MINUTES of the Meeting held in the Council Chamber, Swale House, East Street, Sittingbourne on Wednesday 21st July 2010 from 7:00 pm to 8:44 pm.

PRESENT: Councillor Worrall (Mayor), Councillor Ben Stokes (Deputy Mayor), Councillors Dave Banks, Barnicott, Bobbin, Andy Booth, Lloyd Bowen, Bowles, Jackie Constable, Mick Constable, Derek Conway, Mike Cosgrove, Adrian Crowther, Richard Darby, Duncan Dewar-Whalley, Trevor Fentiman, Chris Foulds, Ed Gent, Sue Gent, Nicholas Hampshire, Harrison, Mike Haywood, Mike Henderson, Lesley Ingham, Gerry Lewin, John Morris, Bryan Mulhern, Prescott, Ken Pugh, Gareth Randall, Pat Sandle, David Sargent, David Simmons, Paul Sturdgess, Adam Tolhurst, Roger Truelove, Ghlin Whelan, Ted Wilcox, Nick Williams, Alan Willicombe, Jean Willicombe and John Wright

OFFICERS PRESENT: Joanne Hammond, Abdool Kara and Mark Radford.

ALSO IN ATTENDANCE:

APOLOGIES: Councillors Mark Baldock, Monique Bonney, Elvina Lowe, Brenda Simpson and Anita Walker.

PRAYERS

The Mayor’s Chaplain opened the meeting with prayers.

MINUTES

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 23rd June 2010 (Minute Nos. 142 - 155) were taken as read, approved and signed by the Mayor as a correct record.

A Member referred to the Annual Council Minutes of 19th May 2010 and the question raised by a Member at the meeting in relation to the increase in the size of the Executive, and whether this would require a supplementary estimate in respect of Members’ Allowances (Minute No. 17/05/10 refers). The Leader confirmed that a response would be provided to all Members.

Leader

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Councillor Prescott declared a personal interest in respect of Minute No. 238 (Adoption of Recommendations for the Audit Committee on 29th June 2010 – Minute No. 166 Faversham Enterprise Partnership) and left the room during consideration of this item.

Councillors John Wright, Bryan Mulhern and Ted Wilcox declared personal interests in respect of Minute No. 238 (Adoption of Recommendations for the Audit Committee on 29th June 2010 – Minute No. 166 Faversham Enterprise Partnership) as they were Council appointed representatives on the Faversham Enterprise Partnership. They left the room during consideration of this item.

MAYOR'S ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Mayor announced that Councillor Monique Bonney’s baby boy was born on 21st June and Members offered their congratulations to Councillor Bonney and family.

The Mayor thanked Members for attending the Mayor's Annual Bowls Match at Milton Regis Bowling Club on Friday 2nd July 2010.

Members were reminded that an Extraordinary Council Meeting had been arranged for Wednesday 11th August 2010 to consider the consultation on leadership models.

The Mayor advised that the Customer Services Centre had hosted an open day for Councillors on Tuesday 20th July 2010. A briefing note on the event would be circulated to Members in despatch.

QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC

The Mayor advised that no questions had been submitted.

QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY MEMBERS

The Mayor referred to the tabled paper which set out four questions received from Members. The Mayor advised that responses had been tabled for two questions.

With reference to question two, the Leader confirmed that the Council had already taken the decision not to use the term 'Third Sector'. All documents would refer to the term Voluntary and Community Sector in recognition of the importance of those organisations to the Borough.

With reference to question three, the Leader considered that, whilst the current economic situation would delay the delivery of additional facilities for schools, it was the quality of teaching staff that was of greater importance for education.

MOTION SUBMITTED IN ACCORDANCE WITH COUNCIL PROCEDURE RULE NO. 15

Councillor Mike Haywood proposed and Councillor Roger Truelove seconded the following motion which had been submitted in accordance with Council Procedure Rule No. 15:

“This Council calls upon the Coalition Government to prioritise the provision of affordable housing that helps build sustainable communities and addresses the housing needs of local families in Swale.”

Councillor Haywood spoke to the motion and emphasised the importance of providing decent, affordable housing for local residents. He referred to the current housing register figures and the number of people in private rented accommodation. He raised concern that there was no link between the Planning and Housing Departments and referred to the need for dedicated Officer support to encourage more affordable housing provision across the Borough.

Councillor Cosgrove proposed the following amendment to the motion, which was seconded by Councillor Bowles:

“That this Council thanks the Coalition Government for agreeing greater freedoms and flexibilities to help Councils seize local stewardship of their planning and housing responsibilities, so that the needs and requirements of local residents can be better served through local decision making, rather than the weighty bureaucratic process that the previous Government imposed through inefficient and costly housing quangos.”

Members then spoke to the amendment and made the following comments: the Council’s Housing Department had made significant progress; affordable housing needed to be a priority for the Council; potential conflict between large numbers of affordable housing and sustainable communities; the need for developments of mixed tenure; the need to consider a range of affordable housing options; the implications of losing section 106 agreements regarding affordable housing; poor state of some private rented housing in Borough; proven need in Borough for affordable housing; this was a serious issue that had major social and economic implications; concern that residents would be forced back into social housing; local authorities could not understand regional housing need in the same way as the Regional Development Agencies did; the need to address issues of job security and deposits for buyers; affordable housing schemes were too restrictive and did not allow buyers to seek competitive market rates for mortgages; the Council could not caveat property sales to local residents; the issue should be reviewed by scrutiny; Housing Associations should be encouraged to build new properties; and the Coalition Government’s policy was to allow local authorities to make decisions, such as affordable housing, at a local level by elected members.

The amendment was put to the vote and agreed.

RESOLVED:

(1) That this Council thanks the Coalition Government for agreeing greater freedoms and flexibilities to help Councils seize local stewardship of their planning and housing responsibilities, so that the needs and requirements of local residents can be better served through local decision making, rather than the weighty bureaucratic process that the previous Government imposed through inefficient and costly housing quangos.

LEADER'S STATEMENT

The Leader presented his statement which had been tabled at the meeting. The Leader answered Member’s questions.

AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION – STANDARDS COMMITTEE AND LOCAL ASSESSMENT AND HEARINGS ARRANGEMENTS

The Leader introduced the report which set out proposed changes to the Standards Committee and its sub-committees.

RESOLVED:

(1) That the revised Article 9, and revised Terms of Reference for the Standards Committee and the Referrals; Appeals; Consideration and Pre-Hearing; and Hearing Sub-Committees approved by the Standards Committee be noted and that amendments to the Constitution resulting from those changes be approved.

(2) That substitutes for the Borough and Parish Council representatives be agreed, subject to them receiving any training specified by the Monitoring Officer.

(3) That it be noted that there is no authority in the current legislation for the Monitoring Officer to disclose the details of the complaint to the subject member or take steps to resolve the complaint before the assessment stage as these are decisions that must be taken by the Assessment Sub-Committee.

(4) That a revised Monitoring Officer Protocol and Local Assessment and Determinations Procedure Rule be drafted in consultation with the Chair of the Standards Committee and Group Leaders, to be considered at a future Standards Committee meeting.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT (MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS) ACT 1982 - STREET TRADING POLICY PROVISIONS

The Executive Member for Safer and Stronger Communities introduced the report which presented the draft Street Trading Local Policy document and sought approval to engage in wider consultation prior to its formal adoption by Council. He thanked the Regeneration Manager and the Interim Head of Legal for their work on the report.

A Member considered that the report was an improvement on the version considered by the Executive, but that the process was still too cumbersome. He requested that the consultation papers included a copy of the proposed application form for street trading and questioned what interim arrangements the Council had in place prior to the Policy being approved.

The Executive Member for Safer and Stronger Communities agreed to follow up on the points raised.

RESOLVED:

(1) That the draft Policy document be approved for wider consultation in support of policy adoption.

(2) That all streets within Swale’s boundaries be designated as “consent streets”.

AMENDMENT TO COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP 2010/2011

The Leader proposed two amendments to the Conservative Group’s Committee Membership for 2010/2011. He also proposed an amendment to the appointments to Outside Bodies to remove Councillor Bryan Mulhern from the Faversham Pools Management Committee.

RESOLVED:

(1) That Councillor Pat Sandle be removed from the Policy Overview Committee and added to the Scrutiny Committee and that Councillor Paul Sturdgess be removed from the Scrutiny Committee and added to the Policy Overview Committee.

(2) That Councillor Bryan Mulhern be removed from the Faversham Pools Management Committee.

ADOPTION OF RECOMMENDATIONS

(I) AUDIT COMMITTEE – 29TH JUNE 2010

Members commented on Minute No. 166 (Faversham Enterprise Partnership (FEP) – request for continued funding support). The Chief Executive set out his understanding that the funding related to 2010/2011 and it was an Executive decision.

Members made the following comments: the business plan and accounts presented to the Audit Committee were insufficient and lacked supporting management information and explanatory notes; it was unclear why administrative costs for the FEP had increased by £10,000 in the previous year; and no information was provided about what benefits would be achieved from the £4,000 funding.

A Member considered that the FEP provided a valuable service for the community and advised that the funding was not intended as an on-going budget for future years.

The Leader confirmed that a full report on the Faversham Enterprise Partnership's request for continued funding support would be submitted to the next Executive meeting on 25th August 2010.

RESOLVED:

(1) That the recommendations in Minute Nos. 166 and 167 be approved.

(II) EXECUTIVE – 1ST JULY 2010

RESOLVED:

(1) That the recommendations in Minute No. 175 be approved.

(III) HACKNEY CARRIAGES AND PRIVATE HIRE VEHICLES COMMITTEE – 7TH JULY 2010

RESOLVED:

(1) That the recommendations in Minute Nos. 192, 193, 194 and 195 be approved.

(IV) STANDARDS COMMITTEE – 14TH JULY 2010

RESOLVED:

(1) That the recommendations in Minute Nos. 212, 213, 214, 215 and 216 be approved.