Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Cllrs Matthew Dean, Nick Fogg MBE and Andy Phillips.

To approve as a correct record and sign the minutes of the last meeting of Council held on 16 June 2020.

The minutes of the Meeting held on 16 June 2020 were presented.

Resolved:

That the minutes of the last Council meeting held on 16 June 2020 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

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

There were no declarations of interest.

To receive any announcements through the Chair.

The Chairman made the following announcements:

a)    The Chairman had only attended one formal engagement since the last meeting, which was the flag raising ceremony for National Armed Forces Day on 26 June 2020. 

b)    The Chairman congratulated Salisbury City Council, who were recently awarded a Quality Gold award by the National Association of Local Councils, one of only 53 out of 10,000 councils nationally with this award.

c)    The Chairman requested that Council noted the recent announcement by the Leader on changes to Cabinet Members, Cabinet responsibilities, and Cabinet Portfolio Holders, which was shown on screen and would be included in the minutes. 

d)    The Chairman stated that in normal times the council utilised recorded voting, taking advantage of the electronic voting system in the Council Chamber. This was established by amendment to the constitution following a Motion to Council in October 2017. 

However, at the present time there was not a secure and reliable method of electronic voting to utilise for that purpose. A recorded vote could only be made by taking a formal roll call vote. 

It was explained that a formal recorded vote was only required by law for items setting the authority’s budget and determining the level of council tax to be levied. Which did not apply to any items on the meeting’s agenda. 

Therefore, for that meeting only, and following consultation with Group Leaders and the Constitution Focus Group, the Chairman proposed that Paragraphs 22.6.2-22.6.4 of Part 4 of the Constitution be suspended to ensure the meeting could be managed in an efficient way given the number of items on the agenda.

The Chairman proposed that for the substantive items on the meeting’s agenda the ‘Raise hand’ function in Microsoft Teams could be used.

Individual members would still be able to request their particular vote was recorded if desired. 

Less substantive items (which did not normally require a recorded vote) would continue to be taken by the assent of the meeting, when only those against would be asked to raise their hands. 

After explaining the above the Chairman moved the motion to suspend Paragraphs 22.6.2-22.6.4 of Part 4 of the Constitution, for the current meeting only.

The motion was seconded by Cllr James Sheppard.

The Chairman then followed the voting process as described above.

Resolved:

To suspend Paragraphs 22.6.2-22.6.4 of Part 4 of the Constitution for the current meeting only.

A petition will be presented to the meeting by Cllr Stewart Palmen.

A petition had been received requesting that Wiltshire Council urgently redesign the zebra crossing in Newtown, Trowbridge to make it safe, which was presented to the meeting by Cllr Stewart Palmen, Trowbridge Central Division. The petition could be viewed online here, it had over 800 signatures and had been started by Chris Hoar. Cllr Palmen stated that there had been an accident at the crossing recently and that there had been several there in the past.

Cllr Palmen read a statement on behalf of resident Lisa Hartley. The statement detailed accidents and near misses at the crossing and that some other crossings outside schools in Trowbridge had ramps to reduce speed. It was hoped that measures such as these could be used at the Newtown crossing, before there was a fatal accident.

Cllr Palmen stated that he hoped that the ability for residents to log near misses could be improved, as the Council only tended to react after logged accidents occurred. 

Cllr Wayman, as the Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, responded to the petition. Cllr Wayman had already written to Cllr Palmen regarding the incident which she was very sorry to hear about. The crossing had been continually monitored over the years and on several occasions improvements had been implemented. The only reported injury was in October 2019 and no pedestrians were involved in that incident. It was also stated that the wider Newtown area was subject to a 20mph speed limit assessment. CATG had met virtually on 23 April 2020 and were also looking at the crossing, it was agreed that it would be beneficial for the CATG to undertake additional observations.

The Chairman requested that Council receive the petition and note that a response would be provided by the Highways Team. This was seconded by Cllr James Sheppard.

Resolved:

To receive the petition and to note that a response would be provided by the Highways team.

To receive an update on petitions.

The Chairman stated that there had been no additional petitions recived.

Resolved:

To note the update on petitions.

The Council welcomes contributions from members of the public. During the ongoing Covid-19 situation the Council is operating revised procedures and the public are able participate in meetings online after registering with the officer named on this agenda, and in accordance with the deadlines below.

Guidance on how to participate in this meeting online.

Statements

Members of the public who wish to submit a statement in relation to an item on this agenda should submit this is electronically to the officer named on this agenda no later than 5pm on Thursday 16 July.

State whom the statement is from (including if representing another person or organisation), state points clearly and be readable aloud in approximately 3 minutes. Up to three speakers are allowed for each item on the agenda.

Questions

Those wishing to ask questions are required to give notice of any such questions electronically to the officer named on the front of this agenda no later than 5pm on 14 July 2020 in order to be guaranteed of a written response. In order to receive a verbal response questions must be submitted no later than 5pm on 16 July.

Please contact the officer named on the front 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 members prior to the meeting and made available at the meeting and on the Council’s website; they will be taken as read at the meeting.

The Chairman explained the rules for public participation as detailed in the agenda.

28 questions were submitted for the meeting. Those relevant to a particular item on the agenda would be taken under that item.

All questions received and the written responses provided were published in agenda supplement 2 and would be taken as read at the meeting.

The Chairman then invited those members of the public whose question did not relate to a particular agenda item whether they wished to ask a supplementary question, or to receive their verbal response, as follows:

·       P20-13 – Ros Edwards had submitted a question to Cllr Clewer, Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Corporate Services, Heritage, Arts, Tourism, Housing and Communities, regarding how local food suppliers fit in to Wiltshire Council’s recovery plan. A written response was provided in agenda supplement 2. Ros Edwards thanked Cllr Clewer for his response and asked a supplementary question regarding Wiltshire Councils support for direct sales and short supply chains, as these could benefit the county’s health and the local and rural economy. Cllr Clewer gave a verbal response stating that sourcing products locally was important and that he supported fresh and local supply chains.

A report from the Chief Executive Officer.

The Chairman invited Cllr Richard Clewer, Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Corporate Services, Heritage, Arts, Tourism, Housing and Communities to introduce a report on Wiltshire Council’s Response to the Climate Emergency and Business Plan Update. The report was on pages 41 - 62 of the agenda and the proposed addendum to the Business Plan was at pages 55 – 56.

Cllr Clewer explained there were two elements to the report. It was stated that an addendum was being added to the Business Plan on climate change.

The report also detailed the Council’s response to the climate emergency and the efforts being undertaken for Wiltshire Council to become carbon neutral by 2030. Some elements being undertaken to accomplish this were:

·       Changing street lights to LED’s;

·       Aiming to build zero carbon new Council houses;

·       Retro fitting existing Council housing stock to make them more efficient;

·       A new Head of Carbon Reduction (Ariane Crampton) had been employed and would work with Overview and Scrutiny to achieve aims;

·       Setting up a Climate Board;

·       Focusing on walking and cycling;

·       Electric buses in Salisbury Park and Ride sites;

·       Joining the Countryside Climate Network as a founder member, which focused on issues faced by rural councils;

·       Increasing engagement with the public;

·       The strategies being developed would be out for consultation later in 2020 before coming back to Council in 2021 for approval.

Cllr Clewer proposed, seconded by Cllr Whitehead, that the recommendations as laid out in the report be adopted.

The Chairman invited Cllr Graham Wright as Chairman of the Wiltshire Council Global Warming and Climate Change Emergency Task Group and the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee to speak to the report. Cllr Wright stated that the Task group had looked at all of the proposals, had made some minor adjustments and were fully supportive of the recommendations.

Public Participation:

·       A statement had been received from Chris Caswill regarding reducing carbon and its priority in the Covid recovery plan. The statement was read out by the Democratic Services Officer. Cllr Clewer responded stating that Carbon reduction was being embedded in every part of the recovery plan.

All questions and their written responses were contained in agenda supplement 2. All questions were taken as read at the meeting and supplementary questions were asked as follows:

·       P20-11 – Andrew Nicolson had submitted a question to Cllr Bridget Wayman and Cllr Toby Sturgis regarding road schemes on the A350 and the SWLEP Rail Strategy.  Andrew Nicholson asked a supplementary question regarding when Wiltshire Council would develop a local rail strategy as part of the local transport plan and what weight were the council giving to the SWLEP Local Rail Strategy.  Cllr Wayman responded stating that the local plan and part of the local transport plan was currently being reviewed. It would be built into the new local transport plan. They had cognisance of the SWELP strategy and it was being taken into account.

·       P20-12 – Andrew Nicolson had submitted a question to Cllr Wayman and Cllr  ...  view the full minutes text for item 45.

A report from the Chief Executive Officer.

The Chairman invited Cllr Toby Sturgis, Cabinet Member for Spatial Planning, Development Management and Investment, to introduce the item.

Cllr Sturgis explained that The Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) was a statutory document that must be reviewed every five years. There had been legislative changes since the last SCI was reviewed in 2015, so changes needed to be made to update the document. The new SCI could be seen at appendix 1 of the agenda report (pages 71 – 106 of the agenda).

Temporary arrangements also needed to be implemented as a result of Covid and these temporary changes could be seen at appendix 2 (page 107 – 122 of the agenda).

It was hoped that the new document would also be more user friendly.

Following the last Cabinet meeting an amendment was agreed to the first sentence of paragraph 8.11 as follows:

8.11 We also encourage developers and applicants to engage with local people and communities including Town and Parish Councils and with neighbours, when appropriate, before submission of a planning application.

Cllr Stugis proposed a motion to adopt the proposals as set out in the agenda report (page 64) with the amendment in wording described above. This was seconded by Cllr Bridget Wayman.

There was no public participation received for this item.

The Chairman then invited group leaders to speak before opening the debate up to all members.

Cllr Philip Whitehead, Leader of the Council, thanked those who had produced the SCI document as he felt that it detailed all relevant information in a straightforward and readable way. 

Cllr Ian Thorn, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, stated that he was pleased that the amendments had been made to the proposals. Cllr Thorn noted that private developers could not be mandated to follow the document. It was hoped that the Stone Circle development company would lead by example and follow the methodologies described in the document.

Cllr Ernie Clark, Leader of the Independent Group stated that any improvements were welcome, but that Wiltshire Council needed to listen to members of the community.

Cllr Ricky Rogers, Leader of the Labour Group stated that the amended document was welcome and felt that this was as step forward for community involvement. 

The Chairman then opened the debate.

Cllr Gavin Grant noted that there was no statutory provision requiring developers to consult with the community. However, he requested that the officer reports on planning applications include details on whether developers have followed the process and engaged with the local community.

Cllr Sturgis responded to some of the points raised, he agreed that Stone Circle should be exemplary in following the recommendations in the document and was sure that Cllr Clewer would take this on. Cllr Sturgis stated that reports should contain matters to be considered by the committee and it was not mandatory for developers to follow these methods therefore inclusions in officer reports to committee required careful consideration.

The Chairman then followed the procedure for voting on substantive items outlined  ...  view the full minutes text for item 46.

A report from the Chief Executive Officer.

The Chairman invited Cllr Pauline Church, Cabinet Member for Finance, Procurement and Commercial Investment, to introduce the item. The report was at Pages 123 - 146 of the agenda.

Cllr Church stated that the report covered the period from 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020 and it had been presented to Cabinet on 14 July 2020. Wiltshire Council was continuing with the policy of financing capital expenditure through maximising the use of capital receipts, capital grants and internal borrowing. External borrowing had been minimised resulting in the Council under borrowing by £153.9 million, which avoided net external interest costs of around £2.7 million. Wiltshire Council had met all legislative and regulatory requirements and had not breeched any performance indicators. Wiltshire Council had no liquidity difficulties and there had been no new borrowing undertaken during the year.

Cllr Church proposed a motion that the Council note that the contents of the Treasury Management Annual Outturn Report were in line with the Treasury Management Strategy 2019/2020. This was seconded by Cllr Simon Jacobs.

There was no public participation received for this item.

The Chairman then invited group leaders to speak before opening the debate up to all members. 

Cllr Philip Whitehead, Leader of the Council, thanked those who had produced the report, he stated that he was pleased that Wiltshire Council was within all performance indicators and were under borrowed, saving spending on interest payments. However, Cllr Whitehead stated steps were being taken to improve forecasting in this challenging time. 

Cllr Ian Thorn, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, welcomed Cllr Church to her new role. Cllr Thorn agreed with Cllr Whitehead regarding forecasts and actual spend.

Cllr Ernie Clark, Leader of the Independent Group had no comment.

Cllr Ricky Rogers, Leader of the Labour Group stated that he was happy to receive the report and it was welcome news.

The Chairman then opened the debate. No Cllrs wished to speak on this item. 

Cllr Church responded to some of the points previously raised, stating that the investments were predominately in banks and were detailed in paragraph 28 of the report (page 131).

As no Cllrs spoke against the item the Chairman requested that the vote be undertaken by just asking for those against the motion to raise their hands and it was;

Resolved:

That Council note that the contents of the report were in line with the Treasury Management Strategy 2019/2020.

The meeting was adjourned for 30 minutes to allow for a lunch break.

To receive a report on Overview and Scrutiny activity.

The meeting reconvened at 1.00pm after the 30 minute lunch break.

The Chairman invited Cllr Graham Wright, Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee, to present the report as detailed at Pages 147 – 152 of the agenda.

Cllr Wright highlighted that Overview and Scrutiny had played a key role in helping to develop Council policy and holding decision makers to account. They had submitted 138 recommendations to improve services. Cllr Wright thanked all of those involved with the scrutiny process. Overview and Scrutiny was now focusing on the response to Covid-19 and the recovery phase. Thanks was passed on to all the various scrutiny committees, their Chairs and Vice-Chairs. Overview and Scrutiny would continue to act as a critical friend to decision makers and would support innovation and acting as the voice of the people and councillors.

The Chairman proposed a motion that the Council received and noted the annual report of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, this was seconded by Cllr Jacqui Lay.

There was no public participation received on this item.

The Chairman then invited group leaders to speak before opening the debate up to all members. 

Cllr Philip Whitehead, Leader of the Council, thanked Overview and Scrutiny for all their work throughout the year and on the Covid response. He particularly thanked Cllr Wright and the Chairs and Vice-Chairs of the Scrutiny Committees.

Cllr Ian Thorn, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, echoed Cllr Whitehead’s comments. Cllr Thorn stated that he was very impressed with the report.

Cllr Ernie Clark, Leader of the Independent Group endorsed all that had been said previously and also expressed thanks to all Scrutiny Members.

Cllr Ricky Rogers, Leader of the Labour Group echoed previous comments and thanked Cllr Graham Wright and all Scrutiny Members.

The Chairman then opened the debate.

Cllr Chuck Berry expressed thanks to Scrutiny Members and also expressed thanks to all Scrutiny officers, particularly Paul Kelly, Head of Democracy, who had now left the Council.

Cllr Jon Hubbard echoed the thanks to the outstanding Scrutiny Team. He also thanked the administration for continuing the robust Scrutiny function.

Cllr Stuart Wheeler, as the new Chair of the Environment Select Committee thanked Scrutiny officers for their support, he also paid tribute to the outgoing Chair of Environment Select Cllr John Smale and his Vice-Chair Cllr Bob Jones MBE. He looked forward to working on the Environment Select Committee and thanked all Members of the Committee and its Task Groups.

Cllr Jacqui Lay stated we needed to get the message over that Scrutiny was about all Members working together and expressed the wish that more Members would become involved in task groups. She also hoped that the public could be made more aware of the Scrutiny function so that they could engage in it.

Cllr Wright thanked everyone for the kind words.

Resolved:

That Council note the annual report of Overview and Scrutiny.

A report from the Chief Executive Officer.

The Chairman invited Cllr Philip Whitehead to introduce the item and stated that the report could be found at pages 153 – 164 of the agenda.

The item involved the designation of statutory functions following a restructure, a report went through Cabinet on 9 June 2020 outlining proposals to change the Tier 1 Senior Management structure. After consultation with staff and Members the interim structure was implemented on 1 July 2020. As a result, the changes to the statutory functions needed to be confirmed.

Cllr Whitehead proposed a motion to approve the recommendations on pages 153 and 154 of the agenda. This was seconded by Cllr Richard Clewer.

The Chairman then invited group leaders to speak.

Cllr Ian Thorn, Leader of the Liberal Democrats queried why the interim designation of titles for DASS, DCS and the Section 151 Officer was taking place prior to the final review. 

Cllr Ernie Clark, Leader of the Independent Group stated that he had nothing to add.

Cllr Ricky Rogers, Leader of the Labour Group stated that he was happy with the proposals.

The item was then opened to debate.

Cllr Jon Hubbard stated that he was concerned regarding the designation of DASS and DCS to the same role as this was not thought to be best practise. He thought it would be more appropriate to wait until after the review had taken place. Cllr Hubbard requested that in future it may be of benefit to consult the relevant Select Committee Chairs in designation of statutory functions.

Cllr Philip Whitehead responded that there was an issue of timing around this. Statutory roles had to be allocated at all times, the Tier 2 roles were in the process of being allocated, which is why the designation was interim. There was a process that had to be followed. Cllr Whitehead invited Terence Herbert, Chief Executive Officer, to give further details.

Terence Herbert explained that Alison Elliott the DASS had left the organisation, therefore the role had to sit with one of the directors. After careful consideration and discussion, it was decided that the designation of DASS should sit at Corporate Director level. When the final review took place, relevant Members would be consulted. 

At the conclusion of the debate it was;

Resolved

That Council:

a. Approve the designation of statutory functions as follows:

i. Returning Officer (RO) and Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) to the Chief Executive.

ii. Head of Paid Service to the Chief Executive

b. Note the interim designation of the Director of Adult Social Services (DASS) AND Director of Children’s Services (DCS) to the interim Corporate Director for People pending a review of tier 2 senior leadership structure.

c. Note the interim designation of the Section 151 Officer to the interim Corporate Director of Resources pending a review of tier 2 senior leadership structure.

d. Note that the other designated statutory roles are unchanged as a result of the restructure and remain with existing postholders namely:

i. Director of Public Health (DPH)  ...  view the full minutes text for item 49.

A report from the Monitoring Officer.

The Chairman invited Cllr Richard Clewer who had responsibility for Corporate Services to present the report on the proposed changes to the constitution. The report could be found at pages 165 - 172 of the agenda. The proposed changes to Part 3B were at Pages 185-192, the revised Protocol 2 was at Pages 209 – 228, and the revised Part 15 at Pages 237 – 246.

There following elements were highlighted:

·       Changes to the terms of reference for the Electoral Review Committee. Within that were also some policy framework changes. It was explained that there was some ambiguity in the wording of two of the paragraphs, specifically paragraphs 1.1 – 1.2 of Part 3B of the constitution, so it was recommended that this go back to the Constitution Focus Group for further consideration.

·       Pensions and how the pension fund worked, dealt with in protocol 2 of the constitution.

·       Staff policy behaviour, which had been through the Constitution Focus group, Staffing Policy Committee and Standards Committee.

Cllr Clewer proposed a motion to:

1.    To approve the proposed changes to Part 3B of the Constitution as detailed in Appendix 2, with the exception of sections at paragraphs 1.1-1.2 to be referred to the Constitution Focus Group for further consideration.

2.    To approve the proposed changes to Protocol 2 of the Constitution as detailed in Appendix 4.

3.    To approve the proposed changes to Part 15 of the Constitution as detailed in Appendix 6.

This was seconded by Cllr Philip Whitehead.

A statement had been received from Chris Caswill regarding his concerns relating to the changes to part 3B of the constitution. The statement was read out by the Democratic Services Officer. It was stated that the proposed wording appeared to remove the requirement that certain decisions be made at Full Council. Cllr Clewer had already responded during his proposal, stating that the paragraphs in question would be referred back to the Constitution Focus Group to address any ambiguity on wording, however it was not the intention that Full Council involvement in the planning policy be removed.

Cllr Ian Thorn, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, requested confirmation that the paragraphs being referred back to the Constitution Focus Group (1.1-1.2 of Part 3B of the constitution) did relate to the issues raised by Chris Caswill in his statement and would not be adopted today.

Cllr Ernie Clark, Leader of the Independent Group echoed the concerns raised by Chris Caswill.

Cllr Ricky Rogers, Leader of the Labour Group stated that as the ambiguous paragraphs were being referred back to the Constitution Focus Group, he was happy to support the proposals.

The Chairman then opened the debate.

Councillors clarification that it was not the intention to remove Full Council’s right to debate on these important planning policies and documents.

Cllr Gordon King noted that important strategies such as the Child Poverty Strategy were close to needing review.

Cllr Richard Clewer responded that there was no intention that any of the planning documents or policies  ...  view the full minutes text for item 50.

To consider the attached motion from Cllr Brian Mathew and Ross Henning.

The Chairman announced that a motion had been received from Cllr Brian Matthew as amended in agenda supplement 1.

Cllr Brian Matthew explained that the Covid-19 response had included short-term works to re-prioritise walking and cycling. It was proposed that this response could be built on, to ensure that our roads were safe for walkers, cyclists and horse riders. This would help to reduce road traffic and pollution, whilst also improving public health.

Cllr Brian Mathew proposed the motion. This was seconded by Cllr Ross Henning.

Cllr Matthew also requested that there was a recorded vote on this item.

Public Participation

·       Dave Knight, representing the Royal Wootton Bassett Environment Group, had submitted a statement in support of the motion. The statement was read by the Democratic Services Officer.

·       Jane Laurie had submitted a statement in support of the motion. The statement was read by the Democratic Services Officer.

·       Bill Jarvis had submitted a statement in support of the motion.

Cllr Bridget Wayman, as Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Waste was invited to respond. Cllr Wayman referred to the briefing note in agenda supplement 1, which confirmed that Wiltshire Council already had many policies in place covering walking, cycling and horse riders and to ensure that they had a high priority across all the Council’s activities.

For clarity and in response to a point of order, Cllr Brian Mathew proposed the amendments to the motion as detailed on page 11 of agenda supplement 1. This was seconded by Cllr Ross Henning.

The Chairman then moved that motion as amended be debated. This was seconded by Cllr James Sheppard.

The Chairman then invited group leaders to speak before opening the debate up to all members.

Cllr Philip Whitehead, Leader of the Council, stated that he would have supported the motion, however Wiltshire Council already did all of these things, apart from the Czars, who really would be Portfolio Holders. Cllr Whitehead confirmed Wiltshire had the third highest amount of Rights of Way (ROW) in the country. The Leader stated that proposal one of the motion would in effect mean that someone adding a small extension to their house would have to show a safe cycling/pedestrian route. Cllr Whitehead did not support the motion and stated that improvements to walking and cycling routes could be achieved through existing structures, for instance the CATG. The Leader expressed disappointment that the motion was not sound and this could have been avoided if officers or Scrutiny had been invited to consider the matter.   

Cllr Ian Thorn, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, stated that he thought this was an excellent motion and he urged Members to support it. Cllr Thorn felt that Cllr Mathew had introduced the ideas in good faith as an extension of what Wiltshire Council already does and that debate should not be discouraged.  

Cllr Ernie Clark, Leader of the Independent Group stated that he was not sure what the motion added to what Wiltshire Council already do.

Cllr Ricky Rogers,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 51.

To consider the attached motion from Cllr Brian Dalton and Ian Thorn.

The meeting reconvened after a short recess at 4.15pm.

Cllr Brian Dalton proposed the motion detailed on page 249 of the agenda. This was seconded by Cllr Ian Thorn.

Cllr Brian Dalton spoke to the motion. It was explained that after reading an article in the Salisbury Journal he had liaised with Wiltshire Air Ambulance on the motion.

The Salisbury Novichok attack had taken the life of an innocent person and affected the lives of many others. Salisbury, Amesbury and the whole of Wiltshire were very grateful for the response of the Salisbury Air Ambulance.

The Councillor stated that Wiltshire Air Ambulance deserved the full support of Wiltshire Council and the Government. Due to the Novichok attack, their aircraft was grounded, their rapid response vehicle impounded and destroyed, and their offices closed. They were unable to undertake vital fund raising or their vital emergency response.

Cllr Dalton sought reassurance in his motion that the promises made to the Air Ambulance to support its financial recovery would be kept, hence the proposed motion.

The Chairman invited Cllr Philip Whitehead as the relevant Cabinet Member to respond.  Cllr Whitehead stated he had been working with the Wiltshire Air Ambulance and he had it in writing from the Wiltshire Air Ambulance that Wiltshire Council had never promised to support its financial recovery. It was agreed that Wiltshire Council would lead on trying to recover the funds from central Government and this was still underway. Cllr Whitehead produced a letter from the five Wiltshire MPs supporting the Wiltshire Air Ambulance.

Cllr Whitehead proposed a friendly amendment to delete everything in paragraph three after the sentence ‘This Council calls on Government to honour that commitment’. Also, in point 1 to change the words ‘fulfil the promise made to them’ to ‘recover the costs’; to remove the words ‘losses and’ from point 2 and to remove point 3 entirely. This was seconded by Cllr Richard Clewer.

The Chairman then invited group leaders to speak on the amendment.

Cllr Ian Thorn, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, acknowledged the points made by Cllr Whitehead, however noted that two years on the Air Ambulance were still out of pocket and needed government support.

Cllr Ernie Clark, Leader of the Independent Group stated that if the proposed amendment made the motion factually correct then he supported it.

Cllr Ricky Rogers, Leader of the Labour Group noted Wiltshire Air Ambulance had still not had their money and he supported the amendment.

The Chairman then opened the debate on the amendment.

Comments included that after listening to Cllr Whitehead’s response the amended motion seemed more appropriate.

Cllr Dalton accepted the amendment.

Cllr Bill Douglas stated he wanted to hear what Cllr Dalton had to say regarding the timeline and why he brought the motion, so that Members could make an informed decision. This was echoed by Cllr Walsh.

Cllr Thorn accepted the amendment as the seconder to the original motion.

An amendment from Cllr Grant was then considered. The amendment was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 52.

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

b) Councillors will be given the opportunity to raise questions to the Chairmen of Committees or to the Dorset and Wiltshire Fire Authority on the minutes of their meetings, available here.

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

There were no announcements by Cabinet Members or Chairs of committees.

Cllr Seed raised a question in relation to membership of the Liberal Democrat Group. 

Cllr Thorn stated that as Leader of the Liberal Democrats that Cllr Aves and Cllr Spencer were members of the Liberal Democrat Group. There were several councillors who were independent at Town Council level but Liberal Democrat at Wiltshire Council level. 

There were no questions in relation to the minutes for the Dorset and Wiltshire Fire Authority.

There were no general issues relating to Area Boards.

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

Following requests from Group Leaders, changes were appointed as follows, moved by the Chairman and seconded by the Vice-Chairman.

Resolved:

·       That Cllr Ian Blair Pilling be removed as a substitute for Strategic Planning Committee.

·       That Cllr John Smale be removed from Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee to be replaced by Cllr Stewart Wheeler as substitute.

·       That Cllr Allison Bucknell be removed as substitute from the Officer Appointments Committee, to be replaced by Cllr Toby Sturgis as substitute.

·       Cllr Simon Jacobs to be removed from the Wiltshire Pension Fund Committee to be replaced by Cllr Pauline Church.

·       Cllr Pauline Church to be removed from the Health and Wellbeing Board to be replaced as Cllr Laura Mayes as Cabinet Member for Children, Education and Skills. 

·       Cllr Simon Jacobs to be added to the Health and Wellbeing Board as Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, Public Health and Public Protection.

A report on page 251 on the agenda proposed to appoint Cllr Pauline Church as Vice Chair of the Wiltshire Pension Fund Committee. It was,

Resolved:

·       To appoint Cllr Pauline Church as Vice Chair of the Wiltshire Pension Fund Committee.

Councillors were required to give notice of any such question in writing to the officer names on the first page of this agenda no later than 5pm nine clear working days before the meeting – Tuesday 7 July 2020 in order to be guaranteed a written response.

Any question received after 5pm on 7 July and no later than 5pm four clear working days before the meeting, Tuesday 14 July 2020, may only receive a verbal response at the meeting. Any questions received after this date will be received at the next meeting.

Questions may be asked without notice if the Chairman determines 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 announced that 8 questions had been received for this meeting from Councillors Ian Thorn, Stewart Palmen, Ben Anderson, Edward Kirk, Mary Champion and Tom Rounds.

Members were reminded that there would be no debate on questions. It was noted that some of the questions were operational, however under the recent circumstances these were accepted for the meeting.

The questions and their responses were detailed in agenda supplement 1.

Question 20-16

A written response was provided by the Leader. Cllr Thorn asked as a supplementary whether the Leader intended to take on any additional vacancies that appeared before next May. Cllr Whitehead responded that he could not answer that until it happened. The two most obvious people to take over the By Brook division in the instance of a casual vacancy were ill at the time, which was why he had supported the division as an interim measure.

There were no further supplementary questions.

Members attendance details are attached to these minutes.