Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Cllrs Rosemary Brown, Jose Green, Chris Humphries, Tom James, Stephen Oldrieve & Leo Randell.

These were substituted by Cllrs Trevor Carbin, Russell Hawker, Charles Howard, Julian Johnson, Howard Marshall and Anthony Trotman.

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

Cllr Russell Hawker declared a personal interest as his brother is a Westbury shop owner.

The meeting was called at short notice with the agreement of the Chairman of the Environment Select Committee to deal with the matter within the call-in timescale.

The Chairman reported that to facilitate the call-in process she had agreed that the following item of business could be considered as a matter of urgency in accordance with Section 100(B)(4)(b) of the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985.

The Council welcomes contributions from members of the public.

Members of the public wishing to make a statement or ask a question at the meeting should contact the Democratic Services Officer named above.

Written submissions were distributed to the Committee from Kate Freeman on behalf of Kennet Passengers and Margaret Wilmot - Salisbury Campaign for Better Transport.

To consider a call-in request of the Cabinet decision on the Wiltshire Local Transport Plan 2011-2026 – Car Parking Strategy on December 14th, 2010.

The Chairman introduced the item by inviting the Scrutiny Officer to provide an overview of the process and the decision that the Committee was being asked to make.

Cllrs Colmer and Carter started the debate by arguing the reasons why they felt the principles of decision making had not been met. Included within this commentary was the need for thorough scrutiny of the document, the lack of detail relating to bus subsidy levels and the need for more options to be considered.

The Cabinet member was given an opportunity to respond and explained that when the Committee met in November the final car pricing structures were yet to be finalised, due to such factors as the comprehensive spending review. The Cabinet member would have been pleased to return to scrutiny with the final draft report, if requested. Clarification was also provided for pricing decisions in Amesbury and Salisbury. Details of the level of consultation were discussed, as well as the numbers of Wiltshire buses that required subsidy. The Committee was also referred to the Spatial Strategy 2009; the source document used to band the Wiltshire towns. The Cabinet member also acknowledged the minority report submitted following the last Committee meeting, and apologised that the detailed response was not circulated to the day of Cabinet, Tuesday 14^th Dec.

During the subsequent debate the Committee discussed the consultation process and the relationship between the executive and scrutiny, when undertaking policy reviews. The need for scrutiny to monitor the strategy following implementation was also emphasised.

At the closure of the debate the Committee resolved:

that it was satisfied by the response, and agreed to no further action being taken and requested that the decision-maker (Cabinet) was informed accordingly; noting that the decision would then be implemented immediately.

Recorded Vote:

The above decision was the subject of a recorded vote requested in accordance with paragraph 91 of Part 4 of the Constitution – Council Rules of Procedure and recorded as follows:

For the motion:           (7)

Cllrs Berry, Doyle, Groom, Hill, Howard, Johnson, Trotman

Against the motion:    (6)

Cllrs Carbin, Carter, Colmer, Hawker, McLennan, Marshall.

11 January 2011 - 10.30 am

The Committee noted the date of the next meeting – 11 January 2011 – 10.30am.