and issued a Model Code of Conduct for Elected Members in May 2021.
Somerset County Council adopted the Model Code with effect from 6 May 2022 to support the transition towards the new Somerset Council. The District Council Monitoring Officers are taking reports to their members with a view to recommending adoption of the Code by end September 2022.
Additional documents: Minutes: Resolved that Full Council agreed:- 1) To adopt the LGA Model Code of Conduct with local amendments (Appendix A) 2) That the revised Code of Conduct be incorporated into the Council’s Constitution and would replace the existing Code; 3) That the Monitoring Officer developed and promoted Member update training to support the implementation of the revised Code of Conduct; and 4) That the adoption of the revised Code of Conduct continued to be promoted with Somerset Association of Local Councils (SALC) for adoption by Town and Parish Councils. |
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Constitution Update - Procedure for dealing with Standards Allegations
This matter is the responsibility of the Leader of the Council, Cllr Federica Smith-Roberts.
The opportunity has been taken to review the Council’s arrangements for dealing with Standards Allegations as part of the Local Government Reorganisation work, in collaboration with the Monitoring Officers of the County and District Councils. The report proposes that if this is approved by the Council, that the Monitoring Officer will work with the LGR Governance Workstream to determine when this will be introduced.
Additional documents: Minutes: Resolved that Full Council agreed:- 1) To adopt the Procedure for dealing with Standards Allegations (Appendix A) 2) To adopt the revised Code of Conduct for Councillors complaint form (Appendix B) 3) That Appendix A and Appendix B be incorporated into the Council’s Constitution and would replace the existing documents 4) That delegated authority was given to the Monitoring Officer to work with colleagues in the LGR governance workstream to determine when this would be introduced |
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Access to Information - Exclusion of the Press and Public
During discussion of the following items 11, 12 and 13 (Item 11 ONLY Appendix C & Items 12 & 13 in totality),it may be necessary to pass the following resolution to exclude the press and public having reflected on Article 13 13.02(e) (a presumption in favour of openness) of the Constitution. This decision may be required because consideration of this matter in public may disclose information falling within one of the descriptions of exempt information in Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972. The Full Council will need to decide whether, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption, outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.
Recommend that under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the next three items of business (Item 11 Appendix C only) on the ground that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 respectively of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act, namely information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).
Additional documents: Minutes: Resolved that under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the next items of business (Agenda Item 11, Appendix C only and Agenda Items 12 and 13) on the grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 respectively of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act, namely information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information). |
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Oake Woolaway Housing Refurbishments
This matter is the responsibility of Executive Councillor Francesca Smith, Portfolio Holder for Housing
This report seeks Full Council approval for the refurbishment and associated works for ten Woolaway homes at Oake which are currently classified as defective non-traditional dwellings. Further approvals are also sought on approving a supplementary budget within the Housing Revenue Account Capital Programme and a delegation to the s151 Officer to determine the optimum financing arrangements.
Additional documents: Minutes: During the discussion, the following points were raised:- · Councillors were pleased with the report and welcomed the work. · Councillors were pleased to see good engagement had taken place with the tenants. · Councillors praised the figures quoted in section 4.4 of the report. · Councillors agreed the work was heading in the right direction for carbon neutrality. · Councillors queried what the timings would be for the two properties due to be demolished. The Assistant Director for Development and Regeneration advised that the two properties to be demolished would be carried out at the end of the process, as they would be used as part of the decant stage. · Councillors highlighted that social housing was needed in the rural areas of the district and hoped that the planning process would not cause any delays to the project. · Councillors queried how many of the properties were empty. The Assistant Director for Development and Regeneration advised that five properties were empty and seven were occupied. · Councillors queried whether the local Parish Council had been involved. The Assistant Director for Development and Regeneration advised that the Parish Council had been consulted on several times throughout the project stages. · Councillors requested clarification on the decant process. The Assistant Director for Development and Regeneration advised that officers had learnt a lot from the North Taunton Woolaway Project and gave clarification. · Councillors were happy to support the report.
Resolved that Full Council:- 1) Approved the refurbishment and associated works for ten Woolaway homes at Oake which were currently classified as defective non-traditional dwellings. 2) Approved a Supplementary Budget as noted in Confidential Appendix C within the Housing Revenue Account Capital Programme, which was planned to be funded primarily through capital borrowing plus available capital grants. 3) Approved the delegation of authority to the S151 Officer in consultation with the Director for Housing and Communities to determine the final optimum financing arrangements for expenditure incurred. |
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Asset Management Lease
This matter is the responsibility of Executive Councillor Mike Rigby, Portfolio Holder for Economic Development, Planning and Transportation
This confidential report seeks Council approval to enter into a new lease agreement.
Minutes: Resolved that Full Council approved the recommendations within the Confidential Report. |
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Heritage at Risk
This matter is the responsibility of Executive Cllr Mike Rigby, Portfolio Holder for Economic Development, Planning and Transportation
This confidential report contains further information and seeks Council approval for further steps in relation to its Heritage at Risk Programme. Minutes: Resolved that Full Council approved the recommendations within the Confidential Report. |
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Re-admittance of the Press and Public
Additional documents: |
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Motion to declare a Learning Disability Emergency
To consider a Motion proposed by Councillor Mark Blaker, seconded by Councillor Loretta Whetlor.
The standard Motions Assessment Pro-forma document will FOLLOW. Additional documents: Minutes: During the discussion, the following points were raised:- · Councillor M Barr left the meeting. · Councillor M Blaker introduced the Motion as the proposer and Councillor L Whetlor highlighted the rights of communications on page 113 of the agenda, as the seconder. · Councillors congratulated Councillor Blaker for bringing forward the Motion. · Councillors were happy to support the Motion. · Councillors agreed that there were too many barriers in pace for those with learning difficulties. · Councillors highlighted the work being carried out on trying to implement ‘changing places’ toilets within the district. · Councillors suggested that the Moton should be taken to Somerset County Council. · Councillors highlighted the impact that Covid had on those groups and that they had been at a massive disadvantage. · Councillors requested assurance that the sentiments of the Motion would be carried forward into the New Council. · Councillors agreed that the Motion had included some very stark information which they hoped would jolt the necessary action to be taken. · Councillor Blaker thanked all for their comments and support.
Resolved that Full Council:- 1) Agreed that reduced life outcomes for any section of the population were unacceptable and every member of our community had the right to a fulfilling, safe life. 2) Adopted the Communication Bill of Rights (Appendix 1) , with a written briefing to all staff and members, and copied to senior managers of all contractors providing public-facing services on behalf of Somerset West and Taunton Council. 3) Publicised this resolution via a press release from Somerset West and Taunton Council which would highlight key figures from the 2021 LeDeR report (https://leder.nhs.uk/resources/annual-reports) and promoted the value of the Communication Bill of Rights. 4) Commited to delivering a completed, functioning Changing Place Toilet in Taunton by the end of March 2023, with bi-monthly progress updates to members throughout development until then. 5) Agreed that the Leader of the Council would write to both Somerset West and Taunton area MPs, along with the Leaders of the other three District Councils and the Leader of Somerset County Council asking them to note the concerning data highlighted by the LeDeR 2021 Report and to raise awareness of the Communication Bill of Rights. |
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To consider reports from Executive Councillors
Part I – To deal with written questions to the Executive. Part II – To receive reports from the following Members of the Executive:- a) Councillor Federica Smith-Roberts – Leader of the Council b) Councillor Derek Perry – Deputy Leader & Sports, Parks, Leisure and Phosphates c) Councillor Benet Allen – Corporate Resources d) Councillor Christopher Booth – Community e) Councillor Caroline Ellis – Culture f) Councillor Dixie Darch – Climate Change g) Councillor Mike Rigby – Economic Development, Planning and Transportation h) Councillor Francesca Smith - Housing i) Councillor Andy Sully – Environmental Services j) Councillor Wakefield – Local Government Reorganisation
An Executive Councillor shall submit a report to an Ordinary Meeting of the Council as to current and future business of their portfolio for the information of and comment from the Council. Such reports are for discussion and comment only and no motion shall be put to the meeting as to any such item other than those closure motions described in Standing Order 5. Additional documents: Minutes: During the discussion, the following points were raised:- · Councillors K Durdan and C Morgan left the meeting. · Councillors requested further information on Blenheim Gardens Café and the developments. · Councillors reminded Portfolio Holders to consult with Ward Members on any activities taking place. · Councillors requested an update from the Phosphate Sub-Committee. · Councillors congratulated the work carried out to install electric charging points across the district. · Councillors requested an update on the vacancies within the Planning Department. · Concern was raised on the limited resource within the Enforcement Team. · Councillors requested a member briefing on Single Homelessness. · Councillors highlighted the disparity in locations included in the culture events update. · Councillors R Henley, D Johnson, D Wedderkopp and S Nicholls left the meeting. · Concern was raised on the findings from the litter enforcement trials. · Councillors were happy to support and publicise the West Monkton and Cheddon Fitzpaine Neighbourhood Plan. |