Meeting documents
Annual Council
Wednesday, 18 May 2011
annual council
MINUTES of the Meeting held in the Council Chamber, Swale House, East Street, Sittingbourne on Wednesday 18th May 2011 from 7:00 pm to 8:54 pm.
Present: Councillor Stokes (Mayor), Councillor Bobbin (Deputy Mayor), Councillors Barnicott, Sylvia Bennett, Monique Bonney, Andy Booth, Lloyd Bowen, Bowles, Jackie Constable, Mick Constable, Derek Conway, Mike Cosgrove, John Coulter, Adrian Crowther, Duncan Dewar-Whalley, June Garrad, Ed Gent, Sue Gent, Nicholas Hampshire, Harrison, Mike Haywood, Mike Henderson, Lesley Ingham, Gerry Lewin, Peter Marchington, Martin McCusker, Bryan Mulhern, Prescott, Kenneth Pugh, Gareth Randall, Pat Sandle, David Simmons, Adam Tolhurst, Roger Truelove, Anita Walker, Ted Wilcox, Nick Williams, Alan Willicombe, Jean Willicombe, Tony Winckless, Worrall and John Wright.
Officers Present: Katherine Bescoby, Monica Blades-Chase, Abdool Kara, Mark Radford and Nick Vickers.
Apologies: Councillors Mark Ellen, John Morris, David Sargent, Brenda Simpson and Ghlin Whelan.
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prayersThe Mayor welcomed his Chaplain, Reverend Jacky Davis. The Mayor's Chaplain said Prayers. |
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welcomeThe Mayor welcomed new and returning Members to the Meeting. The Mayor also invited Councillor Alan Willicombe to say a few words to encourage Members to support a sponsored event. |
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minutesThe Minutes of the Meeting held on 23rd February 2011 (Minute Nos. 680 - 695) were taken as read, approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record. |
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declarations of interestNo interests were declared. |
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borough council elections - 5th may 2011The Council was asked to note the results of the recent Borough Council Elections. RESOLVED:
(1) That the report be noted. |
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appointment of council leaderCouncillor Gerry Lewin proposed and Councillor Mike Cosgrove seconded that Councillor Bowles be elected as the Leader. The Corporate Services Director clarified that as the Council was now operating under the Strong Leader Model, the term of appointment was for four years. RESOLVED:
(1) That Councillor Bowles be elected as Leader until the Annual Council meeting in May 2015. (2) That it be noted that the Leader has appointed the following Members to the Cabinet: Cabinet Members Councillor Gerry Lewin – Deputy Leader and Planning Councillor Duncan Dewar-Whalley – Finance and Performance Councillor John Wright – Regeneration and Economy (including Learning and Skills and Culture) Councillor David Simmons – Environment (including Rural Issues) Councillor Mike Cosgrove – Communities and Localism Councillor Derek Conway – Housing, Health and Wellbeing Deputy Cabinet Members Councillor Ted Wilcox – Performance portfolio Councillor Brian Mulhern – Culture portfolio Councillor Lesley Ingham – Health and Wellbeing portfolio Lead Members Councillor Lloyd Bowen – Planning Councillor Nick Hampshire – Environment Contracts Councillor June Garrad – Environment - Green Issues (3) That the terms of reference of the Cabinet and the Scheme of Delegations in respect of Executive functions (as set out in the tabled paper) be agreed. |
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establishment of committees and their terms of referenceThe report set out details of the Committees to be established and asked the Council to agree their terms of reference, which had previously been reported to the Council as part of the review of the Constitution. RESOLVED:
(1) That the following Committees of the Council be established for the municipal year 2011/12:- Audit Committee; Emergency Committee; General Licensing Committee (including Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Vehicle functions); General Purposes Committee (including the Appointments Sub-Committee); Licensing Act 2003 Committee; Planning Committee; Policy Overview Committee; Scrutiny Committee and Standards Committee. |
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allocation of committee seats and committee appointments for 2011/12The Leader drew attention to the tabled paper which set out the nominations from Group Leaders. The Leader of the Independent Group advised that he wished to be a member of the Member Development Working Group, which was agreed. RESOLVED:
(1) That the allocation of seats be approved as set out in Appendix 1 to the report, subject to an amendment to reflect that the Labour Group have gifted 2 seats to the Independent Group (one on the Policy Overview Committee, the other on the Audit Committee) to achieve overall balance. (2) That the allocation of seats to Committees as advised by Group Leaders and as tabled at the meeting, as amended to reflect the appointment of Councillor Mike Henderson to the Member Development Working Group, be approved. (3) That Members agree the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of Committees as tabled at the meeting. (4) That the terms of office for the existing independent/co-opted Standards Committee members be extended as set out in the report. |
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borough council representation on outside bodies, trusts administered by swale borough council and statutory bodiesThe Leader introduced the report, drawing attention to the tabled papers which set out an updated version of the appendix, which included all nominations that had been put forward by Group Leaders. He referred to the review of appointments and explained the colour coding on the chart and that some appointments would be made by the Cabinet. Those that were shaded in grey would no longer be Council appointments and so attendance would not be deemed to be an official duty; however Democratic Services would advise those bodies where Members were interested to be involved. Those shaded in blue were where the Leader considered an appointment should be made. RESOLVED:
(1) That the outcome of the review of outside bodies carried out in the last municipal year be noted. (2) That the list of outside bodies, following recommendations from the Group Leaders, be agreed, and includes the three outside bodies shaded in blue. (3) That the outside bodies and partnership arrangements to be made by the Cabinet be noted. (4) That the Borough Council representation on outside bodies, trusts administered by Swale Borough Council and statutory bodies be agreed as set out on the tabled paper with the following amendments: Alexander Centre Trust – Councillor Ted Wilcox Citizens Advice Bureau, Swale – Councillors Derek Conway, June Garrad and Nick Hampshire Kent Downs AONB – Councillor Monique Bonney Mid Kent Downs AONB Steering Committee – Councillor David Simmons Queenborough Fisheries Trust and Swale Recreation Trust – existing appointments to continue until the next Council meeting pending a further report to Council. |
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adoption of timetable of meetings for 2011/12The Leader presented the timetable of meetings for 2011/12. RECOMMENDED:
(1) That the programme of meetings set out in Appendix I to the report be agreed. |
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corporate plan refreshThe Cabinet Member for Finance and Performance introduced the report which set out a series of proposed amendments to the Corporate Plan priority actions and activity areas for 2011/12. In response to comments and questions, the Cabinet Member acknowledged that there was a need to look at economic opportunities and road infrastructure in more detail; agreed that it was important for Ward Members to be kept informed of developments; and explained that the reason that quarterly reporting was proposed was because of the dramatic improvement in performance. The Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Economy (including Learning and Skills and Culture) explained the reason for the change in approach regarding learning and skills; the reason why it had not been possible to give information about the proposed wind turbine development; and the importance of making local jobs available to local people. RESOLVED:
(1) That Council adopts the refreshed Corporate Plan. (2) That delegated authority be given to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance and Performance, to agree any performance targets which do not accord with the default policy position of achieving national top quartile performance by 2013. (3) That Council agrees to move to quarterly performance reporting. |
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adoption of the corporate equality schemeThe Cabinet Member for Communities and Localism introduced the report, which provided an update on the key elements of the general and specific equality duties as set out in the Equalities Act 2010, and made recommendations for implementing the specific duties including a Corporate Equality Scheme. RESOLVED:
(1) That the Corporate Equality Scheme be approved. |
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adoption of recommendations |
(a) swale rural forumRESOLVED:
(1) That Minute No. 721 be agreed. |
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(b) cabinetThe recommendations had been considered earlier in the meeting as part of the reports on the Corporate Plan and Corporate Equality Scheme. RESOLVED:
(1) That Minute Nos. 747 and 748 be noted. |
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