Meeting documents

CDC Council
Tuesday, 2nd October, 2001

2001.10.02 - Council, Minutes
 

CHILTERN DISTRICT COUNCIL
 

 
 

MINUTES of the Meeting of the CHILTERN DISTRICT COUNCIL
 

 
 

held on 2 OCTOBER 2001
 

 
 

 
 

PRESENT:

Councillor

I T Gomm     -

Chairman of the Council

 

 

"

Mrs L M Smith -

Vice-Chairman of the Council

 

 

 

 

Councillor

Miss P A Appleby

Councillor

Mrs S M Howkins

"

R Arthy

"

P M Jones

"

J A Banham

"

D J Lacey

"

Mrs B D Barker

"

Mrs P Lindsley

"

Mrs J  Barratt

"

Mrs H S Matthews

"

Mrs L S Bateman

"

D G Meacock

"

M Z Bhatti

"

Mrs J Ottaway

"

Ms J E Bramwell

"

M Peters

"

N Brentnall

"

D W Phillips

"

N L Brown

"

P T Priestley

"

A Campbell

"

A H Reed

"

Mrs G A Cotterell

"

N M Rose

"

B M Curson

"

D C Schofield

"

A Dibbo

"

C Spruytenburg

"

T Dodd

"

Mrs E P Stacey

"

Mrs M A Hamilton

"

G Sussum

"

Mrs M Harker

"

A W Walters
 

"

Mrs V Head

"

Miss M J White

"

L A Hodgkinson

"

R T Young

"

Sir John Horsbrugh-Porter

 

 
 

 
 

 
 

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE were received from Councillors R Abraham, Mrs D Allen, M J Batt, Mrs D Brackley, J E Ford, P T Lole, D A Ponting and J F Warder.
 

 
 

 
 

47.     SILENCE    
 

 
 

At the request of the Chairman, the Meeting stood for a short while in silent remembrance of the tragedy in New York on September 11th , 2001.
 

 
 

 
 

48.     MINUTES
 

 
 

The Minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 31 July 2001, copies of which had been previously circulated, were signed by the Chairman as a correct record.
 

 
 

 
 

49.     DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
 

 
 

     None made at this point in the meeting.
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

50.     ANNOUNCEMENTS
 

 
 

The Chairman of the Council drew attention to the diary dates of matters attended by himself and the Vice-Chairman since the last Council Meeting.
 

 
 

The Chairman also drew attention to his reception to be held on Friday, 15 March 2002, and the Chairman’s Civic Service at 3.30 pm on Sunday 21 April 2002.
 

 
 

Neither the Executive Leader nor the Head of Paid Service had any announcements to make.
 

 
 

 
 

51.     PLANNING COMMITTEE
 

 
 

     It was proposed by Councillor N Rose, seconded by Councillor Mrs M Harker and
 

 
 

     RESOLVED -
 

 
 

That the Minutes and Resolutions of the meeting of the Planning Committee, held on 9 August 2001, be received and adopted.
 

 
 

 
 

52.     LICENSING AND REGULATION COMMITTEE
 

 
 

     It was proposed by Councillor D Schofield, seconded by Councillor N Brentnall, and
 

 
 

     RESOLVED -
 

 
 

That the Minutes and Resolutions of the meeting of the Licensing and Regulation Committee, held on 16 August 2001, be received and adopted, subject as below.
 

 
 

     Note:  M Z Bhatti declared his interest in Minute 12 of the Licensing and Regulation Committee.
 

 
 

 
 

53.          PUBLIC ENTERTAINMENT LICENCE, ‘THE BOARD’, 31 HIGH STREET, CHESHAM
 

 
 

Arising on Minute 10 of Licensing and Regulation Committee, Councillor Mrs J Ottaway and Councillor D Lacey raised matters concerning the Public Entertainment Licence granted to ‘The Board’, 31 High Street, Chesham.  The Chairman of the Committee advised that he would respond in writing.
 

 
 

 
 

54.     PLANNING COMMITTEE
 

 
 

     It was proposed by Councillor N Rose, seconded by Councillor Mrs M Harker, and
 

 
 

     RESOLVED -
 

 
 

That the Minutes and Recommendations of the meeting of the Planning Committee, held on 30 August 2001, be received and adopted.
 

 
 

 
 

55.     SCRUTINY COMMITTEE
 

 
 

     It was proposed by Councillor A Campbell, seconded by Councillor P T Priestley, and
 

 
 

RESOLVED -
 

 
 

That the Minutes of the meeting of the Scrutiny Committee, held on 11 September 2001, be received and adopted.
 

56.     HOMELESSNESS COMMITTEE
 

 
 

     It was proposed by Councillor Mrs H Matthews, seconded by Councillor L Hodgkinson, and
 

 
 

     RESOLVED -
 

 
 

That the Minutes and Resolutions of the meeting of the Homelessness Committee, held on 19 September 2001, be received and adopted.
 

 
 

 
 

57.     PLANNING COMMITTEE
 

 
 

     It was proposed by Councillor N Rose, seconded by Councillor Mrs M Harker, and
 

 
 

     RESOLVED -
 

 
 

That the Minutes and Recommendation  of the meeting of the Planning Committee, held on 20 September 2001, be received and adopted.
 

 
 

 
 

58.     EXECUTIVE QUESTION TIME
 

 
 

In accordance with Rule 9.1 of the Procedural Rules, the Council considered reports and received questions without notice from Members.
 

 
 

(a)     Councillor T Dodd
 

 
 

The Executive Member with responsibility for Community First advised that during the past few weeks he had been gathering information on topical matters concerning his portfolio.  He requested information and feedback from Members and officers to assist him with that process.  In particular, Councillor Dodd drew attention to:-
 

 
 

          (i)     The Council’s strategy with respect to the purchase/use of woodlands;
 

 
 

          (ii)     In connection with community safety, he had considered the audit on this subject and
 

had listened to the Chief Constable and received a briefing from the new area Police Commander.  It was hoped that funds would be forthcoming to enable the Neighbourhood Warden Scheme to proceed, and also money finance for anti-drugs and other initiatives.
 

 
 

(iii)     The Executive’s consideration of the Language Support Service had been called in by the
 

Scrutiny Committee and would be again considered by the Executive.
 

 
 

(iv)     Councillor Dodd drew attention to the useful work undertaken by the Hard of Hearing Club.  
 

 
 

v)     Attention had been drawn at the Youth PAG to youth matters generally.  Councillor Dodd
 

commented upon the difficulties which he had had in contacting the Youth MP.  
 

 
 

(vi)     Attention was drawn to the work of the Bucks Community Action Partnership.
 

 
 

 
 

     (b)     Councillor J A Banham
 

 
 

Councillor J A Banham, the Executive Member with responsibility for Optimising Resources, drew attention to consideration of the provision of ICT facilities for Members, which had been given at the Members Services PAG.  He reminded Members that a questionnaire had been circulated, the results of which would assist in improving access to ICT facilities.
 

 
 

Councillor Banham outlined some of the statistics from the questionnaires which had been returned so far.  He requested all Members to complete and return the questionnaire as soon as possible.  Councillor Mrs Head advised of the difficulty which she had had in answering some of the questions because of the design of the questionnaire.
 

      
 

(c)     Councillor D W Phillips
 

 
 

The Executive Leader drew attention to notes which had been prepared following a meeting facilitated by Mr Andy Holder, which had been attended by Executive and Scrutiny Committee Members.  A number of matters had been raised, including the new political arrangements and consideration of how Members could participate more effectively within those arrangements.  Councillor Phillips ruled out any return to a Committee system and drew attention to Rules 9.1 and 9.2 of the Procedure Rules, which allowed the submission of questions.  
 

 
 

Councillor Phillips advised that following consideration, the following suggestions and changes to arrangements would be introduced:-
 

 
 

          (1)     Every Tuesday the Executive would attend at the Council Offices and be available for
 

discussions with Members and officers.  
 

 
 

          (2)     Concern had been expressed that Members attending meetings of the Executive were
 

unable to express their views.  Henceforth, any Member who wished to address the Executive on any matter concerning his/her own area, or on a matter of policy or to give specialist information, then  that Member may speak at the Executive meeting for a period not to exceed 5 minutes.
 

 
 

          (3)     On the subject of PAGs, it was thought that the present system was working reasonably
 

well but there were some matters which needed to be addressed.  Councillor Phillips advised:-
 

 
 

¨

That all Members would get all papers to be considered at PAGs.
 

 
 

¨

Membership of PAGs needed some attention and it was suggested that when the
 

Executive Member concerned proposed setting up a PAG, all Members would be advised of the PAG, its Terms of Reference, and its proposed membership.  If any Member then felt that he/she would like to be a member of that PAG, then contact could be made with the respective Group Leader and the Portfolio holder concerned.
 

 
 

¨

Executive Agendas were too long and it was recognised that further delegation was necessary.  This was a matter which would be considered by the Constitutional Review Committee.
 

 
 

¨

The timing of the commencement of Executive meetings had been considered and it had now been agreed that Executive meetings would commence at 4 pm instead of 10.30 am as at present.  More routine items would be placed early on the agenda, with a view to more important/policy matters being considered later in the meeting when Members were more likely to be able to attend.  It was anticipated that Executive meetings should not carry on beyond 9pm.
 

 
 

¨

Following the Executive Leader’s statement, a number of Members expressed their views on the matters which had been raised as follows:-
 

 
 

¨

Councillor Mrs Head suggested that membership of PAGs should still be co-ordinated by Group Leaders.  There was general agreement that this course of action was preferable.  
 

 
 

¨

Councillor Mrs Barker wondered why it was necessary to hold a pre-meeting before the main Executive meeting at 4 pm.  Councillor Phillips advised that this gave an opportunity for officers to brief the Executive on the reports which were to be presented and to receive the latest information on matters likely to arise.
 

 
 

¨

Councillor Mrs Lindsley suggested that Executive Members might like to consider holding surgeries on Tuesday evenings.
 

 
 

¨

Councillor Miss Appleby welcomed the reports given by the three Executive Members, but indicated her preference for the reports to be circulated in writing in advance.
 

 
 

¨

Councillor Reed commended the concept of further delegation.  He felt that too many trivial items were being discussed at the Executive because they had not been delegated.
 

 
 

¨

Councillor Jones suggested an early meeting of the Constitution Review Committee to consider a number of matters, including delegation.
 

 
 

¨

Councillor Banham indicated that he would prefer Members to advise him if they were intending to attend on Tuesdays and wished to see him.
 

 
 

¨

Councillor Meacock raised a matter concerning grants.  He mentioned the Theatre in the Villages in particular, and requested that a breakdown be given of how particular grants were arrived at.  Councillor T Dodd advised that he would reply in writing on this matter.
 

 
 

¨

Councillor Mrs Head felt that reports given by Executive Members should be on record and requested the issuing of a synopsis of what Executive Members had said at Council meetings.
 

 
 

 
 

     Note:  Councillor R J Arthy entered the meeting at 7.16 pm and Councillor Ms J E Bramwell at 7.17 pm.
 

 
 

 
 

59.     EXECUTIVE MINUTES – 7 AUGUST 2001
 

 
 

     It was proposed by Councillor D W Phillips, seconded by Councillor Mrs M A Hamilton, and
 

 
 

     RESOLVED -
 

 
 

That the Minutes and Recommendations of the meeting of the Executive, held on 7 August 2001, be received and adopted, subject as below.
 

 
 

 
 

60.     YOUTH COUNCIL
 

 
 

Arising on Executive Minute 55 (c), Councillor Mrs Barker advised that she felt that Town and Parish Councils should be included in Youth Council meetings and be kept advised of matters concerning Youth initiatives.  Members advised that Parish Councils did have contact with local youth clubs and confirmed their feelings that Town and Parish Councils should be involved.
 

 
 

 
 

61.     DECRIMINALISED PARKING
 

 
 

Arising on Executive Minute 55 (a) and from a request to the Executive Leader by Councillor D Lacey, Councillor Phillips advised of the difficulties which were still being experienced in negotiations with Buckinghamshire County Council.  The County Council’s attitude was felt to be one of determined opposition to aspects of decriminalised parking proposals, and at present no progress was being made.
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

62.     NEW BUCKS PARTNERSHIP FOR ACTION
 

 
 

Arising from Minute 59 of the Executive, Councillor Mrs Head advised that Councillor P M Jones had been appointed to attend the new Bucks Partnership for Action Conference.
 

 
 

 
 

63.     HOUSING AND PLANNING PAG    
 

 
 

Arising     on Minute 67.1 of the Executive, Councillor P M Jones advised that he felt that the matters discussed at the Housing and Planning PAG should have been referred to the Planning Committee for consideration.  He reminded the Council that PAGs were unable to make recommendations and were for the discussion of policy matters to assist the portfolio holder in his/her consideration.
 

 
 

Councillor Jones then moved reference back of Minute 67.1 to the Executive for further consideration.  The Executive Leader advised that he agreed to take this matter back to the next Executive meeting.
 

 
 

 
 

Note:  Councillor A W Walters left the meeting at 8.03pm.
 

 
 

 
 

64.     EXECUTIVE MINUTE
 

 
 

     It was proposed by Councillor D W Phillips, seconded by Councillor T Dodd, and
 

 
 

     RESOLVED -
 

 
 

That the Minutes and Recommendations of the meeting of the Executive, held on 4 September 2001, be received and adopted.
 

 
 

     Note:  Councillor R J Arthy left the meeting at 8.33pm.
 

 
 

 
 

66.     BETTER HOMES = BETTER HEALTH
 

 
 

The Council considered a request to approve the appointment of Anchor Trust as the managing organisation for the Better Homes = Better Health Project, and also the use of Convex Marketing as the marketing company to promote the project.  Members were advised that the matter had been brought to the Council meeting because the project was due to be launched on 20 November 2001, which did not allow prior consideration by the Executive before recommendations were made to the Council.  
 

 
 

     A number of questions were raised by Members and responded to by the officers.
 

 
 

     RESOLVED -
 

 
 

That Contract Procedure Rule No.13 be waived and Anchor Trust be appointed as the managing organisation for the Better Homes = Better Health project, and Convex Marketing as the promotion company, without formal tenders being required.
 

 
 

 
 

67.     HOMELESSNESS COMMITTEE – MEMBERSHIP
 

 
 

Councillor M Peters, the Leader of the Conservative Group, advised that Councillor B M Curson wished to step down from the Homelessness Committee as he felt that as one of this Council’s representatives on the Chiltern Hundreds Housing Association Committee of Management he found some conflict with matters arising at Homelessness Committee.  Councillor Peters nominated Councillor Mrs E P Stacey to replace Councillor Curson on the Committee.
 

 
 

 
 

     RESOLVED -
 

 
 

That Councillor Mrs E P Stacey be appointed to replace Councillor B M Curson on the Homelessness Committee.
 

 
 

Notes: The Chairman ruled that the above matter could be considered at this meeting as a matter of               urgency in view of the time factor.
 

 
 

 
 

The meeting ended at 9.05pm.