BABERGH DISTRICT COUNCIL

ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETING

MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE BABERGH DISTRICT COUNCIL HELD IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBER, COUNCIL OFFICES, CORKS LANE, HADLEIGH ON THURSDAY, 19 MAY 2011

Quick Links:

1 - Election of Chairman,
2 - Election of Vice-Chairman,
3 - Minutes,
4 - Declaration of Interests,
5 - Chairman's Announcements,
6 - To Receive Notification of Petitions in Accordance with Council Procedure Rule No. 13,
7 - Recommendations and Reports from Committees,
8 - Questions from the Public,
9 - Questions from Members,
10 - Political Balance and Composition of Committees,
11 - Appointment of Substitutes - Council Procedure Rule No. 5,
12 - Election of Chairmen of Committees,
13 - Annual Report of the Overview and Scrutiny (Stewardship) Committee,
14 - Annual Report of the Overview and Scrutiny (Community Services) Committee,
15 - Election of Member Champions,
16 - Task Groups and Panels - (A) Appointment of Members and (B) Annual Reports,
17 - Appointment of Representatives to Serve on the Shared Revenues Partnership (SRP) Joint Committee,
18 - Appointment of Members to Serve on Outside Bodies/Partnerships,

PRESENT:    Mr N A Ridley – In the Chair  

The following Members were unable to be present:- Dr M F M Bamford and Mr C A Roberts.

The proceedings were opened with a short prayer for those Members who had chosen to participate. 

1    ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN

It was proposed and seconded that Mr D L Wood be elected Chairman of the Council for the ensuing year.

RESOLVED

That Mr D L Wood be elected Chairman of the Council for the ensuing year.

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Mr N A Ridley vacated the Chair and Mr D L Wood thereupon made his declaration of acceptance of office and presided over the meeting.

2    ELECTION OF VICE-CHAIRMAN

It was proposed and seconded that Mr N A Ridley be elected Vice-Chairman of the Council for the ensuing year.

RESOLVED

That Mr N A Ridley be elected Vice-Chairman of the Council for the ensuing year.

Mr N A Ridley thereupon made his declaration of acceptance of office.

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3    MINUTES

RESOLVED

That the Minutes of the meeting held on 19 April 2011 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

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4    DECLARATION OF INTERESTS

None declared.

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5    CHAIRMAN’S ANNOUNCEMENTS

Standards Committee Members

The Chairman welcomed to the meeting Don Watson, Chairman of the Standards Committee and Tasia Kavvadias, a Member of that Committee.

Local Elections – 5 May 2011

The Chairman extended his congratulations to elected Members and especially welcomed the new Councillors.

Funding

The Chairman congratulated Shotley Parish Council on obtaining funding through the Haven Gateway’s ‘I Love Landscape’ initiative and commiserated with Whatfield Parish Council which came a close second in the competition.

Chairman’s Reception

Members noted that this was likely to be held in September and further details would be circulated in due course.

Building Control

The Chairman congratulated the Building Control staff on the award of the Local Authority Building Control East Anglia Building Excellence Award – in the best educational building category [for Suffolk One].

Chief Executive

The Chairman referred first of all to Pat Rockall’s final meeting and thanked her for her contribution over the last twelve years.  Mrs Rockall responded by thanking Members for their support and wished the Council well for the future. 

The Chairman then introduced Charlie Adan, the Chief Executive Designate, who thanked Members and staff for their welcome and acknowledged Mrs Rockall’s assistance in helping her to settle in.  She referred to the progress made by both Babergh and Mid Suffolk to date in forward thinking on collaboration and integration issues and said that she looked forward to building on that progress.

Events attended

The Chairman referred to Paper L3 outlining recent events attended by him and the Vice-Chairman of the Council.

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6    TO RECEIVE NOTIFICATION OF PETITIONS IN ACCORDANCE WITH COUNCIL PROCEDURE RULE NO.13

None received.

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7    RECOMMENDATIONS AND REPORTS FROM COMMITTEES

Terms of Reference (Joint Scrutiny Committee Minute No.8)

The Director of Corporate Services introduced Paper L4 which contained proposed terms of reference for the Joint Scrutiny Committee (JSC) set up by Babergh and Mid Suffolk.  The Council was asked to approve the terms of reference as recommended by the JSC.

RESOLVED

That the terms of reference for the Joint Scrutiny Committee as contained in Paper L4 be approved.

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8    QUESTIONS FROM THE PUBLIC

None received.

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9    QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS

None received.

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10    POLITICAL BALANCE AND COMPOSITION OF COMMITTEES

Members had before them a report (Paper L5) by the Director of Corporate Services relating to the Council’s duty to review the allocation of seats to Political Groups at every Annual Meeting and to approve the composition of its Committees.  Members were aware that the names of the Committee Members listed in Appendix 2 to Paper L5 were as notified by the Group Leaders.  Mr A C Bavington’s name was put forward at the meeting for the vacancy on Standards Committee (Appendix 2).

RESOLVED 

(1)    That the Committee sizes and numerical allocation of seats be approved as set out below.

 (2)    That the ungrouped Member Mr C W Arthey be appointed to serve on the Development Committee

(3)    That Committee seats be allocated as set out below:-

STRATEGY COMMITTEE

OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY (STEWARDSHIP) COMMITTEE

OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY (COMMUNITY SERVICES) COMMITTEE

DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

LICENSING AND APPEALS COMMITTEE

STANDARDS COMMITTEE 

                                                            Co-opted Members

A C Bavington                                   P F Cook                (until 28.2.2014)
P Jones                                              P J Down               (until 30.6.2012)
R E Kemp                                           R L Feltwell           (until 25.3.2012)
A F D W Osborne                              A George               (until 14.12.2013)
                                                            T Kavvadias           (until 14.5.2012)
                                                            J G Watson            (until 30.9.2011)

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11    APPOINTMENT OF SUBSTITUTES – COUNCIL PROCEDURE RULE NO. 5

Members had before them a report (Paper L6) relating to the appointment of substitutes under the new pool system introduced with effect from May 2011.  Members also had before them a revised wording for paragraph 8.2 (names provided for the Groups on the relevant Committees) together with additional paragraphs 8.3 and 8.4 which were circulated prior to the commencement of the meeting. 

The Director of Corporate Services also referred to an additional recommendation for consideration by Members to allow the Deputy Group Leader of the Labour Group, Mr Owen, to substitute for the Leader of the Group, Mr Bavington, on the Strategy Committee, notwithstanding the provisions of Council Procedure Rule No. 5.5 as reproduced under paragraph 8.1 of Paper L6.

After some discussion on the additional recommendation, Members agreed that notwithstanding the immediate situation which it was intended to address, a report should be made to a future meeting on the wording and operation of this provision which affects others of the Groups in addition to Labour.

RESOLVED

(1)    That substitutes be approved as set out below:-

STRATEGY COMMITTEE 

OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY (STEWARDSHIP) COMMITTEE 

OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY (COMMUNITY SERVICES) COMMITTEE

DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE 

(2)    That Council Procedure Rule No. 5.5 be disapplied to enable Mr J M Owen to substitute for Mr A C Bavington on the Strategy Committee, as shown in the list of Members in resolution (1) above.

(3)    That the Director of Corporate Services be asked to submit a report to the Overview and Scrutiny (Community Services) Committee on the operation of Council Procedure Rule No. 5.5 in relation to Members of Strategy Committee substituting on Overview and Scrutiny Committees and vice versa.

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12    ELECTION OF CHAIRMEN OF COMMITTEES

Members were asked to include the Joint Scrutiny Committee in the list of Committees for which a Chairman needs to be appointed.  It was noted that the Standards Committee will appoint its own Chairman at its next meeting.

RESOLVED

(1)    That Ms J A Jenkins be elected Chairman of the Strategy Committee for the ensuing year.

(2)    That Mr J A B Long be elected Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny (Community Services) Committee for the ensuing year.

(3)    That Mr D M Busby be elected Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny (Stewardship) Committee for the ensuing year.

(4)    That Mr P K Beer be elected Chairman of the Development Committee for the ensuing year.

(5)    That Mr P J Holbrook be elected Chairman of the Licensing and Appeals Committee for the ensuing year.

(6)    That Mr B D Hurren be elected Chairman of the Joint Scrutiny Committee for the ensuing year to Chair those meetings held at Babergh.

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13    ANNUAL REPORT OF THE OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY (STEWARDSHIP) COMMITTEE

Mr D M Busby, Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny (Stewardship) Committee presented the Committee’s Annual Report (Paper L7).

RESOLVED

(1)    That the Annual Report of the Overview and Scrutiny (Stewardship) Committee for 2010/11 as set out in Paper L7 be noted.

(2)    That the Committee Work Plan for 2011/12 as set out in Appendix 1 of Paper L7 be approved.

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14    ANNUAL REPORT OF THE OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY (COMMUNITY SERVICES) COMMITTEE

Mr J A B Long, Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny (Community Services) Committee presented the Committee’s Annual Report (Paper L8).

During consideration of this item reference was made to the extent of the review of car parking charges scheduled for consideration at the June meeting and it was confirmed that a wide selection of views and issues would be taken into account.

RESOLVED

(1)    That the Annual Report of the Overview and Scrutiny (Community Services) Committee for 2010/11 as set out in Paper L8 be noted.

(2)    That the Committee Work Plan for 2011/12 as set out in Appendix 1 of Paper L8 be approved.

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15    ELECTION OF MEMBER CHAMPIONS

RESOLVED

That appointments be made to Member Champion posts as follows for the current term of office:-

Waste Management Strategy                  Mr C W Arthey
Efficiencies and Procurement                Mr R C Smith
Equalities                                                      Mr D L Wood
Health and Safety                                       Mr D C Rose
Children and Young People                      Mrs K S Grandon
Arts and Culture                                          Mrs S M Wigglesworth

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16    TASK GROUPS AND PANELS – (A) APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS AND (B) ANNUAL REPORTS

The Director of Corporate Services submitted a report (Paper L9) requesting the Council to consider appointing Members to serve on Task Groups/Panels, to note the progress of the Work Plans for 2010/11 (Appendix 1) and to approve the Work Plans for 2011/12 (Appendix 2).  The proposed memberships of the Task Groups/Panels were set out in Appendix 3.

RESOLVED

(1)    That the following Babergh Task Groups/Panels continue for 2011/12:-

(a)    Human Resources (HR) Panel (including substitutes for Staff Joint Consultative Committee)

(b)    Village of the Year Awards Panel

(c)    Housing Panel

(d)    Procurement Task Group

(e)    Strategic and Financial Planning Task Group

(2)    That the progress of the Task Groups/Panels during 2010/11 as outlined in Appendix 1 of Paper L9 be noted.

(3)    That the proposed Work Plans for the Task Groups/Panels for 2011/12 as set out in Appendix 2 of Paper L9 be approved.

(4)    That Membership of the Council’s Task Groups/Panels for 2011/12 together with that of the Joint Panels/Committees be agreed as set out below:-

17    APPOINTMENT OF REPRESENTATIVES TO SERVE ON THE SHARED REVENUES PARTNERSHIP (SRP) JOINT COMMITTEE

The Director of Corporate Services reported that under the Shared Revenues Partnership Agreement, the three partner Councils (Babergh, Ipswich and Mid Suffolk) each appoints two Members to serve on the SRP Joint Committee, which was established under Section 101 of the Local Government Act 1972 and Regulation 11 of the Local Authorities (Arrangements for the Discharge of Functions) (England) Regulations 2000.

At its meeting on 29 September 2010 when the establishment of the Joint Committee was approved, it was agreed that Babergh’s two representatives were to be Members of the Strategy Committee together with Substitute Members from that Committee. It was further agreed at the Council meeting on 13 December 2010 that the SRP JC be not politically balanced.

The Council was therefore asked to appoint two Members of the Strategy Committee to serve on the SRP Joint Committee together with two substitute Members also from the Strategy Committee.

RESOLVED

(1)    That Mr A C Bavington and Mr A J Hinton be appointed as the Babergh Members to serve on the Shared Revenues Partnership Joint Committee.

(2)    That Mrs J Antill and Mrs A K Pollard be appointed as the substitute Members on the SRP Joint Committee.

(3)    That the appointments referred to in (1) and (2) above be made for the current term of office.

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18    APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS TO SERVE ON OUTSIDE BODIES/ PARTNERSHIPS

Members had before them Paper L10 together with updated Appendices A and B which were circulated prior to the commencement of the meeting.  Members noted that there were no updates to Appendix C.

Further amendments and clarification were given at the meeting prior to Members agreeing to vote on the appointments by show of hands.

RESOLVED

(1)    That appointments be made to the outside bodies/partnerships detailed in Appendix 1 to these Minutes for the current term of office except where the appointment is linked to the holder of a particular role such as Chairman of Strategy Committee or where the body or partnership in question imposes a different timescale.

(2)    That in relation to the situation in Bentley Parish Council as set out in Appendix C to Paper L10

(a)    Babergh District Council makes two temporary appointments to Bentley Parish Council and;

(b)    The Director of Corporate Services be authorised to make an order appointing the relevant Ward Councillors (Dr Michael Bamford and Mr John Hinton) temporarily to serve on Bentley Parish Council under Section 91 of the Local Government Act 1972.

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Note:   The meeting adjourned between 10.50 a.m. and 11.35 a.m. for refreshments.

The business of the meeting was concluded at 12.35 p.m.

Chairman