Agenda and minutes

CM 38              

There were no apologies for absence received for this meeting.

To approve and adopt as a correct record the Minutes of the Meeting of Council held on 16 February 2021

CM 39                         

It was moved by Cllr N Jory, seconded by Cllr R Cheadle and, upon the motion being submitted to the Meeting, was declared to be CARRIED and “RESOLVED that the Council agree the minutes of the 16 February 2021 Meeting as a true and correct 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 40             

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 T G Pearce declared a personal interest in Item 9f: ‘Minutes of Committees: Hub Committee Meeting – 16 March 2021’ and specifically ‘Recommendation HC 67: Community Housing – Brentor and Lamerton’ (Minute CM 42f below refers) by virtue of being the Chairman of Brentor Parish Council and remained in the meeting during the debate and vote on this recommendation.

CM 41             

In expressing some disappointment, the Mayor advised that 16 Members had yet to put forward a nomination for his Mayoral Recognition Awards.  To provide one further opportunity for nominations to be submitted, the Mayor informed that he had now extended the deadline for receipt to 5.00pm on Thursday, 1 April 2021.

(i)              Audit Committee

Meeting held on 9 February 2021

(ii)            Development Management Committee

Meeting held on 16 February 2021

(iii)          Council Tax Setting Panel

Meeting held on 23 February 2021

(iv)          Overview & Scrutiny Committee

Meeting held on 2 March

(v)            Standards Committee

Meeting held on 9 March

Recommendation to agree:

SC 4: LGA Model Code of Conduct

That, with effect from the date of the next Annual Council meeting, Council be RECOMMENDED to adopt the LGA Model Code of Conduct (as set out in Appendix C of the presented agenda report to the Standards Committee meeting).

(vi)           Hub Committee

Meeting held on 16 March

                        Recommendations to agree:

HC 66: “Better Homes, Better Lives” Adoption of South Hams and West Devon Housing Strategy 2021/2026

That Council be RECOMMENDED to adopt the “Better Homes, Better Lives” – South Hams and West Devon Housing Strategy for 2021-2026 (as set out at Appendix 1 of the presented agenda report to the Hub Committee meeting).

HC 67: Community Housing – Brentor and Lamerton

5.    That Council be RECOMMENDED to approve the expenditure of £85,000 from the Innovation Fund (Invest to Earn) Earmarked Reserve to undertake detailed design, specification and tendering of the Brentor scheme, subject to a successful planning decision.

HC 68: Month 10 Revenue Budget Monitoring 2020/2021 (to the end of January 2021)

That Council be RECOMMENDED to transfer:-

2.     the business rates pooling gain of £100,000 for 2020/21, into the Business Rates Retention Earmarked Reserve and £200,000 of the 2020/21 projected surplus into a Recovery Plan and Corporate Strategy Earmarked Reserve.

(NB. If approved by Council in March 2021, this would leave a remaining surplus on the 2020/21 Accounts position of a surplus of £23,000 (£323,000 less £100,000 less £200,000) against the 2020/21 Amended Budget);

3.     £80,000 of salary savings from 2020/21 into a Salary Savings Earmarked Reserve, to be ringfenced to support salary costs in 2021/22 as set out in section 1.8 of the presented agenda report; and

4.     any award from the National Leisure Recovery Fund (the national £100million Leisure Fund), into the Leisure Services Earmarked Reserve (as set out in Section 1.12 of the presented agenda report).

(NB. The Council’s indicative allocation is £80,000, which has been applied for).

HC 70: Public Space Protection Orders – Dog Controls

That Council be RECOMMENDED to adopt the Public Space Protection Order 2021 (as outlined at Appendix 1 of the agenda report presented to the Hub Committee Meeting).  To come into effect from 30 March 2021, the Order will introduce the following Borough-wide provisions that require dog walkers to:-

1.                carry the means to pick up and to pick up;

2.                keep dogs on leads on land designated as a Dogs on Lead Area and on roads with speed zones up to 30mph;

3.                comply to put and keep dogs on leads if so directed (by an authorised officer); and

4.                prevent dogs from accessing a dog exclusion zone.

HC 71: Recommendations Arising from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee Meeting held on 2  ...  view the full agenda text for item CM 42

CM 42 

a.    Audit Committee Meeting - 9 February 2021

It was moved by Cllr M Davies, seconded by Cllr P Vachon and upon being submitted to the Meeting was declared to be CARRIED and “RESOLVED that the Minutes of the 9 February 2021 Committee Meeting be received and noted.”

b.    Development Management Committee Meeting - 16 February 2021

It was moved by Cllr J Yelland, seconded by Cllr T Pearce and upon being submitted to the Meeting was declared to be CARRIED and “RESOLVED that the Minutes of the 16 February 2021 Committee Meeting be received and noted.”

c.    Council Tax Setting Panel Meeting - 23 February 2021

It was moved by Cllr T Leech, seconded by Cllr S Hipsey and upon being submitted to the Meeting was declared to be CARRIED and “RESOLVED that the Minutes of the 23 February 2021 Panel Meeting be received and noted.”

d.    Overview & Scrutiny Committee Meeting - 2 March 2021

It was moved by Cllr M Ewings, seconded by Cllr P Kimber and upon being submitted to the Meeting was declared to be CARRIED and “RESOLVED that the Minutes of the 2 March 2021 Committee Meeting be received and noted.”

e.    Standards Committee Meeting – 9 March 2021

It was moved by Cllr T Leech, seconded by Cllr J Yelland and upon being submitted to the Meeting was declared to be CARRIED and “RESOLVED that the Minutes of the 9 March 2021 Committee Meeting be received and noted, with the exception of Recommendation SC 4.”

In respect of the Recommendation:

SC 4: LGA Model Code of Conduct

It was moved by Cllr T Leech, seconded by Cllr J Yelland and upon being submitted to the Meeting was declared to be CARRIED and “RESOLVED that, with effect from the date of the next Annual Council meeting, the LGA Model Code of Conduct (as set out in Appendix C of the agenda report presented to the Standards Committee meeting) be adopted.”

f.     Hub Committee Meeting - 16 March 2021

It was moved by Cllr N Jory, seconded by Cllr L Samuel and upon being submitted to the Meeting was declared to be CARRIED and “RESOLVED that the Minutes of the 16 March 2021 Committee Meeting be received and noted, with the exception of Recommendations HC 66, HC 67, HC 68, HC 70 and HC 71.”

In respect of the Recommendations:

HC 66: “Better Homes, Better Lives” Adoption of South Hams and West Devon Housing Strategy 2021/2026

It was moved by Cllr N Jory, seconded by Cllr L Samuel and upon being submitted to the Meeting was declared to be CARRIED and “RESOLVED that the “Better Homes, Better Lives” – South Hams and West Devon Housing Strategy for 2021-2026 (as set out at Appendix 1 of the presented agenda report to the Hub Committee meeting) be adopted.”

HC 67: Community Housing – Brentor and Lamerton

It was moved by Cllr N Jory, seconded by Cllr L Samuel  ...  view the full minutes text for item CM 42

CM 43 

Consideration was given to a report that recommended that the £85,493 of the National Leisure Recovery Fund (NLRF) that had been received by the Council should be passported through to Fusion.

In discussion, a number of Members highlighted that the Council was in a long-term relationship with Fusion and it was essential that the Council did all it could to support its leisure partner.  Furthermore, the health and wellbeing implications that were linked to the partnership were reiterated by Members.

It was then “RESOLVED that the £85,493 of the National Leisure Recovery Fund (NLRF) funding, be passported through to Fusion to enable them to meet the costs of preparing and carrying out the re-opening schedule from 12 April 2021 onwards, in line with the national roadmap.”

CM 44             

The Council considered a report that sought approval of the draft Capital Strategy; Investment Strategy; and Treasury Management Strategy for 2021/22, together with their associated prudential indicators.

In discussion, reference was made to the Council having declared a Climate Change and Biodiversity Emergency and the emphasis in the draft Strategies to ethical investments was questioned.  In response, it was noted that this was a particularly specialised area of work and the Council’s External Advisors had been asked to do some research during the course of the year.  Whilst it was hoped that ethical investment opportunities would be increasingly taken into account in the equivalent 2022/23 draft strategies, Members also asked that they be kept updated on progress.

It was then “RESOLVED that:

1.       approval be given to the:

i)         2021/22 Capital Strategy (as attached at Appendix A of the presented agenda report);

ii)        2021/22 Treasury Management Strategy (as attached at Appendix B of the presented agenda report);

iii)      2021/22 Investment Strategy (as attached at Appendix C of the presented agenda report); and

2.       delegated authority be given to the Section 151 Officer, in consultation with the Leader of the Council and the Hub Committee Member for Finance, to make any minor amendments to these Strategies if required throughout the 2021/22 Financial Year.”

Dated this 22^nd of March 2021

Andy Bates

                                                        Chief Executive

CM 45 

Members considered a report that sought adoption of the Pay Policy Statement for 2021/22 and the Pay and Reward Strategy for 2021/22.

In his introduction, the Leader made reference to two errors in the published agenda report.  For clarity, these errors were corrected as follows:

-      Section 3.4: ‘The annual median salary of all employees is £29,577’; and

-      Section 3.6: ‘The relationship between the remuneration of the Head of Paid Service and the median salary of all employees is 4.17%’.

In discussion, reference was made to:-

(a)   any gender pay gap.  When questioned, officers confirmed that there was not a significant gender pay gap within the organisation and the exact details would be circulated to Members in due course;

(b)   officers being shared across two councils.  A number of Members paid tribute to the calibre of staff employed by the Council and South Hams District Council and recognised the amount of work that was being carried out by officers.

It was then “RESOLVED that:

1.    the Pay Policy Statement for 2021/22 be adopted (as set out at Appendix A to the presented agenda report); and

2.    the Pay and Reward Strategy for 2021/22 be adopted (as attached at Appendix B of the presented agenda report).”