Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Cllrs K Ball, A Coulson, L Daniel and J Yelland.

(a)      The Purdah Period

The Mayor informed the Council that, in light of the recent decision to call a Parliamentary Election on 12 December 2019, it had been deemed necessary to rearrange the Hub Committee meeting (that was initially scheduled for 3 December 2019) and the Council meeting (that was initially scheduled for 10 December 2019) to now both be held on Tuesday, 17 December 2019.

It was noted that the primary reason for these rearrangements was because of the Purdah period and Members were reminded that more information about Purdah could be found on both the Intranet site and the most recent edition of the Members’ Bulletin.  In addition, the Monitoring Officer and Communications Team were available in the event of any Member queries during this period.

(b)      Mayor’s Charity Race Night

The Mayor reminded Members that he had arranged a Charity Race Night for the evening of Saturday, 16 November 2019 and all Members were invited to attend this Event.

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.

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.

a.      Development Management and Licensing Committee – 3 September 2019

It was moved by Cllr T G Pearce, seconded by Cllr P Crozier and upon being submitted to the Meeting was declared to be CARRIED and “RESOLVED that the Minutes of the 3 September 2019 meeting be received and noted”.

b.      Invest to Earn Committee – 3 September 2019 and 1 October 2019

It was moved by Cllr C Edmonds, seconded by Cllr R Cheadle and upon being submitted to the Meeting was declared to be CARRIED and “RESOLVED that the Minutes of the 3 September 2019 and 1 October 2019 meetings be received and noted”.

c.        Overview and Scrutiny Committee – 8 October 2019

It was moved by Cllr M V L Ewings, seconded by Cllr S Hipsey and upon being submitted to the Meeting was declared to be CARRIED and “RESOLVED that the Minutes of the 8 October 2019 meeting be received and noted”.

Members considered a report that presented some slight revisions to the Council’s Polling Districts and Polling Places Order.

In the ensuing debate, officers confirmed that the stations were all available for the Parliamentary Election on 12 December 2019.

It was then proposed by Cllr N Jory, seconded by Cllr J B Moody and upon being submitted to the Meeting was declared to be CARRIED and ”RESOLVED that the Polling Districts and Polling Places Order 2019 be made.”

The Council considered a report that brought forward a series of recommendations from a recent meeting of its Political Structures Working Group.

In the ensuing debate, reference was made to:-

(a)      the proposed webcasting trial.  When questioned, it was confirmed that the purpose of launching the initiative on an internal trial basis was to enable for the equipment to be rigorously tested and to provide Members with the opportunity to monitor its effectiveness before a final decision was made.  As a reminder, a Member advised that, in line with the transparency agenda, the public and press were already able to live broadcast from formal Member meetings without the prior permission of the Council;

(b)      the option of remote attendance at Member Briefings via Skype.  A number of Members expressed their support for the use of Skype technology and felt that it would help to reduce both travel costs and the Council’s Carbon Footprint.  It was noted that, whilst it would be appropriate for certain Briefings, the technology would not be suitable for formal Member decision-making meetings or interactive Member sessions;

(c)          the proposed revisions to the Recorded Vote procedure.  There was widespread support expressed for the proposed revisions to the Recorded Vote procedure.

It was then proposed by Cllr L Samuel, seconded by Cllr R Musgrave and upon being submitted to the Meeting was declared to be CARRIED and ”RESOLVED that:

1.     the Head of Communications be instructed to progress a three-month trial period (from January to March 2020) of webcasting Council and formal Committee meetings to an internal audience in the first instance, and to report back to the Political Structures Working Group with the findings of this trial before making a recommendation on a final decision to the Council;

2.     where deemed appropriate by the lead officer, Members be given the option of remotely attending Briefings by skype; and

3.     the Constitution be amended so that the method of taking Recorded Votes be changed as follows:

Step 1 – a ‘Recorded Vote’ is called for;

Step 2 – all Members receive a named Voting Paper;

Step 3 – all Members complete their Voting Paper;

Step 4 – all Voting Papers are collected;

Step 5 – all Votes are read to the meeting and collated; and

Step 6 – result of Vote declared.”

Dated this 28^th day of October 2019

Sophie Hosking – Chief Executive

Consideration was given to a report that sought Council approval, for the remainder of the 2019/20 Municipal Year, to establish a ‘Future IT Platforms’ Joint WD/SH Member Working Group and to make appointments to serve on the Devon Audit Partnership Committee.

It was proposed by Cllr N Jory, seconded by Cllr R Cheadle and upon being submitted to the Meeting was declared to be CARRIED and ”RESOLVED that for the remainder of the 2019/20 Municipal Year:

1.         the Council establish a ‘Future IT Platforms’ Joint WD/SH Member and approve the draft Terms of Reference as outlined at Appendix A of the presented agenda report;

2.         the Council representatives on this Group be: Cllrs Cheadle, Edmonds (Chairman), Kimber, Moody and Southcott;

3.         the Council be represented on the Devon Audit Partnership Committee by Cllrs Davies and Ewings; and

4.         attendance at meetings of these Bodies, for the purposes of Members’ Allowances, be regarded as an ‘Approved Duty’.”