Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Magnus Macdonald, Dennis Drewett, Horace Prickett, Cllr Pat Aves, Cllr Richard Gamble, Cllr Jacqui Lay, Bill Douglas and Rosemary Brown.

This was the first meeting to be held in the Council Chamber in County Hall, following its refurbishment. The Chairman welcomed all members back to the traditional venue for full Council.

With the Chairman’s permission, the Leader thanked Julie Anderson-Hill, Head of Transformational Change and her team for the way they had handled the refurbishment programme. She also thanked them for the fantastic job they had carried out in managing the movement of staff, noting that a further 3,000 staff would be moved shortly.

To approve as correct records and sign the minutes of the ordinary meeting of Council held on 9 July 2013, and the extraordinary meeting of Council held on 3 September 2013.

The minutes of the ordinary meeting held on 9 July 2013 and the extraordinary meeting held on 3 September 2013 were presented.

Resolved:

That the minutes of the Council meetings held on 9 July and 3 September 2013 be approved as correct records and signed by the Chairman.

To receive any declarations of disclosable interests or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

No declarations of interest were made.

a)            Order of Business

With the consent of council, the Chairman agreed to take ‘Councillors’ Questions’ (item no. 8) at the end of the meeting (after item 16).  This she explained was in view of the volume of questions received and to ensure there was sufficient time to transact the main business of the Council as listed in the Summons.

b)        Recent Royal Visits

The Chairman announced that the County had been fortunate to have had three Royal visits in recent months.

In October, His Royal Highness the Duke Of Kent visited two Wiltshire businesses.  M+W High Tech Projects in Chippenham, to present them with the Queen’s Award for Enterprise for international trade, and Ark Data Centres in Spring Park, Corsham, to see the latest developments in secure data storage. 

later in the month, Her Royal Highness the Duchess Of Cornwall attended the High Sheriff’s Concert in aid of youth action Wiltshire held in the Chapel at Marlborough College.  The concert, which centred on the life of Handel, was supported by over 450 people and was truly magnificent.  The Chairman commented that it was a great pleasure to be asked to attend the concert and to support such a worthy Wiltshire organisation by doing so.

In November, Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal visited the Wiltshire Barn Project in Woodborough, near Pewsey.  This charitable project aimed to support wounded, injured and sign ex-servicemen from all three services by providing a craft-based bookbinding training, qualification and employment scheme.  It was good to meet veterans benefitting from this project and to see firsthand the value which this project provided to them.

His Royal Highness the Earl of Wessex had recently been made Chancellor of Bath University.  The Chairman explained that she had been invited to attend the Installation ceremony in Bath Abbey last week and the official opening of the new Chancellor’s Building at the University later in the afternoon.   The Chairman commented it was a privilege to be part of such a memorable occasion.

(c )    Arctic Convoy Star Medal Presentation

In September, the Chairman had hosted, in conjunction with the Mayor of Swindon and Wiltshire MP’s, a ceremony to honour Wiltshire residents who received the Arctic Convoy Star Medal.  The Medal was awarded to veterans of both the Arctic Convoys and of Bomber Command.  Described by Sir Winston Churchill as ‘the worst journey in the world’, the Arctic Convoy ships of the Royal And Merchant navies made repeated perilous journeys in sub-zero temperatures to ensure vital supplies of both arms and food supplies reached Russian shores.  Many lost their lives but their efforts are widely recognised as helping Russia’s war effort and significantly shortening World War II. 

The Chairman explained that it had been a very humbling experience to join with MP’s to present the veterans with their medals and commemorative scrolls from the Council to acknowledge their gallantry. 

(d)          Remembrance Day Services And Parades

The Chairman said she had been delighted to be to attend  ...  view the full minutes text for item 62.

A report by the Head of Democratic Services was presented which gave Council details of the 11 petitions received for the period since the last Council meeting.

Resolved:

That Council note the report, the petitions received and the actions being taken in relation to them, as set out in the Appendix to the report.

No petitions have been received for presentation at this meeting.

No petitions had been received for presentation at this meeting.

Report of the Democratic Governance Manager.

A report by the Head of Democratic Governance Manager was presented which gave Council details of 11 petitions received for the period since the last Council meeting. It was noted that the petition in respect of Speeding through Colingbourne Ducis had in fact been referred to Tidworth Area Board and not Marlborough Area Board as shown in the appendix presented.

Resolved:

That Council note the report, the petitions received and the actions being taken in relation to them, as set out in the Appendix to the report as presented.

The Council welcomes contributions from members of the public.

Statements

If you would like to make a statement at this meeting on any item on this agenda, please register to do so at least 10 minutes prior to the meeting. Up to 3 speakers are permitted to speak for up to 3 minutes each on any agenda item. Please contact the officer named above for any further clarification.

Questions

To receive any questions from members of the public  received in accordance with the constitution. Those wishing to ask questions are required to give notice of any such questions in writing to the officer named above (acting on behalf of the Corporate Director) no later than 5pm on Tuesday 5 November 2013. Please contact the officer named on the first page of this agenda for further advice. Questions may be asked without notice if the Chairman decides that the matter is urgent.

Details of any questions received will be circulated to Councillors prior to the meeting and made available at the meeting and on the Council’s website.

No requests for public participation had been received for this meeting.

For Council’s ease of reference the rules on how a motion is dealt with at Council taken from Part 4 of the Council’s constitution is attached.

To consider the following notices of motions:

Council was asked to consider the following motions received in accordance with the Council’s Constitution.

To assist Council in its consideration of this motion, the Council’s response to the Department for Education’s consultation: ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ is also attached.

The Chairman reported receipt of the above mentioned motion.

Cllr Helen Osborn moved the following motion which was duly seconded by Cllr Jeff Osborn:

‘This council congratulates the political and managerial leadership of Children Services in granting permission for their specialist staff to speak out to the national media regarding the Department of Education’s new guidance on child protection and safeguarding in schools. This is a far too important a matter to be left to the autonomy of headteachers’.

To assist Council in its consideration of this motion, details of the Council’s response to the Department for Education’s consultation: ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ was presented.

Cllr Helen Osborn thanked officers for inclusion of the Council’s response to the Guidance in the Council Summons which she considered very helpful. She considered that child protection and safeguarding measures should remain the responsibility of local authorities and not left to individual headteachers.

Cllr Laura Mayes, Cabinet member for Children’s Services explained that she had welcomed and appreciated officers speaking to the media to raise awareness of such an important issue. Cllr Mayes supported Deborah Steele’s comments and it was noted that the Council had been invited to discuss the matter with the Minister. Cllr Mayes supported the motion.

The Chairman moved that the motion be debated and this was seconded by the Vice-Chairman and on being put to the vote, it was

Resolved:

That the motion be debated.

Debate

The Leader stressed that the most important thing was to work with our schools. She commented that we had a close working relationship with our schools that would enable us to work together to continue the good work achieved on safeguarding.

Cllr Jon Hubbard commented that he was delighted that the Council had been forthright in its views on this important issue. He agreed that working closely with schools and the partnership arrangements we had with them were very important. Cllr Ernie Clark also supported the motion and agreed with partnership working with schools on this. This was also echoed by Cllr Ricky Rogers.

On being put to the vote, the Motion was adopted and it was therefore

Resolved:

That notice of motion no. 2 be adopted as presented as follows:

That this council congratulates the political and managerial leadership of Children Services in granting permission for their specialist staff to speak out to the national media regarding the Department of Education’s new guidance on child protection and safeguarding in schools. This is a far too important a matter to be left to the autonomy of headteachers.

The Chairman reported receipt of the above mentioned motion.

Cllr Jeff Osborn moved the following motion which was duly seconded by Cllr Terry Chivers:

‘This council requires officers to investigate the opportunities provided in the Sustainable Communities Act 2007 to levy a charge on all Wiltshire supermarkets with the object of reducing parking charges in our city and market towns.

A report should be presented in sufficient time before the next full council to enable a notice of motion to be prepared so that a debate can take place on the matter’.

Cllr Jeff Osborn presented the above motion. He compared town centre car parking where customers had to pay for car parking with supermarkets where customer parking was provided free of charge. He considered that this represented a gross inequality in the retail trade and that there should be a level playing field between supermarkets and the town centre retail trade. He therefore supported the principle of taking this further.

Cllr John Thomson, Cabinet member for Cabinet Member for Highways,

Streetscene and Broadband explained that such a process would entail a very lengthy and complicated process with far reaching implications. Cllr Thomson considered that as it was a policy development issue which would require detailed consideration, it should be referred to Overview and Scrutiny to investigate and research.

The Chairman, noting that such a proposal would require detailed consideration, moved that the motion be referred to the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee without debate. This was seconded by the Vice-Chairman and on being put to the vote, it was

Resolved:

That motion no. 3 – Parking Levy on Supermarkets be referred to the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee without debate.

The Chairman reported receipt of the above mentioned motion.

Cllr Jeff Osborn moved the following motion which was duly seconded by Cllr Terry Chivers:

‘This council follows the example of such local authorities as Brighton and Hove, and Rochdale, and moves its in-house lower paid employees up to the Living Wage – currently £7.45 per hour.

It also requires that all bidders for Wiltshire Council contracts are to  pay their staff at least at the Living Wage level’.

Cllr Jeff Osborn explained the background to his motion and what it set out to achieve. He accepted that reference to ‘all bidders’ could be changed to ‘future bidders’. He considered that it was incumbent on the Council to introduce this especially in the context of recent pay freezes applied to local authority staff.

Cllr Stuart Wheeler, Cabinet Member for Hubs, Heritage & Arts, Governance and Support Services (HR, Legal, ICT, Business Services, Democratic Services) responded to the motion. Whilst he appreciated the sentiments behind the motion, was concerned that the motion if adopted, could have unintended consequences. He explained that such a move would have an impact on schools and therefore affect schools’ budgets. Such a proposal should be considered in detail by the appropriate member body which in this case, would be the Staffing Policy Committee.

Cllr Allison Bucknell, Chairman of the Staffing Policy Committee confirmed that she would be happy to take the matter to her committee for further consideration along with proposals for job families.

In view of the above, the Chairman moved that the motion be referred to the Staffing Policy Committee without debate and this was seconded by the Vice-Chairman and on being put to the vote, it was

Resolved:

That motion no. 4 – Living Wage be referred to the Staffing Policy Committee without debate.

The Chairman reported receipt of the above mentioned motion.

Cllr Ricky Rogers moved the following motion which, with the consent of Council he amended since his original submission. The motion was duly seconded by Cllr Jeff Osborn:

Motion as amended:

‘That Wiltshire Council deplores the illegal practice of “Blacklisting” within the Construction & Civil Engineering Industry and will ensure that any company tendering for Construction & Civil Engineering contracts by Wiltshire Council will be asked to provide information that they have not conducted any “grave misconduct” by way of blacklisting. This will include questions in relation to;

1. Membership of The Consulting Association.
2. Employment of individuals who were named contacts for The Consulting Association.
3. Identifying the steps taken to remedy blacklisting for affected workers.
4. Identifying the steps taken to ensure blacklisting will not happen again’.

Cllr Ricky Rogers presented his motion and explained the background to it and what he sought to achieve by its adoption. He acknowledged that there were differing legal opinions on such a move. He referred to the external legal advice he had received confirming the proposals would be legally acceptable. He explained that 8 companies which he named at the meeting had acknowledged and apologised for abusing civil rights.

Cllr Dick Tonge, Cabinet member for Finance, Performance, Risk, Procurement and Welfare Reform responded to the motion. He suggested that the motion be referred to the Leader and the relevant Cabinet member who would arrange a meeting with Cllrs Ricky Rogers and Jeff Osborn to consider the matter and review the outcome.

In taking into account the above, the Chairman moved that the motion be referred to the Leader (and Cabinet member) to consider how the objectives of the motion could be taken forward. This was seconded by the Vice-Chairman and on being put to the vote, it was

Resolved:

That motion no 5 – Blacklisting practices be referred to the Leader (and Cabinet member) to consider how best the objectives of the motion could be taken forward.

Recorded vote

Cllr Jon Hubbard requested that his vote against the above decision be recorded.

To consider the report of the Independent Remuneration Panel. 

Mr Albert Lampey, the Chairman of the Independent Remuneration Panel (IRP), presented the report of the IRP and its recommendations. He explained that the IRP had undertaken a detailed review of the current scheme of Members’ allowances with a remit to recommend to the Council a scheme of allowances.

Mr Lampey thanked Members who had completed questionnaires and met with the Panel to provide evidence and background to the review. He thanked his fellow Panel members, Mr Jeremy Payne and David Stratton OBE for all their hard work. He also thanked officers for their invaluable assistance. 

Mr Lampey guided members through the key aspects of the Panel’s report and its recommendations. He also answered members’ questions on various aspects of the review and the information taken into account in arriving at the recommendations, in particular the rates for Special Responsibility Allowances for the various member roles. 

Councillor Stuart Wheeler , Cabinet Member for Hubs, Heritage & Arts, Governance Support Services (HR, Legal, ICT, Business Services, Democratic Services), thanked Mr Lampey and his colleagues on the Panel for their detailed work which he considered had been carried out extremely thoroughly.

Cllr Wheeler moved the recommendations of the IRP as contained in the Summons pack subject to an alteration to recommendation 14(b), inserting the words “in accordance with a scheme prepared by the Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee; such a scheme to be approved by that Committee before it is implemented” after the words “as appropriate”.

Group Leaders were invited to comment before the Chairman opened the debate to all other members.

The Leader thanked Mr Lampey and his colleagues for their detailed work. She reminded Council that the review was in respect of the various positions on the Council held by members and not those who currently held those positions. She thanked the Panel for recognising the increasing role of the Health and Wellbeing Board and its increasing responsibilities.

Cllr Jon Hubbard questioned whether the IRP had been aware that by virtue of a Council decision, the Chairman of the Health and Wellbeing Board had to be the Leader of the Council and thereby attracting an additional Special Responsibility Allowance.

Cllr Hubbard moved the following amendment which was duly seconded by Cllr Helena Mckeown:

In respect of Recommendation 9 – that no Special Responsibility Allowance be paid to the Chairman of the Health and Wellbeing Board for as long as that position is held by the Leader of the Council.

A discussion ensued on the above amendment during which some members supported the motion on the basis that no individual should receive multiple Special Responsibility Allowances whilst the majority view was that such an allowance reflected the role and responsibility of that position and that the Leader may not always hold the position of Chairman of the Board. The allowance therefore recognised the position and no reflection of the individual member holding that position.

On being put to the vote, the above amendment was LOST.

Cllr Jon  ...  view the full minutes text for item 68.

Report by the Associate Director, Legal and Governance and Monitoring Officer

Council had at its last meeting on 9 July 2013, considered a report on the appointment of the statutory Head of Paid Service. At that meeting it was resolved to give the matter further consideration at this meeting and as an interim measure, Maggie Rae, Corporate Director was appointed to this position.

Accordingly, a report was presented which sought Council’s approval of arrangements for the rotation of the statutory role of the Head of Paid service between the three Corporate Directors having regard to recent statutory guidance on the Council’s safeguarding responsibilities. This would mean  each Corporate Director taking on this responsibility for a period of four calendar months.

Responsibility for overseeing the role of the chair of the Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) would be undertaken by Corporate Directors Maggie Rae and Dr Carlton Brand on an alternating annual basis to ensure that there was no conflict of interest when the Corporate Director responsible for children’s services was the head of paid service.

If approved by Council, the role of head of paid service would be discharged as follows:

12 November 2013 – 31 December 2013                  Carolyn Godfrey, corporate

director and statutory officer

for children’s services

1 January 2014 – 30 April 2014                                  Dr Carlton Brand, corporate director

and returning officer

1 May 2014 - 31 August 2014                                    Maggie Rae, corporate director

and statutory officer for public

health and adult care

1 September 2014 - 31 December 2014                    Carolyn Godfrey

This arrangement to continue on the same basis for these designated posts in

subsequent years.

Oversight of the role of the chair of the LSCB as envisaged by the statutory guidance was proposed to be undertaken as follows:

12 November 2013 to 31 December 2013                                         Maggie Rae

1 January 2014 to 31 December 2014                                               Dr Carlton Brand

Thereafter on an alternating annual basis between these two Corporate Director

posts .

Resolved:

(1)       To agree that the statutory role of head of paid service is designated to the three Corporate Directors on a rotational basis of 4 calendar months each in accordance with the arrangements set out above and in paragraphs 12 and 13 of the report presented.

(2)          To ask the monitoring officer to amend the constitution to reflect these arrangements.

Report by the Associate Director, Legal and Governance and Monitoring Officer incorporating recommendations from the Standards Committee.

Council was invited to consider a report which gave details of a number of proposed changes to the Constitution as recommended by the Standards Committee.

The subject areas of the recommended changes were as follows:

a.         Amendments to the following protocols to the constitution:
- Protocol 2 - Councillor/ Officer Relations
- Protocol 3 - Guidance to Members on Outside Bodies
- Protocol 4 - Planning Code of Good Practice

b.         Registration and disclosure of additional interests and withdrawal from meetings where a councillor has a disclosable pecuniary interest.

c.         Amendment of the standards committee’s terms of reference to remove the requirement for political proportionality in relation to the standards hearing sub-committee, standards review sub-committee and the standards dispensation sub-committee.

However, given the level of detail involved in the above mentioned proposed changes and the number of new members elected as recently as May 2013, it was proposed to defer consideration of these changes until the next meeting. A briefing for members could then be arranged to take place prior to the next meeting to explain the detail of the proposed changes and provide an opportunity for members to ask questions.

A suggestion was made that as all of the changes had been initially considered by the Focus Group on the Constitution and recommended by the Standards Committee, Council should be in a position to determine them at this meeting without deferral for a members’ briefing. At the very least it was suggested that recommendation (c ) above could be determined at this meeting as this was a straight forward matter and this was agreed.

c.       Amendment of the standards committee’s terms of reference to remove the requirement for political proportionality in relation to the standards hearing sub-committee, standards review sub-committee and the standards dispensation sub-committee.

This would open the membership of the sub-committees to more members, making it easier to appoint sub-committees for reviews and hearings within the timescales set down in the procedure. It would also help avoid any perception that the sub-committees were politically driven. It was noted that approval of such a measure would require no member voting against the proposal.

On being put to the vote, it was

Resolved:

1.         That Council approves an amendment to the terms of reference of the standards committee to remove the requirement for political proportionality in relation to its sub-committees, but including a requirement of a maximum of two elected members from any political group on any sub-committee. (no member voted against this decision).

2.  That consideration of the remaining proposed changes to the constitution as recommended by the Standards Committee be deferred until the next meeting to allow time to hold a members’ briefing on the proposed changes.

Report by the Associate Director, Legal and Governance and Monitoring Officer

Following changes in the number of seats held by individual political groups on the Council, a request had been received from the Leader of the Independent Group for a review of the allocation of seats to political groups.

A report was presented which guided Council through the legal requirements in allocating seats to the political groups.

There were currently 4 political groups on the Council. The respective strengths of those Groups following these changes were as follows:-

The net effect of the change in political group sizes was that the Conservative group would lose 2 seats, the Liberal Democrat group would lose 4 seats and the Independent Group would gain 4 seats.

It was noted that as a result of these changes, the Conservative Group would also lose one seat on the Wiltshire and Swindon Fire Authority to the Labour Group. The Leaders of both of these Groups had agreed that subject to Council’s approval, they would be content for the status quo position to remain pending the outcome of any further review of committee places following the forthcoming by-election.

A draft scheme of committee places was presented which had been the subject of discussion with Group Leaders. However, agreement had yet to be reached over the allocation of all seats.

Cllr Jane Scott, Leader of the Conservative Group confirmed her Group’s changes as losing one seat from each of the Standards and Audit Committees.

Cllr Jon Hubbard, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group moved a motion  that involved his group giving up the 4 seats required from the Northern Area Planning Committee, Licensing Committee, Health Select Committee and Staffing Policy Committee to the Independent Group and this was duly seconded. Cllr Clark, Leader of the Independent Group confirmed his acceptance of the first 3 named committees but sought an additional seat on the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee as opposed to the Staffing Policy Committee. A comment was made that changes should not be piecemeal and that any scheme agreed should be complete and lawful.

The Monitoring Officer drew Council’s attention to the legal advice contained within the report presented. He also referred to his further advice circulated to members prior to the meeting on the Council’s responsibilities for determining the allocation of seats to political groups. He explained that it was for Council to determine a scheme of committee places, applying the principles as set out in the report presented so far as reasonably practicable.

The duty to apply these principles was not an absolute duty that required the Council to achieve pure political proportionality across the board. The law recognised that this may not be realistically achievable in all circumstances and therefore allowed for some flexibility and discretion by qualifying the requirement with the words ‘so far as reasonably practicable’. He also clarified that changes needed to be taken as a whole. It was noted  ...  view the full minutes text for item 71a)

To determine any requests from Group Leaders for changes to committee membership in accordance with the allocation of seats to political groups approved by the Council.

The Chairman invited Group Leaders to present any requests for changes to

committee membership in accordance with the allocation of seats to political

groups approved by Council.

Following requests from Group Leaders and on being put to the vote, it was

Resolved:

That Council approve the following changes to committee membership:

Standards Committee                       Remove - Cllr Chris Williams (vacancy)

Audit Committee                                           Remove - Cllr Howard Greenman (vacancy)

Southern Area Planning                    Remove - Cllr John Noeken

Committee                                         Add         - Cllr Mike Hewitt

Wiltshire Pension Fund                     Add         -  Roy While

                                                                        Remove - Cllr Graham Payne

Northern Area Planning                    Remove - Cllr Howard Marshall

Committee                                              Add        - Cllr Howard Marshall (Substitute)

                                                            Remove - Cllr Simon Killane (substitute)

Add        - Cllr Simon Killane

                                                            Add        - Cllr Ernie Clark (Substitute)

                                                            Add        - Cllr Dennis Drewett (Substitute)

                                                            Add        - Cllr Terry Chivers (Substitute)

Licensing Committee                                     Cllr Chris Caswill as Independent member

Health Select Committee                  Cllr Chris Caswill as Independent member

Overview and Scrutiny                     Cllr Simon Killane as Independent member

Management Committee

Report  by Dr Carlton Brand, Corporate Director

Cllr Stuart Wheeler, Cabinet Member for Hubs, Heritage & Arts, Governance Support Services (HR, Legal, ICT, Business Services, Democratic Services)       presented a report which sought Council approval to establish arrangements for a governance review of parish boundaries and electoral arrangements.

The Council had received a number of requests for a community governance review and informal enquiries, details of which were presented. The Council therefore needed to give consideration to the scope and format of a
governance review. It was a process which could easily last for two years.

The logical time for the implementation of any changes would be the 2017 unitary and parish elections. Therefore any review would need completion by October/ November 2016 at the latest. It was noted that Council would need to approve the terms of reference for such a review. 

Resolved:

1.     That Council agree to establish a cross party working group to undertake the preparatory work, as this is a subject matter reserved to council, and it would not be effective to do this at full council meetings.

2.     That members be requested to come forward with any known outstanding community governance issues.

3.     To note that a further report and recommended terms of reference would be submitted to Council in the New Year.

Report by the Associate Director, Legal and Governance and Monitoring Officer

Regulation 19 of The Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) Regulations 2012 required a report to be made to Council at relevant intervals determined by the Council, which must be at least annually, detailing key decisions taken under the Special Urgency rule.

Accordingly, the Leader presented such a report which advised Council of two such instances where the Special Urgency rule had been used, details of which were presented. The Leader confirmed that in both cases, the requirements of the Special Urgency provisions had been complied with.

Resolved:

1.         That Council notes the report presented and that two decisions had been taken under the special  urgency provisions since the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) Regulations 2012 came into force.

2.         That where key decisions are taken under the special urgency rules, details are reported to the next ordinary meeting of Council. 

3.         That Council will receive an annual report on key decisions taken under the special urgency rules.

The report gave details of key decisions taken under the special urgency rule. The report must include particulars of the decision made.

a.    The Chairman will move that Council receives and notes the minutes of Cabinet and the various Committees of the Council as listed in the Minutes Book and adopts any recommendations contained therein.

The Minutes Book is available on request to Councillors and available on the Council’s website with this Summons.

b.    The Chairman will refer to Cabinet and each Committee in turn:

                      i.        The Leader, Cabinet members and Chairmen of Committees will be invited to make any important announcements.

                    ii.        Councillors will be given the opportunity to raise questions on points of information or clarification on the minutes presented.

c.    Councillors will be given an opportunity to raise general issues relating to Area Boards but not specific local issues.

d.    Councillors will be given an opportunity to raise any questions on the minutes of the Wiltshire and Swindon Fire Authority

(Under the Constitution, Councillors wishing to ask a question on the Fire Authority minutes are required to give written notice to the officer named on the front of this agenda (acting on behalf of the Corporate Director) not later than five clear days before the Council meeting – 5pm on Monday 4 November 2013).

The Chairman moved that Council receive and note the following minutes as listed in the separate Minutes Book and this was duly seconded by the Vice- Chairman:

Cabinet                                                                      23 July, 24 September, 22 October 2013

Cabinet Capital Assets Committee                       23 July, 24 September, 22 October 2013

Cabinet Transformation Committee                     22 October 2013

Overview and Scrutiny Management                   25 June, 5 July, 8 October 2013

Children’s Select Committee                                 6 June, 5 July, 1 October 2013

Health Select Committee                                        2 July 2013

Environment Select Committee                            2 July, 10 September 2013

Licensing Committee                                              2 September 2013

Northern Area Planning Committee                   10 July, 31 July, 21 August,11September,

2 October 2013

Eastern Area Planning Committee                       1 August, 22 August 2013

Southern Area Planning Committee                    4 July, 25 July, 5 September, 26 September,

17 October 2013

Western Area Planning Committee                      4 September, 16 October 2013

Strategic Planning Committee                              30 July, 11 September, 25 September,

23 October 2013

Standards Committee                                             10 July, 9 October 2013

Audit Committee                                                      4 September, 17 September 2013

Officer Appointments Committee                          18 October 2013

Staffing Policy Committee                                      10 July, 4 September 2013

Wiltshire Pension Fund                                         25 July, 19 September, 10 October 2013

Wiltshire Police and Crime Panel                                     12 June, 16 September 2013

Wiltshire Health and Wellbeing Board                12 September 2013

Wiltshire and Swindon Fire Authority                  26 September 2013

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.

Cabinet – 24 September 2013 – Minute No. 74: Proposed Senior Management Restructure

Cllr Chris Caswill asked if Cabinet was satisfied that Democratic Services would still be able to carry out its functions following the impact of voluntary redundancy on that team. The Leader confirmed that she was so satisfied.

Transformation Committee

In accordance with the Council’s constitution, the Leader drew Council’s attention to establishment of the Transformation Committee, being a committee of Cabinet and the executive powers she had delegated to it. Details had been previously circulated to members and the Leader explained the membership of the Committee and how it would operate. Part 3A of the Constitution would be updated to reflect the establishment of this Committee.

Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee

Cllr Simon Killane, Chairman of the Committee updated Council on the activities of scrutiny and highlighted key items from its workplans.

Children’s Select Committee

Cllr Jon Hubbard explained that briefing sessions were now usually held before each committee meeting. The subject of the next briefing session was on early intervention. He extended an open invitation to all members to attend to hear about the Council’s early intervention programme.

Strategic Planning Committee

Cllr Andrew Davis advised that the meeting scheduled to take place on 13 November had been cancelled.

Standards Committee

Cllr Julian Johnson reminded Council that in accordance with its earlier decision (minute no. 70 refers), a briefing for members on recommended changes to the constitution would be arranged.

Wiltshire Health and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 74.

To agree the dates of Council meetings for 2014 as follows:

 4 February  (if required)

25 February (Budget and Council Tax Setting meeting)

13 May        (Annual Council)

29 July

21 October

The Chairman invited Council to agree the dates of Council meetings for 2014.

Resolved:

That the following dates of Council meetings for 2014 be approved:

 4 February (if required)

25 February (Budget and Council Tax Setting meeting)

13 May (Annual Council)

29 July

21 October

Please note that Councillors are required to give notice of any such questions in writing to the officer named on the first page of this agenda (acting on behalf of the Corporate Director) not later than 5pm on Monday 5 November 2013. Questions may be asked without notice if the Chairman decides that the matter is urgent.

Details of any questions received will be circulated to Councillors prior to the meeting and made available at the meeting and on the Council’s website.

The Chairman reported receipt of questions from Councillors Nicholas Fogg, Terry Chivers, Jeff Osborn, Helen Osborn, Chris Hurst, Ricky Rogers, Jon Hubbard, Helena Mckeown, Ian West,  Glenis Ansell, Simon Killane, Trevor Carbin, Steven Oldrieve, Ernie Clark And Chris Caswill.

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.

During the course of receiving questions, the Chairman explained that the meeting had become inquorate and therefore could not continue. She explained that those members with questions left unanswered would be contacted to establish if they preferred to defer their questions until the next meeting of Council or to receive a response from the relevant Cabinet member in the meantime.

A copy of the questions and responses together with responses obtained after the meeting as indicated above, are attached as Appendix 2 to these minutes.

Appendix 1 – Review of Committee places (minute no. 71 a refers)

Appendix 2 – Councillors’ questions (minute no. 76 refers)