Agenda and minutes

CM 64                                                                

Apologies for absence were received from Cllrs W G Cann OBE, C Mott, R F D Sampson, P R Sanders, D K A Sellis, B Stephens and L Watts.

To approve and adopt as a correct record the Minutes of the

Meeting of Council held on 7 February 2017 and the Special Meeting of the Council held on 28 February 2017

CM 65                                                                                                                                               

It was moved by Cllr P R Sanders, seconded by Cllr R E Baldwin and upon the motion being submitted to the Meeting was declared to be CARRIED and “RESOLVED that the Council agree the Minutes of the Meeting held on 7 February 2017 and the Special Meeting held on 28 February 2017 as a true record.”                                                                                                                             

Members are invited to declare any personal or disclosable pecuniary interests, including the nature and extent of such interests they may have in any items to be considered at this meeting.

            If Councillors have any questions relating to predetermination, bias or interests in items on this Summons, then please contact the Monitoring Officer in advance of the meeting.

CM 66                                                                

The Mayor invited Members to declare any interests in the items of business to be considered during the course of the meeting, but there were none made.

CM 67                                                                

The Mayor made reference to:

-       his Civic Dinner.  The Mayor wished to thank Members for their support for his Civic Dinner that had been held on Friday, 10 March 2017;

-       the Annual Council lunch.  Members were reminded of the need to let officers know if they were intending to attend the Annual Council lunch on Tuesday, 23 May 2017;

-       his Mayoral Awards.  The Mayor reminded Members that the Awards Ceremony was taking place on the rising of this Council meeting; and

-       a change to the next Planning and Licensing Committee meeting date.  Due to exceptional circumstances, Members were advised that the next Planning and Licensing Committee meeting had been rearranged to take place on Monday, 24 April 2017.

(i)         Standards Committee

                        Meeting held on 29 November 2016                                                 

(ii)        Planning and Licensing Committee

                        Meeting held on 7 February 2017                                                                  

                        Meeting held on 7 March 2017                                                                                  

            (iii)       Council Tax Resolution Panel

                        Meeting held on 21 February 2017                                                    

            (iv)       Hub Committee

                        Meeting held on 28 February 2017                

                      Meeting held on 28^th March 2017                                

Unstarred Minute to agree

            Members are recommended to agree:

HC 56 Parking Permit Review

That Council be RECOMMENDED that the Season Tickets available in West Devon be renamed Parking Permits and that the Off-Street Parking Places Order be amended to reflect this, together with the following amendments:

1.    That the cost of a Town Centre Parking Permit be reduced from £400 to £280 per annum to reflect the reduced Pay and Display parking charges;

2.    That the cost of a Peripheral Parking Permit be reduced from £195 to £150 per annum in order to encourage more use of this facility;

3.    That the cost of a Rural Parking Permit be reduced from £155 to £150 per annum in order to simplify the offering to our customers;

4.    That a new West Devon Permit be introduced, allowing parking in all long-stay car parks across the Borough, for a fee of £650 per annum;

5.    That Permits become ‘virtual’ (i.e. Customers will no longer receive a paper permit); and

6.    That new Permits be limited to one vehicle registration number only.

HC 57 Revenue Budget Monitoring 2016/17

That Council be RECOMMENDED that the 2016/17 revenue saving of £115,000 on the Leisure budget be transferred into an Earmarked Reserve for Leisure as outlined in section 3.2 of the agenda report presented to the Hub Committee.

HC 58 Capital Budget Monitoring 2016/17

That Council be RECOMMENDED that the Indoor Sports and Recreation facilities capital budget of £296,728 be re-categorised towards the £1.5 million cost of the investment into the Leisure Centres as detailed in Appendix B of the presented agenda report to the Hub Committee.

HC 59 Emergency Response Plan

That Council be RECOMMENDED that the proposed emergency response arrangements be approved.

HC 60 Homelessness Strategy 2017/22

That Council be RECOMMENDED that the:

1.    Homelessness Strategy 2017-22 and the 2017 Action Plan be adopted; and

2.    Joint Member Task and Finish Group be retained as a Homeless Strategy Monitoring Group.

Meeting held on 28 March 2017                                                                    

Unstarred Minute to agree

Members are recommended to agree:

HC 68 Review of Hub Committee and Overview and Scrutiny Function

That Council be RECOMMENDED that:

1.    the existing governance arrangements for the Hub Committee are working well and should therefore be retained;

2.    the Overview and Scrutiny function be carried out by one Committee (rather than two) with effect from the Annual Meeting in May 2017;

3.    with effect from the Annual Meeting in May 2017, Members of the Council sit on either the Hub Committee, Audit Committee or Overview and Scrutiny Committee.  In so doing, substitutes will not be allowed on any of these three Committees;

4.    the  ...  view the full agenda text for item CM 68

CM 68                                                                

a.    Standards Committee – 29 November 2017

It was moved by Cllr A F Leech, seconded by Cllr J Sheldon and upon being submitted to the Meeting was declared to be CARRIED and “RESOLVED that the Minutes of the 29 November 2017 be received and noted”.

b.    Planning and Licensing Committee – 7 February 2017 and 7 March 2017

It was moved by Cllr G Parker, seconded by Cllr J Yelland and upon being submitted to the Meeting was declared to be CARRIED and “RESOLVED that the Minutes of the 7 February 2017 and 7 March 2017 meetings be received and noted”.

c.    Council Tax Resolution Panel – 21 February 2017

It was moved by Cllr J Sheldon, seconded by Cllr R E Baldwin and upon being submitted to the Meeting was declared to be CARRIED and “RESOLVED that the Minutes of the 21 February 2017 meeting be received and noted”.

d.   Hub Committee – 28 February 2017 and 28 March 2017

It was moved by Cllr R E Baldwin, seconded by Cllr G Parker and upon being submitted to the Meeting was declared to be CARRIED and “RESOLVED that the Minutes of the 28 February 2017 and 28 March 2017 meeting be received and noted, with the exception of Unstarred Minutes HC 56, HC 57, HC 58, HC 59, HC 60, HC 68 and HC 69”.

In respect of the Unstarred Minutes:

i.    HC 56 Parking Permit Review

Having been moved by Cllr R E Baldwin and seconded by Cllr G Parker, a debate ensued on the motion.  During this debate, it became apparent that there was widespread support for the proposed pricing structure.  However, there were some concerns expressed over the apparent lack of clarity regarding the definitions that were being applied to Council Car Parks.  As a consequence, Members asked that the Car Parking Strategy Group specifically review all aspects of these definitions, including the signage that advertised them.

It was then submitted to the Meeting and was declared to be CARRIED and “RESOLVED that the Season Tickets available in West Devon be renamed Parking Permits and that the Off-Street Parking Places Order be amended to reflect this, together with the following amendments:

1.    That the cost of a Town Centre Parking Permit be reduced from £400 to £280 per annum to reflect the reduced Pay and Display parking charges;

2.    That the cost of a Peripheral Parking Permit be reduced from £195 to £150 per annum in order to encourage more use of this facility;

3.    That the cost of a Rural Parking Permit be reduced from £155 to £150 per annum in order to simplify the offering to our customers;

4.    That a new West Devon Permit be introduced, allowing parking in all long stay car parks across the Borough, for a fee of £650 per annum;

5.    That Permits become ‘virtual’ (i.e. Customers will no longer receive a paper permit); and

6.    That each new Permit be limited to one vehicle registration  ...  view the full minutes text for item CM 68

Report of the Section 151 Officer

CM 69

A report was considered that sought approval of the proposed Treasury Management and Investment Strategies together with their associated prudential indicators.

The report also noted that the Audit Committee considered the Strategy at its meeting on 21 March 2017 (Minute AC 32 refers) and had recommended its approval.

In discussion, reference was made to:-

(a)   Member Training.  The lead Hub Committee Member confirmed that it was intended that Member Training on Treasury Management would be arranged to take place during the summer months;

(b)   the Capital Expenditure table (as outlined on page 55 of the presented agenda).  For clarity, it was confirmed that there was an error on the published table and the totals were in ‘£000’s’ and not in ‘£Millions’ as had been illustrated.

It was moved by Cllr C Edmonds and seconded by Cllr R E Baldwin and declared CARRIED and ”RESOLVED that approval be given to:

1.     the prudential indicators and limits for 2017/18 to 2019/20 (as contained within Appendix A of the presented agenda report);

2.     the Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) statement (that sets out the Council’s policy on MRP) contained within Appendix A of the presented agenda report;

3.     the Treasury Management Strategy 2017/18 and the treasury prudential indicators 2017/18 to 2019/20 (as contained within Appendix B of the presented agenda report); and

4.     the Investment Strategy 2017/18 (as contained within Appendix C of the presented agenda report) and the detailed criteria (as detailed within Appendix D of the presented agenda report).

Report of the Commissioning Manager

CM 70

The Council considered a report that presented the draft 2016/17 Annual Report for approval.

In discussion, reference was made to:-

(a)   the presentation of the Report.  A number of Members wished to put on record their support for the format and visual presentation of the document.  In so doing, these Members congratulated the lead officer for her hard work in the production of the Report;

(b)   the Council of the Year Award 2016.  Some Members were of the view that the Council of the Year Award 2016 was a misleading statement in the Annual Report and felt that it would have been a more accurate reflection to include reference to it being an iESE sponsored award;

(c)    the tone of the report.  The view was expressed that the tone throughout the report did not necessarily reflect the difficulties and challenges that the Council had faced during 2016/17.  In reply, other Members felt that the challenges had been acknowledged and specifically highlighted the opening paragraph in the Report which stated that ‘the 2016/17 financial year had undoubtedly been a challenging year with reduced central funding for local government’;

(d)   the increase in online transactions.  Members welcomed the fact that online transactions had increased by 17% and call volumes had decreased by 33% and it was hoped that these performance trends would continue.

It was moved by Cllr R E Baldwin and seconded by Cllr G Parker and declared CARRIED and ”RESOLVED that:

1.     the progress and achievements made by the Council be noted; and

2.     the Annual Report (as outlined at Appendix A of the presented agenda report) for the financial year 2016/17 be adopted and published.

Report of the Specialist – Member Services

CM 71

Consideration was given to a report that presented the draft Calendar of Meetings for 2017/18 for approval.

During discussion, the following points were raised:-

(a)   Members expressed their support for the alternative presentation of the Calendar;

(b)   In terms of the format of the Informal Hub Committee meetings, it was confirmed that these would be attended by Hub Committee Members and representatives of the Senior Leadership Team and the wider membership would not be invited to attend these sessions.

It was moved by Cllr R E Baldwin and seconded by Cllr G Parker and declared CARRIED and ”RESOLVED that the draft Calendar of Meetings for 2017/18 (as outlined at Appendix A of the presented agenda report) be approved.”