Agenda and minutes

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Contact: Marcus Prouse Email: m.prouse@somersetwestandtaunton.gov.uk and Clare Rendell Email: c.rendell@somersetwestandtaunton.gov.uk 

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Items
No. Item

80.

Apologies

81.

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:-

     

    Name

    Minute No.

    Description of Interest

    Reason

    Action Taken

    Cllr L Baker

    All Items

    Cheddon Fitzpaine & Taunton Charter Trustee

    Personal

    Spoke and Voted

    Cllr M Barr

    All Items

    Wellington

    Personal

    Spoke and Voted

    Cllr M Blaker

    All Items

    Wiveliscombe

    Personal

    Spoke and Voted

    Cllr C Booth

    All Items

    Wellington and Taunton Charter Trustee

    Personal

    Spoke and Voted

    Cllr N Cavill

    All Items

    West Monkton

    Personal

    Spoke and Voted

    Cllr H Davies

    All Items

    SCC

    Personal

    Spoke and Voted

    Cllr C Ellis

    All Items

    Taunton Charter Trustee

    Personal

    Spoke and Voted

    Cllr A Govier

    All Items

    SCC & Wellington

    Personal

    Spoke and Voted

    Cllr Mrs Hill

    All Items

    Taunton Charter Trustee

    Personal

    Spoke and Voted

    Cllr J Hunt

    All Items

    SCC & Bishop’s Hull

    Personal

    Spoke and Voted

    Cllr R Lees

    All Items

    Taunton Charter Trustee

    Personal

    Spoke and Voted

    Cllr S Lees

    All Items

    Taunton Charter Trustee

    Personal

    Spoke and Voted

    Cllr L Lisgo

    All Items

    Taunton Charter Trustee

    Personal

    Spoke and Voted

    Cllr M Lithgow

    All Items

    Wellington

    Personal

    Spoke and Voted

    Cllr J Lloyd

    All Items

    Wellington & Sampford Arundel

    Personal

    Spoke and Voted

    Cllr A Milne

    All Items

    Porlock

    Personal

    Spoke and Voted

    Cllr S Nicholls

    All Items

    Comeytrowe

    Personal

    Spoke and Voted

    Cllr C Palmer

    All Items

    Minehead

    Personal

    Spoke and Voted

    Cllr D Perry

    All Items

    Taunton Charter Trustee

    Personal

    Spoke and Voted

    Cllr M Peters

    All Items

    Taunton Charter Trustee

    Personal

    Spoke and Voted

    Cllr P Pilkington

    All Items

    Timberscombe

    Personal

    Spoke and Voted

    Cllr H Prior-Sankey

    All Items

    SCC & Taunton Charter Trustee

    Personal

    Spoke and Voted

    Cllr M Rigby

    All Items

    SCC & Bishops Lydeard

    Personal

    Spoke and Voted

    Cllr F Smith

    All Items

    Taunton Charter Trustee

    Personal

    Spoke and Voted

    Cllr F Smith-Roberts

    All Items

    Taunton Charter Trustee

    Personal

    Spoke and Voted

    Cllr V Stock-Williams

    All Items

    Wellington

    Personal

    Spoke and Voted

    Cllr N Thwaites

    All Items

    Dulverton

    Personal

    Spoke and Voted

    Cllr R Tully

    All Items

    West Monkton

    Personal

    Spoke and Voted

    Cllr A Wedderkopp

    All Items

    SCC & Taunton Charter Trustee

    Personal

    Spoke and Voted

    Cllr D Wedderkopp

    All Items

    Taunton Charter Trustee

    Personal

    Spoke and Voted

    Cllr B Weston

    All Items

    Taunton Charter Trustee

    Personal

    Spoke and Voted

    Cllr L Whetlor

    All Items

    Watchet

    Personal

    Spoke and Voted

    Cllr G Wren

    All Items

    Clerk to Milverton PC

    Personal

    Spoke and Voted

     

82.

Public Participation - To receive only in relation to the business for which the Extraordinary Meeting has been called any questions, statements or petitions from the public in accordance with Council Procedure Rules 14,15 and 16

    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.

     

    Temporary measures during the Coronavirus Pandemic

    Due to the Government guidance on measures to reduce the transmission of coronavirus (COVID-19), we will holding meetings in a virtual manner which will be live webcast on our website. Members of the public will still be able to register to speak and ask questions, which will then be read out by the Governance and Democracy Case Manager during Public Question Time and will either be answered by the Chair of the Committee, or the relevant Portfolio Holder, or be followed up with a written response.

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    A letter had been received from Mel Lock and Trudi Grant on agenda item 7, Stronger Somerset.

    We are writing to you following our meeting with Kim Curry and Annie Hudson concerning your proposal for Stronger Somerset.

    During our meeting you articulated that you were keen to adopt a similar model of Public Health to Dorset; with one public health function to cover the whole of Somerset. This is a sensible approach and would help to ensure health improvement and that any response to threats are not hampered by a lack of capacity or specialist skills.

    The model put forward by Stronger Somerset proposed the establishment of five organisations that would require specialist public health input. As the DPH role has a statutory duty to act as an independent advocate for the public’s health and wellbeing, we rely heavily on being able to articulate need and influence across the system at the most senior level. In order to be effective in this across this many organisations, as discussed there would need to be investment in senior public health capacity.

    We are now at a point in time where the system as a whole, and particularly Somerset County Council, has placed considerable emphasis on an increased focus on prevention. The organisation has embarked on a transformation programme focussed on Improving Lives with prevention at its heart. Significant investment has been allocated to it through initiatives such as the Prevention Fund and Health and Wellbeing Funds. After such significant, joined up progress, it would be a retrograde step should this focus be lost, or we were not able to shape this transformation to improve the public’s health.

    The Public Health team in Somerset is considered a national example of excellence, in particular for our work around Public Mental Health for which we were awarded the prestigious Sarah Stewart Brown Award by the Faculty of Public Health. Similarly, the team has a very strong emphasis on training and development of new public health talent and has again been awarded ‘Excellent’ as a Public Health Centre for speciality training by the Severn Deanery. Specialist Registrars request for a training placement in Somerset due to the reputation of the team and the standard of the work. To continue to attract excellent staff and improve the health of the Somerset population, it is imperative that this expertise is able, and supported to flourish even further under any new arrangements that may occur.

    Moving on to Adult social care, during our meeting, you described local community-based support around primary care networks as though it is a new way of working. In Somerset we have been nationally recognised for our approach to neighbourhood working. Our excellent and creative strengths- based practise is an example of this, as is our development of alternative community solutions from preventative and early intervention services (such as village and community agents) to micro-providers. This has strengthened further during the last year by excellent partnership working with our community health colleagues, our Primary Care  ...  view the full minutes text for item 82.

83.

To receive any communications or announcements from the Chair of the Council

84.

To receive any communications or announcements from the Leader of the Council

85.

To receive only in relation to the business for which the Extraordinary Meeting has been called any questions from Councillors in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 13

86.

Stronger Somerset Final Proposal pdf icon PDF 268 KB

    This matter is the responsibility of Executive Councillor Federica Smith-Roberts, Leader of the Council.

     

    The purpose of this report is to seek Council endorsement for the Stronger Somerset Final Proposal.

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    During the discussion, the following points were raised:-

    ·         Councillors queried the proposed consultation taking place in 2021 and how it would be carried out.

    The Leader advised that no details had been given on the consultation process but as soon as they were received, she would distribute them to all Councillors.  She mentioned that it would most likely take place in Spring 2021.

    ·         Concern was raised that Government may not accept either proposal (One Somerset or Stronger Somerset) for a unitary authority.

    The Leader advised that the Councillors and Officers had worked to the set criteria for the proposal so hoped it would be accepted but that the decision fell with Government.

    ·         Concern was raised that Somerset County Council (SCC) were keen to postpone their elections and Councillors further queried how the elections would run for SCC, Somerset West and Taunton Council (SWT) and the new Shadow Council.

    The Leader advised that the decisions on the elections were down to Government to make.  Further clarification would be given on the election process.

    ·         Concern was raised on the Parish Councils taking on extra work as part of the proposal.  Councillors requested that SWT encouraged the community to assist their local Parish Councils.

    ·         Concern was raised on services being pushed back to Parish Councils and that the residents would be ‘double taxed’ and subject to a postcode lottery for which services would be provided in their area.

    The Leader wanted to work closely with the Parish Councils to ensure they took on the services that best suited their community.

    ·         Councillors highlighted that SWT had a responsibility to submit a proposal, which gave Government other options than the One Somerset proposal.

    ·         Councillors agreed that the recommendations were clear but that there was still more work to be done.  They highlighted that the District Councils might not know much about the work carried out by SCC, but that SCC did not know much about the work carried out by the District Councils either.

    ·         Many Councillors supported the unitary ways of working but advised that it needed to be implemented in the correct way.

    ·         Councillors agreed that the timing was appalling due to the Covid Pandemic and that SWT had only been established in April 2019.

    The Leader agreed that the timing was bad, but that SWT had shown what could be achieved in such a short space of time.

    ·         Many Councillors agreed that the Stronger Somerset was the better proposal for the community of SWT.

    ·         Councillors were keen to support the positive work achieved by Adult Social Care and Public Health at SCC.

    The Leader agreed and wanted public involvement in shaping those services.

    ·         Concern was raised that neither proposals took heed of developing Taunton as the County Town.  Further concern was raised that the community network seemed to cut Taunton into two.

    The Leader disagreed and highlighted that the proposal would aid vulnerable residents and include Taunton and the wider community which would benefit the County Town.

    ·         Councillors urged the Shadow Council to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 86.

87.

Access to Information - Exclusion of the Press and Public (finance appendix only)

    During discussion of the following items 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 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 items of business 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 item of business 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). 

88.

North Taunton Woolaway Project (adjourned from Special Council held on 01.12.2020)

    This has been added to the agenda under Access to Information Procedure Rule 5.2, which states ‘Where there are special circumstances requiring an item to be added to the agenda after publication, the revised agenda will be open to inspection from the time the item was added to the agenda.’

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    Adjourned Special Full Council meeting from 1 December 2020 restarted at 8.00 pm.

     

    During the discussion, the following points were raised:-

    ·         Councillor Fran Smith proposed amended wording for the additional recommendation 2.8 which had been proposed by Councillor Gwil Wren, as follows:-

    To set up a cross party working group of councillors to work constructively with officers to look at an options appraisal for Housing to be delivered by the Housing Revenue Account.  The group must consider the North Taunton Woolaway project first, as a matter of urgency.  Any recommendations or observations from the working group about this project would be sent to Scrutiny, Executive and Full Council for consideration and endorsement.

    ·         The wording was accepted by Councillor Gwil Wren and by the seconder Councillor Janet Lloyd.

    ·         Councillors wanted the project to be delivered on time and on budget for the community.

    ·         Councillor Martin Hill withdrew his proposed deferment of the project.

    ·         Councillors requested clarification on the amended wording.

    Clarification was given.

    ·         Councillor Benet Allen proposed that they moved straight to vote on the recommendations, which was seconded by Councillor Mark Lithgow and was carried.

    ·         Councillor Roger Habgood requested a recorded vote be used, which was seconded by Councillor Federica Smith-Roberts and was carried.

     

    Resolved that Full Council:-

    1)    Allocated a total scheme budget and borrowing requirement for Phases B-E and the conclusion of all phases of the regeneration scheme as set out in confidential Appendix A;               

    2)    Delegated authority to the Section 151 Officer to determine the final funding profile for each future phase once the finalised designs had been received for Phases B-E and any relevant planning approval and contract costs had been received;

    3)    The decant of tenants within Phases B which would allow Gold band status in the Homefinder Somerset allocations system for tenants in this Phase and allow those who wished to move outside the regeneration area sufficient priority to move home;

    4)    Delegated authority to the Director of Housing and Communities in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Housing authority to approve future decanting and demolition for future phases;

    5)    That all new build properties (Phase A-D) would be set at affordable rents in line with the 2020 Rent Setting Policy.  The affordable rents would be set to ensure scheme viability at between 60% and 80% of market rates. However, all NTWP SWT secure tenants who lived within the NTWP (Phases A-D) at February 2019, when the Council made its decision to regenerate the neighbourhood, would have their rents capped at the equivalent social rent if being rehoused in the new NTWP development.  These rents would remain with the tenant as long as they retained their tenancy.  No current NTWP SWT tenant would be required to pay above the equivalent social rent and service charge for their home in line with the Council Shadow Full Council approval to allow existing SWT tenants to remain on a social rent level; and

    6)    That a formal annual review of the project is undertaken to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 88.