Agenda and minutes

The Chairman explained that no petitions had been received for presentation to this meeting.

Mr Brian Warwick addressed Council on the decision of Cabinet dated 6 November 2012 on ‘Integration of Public Health’ – Cabinet minute no 124 refers. Mr Warwick requested a meeting with the Leader of the Council to discuss his concerns over protecting care services and the Government White Paper on Healthy Lives and Healthy People.  The Chairman advised that such a meeting had been arranged and would be held shortly. Mr Warwick was satisfied with this response.

Cllr John Noeken, Cabinet member for Resources presented a report which updated members with the results of consultation relating to a number of anomalies within the electoral arrangements for 2013.  The report also  recommended the making of an Order to correct the anomalies  and to make changes at Warminster and Royal Wootton Bassett.

Members were reminded that details of the anomalies were presented to Council on 10 July 2012 when it was resolved to undertake further consultation as the first part of making an order under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007. The responses to the consultation were set out in the report.  

Resolved:

1.         That, subject to there being no objections from the Local Government Boundary Committee for England, the provisions of the Statutory Instrument 2009 No. 531 The County of Wiltshire (Electoral Changes) Order 2009 be amended as follows:

a)                The Calne Town Council to consist of 19 councillors, representing four wards: Calne Chilvester & Abberd (4 members) Calne North (5 members), Calne Central (5 members) and Calne South (5 members), with no alteration to the areas shown on the 2009 Order maps.

b)            The Corsham Town Council to consist of 20 councillors  representing five wards: Corsham Town (7 members), Corsham Pickwick (7 members), Corsham Gastard (2 members), Corsham Neston (3 members) and Corsham Rudloe (1 members) with no alteration to the areas shown on the 2009 Order maps.

c)        Warminster Town Council should comprise 13 councillors, representing four wards: Warminster Broadway (4 members), Warminster East (4 members), Warminster West (4 members) and Warminster Copheap & Wylye (1 member) with no alteration to the areas shown on the 2009 Order maps.

d)          The names of the Unitary Divisions of Wootton Bassett North, Wootton Bassett South and Wootton Bassett East and the town wards of Wootton Bassett North, Wootton Bassett South and Wootton Bassett East be amended by the inclusion of the prefix “Royal” in their titles with no alteration to the areas shown on the 2009 Order maps.

2.           The effective date for the commencement of the Order be set to provide for the effective conduct of the 2013 parish and town council elections in May 2013.

3.    Power be delegated to the Head of Legal Services to complete the Order in accordance with the contents of this report.

Councillor John Thomson, Cabinet member for Adult Care, Communities and Housing presented a report previously considered by Cabinet on 6 November which provided options in response to the Government’s Welfare Reform changes that would see a significant reduction in the Council’s funding of Council Tax Benefit.

It was proposed therefore to bring in a local, means tested, method of calculating a reduction in council tax; as well as a number of technical changes to council tax discounts and exemptions to go in part to meet that imposed funding gap. A consultation had taken place and it was reported that there had been no significant changes to the results.

The council tax support scheme would only be applied to non-pensioners, on a low or fixed income and be introduced by next April.  Legislation required that this be a decision of full council and that decision then enables a series of defined steps the Council must take to introduce a robust and lawful scheme approved by DCLG by 31^st January in order to set its 2013/14 Council Tax and budget requirement thereafter.

The report also identified ways in which the Council proposed to help those most affected through further discretionary support schemes in order to meet its objective of protecting the most vulnerable and strengthening and building resilient communities.

The Leader paid tribute to the work carried out by Cllr Thomson, Michael Hudson and his team in responding to this challenge. She also considered that the proposals put forward as recommended by Cabinet was the fairest way of introducing such a scheme.

Cllr Jon Hubbard also thanked Michael Hudson and his team for their work. However, he pointed out that the Liberal Democrat group had responded to the consultation, details of which had not been incorporated into the report presented. Cllr Thomson acknowledged receipt of the Liberal Democrat proposals and assured him they would be included as part of the consultation responses.

RESOLVED:

1.    That a local council tax support scheme is introduced, as set out at paragraphs 16 to 18 of the report presented. In particular that capital savings of £10,000 be approved as the level up to which to account for before applying the scheme.

2.    That Technical changes are made to the way in which council tax discounts for second homes and exemptions for properties in classes A, C and L are applied from 1April 2013, as set out at Appendix 2 of the report, and paragraph 20.

3.    That Council introduce a discretionary fund to be administered in conjunction with the discretionary housing payments (DHP) and ring fence the Social Fund grant allocation to mitigate the impact of transition from the old scheme to the new, in cases where householders may feel the impact of other changes to benefit entitlement, under-occupancy costs, for example. Criteria for awards under this scheme to be approved by Cabinet and Council by January / February 2013 and implemented from 1st April 2013.

4.    That the Council expresses its concerns  ...  view the full minutes text for item 83.

None received.

There were no Notices of Motion received.

The Chairman reported receipt of questions from Councillors Ernie Clark, Nicholas Fogg, Stephen Oldrieve and Chris Caswill details of which were circulated and attached as Appendix B to these minutes together with the responses given.

Questioners agreed to take their questions as read and were given an opportunity to ask a relevant supplementary question to which the relevant Cabinet member responded. Supplementary questions are summarised as follows and should be read in conjunction with the questions and responses:

Cllr Steve Oldrieve – Question on the changes to policy at the Wiltshire Probation Service – asked if the Leader as a local Division member for Chippenham agreed with the submitted question. The Leader explained that policy change referred to was the responsibility of the Wiltshire Probation Service but that she would obtain further information on this issue.

Cllr Ernie Clark – Question on recovery of non pensionable honorarium payments – sought details of the legal team’s recommendations on this issue. The Leader explained that the Corporate Leadership Team would in due course and in consultation with her, consider recommendations. Given that details could not be discussed in open session, the Leader suggested that Cllr Clark should discuss the matter with the Monitoring Officer.

Cllr Ernie Clark – Question on the KPMG Executive Summary on the non pensionable honorarium payments – asked that given the advice received, what was being done to recover the increased redundancy payment. The Leader referred to her response to the supplementary question above.

Cllr Ernie Clark – Question on the KPMG Executive Summary on the non pensionable honorarium payments – asked how many other redactions had been made to the full report. The Leader suggested that Cllr Clark may also wish to discuss this with the Monitoring Officer and explained that the Council had a duty to follow the advice of the Information Commissioner on what information could be released into the public domain.

Cllr Chris Caswill – Wiltshire Core Strategy and wind farms – asked what had happened between the Cabinet meeting on 19 June and Council meeting on 26 June 2012 which resulted in a different conclusion and the inclusion of an amendment in respect of wind farms by the Council. The Leader explained that it was a different debate at the Council meeting where all members present had the opportunity to be involved and not just the Cabinet. She considered that this represented good governance as it demonstrated that Council considered all the issues involved and did not simply endorse the Cabinet proposals.

Cllr Chris Caswill – Privatisation of the care service – Concern over privatisation of care services by the Health and Wellbeing Board.  The Leader assured Cllr Caswill that the Council would examine the outcomes and challenge if there were any concerns. She advised that Healthwatch would also be represented on the Health and Wellbeing Board which would also play a part in keeping a close eye on the situation.

Cllr Chris Caswill – Winterbourne View – asked whether Cllr John Thomson  ...  view the full minutes text for item 86.

The Chairman moved that Council receive and note the following minutes as listed in the separate Minutes Book and the additional minutes circulated separately in the Agenda Supplement and this was duly seconded by the Vice- Chairman.

The Chairman then invited questions from councillors on points of information or clarification on the above minutes and gave the Chairmen of those meetings the opportunity to make any important announcements on the work of their respective Committees.

Cllr John Noeken, Cabinet member for Resources gave an update on the Parliamentary Boundary Review, details of which were presented.

Cabinet  6 November 2012 – Minute no. 126 – Controlled Waste Regulations 2012 and Proposed Changes to the Council’s Charging Policies

Cllr Soden explained that whilst the above minute made reference to Village Hall Committees it did not specifically refer to Village Halls as had been requested. The Leader agreed with this and gave an assurance that the minute would be altered for the next Cabinet meeting.

Northern Area Planning Committee

Cllr Tony Trotman, Chairman of the Northern Area Planning Committee advised that the meeting scheduled for 21 November 2012 had been cancelled.

Standards Committee 24 October – Minute no. 19 – Implementation of New Standards Framework – Update

The Chairman drew Council’s attention to the minutes of the Standards Committee dated 24 October 2012 which had been previously circulated in the Agenda Supplement and treated as an addition to the Minutes Book for consideration under this item.

These minutes contained a recommendation to the Council which Cllr Julian Johnson, Chairman of the Standards Committee presented. The Standards Committee had at Council’s request, considered whether it was appropriate to require any additional pecuniary and non-pecuniary interests to be declared and registered under the Council’s Code of Conduct in accordance with the discretion it had under Section 28(3) of the Localism Act 2011. It had also considered whether Councillors with disclosable pecuniary interests should be required to withdraw from meetings.

The Standards Committee recommended Council  ...  view the full minutes text for item 87.

The report and minutes of the Wiltshire Police Authority meetings held on 20 July 2012 and 20 September 2012, along with a report from Cllr Carole Soden, Vice-Chairman of the Police Authority were received and noted. No questions from Councillors had been received on these documents.

Cllr Soden reported that the Police Authority had met for the last time on 1 November 2012 and would be replaced by the new Police and Crime Commissioner arrangements on 22 November 2012. It was noted that the election for a Police and Crime Commissioner would be held on 15 November 2012.

Council thanked Cllr Soden for all her hard work in representing the Council on the Wiltshire Police Authority, particularly as its Vice-Chairman and for her regular update reports to the Council.

The minutes of the Wiltshire and Swindon Fire Authority meeting held on 27

September 2012 were received and noted. No questions had been received from Councillors.