Meeting documents

To approve as a correct record and to sign the Minutes of the meeting of Council held on 9 January 2018.

The Minutes of the meeting of Council held on 9 January 2018 were approved as a correct record.

 

There were no declarations of interest.

 

It was noted that with regards to item 7.1 (Budget and Council Tax 2018/19) dispensations under Section 33 of Localism Act 2011 had been granted to all Members in relation to the setting of Council Tax.  In relation to the setting of Members Allowances (item 13) all Members were covered by the exemption in the Council’s Code of Conduct for Elected and Co-opted Members and were not therefore required to disclose an interest for that item.

 

 

 

To receive any announcements from:

 

a) Chairman

b) Cabinet Leader

c) Head of Paid Service

(a)       Chairman’s Engagements

 

A list of Engagements carried out by the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Council between 27 December 2017 and 15 February 2018 had been circulated.

 

(b)       Chairman’s Announcements

 

Member briefing sessions would take place on Tuesday 6 March at 6.30pm (Amersham) and Thursday 8 March at 6pm (Denham) to provide an opportunity for Members to ask questions about the requirements for registering with the Information Commissioner’s Office as a data controller.

 

The Chairman’s Annual reception would take place on Friday 9 March at 7.30pm in the Council Chamber.

 

The Community Awards would be held on Thursday 15 March at the Kings Church, Amersham.

 

(c) Announcements from the Leader of the Cabinet

 

The Leader of the Cabinet had no announcements to make.

 

(d) Announcements from the Head of Paid Service

 

The Election of a District Councillor for the District Ward of Ridgeway and the election of a Town Councillor to Chesham Town Council would take place on Thursday, 22 March. Polling Stations in the ward would be open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. with the count taking place immediately after close of poll.

 

(e) Petitions

 

No petitions were submitted.

The Audit & Standards Committee undertook an annual review of the Code of Conduct at its meeting held on 17 January 2018 and recommended that additional wording be included at paragraph 6 to clarify the effect of declaring a personal interest. As such, Full Council was asked to amend the Code of Conduct accordingly.

 

It was moved by Councillor C Ford, seconded by Councillor V Martin and

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the Code of Conduct, Appendix 1 to the report, including additional wording in paragraph 6 be approved and adopted in accordance with section 27 of the Localism Act 2011.

 

The Localism Act 2011 required all Councils to produce and publish a pay policy statement each year. As such, Full Council was asked to agree the Pay Policy Statement 2018/19, as recommended by the Joint Staffing Committee meeting held on 18 January 2018.

 

It was moved by Councillor I Darby, seconded by Councillor M Stannard and

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the Pay Policy Statement 2018/19 be adopted as recommended by the Joint Staffing Committee meeting held on 18 January 2018. 

 

The Council was asked to approve a number of changes to the Constitution as recommended by the Governance & Electoral Arrangements Committee following its annual review of the Constitution at the meeting held on 30 January 2018.

 

It was moved by Councillor J Burton, seconded by Councillor D Bray and

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the proposed revisions to the following sections of the Council’s Constitution, as set out in paragraph 3.2 of the report, be approved.

 

·         Part 2 Section A Committee Organisational Structure

·         Part 2 Section B Article 9 Audit and Standards Committee

·         Part 2 Section B Article 11 Responsibilities of Directors

·         Part 3 Section B Responsibility for Functions - Council

·         Part 3 Section C Responsibility for Functions - Cabinet

·         Part 4 Section A Council Procedure Rules

·         Part 7 Staff Structure and Scheme of Delegations of Officers

Full Council had before them the following two reports:

 

·         The Budget and Council Tax Report 2018/19 as considered at the Cabinet meeting held on 6 February 2018, and

·         The supplementary report: Council Tax 2018/19 which contained final information from the precepting authorities leading to the total Council Tax for the district which Full Council was required to approve at this meeting.

 

Councillor I Darby, Leader of the Council, presented the budget to the Council.

 

Last year had seen the Council continue its progress of improving the efficiency of services and meeting the needs of residents which were at the heart of everything the Council did.

 

The joining up of all services with South Bucks District Council had now been completed following the creation of a combined planning service based in Amersham. Going forward there would be further improvement in the way planning applications and enforcement issues were handled as the Council aspired to deliver an exemplary Planning service. Joint working with South Bucks would continue into the transformation phase focusing on improving customer service by greater utilisation of technology and self-service.

 

The development of the Joint Local Plan would continue and the budget reflected the continuing commitment to resource this important work by £240,000.

 

The budget reflected the commitment to invest in major projects to benefit the area which included the expansion of the Amersham Multi-Storey Car Park, progressing the Chiltern Pools project, and putting aside funds for the Capital Programme to support essential work to maintain assets.

 

The Budget recognised the continuing financial challenge the Council faced from reduced Government funding.  Since 2015/16 the loss of Government Grant now totalled £1.125M, and in 2019/20 the Council would be required to pay the Government £848,000, making the total loss of resources nearly £2m. 

 

The Council had responded positively to the financial challenges through innovative saving projects. Joint working with South Bucks had saved the Councils £1.9M per annum and work would continue to reduce costs and optimise income. It was therefor considered prudent to increase Council Tax by 3% which equated to 10p per week for a Band D property.

 

 

Councillor Darby then paid tribute to the Deputy Leader for leading the Budget work and expressed thanks for the contributions made by Members of the PAGs, both Overview Committees and the Head of Financial Services in particular.

 

The Deputy Leader spoke on the Budget for 2018/19, and in doing so reflected on the changes made since the 2014/15 revenue budget to put the Council in the best possible position going forward. Tribute was paid to the hard work of officers in helping to achieve this.

 

Councillor P Jones gave thanks to the Leader and commended the Cabinet for their efforts over the past year. Concern was raised that payment of the New Homes Grant to the Council was conditional upon an extra 198 homes being provided in the district per annum. Reference was made to the development of the previous Local Plan, over 20 years ago, which had stood the test of time and had been developed with significant involvement from Members. A comparison was made with the development of the Joint Local Plan, the process by which it was being developed, and a desire for greater involvement from Members prior to its agreement by the Council. As such, Members were strongly encouraged to consider the impact of the proposals contained in the Joint Local Plan on their ward in particular. There was also concern that the Council had not clearly established its approach towards Green Belt particularly in light of the need to deliver additional housing, and it was suggested that this needed to be clarified.

 

Councillor P Martin responded by confirming that the Council was committed to developing a Joint Local Plan and agreed that it was important that all Members carefully considered the proposals being developed as part of that work. To help achieve this all Members had regularly been invited to attend meetings of the Joint Planning Policy Member Reference Group.

 

Councillor D Phillips reiterated the concerns raised regarding the need for substantial Member involvement in the development of the Joint Local Plan. There was a strong concern regarding the process by which the document was being developed and the ability for Members to influence its content prior to final agreement being sought by Full Council. The document was very important because it would form the basis upon which planning decisions would be made in the future. It was felt that the document was being created quickly and in a way that was not acceptable. It was felt that Members must have an informed and substantial input into the document.

 

Councillor P Martin noted the concerns raised and reassured Members that those issues raised would be addressed.

 

Councillor J Wertheim referred to the Council’s contribution of £300,000 to the Pension Fund and asked for assurance that the Pension Fund would have sufficient value following the revaluation.

 

Councillor M Stannard responded by confirming that the Council, like all organisations, were facing challenges with their Pension Funds, and that most were worse off this year than the previous year. There was no sign that the situation would change and it was almost certain that following the revaluation every 3 years that the situation would get worse. The Council was however committed to fulfilling its obligations and had put in place extra funds, and would continue to do so in future, to help achieve this.

 

The Council’s Procedure Rules required the names of members voting for or against or abstaining from voting to be recorded in the Minutes.  Furthermore all members had been granted dispensation under section 33 of Localism Act 2011 to speak and vote on the Council Tax setting.

 

It was moved by Councillor Darby, seconded by Councillor Stannard and on being put to the recorded vote the recommendations were agreed, with the votes being cast as follows:

 

For (28): Councillors: A Bacon, D Bray, J Burton, J Cook, I Darby, M Flys, C Ford, A Garth, M Harker,  G Harris, M Harrold, P Jones, R Jones, J MacBean, P Martin, V Martin, D Phillips, N Rose, C Rouse, N Shepherd, L Smith, M Smith, M Stannard, M Titterington, J Waters, H Wallace, E Walsh and J Wertheim.

 

Against (0)

 

Abstained (0)

 

RESOLVED:

 

Revenue and Budget 2018/19

 

1)     That the Revenue budget for 2018/19 as summarised in the table in paragraph 4.15 be approved.

 

2)     That the following use of earmarked reserves for 2018/19 be agreed:

 

- Local Development Plan                                   £240,000

- Planning Digitalisation                                     £95,000

- Economic Development Reserve                    £58,000

 

3)     That the following additions to earmarked reserves for 2018/19 be agreed:

 

- Capital - Funding replacement refuse vehicles      £394,000

- Capital - Funding of capital programme                  £631,000

- Elections                                                                            £20,000

 

4)     That a budget requirement of £10,493,000 be approved which will result in a District council tax of £180.88 for a Band D property.

 

5)     That the level of fees and charges for 2018/19 (Appendix C) be confirmed.

 

6)     That the advice of the Director of Resources (Appendix A) be noted.

 

7)     That the comments in the report on the Council’s financial position in respect of the years following 2018/19 and the updated Medium Term Forecast be noted.

 

Council Tax 2018/19

 

1.         That it be noted that the following amounts for 2018/19 have been determined under delegated authority and in accordance with regulations made under the local Government Finance Act 1992:

a) 44,368.70 being the amount calculated by the Council, in accordance with Regulation 3 of the Local Authorities (Calculation of Council Tax Base) Regulations 1992, as its Council Tax Base for the year.

b) The amounts calculated by the Council, in accordance with regulation 6 of the Regulations, as the amount of its Council Tax Base for the year for dwellings in those parts of its area to which one or more special items (i.e. Parish precepts) relate, are shown below.

Council Tax Base 2018/19
Amersham	6,774.20
Ashley Green	469.40
Chalfont St Giles	3,127.50
Chalfont St Peter	6,605.40
Chartridge	834.00
Chenies	148.60
Chesham	8,154.20
Chesham Bois	1,641.40
Cholesbury	507.20
Coleshill	327.90
Great Missenden	4,919.70
Latimer & Ley Hill	510.80
Little Chalfont	3,186.10
Little Missenden	3,169.00
Penn	2,371.50
Seer Green	1,218.70
The Lee	403.10
	44,368.70

 

2.         That the Council calculates the following amounts for 2018/19 in accordance with Sections 31A, 31B and 34 to 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 (as amended by the Localism Act 2011):

 

a) £44,460,398 being the aggregate expenditure which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A(2) (a) to (f) of the Act (including the General Fund and Parish Precepts).

 

b) £33,432,564 being the aggregate income which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A(3) (a) to (d) of the Act.

 

c) £11,027,834 as its council tax requirement for the year including Parish Precepts being the amount by which the aggregate expenditure at 2(a) above exceeds the aggregate income at 2(b) above, calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 31A(4) of the Act.

 

d) £248.55 as the basic amount of its Council Tax for the year, being the council tax requirement at 2(c), divided by the Council Tax Base for the year (44,368.70) at 1(a) above, calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 31B(1) of the Act.

 

e) £3,002,424 being the aggregate amount of all special items referred to in Section 34(1) of the Act (i.e. Parish Precepts, there being no other special items).

 

f) £180.88 as the basic amount of its Council Tax for dwellings in its area, excluding Parish Precepts, being the amount at 2(d) above less the result given by dividing the amount at 2(e) above by the amount at 1(a) above, calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 34(2) of the Act.

 

g) The amounts given by adding to the amount at 2(f) above the amounts of the Parish Precepts for the relevant Parish divided in each case by the Council Tax Base for the Parish at 1(b) above, calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 34(3) of the Act, as the basic amounts of its Council Tax for the year for dwellings in each Parish is:

 

 

h) The amounts given by multiplying the basic amounts for each Parish 2(g) above by the number which, in the proportion set out in Section 5(1) of the Act, is applicable to dwellings listed in a particular valuation band divided by the number which in that proportion is applicable to dwellings listed in valuation band D, calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 36(1) of the Act, as the amounts to be taken into account for the year in respect of categories of dwellings listed in different valuation bands.

 

3.         That it be noted that for the year 2018/19 the main precepting authorities have stated the following amounts in precepts issued to the Council, in accordance with s40 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992.

 

 

4.         That, having calculated the aggregate in each case of the amounts of the District’s and preceptors requirements, in accordance with s30(2) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, hereby sets amounts of the council tax for the year 2018/19 for each category of dwelling as follows.

 

 

The council tax for each category of dwelling by parish is as follows.

 

 

5.         Determine that the Council’s basic amount of Council Tax for 2018/19 is not excessive, in accordance with principles approved under Section 52ZB of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, [and thus there is no need to hold a Council Tax referendum].

 

6.         That the Council Tax discount period for class C properties is reduced to one month, and the minimum occupation before a new 100% discount may apply is increased to twelve weeks.

 

7.         No changes are made to the Council's current Council Tax Support scheme in respect of 2018/19 apart from applying annual uprating.

 

Note: Councillor H Wallace entered the meeting at 6.45 p.m.

 

The Deputy Leader introduced a report on the Capital Programme and Repairs & Renewals Programme 2018/19 to 2022/23 which aimed to maintain and improve the Councils existing assets and provide additional infrastructure that would produce additional income in future. It was noted that the Council would undertake some prudential borrowing to help deliver key projects such as Amersham Multi Storey Car Park expansion and the redevelopment of Chiltern Pools.

 

It was moved by Councillor M Stannard, seconded by Councillor I Darby and

 

RESOLVED:

 

1.      That the Capital Strategy, including the Capital Programme for 2018/19-2022/23 (Appendix A), be approved.

2.      That the Repairs & Renewals Programme for 2018/19 - 2022/23 (Appendix B) be approved.

 

 

 

The Council was required to formally review its treasury management policies each year as part of determining what level of returns will be achieved from investments. The format of the treasury management policies is defined by the Code of Practice adopted by the Council, and is required to be approved by the Council on recommendation from the Cabinet. As such, the Cabinet agreed at the meeting held on 6 February 2018 to recommend that the Treasury Management Strategy 2018/19, including its appendices, be adopted by the Council.

 

It was moved by Councillor M Stannard, seconded by Councillor N Rose and

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the Treasury Management Strategy 2018/19 including the following appendices to the Treasury Management Strategy (Appendix 1) be adopted by the Council:

 

•      Appendix 1A - Annual Investment Strategy Policies

•      Appendix 1B - Prudential Indicators including the borrowing limits

•      Appendix 1C - the MRP method to be used in 2018/19.

 

The Statement of Community Involvement was not part of the existing delegation by Cabinet to the Joint Committee on issues relating to the Local Plan. As such, Full Council was asked to agree on the recommendation of the Cabinet that the powers related to the Statement of Community Involvement and other joint planning policy related matters be added to the delegated powers to the Joint Committee as part of shared service and decision making arrangements.

 

It was moved by Councillor P Martin, seconded by Councillor I Darby and

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the powers delegated to the Joint Committee by the Inter Authority Agreement be extended to include updates to the Statement of Community Involvement, Community Infrastructure Levy and other Planning Policy matters considered relevant to the Joint Committee under the Shared Service arrangements.

 

 

To receive and consider verbal update reports (if any) from the Members listed above, and to answer questions on any of those reports from any Member of the Council in accordance with Rule 9.1 of the Procedural Rules.

Councillor I Darby - Modernising Local Government in Buckinghamshire

The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government announced that he had decided to implement the creation of two new unitary Councils in Dorset. A decision was still awaited on two proposals submitted by the County Council and District Councils however the Council would continue to deliver business as usual whilst it awaited an announcement.

 

Councillor L Walsh - Rough Sleeping

Members noted that the Housing team had put in place severe weather emergency measures which meant that if the Council or other organisations were approached by anyone sleeping rough during the current cold weather steps would be taken to provide emergency accommodation regardless of whether or not a person was considered in priority need. Extra work was also being carried out as part of the countywide outreach scheme. 

 

Further details on what to do if you see someone sleeping rough can be found via the Council’s website: www.chiltern.gov.uk/rough-sleeping

 

Community Awards

This year’s Community Awards ceremony would take place on 15 March, 6 pm for 6.30pm, at the Kings Church, Amersham.

 

Councillor P Martin - Planning

 

A Joint Planning Service had now been implemented in Chiltern and South Bucks. Due to staff shortages and some initial IT issues there had been some delays to the validation of some planning applications. Following a proactive recruitment process a number of vacancies had now been filled. The IT issues had largely now been resolved. The Council was now focusing on catching up with a backlog of work, and thanks were expressed to the staff for their hard work in delivering the service.

 

Councillor M Smith - Waste Collection

At the previous Council meeting held on 9 January 2018 a number of questions had been asked regarding the collection of waste following suspension of waste collections due to weather, and the impact to the Council and its contractors following an announcement that China would stop receiving recyclate from some countries. Councillor M Smith provided the following response to both questions:

 

Request made at the last Council meeting for clarification on the procedure for returning waste collections following a missed collection due to inclement weather. Do crews return automatically when weather has improved, or do residents need to report this to receive a recollection?

 

In the event that collections are cancelled due to unsafe collection conditions, updates for residents will be provided on the Councils’ websites. We would encourage residents to continue to check online, or if unable to access our websites, phone our customer service team who would advise further.

 

We expect crews to collect from roads when safe to do so, and to continue to monitor and report roads that they are unable to access. If crews cannot access roads, this will be published on our websites and fed back to our customer services team. We would advise residents to leave containers out in anticipation of collection; however, if residents have not received a collection and neighbouring roads have, we would encourage them to report a missed collection.

 

It was noted that there had been no cancelled waste collections that week following the recent inclement weather.

 

An update was requested on the impact on the Council / collection contractors from countries producing goods that were turning away plastic recyclate.

 

On occasions where no UK market is available, recyclate from the Councils may be sent overseas. This has on occasions been sent to China. However, since China’s announcement in July 2017 that they would be tightening waste import controls, our reprocessors have sought alternative markets for materials that cannot be recycled in the UK. The most recent data available shows that no recycling from the Councils was sent to China throughout October, November and December; instead, markets were found in European countries, as well as Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and the Philippines.

 

For this reason, we do not anticipate that China’s tightened waste import controls will have a great impact upon the recycling we collect. The impact we have witnessed so far has been minimal, and whilst we have had to stockpile recycling on occasions, this was largely due to increased volumes produced over the festive period, which have since been cleared. The controls are however in their infancy and we will continue to monitor how the Council’s materials are processed as the situation develops.

 

Amersham Multi Storey Car Park

Councillor M Smith carried out an inspection on the work to expand the car park the previous week and reported that the work being carried out was of good quality. The piling of foundations had now been completed and good quality controls were in place.

 

Councillor I Darby (on behalf of Councillor F Wilson) - Customer Experience Strategy

 

It was noted that the Customer Experience Strategy Member Working Group meeting that week had been cancelled due to the inclement weather. A section was contained in Members Bulletin providing an update on the project along with an interesting account regarding what a typical week in customer services was like. There was also an FAQ section relating to questions from staff.

 

The Chairman of the Council; Cabinet Leader or a Cabinet Member; or Chairman of any Committee to receive a question on any matter in relation to which the Council has powers or duties or which affects the District. Questions must be given in writing to the proper officer 3 clear days before the meeting, or if it relates to urgent business by 4pm on the day of the meeting, in accordance with Rule 9.2 of the Council Procedure Rules.

There were no questions.

 

To receive petitions and/or deputations (if any) from members of the public including provisions allowing members to ask questions of clarification at the discretion of the Chairman and restrictions on deputations covering the same subject or by the same speakers.

No petitions were received.

To receive reports about and receive questions and answers relating to any joint arrangements or external organisations.

There were no reports.

 

Written notice of every motion, signed by at least 2 Members, must be delivered to the proper officer at least 7 clear days before the meeting

No Motions had been received.

 

The Deputy Leader thanked the Panel for the time they had put into reviewing Members Allowances, and the officers that provided support to them. The majority of the Panel’s recommendations could be agreed; however there were some areas that could not be supported. As such, the Conservative Group put forward some amendments to the Panel’s recommendations detailed in the supplementary appendix that was tabled at the meeting.

 

The proposed reduction in allowance for the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Council was considered unjustified, and was amended to reflect the time and effort that the current and previous Chairman and Vice-Chairman put into the role representing the Council.

 

Similarly, the proposed reduction to the SRA for the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Planning Committee could not be agreed. The Panel had referred to the reduction in the number of Planning Committee meetings, but it was felt that this did not necessarily result in a reduction in the amount of work undertaken. It was noted that the Panel had not on this occasion proposed to reduce the SRA for ordinary Planning Committee members.

 

The recommendation that the Overview Chairman SRA be increased to 75% of BA was felt to be unjustified, and it was proposed that this be reduced to 70% of BA as a smaller increase was merited.

 

The proposal to align the SRA for Chairman of Audit & Standards Committee and the Licensing Committee was correct, but given the reduction in workload of the Licensing Committee since the SRA level was previously agreed it was felt that they be aligned at a lower level of 35% of BA, rather than 50%.

 

It was also felt that whoever was Chairman of a Licensing Sub Committee should receive a per meeting SRA for this, as currently the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Licensing Committee did not receive a per meeting SRA for being Chairman of a Licensing Sub Committee.

 

It was noted that the Scheme of Allowances was last reviewed in 2014 and the structure of Committees and their workloads had changed since that time. It was proposed that a small member working group be established to make representations to the Independent Panel when it next reviewed Members Allowances.

 

It was moved by Councillor M Stannard, seconded by Councillor I Darby and

 

RESOLVED:

 

1.         That the report of the Independent Review of Members Allowances Panel (Appendix 1) be noted and the Panel be thanked formally for the work they had done in producing the report.

 

2.         That the recommendations from the Panel, summarised in Appendix A of their report, including an increase in the Basic Allowance, changes to some of the Special Responsibility Allowances and uprating of Dependants Carers Allowance be considered.

 

3.         That all the Panel’s recommendations be agreed in relation to the Basic Allowance (BA), Dependant Carers Allowance, Travelling and Subsistence Allowance and their uprating for future years.

 

That the Panel’s recommendations in relation to Special Responsibility Allowances (SRA) be agreed, except for the following items which are agreed as detailed in the supplementary appendix received from the Conservative Group, and as set out below:

 

i)         Chairman of the Overview Committees   £3,360 (70% of BA)

ii)       Chairman of Licensing Committee                        £1,680 (35% of BA)

iii)    Chairman of Planning Committee                         £5,040 (105% of BA)

iv)     Vice-Chairman of Planning Committee   £1,440 (30% of BA)

v)       Chairman of Audit & Standards Committee £1,680 (35% of BA)

vi)     Chairman of the Council                               £5,040 (105% of BA)

vii)  Vice-Chairman of the Council                     £2,016 (42% of BA)

viii)          The SRA for Chairman of the Licensing Sub Committee be paid to any Member i.e. there be no restriction preventing the Chairman & Vice-Chairman of the Licensing Committee from receiving the per meeting SRA when they are Chairman of a Licensing Sub Committee.

 

4.           That the wording of the Members Allowances Scheme for 2018/19 be agreed, as attached at Appendix 3, subject to the inclusion of the allowance figures agreed by the Council under recommendation 3.

 

5.         That the budget for 2018/19 for Members Allowances be amended, as required, to put into effect recommendation 3.

 

To agree the Calendar of Meetings 2018/19

 

 

The Calendar of Meetings for 2018/19 was agreed.