Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Ian West, Julie Swabey, Paul Sample, Peter Davis, Mary Douglas and Mark Griffiths, Michael Cuthbert-Murray, Steve Oldrieve, Leo Randall and Helen Osborn.

To elect a Chairman for 2011/12

 

Nominations will be sought orally from those present at the meeting. Voting will be way of a show of hands unless at least 10 Members request the holding of a secret ballot.

The outgoing Chairman, Cllr Brigadier Hall sought nominations for the position of Chairman of Wiltshire Council for 2011/12.

 

Cllr Brigadier Hall was proposed by Cllr Chris Humphries and seconded by Cllr Jon Hubbard.

 

In the circumstances as a member cannot preside over their own election and as the Chairman if present must preside, Cllr Brigadier Hall vacated the chair and left the meeting for the duration of this item.

 

Cllr Crisp, Vice-Chairman in the Chair

 

 

Cllr Crisp asked if there were any other nominations and there were none, and on being put to the vote it was

 

Resolved:

 

That Councillor Brigadier RWS Hall be elected Chairman of Wiltshire Council for 2011/12.

 

Cllr Brigadier Hall then signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office of Chairman of Wiltshire Council in the presence of the Chief Executive.

 

Cllr Brigadier RWS Hall in the Chair

 

The Chairman commented that it was an honour to be re-elected Chairman of the Council and thanked Councillors for their continued confidence in him.

To elect a Vice-Chairman for 2011/12

 

Nominations will be sought orally from those present at the meeting. Voting will be way of a show of hands unless at least 10 Members request the holding of a secret ballot.

The Chairman sought nominations for the position of Vice-Chairman of Wiltshire Council for 2011/12.

 

Cllr Christine Crisp was proposed by Cllr Nina Phillips and seconded by Cllr Pip Ridout. There being no further nominations and on being put to the vote, it was

 

Resolved:

 

That Cllr Christine Crisp be elected Vice-Chairman of Wiltshire Council for 2011/12.

 

Cllr Christine Crisp signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office of Vice-Chairman of Wiltshire Council in the presence of the Chief Executive.

To approve as a correct record and sign the minutes of the last meeting of Council held on 22 February 2011

The minutes of the meeting held on 22 February 2011 were presented for approval as a correct record.

 

Cllr Ian McLennan challenged the accuracy of minute no. 86 on the South Wiltshire Core Strategy – Review of Housing and Employment Requirements. In an effort to assist Council, Cllr McLennan produced a document detailing how in his opinion the minute should have been recorded particularly in relation to references made in the minute to the Community Forum. He moved that the minute be amended in accordance with the document he produced, details of which were circulated and this was duly seconded by Cllr Ricky Rogers.

 

At the Chairman’s invitation, Cllr John Brady, Cabinet member for Economic Development, Planning and Housing spoke to the proposed amendment to the minute. He confirmed that the minute had been verified by a number of officers and he was therefore satisfied that the minute reflected an accurate account of the proceedings for that item

 

On being put to the vote, the motion to amend the minute was LOST and it was

 

Resolved:

 

That the minutes of the last Council meeting held on 22 February 2011 be approved as a correct record as presented and signed by the Chairman.

 

Recorded Votes

 

Cllrs Ian McLennan and Ricky Rogers requested that their votes against the above decision be recorded.

The Chairman drew Councillors’ attention to the letter of advice from the Monitoring Officer concerning possible interests in the Submission Draft Waste Site Allocations Development Plan Document.

 

Community Governance Reviews (minute no. 111  refers)

 

The following members declared a personal interest in relation to the above item:

 

Cllrs Peter Fuller, Jeff Osborn, Graham Payne  John Knight – by virtue of being members of Trowbridge Town Council which had requested a Boundary Review.

 

Cllrs Jon Hubbard and Rod Eaton, – by virtue of being members of Melksham Town Council which had only recently written to this Council requesting a review.

 

Cllrs Andrew Davis, Pip Ridout, Keith Humphries – by virtue of being members of Warminster Town Council, proposals on which were specifically referred to in the report presented.

 

Cllr Clark – by virtue of being Chairman of Hilperton Parish Council which had lodged objections to proposals.

 

Submission Draft Waste Site Allocations Development Plan Document (minute no. 106refers).

 

The following councillors declared personal interests on the above item:

 

Cllr Mark Connolly – by virtue of being a Governor of Wellington Academy which was next to one of the identified sites.

 

Cllr Francis Morland – by virtue of being a member of Heywood Parish Council which had made representations on proposals.

To note the Counting Officer’s Local Total in respect of the Alternate Vote Referendum held on 5 May 2011.

Council received and noted the Counting Officer’s Local Total in respect of the Alternative Vote Referendum held on 5 May 2011.

 

Councillors were asked to refer any suggestions or observations on the Referendum process in Wiltshire to Andrew Kerr as Counting Officer.

Report by the Head of Democratic Services, updating Council on petitions which have been received since the last Council meeting.

 

No petitions have been received for presentation at this meeting.

The Chairman reported receipt of 3 petitions since the last meeting of Council details of which were included in the report presented. The Chairman also reported on petitions which had been submitted since publication of the agenda.

 

With the Chairman’s permission, Cllr Nick Fogg spoke to the petition referred to in the report on the X76 Marlborough to Bath bus service. Cllr Fogg explained that the petition had been signed by several people and that the service was a very popular one which included a service to the Royal United Hospital (RUH) in Bath.

 

Cllr Howard Marshall referred to the planned loss of service in Calne which also serviced the RUH and that if removed would involve 4 bus trips to get to the hospital.

 

Cllr Gamble, Portfolio Holder for Public Transport explained that all comments received during the consultation process would be taken into account. He added that whilst services may be popular they were not necessarily commercially viable with most users travelling on concessions.

 

Cllr Mike Hewitt presented a petition in the form of a log of the number of patients visiting the Harcourt Medical Centre, Salisbury and the duration of their visit. He argued that given the majority of visits was for relatively short periods it was unfair to expect patients to pay the full parking charge. This was affirmed by Cllr Cochrane who requested that the needs of the surgery should be taken into account.

 

The Chairman reported receipt of a letter and a petition organised by Corsham Chamber of Commerce requesting the Council to reconsider the increase in car parking charges in Corsham.

 

Cllr Tonge responded to points raised.

 

Resolved:

 

(a)          That Council notes the petitions received and the actions being taken as set out in the table in the report presented.

 

(b)               That Council receives and note the petitions presented at this meeting and to request that Cllr Dick Tonge respond to the lead petitioners in writing.

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 or members of the Council 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 Director of Resources) no later than 5pm on Monday 09 May. 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 Committee members 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.

Reports by the Solicitor to the Council and Monitoring Officer

The Chairman took the following items recorded at minute no.s 104 (a) – (c) and 105 together giving Councillors an opportunity comment on individual items.

Report by the Solicitor to the Council and Monitoring Officer.

To consider the following recommendation of Cabinet dated 22 March 2011:

 

1.    Cabinet resolved to approve the Submission Draft Waste Site Allocations DPD for publication for an eight week formal consultation to commence in May/June.

 

2.    Cabinet also endorsed the Waste Site Allocations Proposed Submission Draft and recommends that Full Council approves the document for the purpose of submission to the Secretary of State, subject to there being no representations which, in the opinion of the Director for Economy and Enterprise in consultation with the Cabinet Member, raise fundamental issues on the soundness of the Strategy.

 

The report considered by Cabinet is attached as background information together with the Submission Draft Waste Site Allocations Development Plan Document (DPD) (enclosed).

For details of interests declared in this item, please refer to minute no. 99 above.

 

The Chairman of Council referred Council to the report previously considered by Cabinet at its meeting held on 22 March 2011 and asked Cllr John Brady as Cabinet member for Economic Development, Planning and Housing to present the item.

 

Cllr Brady presented the recommendations of Cabinet as detailed in the Summons. Cllr Brady sought Council approval of the Submission Draft Waste Site Allocations DPD for publication for an eight week formal consultation to commence in May/June and to endorse the DPD for the purpose of submission to the Secretary of State.

 

Cllr Brady explained that the DPD would provide a flexible framework reducing the Council’s dependency on landfill and would affect all areas of the County particularly the Divisions highlighted in the report.

 

An additional recommendation was made that following expiry of the consultation period, details of responses received be considered by the Environmental Select Committee for onward recommendation to Cabinet prior to submission to Council.

 

A number of points of detail were raised. Cllr John Brady and the Leader commented that Councillors would have an opportunity to comment during the consultation process and when the matter came before the Environment Select Committee and Cabinet.

 

Resolved:

 

That Council endorses the Submission Draft Waste Site Allocations Development Plan Document (DPD) for the purposes of consultation as approved by Cabinet. That on the expiry of the consultation period, a report on the DPD and consultation responses be considered by the Environment Select Committee for onward recommendation to Cabinet prior to the matter coming back to Council for approval for the purpose of submission to the Secretary of State.

Report of the Corporate Director, Community Services, together with the proposed Wiltshire Community Plan. 

At the Chairman’s invitation, Cllr John Thomson, Deputy Leader presented this item.

 

Cllr Thomson explained that the Council was required to develop a revised sustainable community strategy for Wiltshire. He presented the new strategy, the People, Places and Promises: Wiltshire Community Plan 2011-2026 for Council’s consideration and approval.  He explained that the Plan had been developed through close joint working with around 100 organisations through the Wiltshire Assembly. This had resulted in an up to date and relevant shared vision for Wiltshire.

 

The Plan included having one vision to build strong, resilient communities in Wiltshire and had three priorities:

·         Creating an economy that was fit for the future

·         Reducing disadvantage and inequalities

·         Tackling the causes and effects of climate change

With 17 broad objectives linked to the above priorities.

 

The Plan had been agreed by the Public Service Board, Wiltshire Assembly, Wiltshire Infrastructure Consortium and the Wiltshire Compact Board following a comprehensive process. Wiltshire Assembly had recommended this Council as the responsible authority, to adopt the Plan.

 

A discussion ensued on the detail of the Plan to which Cllr Thomson responded.

 

Resolved:

 

That the People, Places and Promises: The Wiltshire Community Plan 2011-2026 be formally adopted by Wiltshire Council as the new Sustainable Community Strategy for Wiltshire.

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 Director of Resources) not later than 5pm Tuesday 10 May. 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 Cllrs Mike Cuthbert-Murray, Ernie Clark, Mark Packard, Chris Caswill, Russell Hawker, David Jenkins, Helen Osborn, Jon Hubbard and Peter Colmer, details of which were circulated and attached as Appendix 3 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 which should be read in conjunction with the questions and responses:

 

Cllr Clark – recovery of non pensionable honoraria – did the Leader have an indication as to when the issue was likely to be resolved?.  The Leader said that the matter was in the hands of the solicitors.

 

Cllr Clark – expenses claimed by the Chief Executive – how was the monthly accommodation costs of £600 decided? The Leader explained that it had been agreed by the Staffing Policy Committee as part of the terms and conditions of employment.

 

At this point and in relation to a question from Cllr Clark on the subject of the Chief Executive’s pay, the Leader made a statement that in light of recent press coverage, the Chief Executive would not be taking an incremental pay rise this year. She explained that the Chief Executive had listened to the strong feelings of staff and the people of Wiltshire and considered that it would not be appropriate to take such a pay rise.

 

Cllr Clark – publication of salary bands – did the Leader agree with the Service Director for HR and Organisational Development that tier 1 and 2 level be shown in 1 and 2 bands? The Leader agreed.

 

Cllr Mark Packard – departure of Chief Internal Auditor – Did the Council really mean to offer this postholder redundancy?  The Leader explained that a number of staff in the Audit section had been served with at risk letters and she understood that this postholder had applied for redundancy.

 

Cllr Mark Packard – questioned the need for confidentiality over report to Audit Committee over the future of the audit service. The Leader explained that this issue had been discussed at the Audit Committee on 13 May when the advice of the Monitoring Officer was given over the reasons for considering the report in Part II, namely on the grounds of commercial sensitivity and staffing issues. The Audit Committee had agreed that the matter should be considered in Part II.

 

Cllr Chris Caswill – Given the excellent work of the Internal Audit section, questioned the decision to make the Chief Internal Auditor redundant and also questioned the need for confidentiality of the report to the Audit Committee.

 

Cllr Fleur de Rhe Philipe – confirmed that she valued the work of the Internal Audit section. The Postholder had requested redundancy. She also confirmed that the duties of the Chief Internal Auditor had already been reallocated by the S.151 Officer to ensure there would be no impact on the work  ...  view the full minutes text for item 108.

To consider the following notices of motion received in accordance with the constitution:

 

The Chairman reported receipt of the following motion from Cllrs Chris Caswill and Jon Hubbard:

 

“Council notes with deep concern the intention outlined in the Budget speech to deconstruct current planning regulations and systems in favour of a centrally imposed "pro-development "policy. Council wishes to draw attention to the conflict between these proposals and the Government’s commitment to "localism", and to the reduction which these proposals will bring in to the ability of local councils and local citizens to influence planning outcomes in their areas.

 

Council resolves to communicate these concerns to the relevant Ministers and to Wiltshire MP's, together with a request that these proposals be reconsidered.”

 

On being moved and seconded, the Chairman invited Cllr Caswill to speak to his motion. Cllr Caswill considered that this was of vital importance to planning in terms of being fair, accountable and properly regulated. He also considered that planning was being confronted with central government dictate and that there was confusion in the  Localism Bill on planning with a presumption in favour of development.

 

By consensus, it was agreed to debate the motion.

 

Cllr Newbury expressed concern over adopting such a motion without the benefit of a report providing the required background information.  A number of other Councillors echoed this sentiment.

 

Cllr John Brady, Cabinet member for Economic Development, Planning and Housing explained that the Council still had its strategic planning ability and that the presumption in favour of development was now new. What was new was to have sustainable development. The Council would still be able to control its planning destiny through its Core Strategy and its strategic planning capabilities.

 

On being put to the vote, the motion was LOST and a recorded vote having been requested by the requisite number of Councillors, the voting was recorded as follows:

 

For the motion (21)

 

Cllrs Desna Allen, Trevor Carbin, Chris Caswill, Peter Colmer, Paul Darby, Bill Douglas, Peggy Dow, Nick Fogg, Russell Hawker, Malcolm Hewson, Jon Hubbard, George Jeans, David Jenkins, Simon Killane, John Knight, Howard Marshall, Francis Morland, Jeff Osborn, Mark Packard, Judy Rooke and Graham Wright.

 

Against the motion (51)

 

Cllrs Richard Beattie, Chuck Berry, John Brady, Richard Britton, Liz Bryant, Allison Bucknell, Jane Burton, Richard Clewer, Christopher Cochrane, Linda Conley, Mark Connolly, Christine Crisp, Andrew Davis, Fleur de Rhe Philipe, Tony Deane, Peter Doyle, Peter Fuller, Richard Gamble, Jose Green, Mollie Groom, Lionel Grundy, Brig. Robert Hall, Mike Hewitt, Alan Hill, Charles Howard, Keith Humphries, Peter Hutton, Tom James, Julian Johnson, Jerry Kunkler, Jacqui Lay, Alan Macrae, Laura Mayes, Bill Moss, Christopher Newbury, John Noeken, Jeff Ody, Sheila Parker, Bill Roberts, Jane Scott, Jonathon Seed, John Smale, Carole Soden, Toby Sturgis, John Thomson, Dick Tonge, Bridget Wayman, Fred Westmorland, Stuart Wheeler, Roy While and Chris Williams.

 

Resolved:

 

That motion no. 17 above be NOT adopted.

(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 enclosed separately.

 

(b) The Leader, Cabinet members and Chairmen of Committees will be given a brief opportunity to make any important announcements and updates.

 

(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 the opportunity to raise questions on points of information or clarification on the minutes presented.

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

 

Meeting                                                                      Date

 

Cabinet                                                                       22 March and 19 April 2011

 

Cabinet Capital Assets Committee                       19 April 2011

 

Joint Overview and Scrutiny Select Committee10 February 2011

 

Organisation and Resources Select                     24 March 2011

 

Children’s Services Select Committee                 17 March 2011

 

Health and Adult Social Care Select                   10 March 2011

Committee

 

Environment Select Committee                             2 March 2011

 

Licensing Committee                                              5 April 2011

 

Strategic Planning Committee                              16 February, 16 March and 6 April 2011

 

Northern Area Planning Committee                     16 February, 9 March, 30 March and 20 April 2011

 

Eastern Area Planning Committee                       17 February, 31 March and 21 April 2011

 

Southern Area Planning Committee                    10 February, 3 March, 24 March, 14 April and 5 May 2011

 

Western Area Planning Committee                      2 March, 23 March, 13 April and 4 May 2011

 

Standards Committee                                             9 March 2011

 

Officer Appointments Committee                          6 April 2011

 

Staffing Policy Committee                                      9 March and 5 April 2011

 

Audit Committee                                                      23 March 2011

 

Wiltshire Pension Fund Committee                     1 March 2011

 

 

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

 

Cabinet

 

Cabinet Members – Area of Responsibility

 

The Leader referred Councillors to the change to Cabinet members’ area of responsibility details of which were circulated. One additional responsibility for the Deputy Leader, Cllr John Thomson related to equalities and diversity.

 

Organisation and Resources Select Committee

 

Cllr Jeff Osborn, Chairman of the Select Committee reported that the Task Group on S.106 Agreements would be meeting on 18 May. He explained the need to keep an eye on the Agreements and that the best way of doing this was via the Area Boards. This had been done at Trowbridge although a response was still awaited.

 

Children’s Services Scrutiny Select Committee

 

The Task Group on Special Schools and SEN had recently met under the chairmanship of Cllr Graham Payne. It was estimated to take between 12-18 months to complete its work.

 

Licensing Committee

 

Consultation was currently taking place on a revised consent street trading policy.

 

Audit Committee

 

Cllr Caswill asked the Chairman of the Audit Committee, Cllr Roy While on when he became aware of losing the Chief Internal Auditor to which Cllr While replied.

 

Wiltshire Pension Fund Committee

 

Cllr Tony Deane, Chairman of the Committee thanked Councillors for their loyal attendance at meetings and reminded them that a training session had been arranged for 9 June.

 

Resolved:

 

That the above mentioned minutes be received and noted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                         

Report by Solicitor to the Council and Monitoring Officer

For details of interests declared in this item, please refer to minute no. 99 above.

 

At the Chairman’s invitation, Cllr John Noeken, Cabinet member for Resources presented a report which informed Council of the current pressures and recommended a policy for dealing with the requests for boundary reviews.

 

The Council was required to undertake Governance reviews ie to keep under review the boundaries and seating arrangements of parishes and parish wards within the County. Some parishes had requested a review of their boundaries. The report advised that as over 50% of the electorate would already have new parish arrangements in place for the 2013 elections, no further work should be undertaken on a countywide governance review until at least after that time.

 

A debate ensued and although there was sympathy with the rationale, it was considered that there were various anomalies mainly as a result of development which should be addressed with a number of Councillors citing examples in their respective areas. Cllr John Noeken gave an undertaking to look at these anomalies and address the ones which could be done relatively quickly at the earliest opportunity.

 

Resolved:

 

(a)  That Council agrees that no Governance Reviews be undertaken until at least after the 2013 elections. Minor alterations which could be considered under the Local Government Act 1972 Act be investigated.

 

(b) That exceptionally, the apparent anomaly with regard to the Warminster Copheap and Wylye Town ward continue to be investigated with the successor body to the Boundary Committee of the Electoral Commission.

Report by Solicitor to the Council and Monitoring Officer

Cllr John Noeken, Cabinet member for Resources presented a report which explained that the Council was required by the Electoral Administration Act 2006 to undertake a polling station review every four years from 2007. Council was advised that a review would be commenced shortly.

 

Council was asked to establish a small working party to work with officers to act as a sounding board on proposals prior to them being presented to Council for consideration. A discussion ensued on the composition of the working party and it was agreed that Group Leaders be asked to agree the  size and membership of the working party.

 

Resolved:

 

That a small working party, size and composition to be agreed with Group Leaders be established to work with officers to act as a sounding board prior to submission of a Polling Station Review scheme for consideration by Council at a later date.

Report by Solicitor to the Council and Monitoring Officer

Cllr John Noeken, Cabinet member for Resources presented a report on the Parliamentary Boundary Review.

 

The independent Boundary Commission for England (BCE) had begun work on redrawing the map of parliamentary constituencies following the enactment of the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011.  It was not clear at this stage how or when consultation would be carried out, but the purpose of this report was to enable Council to consider the process it wishes to use to respond to any such consultation.

 

Resolved:

 

To establish a small working party to consider any proposals emerging from the Boundary Commission for England  and undertake any detailed work required  to formulate a draft response to the Commission to be agreed at a future meeting of Council.  Membership of the working party to be agreed with Group Leaders.

 

 

To receive and note the Annual Report of the Standards Committee for the period 2010/11

To receive and note the Annual Report of the Corporate Parenting Panel for the period 2010/11

To receive and note:

To receive and note the minutes of the Wiltshire and Swindon Fire Authority meeting held on 17 and 21 February 2011.