Agenda and minutes

CM 27                                                                                                                                                           

Since this was the first Council meeting since Kate Cassar (the Council’s former Head of Property Services) had sadly passed away, the Council proceeded to observe a moment’s reflection in her memory.

CM 28                                                                                                                                               

Apologies for absence were received from Cllrs Musgrave and Stephens.

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

Meeting of Council held on 24 July 2018

CM 29                                                                

It was moved by Cllr P R Sanders, seconded by Cllr L Samuel 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 24 July 2018 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 30                                                                

The Mayor invited Members to declare any interests in the items of business to be considered during the course of the meeting.  These were recorded as follows:

Cllr L Samuel declared a personal interest in Unstarred Minute HC 30 ‘Civil Penalties for Breaches of Housing Standards Enforcement Notices’ (Minute CM 34 d ii below refers) by virtue of being a landlord and she abstained from the vote on this recommendation.

CM 31                                                                

The Mayor confirmed that he had no formal announcements to make to this meeting.

a)    To receive the Minutes of the following Committees, to note the delegated decisions and to consider the adoption of those Unstarred Minutes which require approval:

·         Development Management and Licensing Committee

Meeting held on 18 September 2018:

DM&L 16   Adoption Of Procedures And Fees In Relation To The Animal Welfare (Licensing Of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018

That Council be RECOMMENDED:

1.   That the adoption of the discretionary powers contained within the Animal Welfare Act 2006, and the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018, be adopted, and decisions in relation to the determination of licences and enforcement action be delegated to the Community of Practice Lead for Environmental Health and Licensing by 1 October 2018;

2.   That the Council’s Constitution be amended to reflect a new sub-committee structure to consider objections to conditions on an Animal Licence; and

3.  That having reviewed the proposed fees table, the fees and charges in relation to animal licensing as of 1 October 2018 be adopted.

b)Public Toilet Pay on Entry Contract Award

CM 32                                                                

The Mayor informed that he agreed for four items of urgent business to be raised for consideration at this meeting.

1.    To receive the minutes of the Development Management and Licensing Committee meeting held on 18 September 2018.

The Mayor advised that it was his intention for these minutes to be dealt with during consideration of agenda item 10(iii) below (Minute CM 34 c below refers).

2.    Public Toilet Pay on Entry Contract Award

The Council considered a report that sought to approve a recommendation to award the contract for the provision and installation of Public Toilet Pay on Entry equipment.

The lead Hub Committee Member for Commercial Services introduced the report and stressed that the process of consulting with those affected local town and parish councils was still to be completed.  It was noted that the Business Plan for this initiative would not be finalised until this exercise had been completed.

In the ensuing debate, reference was made to:-

a)    the importance of the contents of the Business Plan;

b)    the process.  Officers assured the Council that, in the event of the Council approving the recommendation, this would not commit the Council to anything beyond the award and all options would be left open pending the outcome of the dialogue with the local town and parish councils;

c)    an amendment was PROPOSED and SECONDED as follows:

‘That the Council approves, in principle, the recommendation to award the contract for the provision and installation of Public Toilet Pay on Entry Equipment to the highest scoring bidder (‘Bidder B’).’

In response to some Members expressing their confusion over the agenda report and the number of unknown elements contained within it, an amendment to include the words ‘in principle’ was felt to be appropriate by the proposer and seconder.

In opposition to the amendment, other Members felt that the amendment did not add anything to the recommendation.  In addition, the point was made that the details of the final Business Case would still be required to be presented back to Members.

When put to the vote, the amendment was declared LOST.

Having been moved by Cllr R F D Sampson, seconded by Cllr T G Pearce and, upon being submitted to the Meeting, it was declared to be CARRIED and “RESOLVED that:

1.     the Council approves the recommendation to award the contract for the provision and installation of Public Toilet Pay on Entry equipment to the highest scoring bidder (‘Bidder B’); and

2.     any changes considered necessary to the terms, or type of equipment used at each facility, be delegated to the Environment Services Community Of Practice Lead, in consultation with the lead Hub Committee Member for Commercial Services.”

3.       Tavistock BID Outside Body

The Mayor advised that the Council had received a formal request to nominate a representative to serve on the Tavistock BID Outside Body.  As a result, both Group Leaders had been invited to make their nominations to serve on this Body and  ...  view the full minutes text for item CM 32

CM 33                                                                                                                                               

The Council considered a report that sought to approve its Medium Term Financial Strategy from 2019/20 to 2023/24.

In discussion, the following points were raised:-

(a)  The importance of as many Members as practically possible attending the informal Budget Workshop on 8 October 2018 was stressed.  It was noted that the overriding aim of the Workshop was to provide officers with a clear steer over options to close the 2019/20 Budget gap;

(b)  An additional recommendation was PROPOSED and SECONDED as follows:

‘That new measures to balance the 2019/20 Budget be brought forward in time for the Council Budget meeting in February 2019.’

(c)  With regard to the recommendation to review the Council’s pension position, Members requested that the message be relayed to staff that this proposal did not impact upon them and was only related to the Council’s employer pension deficit contributions;

(d)  Some Members expressed their belief that the proposal to set an Upper Limit on External Borrowing at £50 million was overly restrictive and could potentially be a barrier to one method of the Council closing its Budget gap.  As a result, an amendment was PROPOSED and SECONDED as follows:

‘That the Council sets an Upper Limit on External Borrowing (for all Council services) as part of the Medium Term Financial Strategy of £50 million (as outlined at exempt Appendix G of the presented agenda report).  However, this Upper Limit can be reviewed at any time’;

Whilst there was some support expressed for this amendment, other Members felt that the Council should not overlook the external treasury management advice and considered the establishment of a cap to be good practice.  In addition, these Members quoted the following two provisions in the Council Constitution and felt that the amendment was therefore unnecessary:

1.     Any motion can be revisited after six months of the decision being taken; and

2.     Within the preceding six months, a motion to rescind a decision can be moved if it is recommended to Council by a Committee or notice of such a motion has been given by a quorum of Members of the Council.

When put to the vote, the amendment was declared LOST.

It was then moved by Cllr P R Sanders, seconded by Cllr L Samuel and, upon being submitted to the Meeting, was declared to be CARRIED and “RESOLVED that:

1.     the forecast budget gap for 2019/20 of £0.45 million and the position for future years be noted;

2.     the current options identified and timescales for closing the Budget gap in 2019/20 and future years (to achieve long term financial sustainability) be noted;

3.     the strategic intention be set to raise Council Tax by the maximum allowed in any given year, without triggering a Council Tax Referendum, to endeavour to continue to deliver services.  (NB. the actual Council Tax for any given year will be decided by the Council in the preceding February);

4.     an application be submitted for Business Rate Pilot status for 2019/20,  ...  view the full minutes text for item CM 33

(i)         Audit Committee

                        Meeting held on 24 July 2018

            (ii)        Overview and Scrutiny Committee

                        Meeting held on 31 July 2018

                        Meeting held on 4 September 2018

(iii)       Development Management and Licensing Committee

            Meeting held on 14 August 2018

            DM&L 11 Public Participation Scheme

            That Council be RECOMMENDED that the:-

1.      proposed amendments to the Development Management Public Participation Scheme be approved, as set out in Appendix 1 of the agenda report presented to the Committee; and

2.      Public Participation Scheme be further amended so that Ward Members are limited to speaking for a maximum of five minutes.

(iv)       Hub Committee

            Meeting held on 11 September 2018

            HC 26 Commercial Property Strategy Amendment

That Council be RECOMMENDED to:

1.    approve and implement the Commercial Property Strategy (as detailed in Appendix A of the presented agenda report to the Hub Committee); and

2.    rescind the currently adopted Commercial Property Acquisition Strategy (as detailed in Appendix E of the presented agenda report to the Hub Committee).

HC 30 Civil Penalties for Breaches of Housing Standards Enforcement Notices

That Council be RECOMMENDED to update the existing Enforcement Policy with the Civil Penalty Policy.

HC 32 IT Systems Procurement

That Council be RECOMMENDED to endorse the ICT Systems Procurement and approve the recommendations as outlined in the exempt reports that were presented to the Overview and Scrutiny and Hub Committees.

Dated this 17^th day of September 2018

Sophie Hosking

Head of Paid Service

CM 34                                                                                                                                               

a.      Audit Committee – 24 July 2018

It was moved by Cllr M Davies, seconded by Cllr K Ball and upon being submitted to the Meeting was declared to be CARRIED and “RESOLVED that the Minutes of the 24 July 2018 meeting be received and noted”.

b.      Overview and Scrutiny Committee – 31 July 2018 and 4 September 2018

It was moved by Cllr J Yelland, seconded by Cllr R Cheadle and upon being submitted to the Meeting was declared to be CARRIED and “RESOLVED that the Minutes of the 31 July 2018 and 4 September 2018 meetings be received and noted”.

c.      Development Management and Licensing Committee – 14 August 2018 and 18 September 2018

It was moved by Cllr P R Sanders, seconded by Cllr A Roberts and upon being submitted to the Meeting was declared to be CARRIED and “RESOLVED that the Minutes of the 14 August 2018 and 18 September 2018 meetings be received and noted, with the exception of Unstarred Minutes DM&L 11 and DM&L 16”.

In response to a Member expressing his concerns over some of the findings expressed in the Planning Advisory Service’s Review report, assurances were given that Committee Members and Substitutes would be given the opportunity to fully consider this report at a future meeting.

In respect of the Unstarred Minutes:

i.   DM&L 11 Public Participation Scheme

    It was moved by Cllr P R Sanders, seconded by Cllr A Roberts and upon being submitted to the Meeting was declared to be CARRIED and “RESOLVED that the:

1.    proposed amendments to the Development Management Public Participation Scheme (as set out in Appendix 1 of the agenda report presented to the Committee) be approved, subject to inclusion of an additional sentence that ensures that speakers are aware that the meeting may be recorded; and

2.    Public Participation Scheme be further amended so that local Ward Members are limited to speaking for a maximum of five minutes.”

ii.  DM&L 16 Adoption of Procedures and Fees in Relation to the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018

It was moved by Cllr P R Sanders, seconded by Cllr A Roberts and upon being submitted to the Meeting was declared to be CARRIED and “RESOLVED that:

1.    the Discretionary Powers contained within the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 be adopted;

2.    decisions in relation to the determination of licences and enforcement action be delegated to the Community Of Practice Lead for Environmental Health and Licensing by 1 October 2018;

3.    the Council Constitution be amended to reflect a new Sub-Committee structure to consider objections to conditions on an Animal Licence; and

4.    the fees and charges in relation to animal licensing (as outlined in the agenda report presented to the Committee) be adopted to come into effect from 1 October 2018.”

d.      Hub Committee – 11 September 2018

It was moved by Cllr P R Sanders,  ...  view the full minutes text for item CM 34