Agenda and minutes
PDF 256 KBVenue: The John Meikle Room - The Deane House. View directions
Contact: Clare Rendell Email: c.rendell@somersetwestandtaunton.gov.uk
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Apologies
To receive any apologies for absence. Additional documents: Minutes: Apologies were received from Councillors M Blaker, A Hadley, M Hill, J Hunt, R Lees, C Morgan, C Palmer, M Peters, F Smith-Roberts and K Wheatley. |
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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 7 December 2021 circulated with the agenda)
Resolved that the minutes of Full Council held on 7 December 2021 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:-
Councillor M Kravis further declared a pecuniary interest on agenda item 10 and would leave the room during the debate. |
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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.
Temporary measures during the Coronavirus Pandemic Due to the temporary legislation (within the Coronavirus Act 2020, which allowed for use of virtual meetings) coming to an end on 6 May 2021, the council’s committee meetings will now take place in the office buildings within the John Meikle Meeting Room at the Deane House, Belvedere Road, Taunton. Unfortunately due to capacity requirements, the Chamber at West Somerset House is not able to be used at this current moment.
Following the Government guidance on measures to reduce the transmission of coronavirus (COVID-19), the council meeting rooms will have very limited capacity. With this in mind, we will only be allowing those members of the public who have registered to speak to attend the meetings in person in the office buildings, if they wish (we will still be offering to those members of the public that are not comfortable in attending, for their statements to be read out by a Governance and Democracy Case Manager). Please can we urge all members of the public who are only interested in listening to the debate to view our live webcasts from the safety of their own home to help prevent the transmission of coronavirus (COVID-19). 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 wished to pass on her condolences to Councillor F Smith and Councillor F Smith-Roberts on the passing of a close relative.
The Chair congratulated Councillor F Smith-Roberts on the birth of her twins in January 2022.
The Chair also advised councillors that if they were standing for the Unitary Elections in May 2022, there would be two candidate sessions held on 23 February and 2 March 2022, if they wished to gain further information on becoming a unitary councillor. |
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To receive any communications or announcements from the Leader of the Council
Additional documents: Minutes: There were no announcements made by the Leader of the Council. |
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To receive any questions from Councillors in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 13
Additional documents: Minutes: No questions were received in regard to Procedure Rule 13. |
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This matter is the responsibility of Executive Councillor for Housing, Councillor Francesca Smith.
This report updates Members on the proposed Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Annual Revenue Budget and Capital Programme for 2022/23, including the proposed Rent Setting for 2022/23. This report also provides an update on the 5-Year Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) and the 30-Year Business Plan Review.
Note - A recorded vote on these recommendations will be required as per the legislation. Additional documents: Minutes: During the discussion the following points were made:- · Councillors agreed that officers had done a very good job on producing the budget papers especially for a challenging environment such as housing and construction. · Councillors were proud of the work achieved in the zero-carbon sector of the department. · The Portfolio Holder for Housing thanked all councillors for their support.
In accordance with Standing Order 18(2)(i), the Chair called for a recorded vote to be taken and recorded in the Minutes.
The recommendations, which are detailed below, were put and were CARRIED with thirty-seven Councillors in favour and eight abstaining:-
2.1.1 To approve the HRA Annual Revenue Budget for 2022/23. 2.1.2 To approve the increase of 4.1% (CPI+1%) to Dwelling Rents for 2022/23. 2.1.3 To approve the HRA Capital Programme for 2022/23. 2.1.4 To note the reviewed and updated assumptions in the 5-Year Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP). 2.1.5 To note the reviewed and updated assumptions in the 2021 HRA 30-Year Business Plan.
Those voting FOR the MOTION: Councillors I Aldridge, B Allen, L Baker, C Booth, S Buller, D Darch, H Davies, T Deakin, D Durdan, K Durdan, C Ellis, H Farbahi, E Firmin, A Govier, S Griffiths, J Hassall, D Johnson, M Kravis, S Lees, L Lisgo, M Lithgow, J Lloyd, D Mansell, S Nicholls, D Perry, H Prior-Sankey, A Pritchard, M Rigby, F Smith, A Sully, R Tully, T Venner, S Wakefield, D Wedderkopp, B Weston, L Whetlor and G Wren.
Those ABSTAINING from voting: Councillors M Barr, N Cavill, R Habgood, A Milne, S Pugsley, V Stock-Williams, N Thwaites and A Trollope-Bellew. |
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External Auditor Appointment Procurement Process
This matter is the responsibility of Executive Councillor for Corporate Resources, Councillor Ross Henley.
This report sets out proposals for appointing the external auditor to the Council for the accounts for the five-year period from 2023/24. PSAA is seeking a decision from existing local authorities in Somerset pending the statutory instruments that establish the new unitary council. Additional documents: Minutes: During the discussion, the following point was made:- · Councillors agreed that the auditors had performed very well and that it was a good code of practice for the appointment to go through the procurement process.
Resolved that Full Council:- 2.1Accepted Public Sector Audit Appointments’ invitation to opt into the sector-led option for the appointment of external auditors to principal local government and police bodies for five financial years from 1 April 2023. 2.2Delegated authority to the S151 Officer to sign the Notice of Acceptance of the invitation to opt in. 2.3Noted that newly established local government bodies had the right to opt into PSAA’s scheme under Regulation 10 of the Appointing Person Regulations 2015, which would enable the new unitary council to consider opting in to PSAA scheme or making alternative arrangements when legally constituted. |
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Licensing Policies for the Licensing Act 2003 and Gambling Act 2005
This matter is the responsibility of Executive Councillor for Environmental Services, Councillor Andrew Sully.
The purpose of this report is to bring members up to speed with the work that has taken place to re-draft the two policies, with a view to them being formally adopted, in accordance with the Council’s constitution. Additional documents: Minutes: Councillor M Kravis left the room for the item.
Resolved that Full Council approved the two policies proposed at Appendices 1 and 2. |
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Changes to the Constitution
This matter is the responsibility of the Leader of the Council, Councillor Federica Smith-Roberts.
The matters set out in this report amount to modest changes to the SWT Constitution. This is to achieve, better clarity, the updating of minor changes and procedural refinement. This will ease the interpretation and effectiveness of the Constitution. Additional documents: Minutes: Councillor M Kravis returned to the room.
During the discussion, the following points were raised:- · Councillors queried why the report had not been taken to a Scrutiny Committee for debate. The Governance Specialist advised the correct democratic pathway for any changes to the Constitution, was the Audit and Governance Committee followed by Full Council. The report was taken to the Audit and Governance Committee on 13 December 2021. · Councillors queried why the number of signatures for a petition needed to be raised. Concern was raised that it would lead to fewer petitions being submitted and exclude certain groups from making contact with Full Council. The Deputy Leader advised that a balance needed to be struck with the figures used. He also advised that it would be good practice to align with the figures used by the other councils in Somerset. However, at this time, he was happy to keep the figure at 200 signatures. · Councillors queried a section of the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the Phosphates Sub-Committee, which related to who could be a member of the sub-committee. The current ToR stated that only members of the Planning Committee could be a member of the sub-committee, however, they knew of members of the sub-committee that were not members of the Planning Committee. The Deputy Leader advised that it was not good practice to have non Planning Committee members on the sub-committee but was happy to have a discussion to resolve the matter. · Councillors requested clarification on the term ‘Motion’ used in different sections of the Constitution and what was the difference between a Motion submitted in advance and a Motion proposed during a debate. Clarification was given. · Councillors queried what the asterix meant in some of the titles of the Constitution. The Governance Specialist advised that those rules marked with an asterix applied to Council and to the Committees. · Councillors highlighted what they believed to be an error in the section on Petitions on page 318 of the agenda, which related to forwarding on some petitions to the County Council. This was an error and would be removed. · Some concern was raised on why the Constitution was being amended in the last year of the Council. Councillors advised that the Constitution was a ‘living’ document and could be updated at any point to ensure the smooth running of council business. · The Chair agreed a 10-minute adjournment to allow for a resolution on the query raised on members of the Phosphate Sub-Committee.
The meeting adjourned at 7.05pm. The meeting restarted at 7.15pm.
The Chair confirmed the following corrections that would be included in the amendments to the Constitution:- · The number of signatures required for a petition to be valid, would remain at 200. · The time for a proposer of a motion would remain at 10 minutes. · Two slight revisions were made in respect of Appendix C1 and C2 pertaining to the Council Procedure Rules. The first was in respect of 26.5 and the language inserted around ... view the full minutes text for item 88. |
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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 & Parks, Sports and Leisure c) Councillor Christopher Booth – Community d) Councillor Ross Henley – Corporate Resources e) Councillor Marcus Kravis – Asset Management and Economic Development f) Councillor Caroline Ellis – Culture g) Councillor Dixie Darch – Climate Change h) Councillor Mike Rigby – Planning and Transportation i) Councillor Francesca Smith - Housing j) Councillor Andy Sully – Environmental Services
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 raised concern that on page 377 of the agenda, it only appeared to mention Taunton in the works around Town Centres and that there should be information on Wellington and Minehead. · Councillors also mentioned that updates on the Wellington Partnership had not been included in the Employment Skills section on page 381 of the agenda. The Portfolio Holder for Asset Management and Economic Development agreed they were both good points made and that he would include an update in his next report. · Councillors thanked the Portfolio Holder for Planning and Transportation for his comments on the High Street Health Checks. · Councillors chased information they had requested on the members of the Innovation Group. The Portfolio Holder for Asset Management and Economic Development would resend the information to councillors. |