The Mayor’s Chaplain said Prayers.

To approve the Minutes of the Meeting held on 17 June 2015 (Minute Nos. 67 - 76) as a correct record.

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 17 June 2015 (Minute Nos. 67 – 76) were taken as read, approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record subject to an amendment to page 64, to replace the word ‘polytunnels’ with ‘holiday homes’.

Councillors should not act or take decisions in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves or their spouse, civil partner or person with whom they are living with as a spouse or civil partner.  They must declare and resolve any interests and relationships.

The Mayor will ask Members if they have any interests to declare in respect of items on this agenda, under the following headings:

(a)          Disclosable Pecuniary Interests (DPI) under the Localism Act 2011.  The nature as well as the existence of any such interest must be declared.  After declaring a DPI, the Member must leave the meeting and not take part in the discussion or vote.  This applies even if there is provision for public speaking.

(b)          Disclosable Non Pecuniary (DNPI) under the Code of Conduct adopted by the Council in May 2012.  The nature as well as the existence of any such interest must be declared.  After declaring a DNPI interest, the Member may stay, speak and vote on the matter.

Advice to Members:  If any Councillor has any doubt about the existence or nature of any DPI or DNPI which he/she may have in any item on this agenda, he/she should seek advice from the Director of Corporate Services as Monitoring Officer, the Head of Legal or from other Solicitors in Legal Services as early as possible, and in advance of the Meeting.

No interests were declared.

The Mayor advised Members of the spectacular Waterloo Dispatch Events she had attended on 27 June 2015.  The first had been in the morning in Faversham, which she had been invited to by the Mayor and Mayoress of Faversham; the second in the afternoon, in Sittingbourne, which had also been attended by the Lord Lieutenant and his wife.  The Mayor had been given a framed copy of the Dispatch which would be displayed in the Civic Suite.

She also advised that on 14 July 2015 she was honoured to have been visited by 14 young people from Japan, some of whom were disabled, who were planning to do a relay swim on 15 July 2015. The Mayor had been presented with a silk banner, crystal paperweight and framed letter which would be on display in the Mayor’s Parlour.

To consider any questions submitted by the public.  (The deadline for questions is 4.30 pm the Friday before the meeting – please contact Democratic Services by e-mailing democraticservices@swale.gov.uk or call 01795 417330).

Response uploaded 28.07.15

The Mayor advised that one question had been submitted, and invited Mr Richard Palmer to ask his question.  A copy of the question, and answer from the Leader, had been circulated.  A copy is attached as Appendix I.

The Mayor invited Mr Palmer to ask a supplementary question.  Mr Palmer advised that he was disappointed with the answer given, and asked “Should parish and town councils be expected to increase their precept because Swale Borough Council is holding money that the government fully expects to be given to town and parish councils?”

The Leader thanked Mr Palmer for his questions, and advised that any such funding was not made explicit in the revenue support grant, and it was right to stop funding in one hit.  The Leader advised that if the Council continued to fund this, it  would have to take away money from other services to support that, due to the current capping regime for the Borough Council, which of course town and parish councils were not subject to.

To consider any questions submitted by Members.  (The deadline for questions is 4.30 pm the Wednesday before the meeting – please contact Democratic Services by e-mailing democraticservices@swale.gov.uk or call 01795 417330).

Questions published 23.07.15.

Responses published 28.07.15.

The Mayor advised that there were 11 questions, the answers to which had been provided to Members.  A copy is attached at Appendix II. The Mayor reminded Members that there was a thirty minute time period for this item, and a three minute time limit for supplementary questions and their answers.  The Mayor invited Members to ask a supplementary question.

Question 1

Councillor Alan Horton asked the Cabinet Member if he could outline the latest position regarding the set up of pre-access courses for health and social care students.  The Cabinet Member referred to a health conference he had attended where this had been discussed, and that he and the Swale Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) had pushed forward a series of training alongside universities to design a pre-access course for young sixth form students to engage in health care, especially in Sheppey.  A workshop was being held next Tuesday to progress this and he would provide Members with further information.

Question 2

Councillor Roger Truelove advised he understood the need for confidentiality, and asked the Cabinet Member if he could let him/other Members know what was happening.  The Cabinet Member advised he was happy to arrange a meeting to discuss this, and explained the reasons why it was not possible to produce a confidential report on this.

Question 3

Councillor Ben Stokes asked the Cabinet Member whether the review would be far reaching and fundamental.  The Cabinet Member advised that it was for the Policy Development and Review Committee to determine this, but he expected that it would be, and he reminded Members of the ways of asking the Policy Development and Review Committee to undertake policy reviews. 

Question 4

Councillor Ghlin Whelan referred to the three large hoardings in the Town Centre, and asked the Cabinet Member whether the flats, multi-storey car park and cinema would all be commenced by 2016.  The Cabinet Member advised that the cinema would be the ‘turn key project’ for development to commence; once the cinema deal was accomplished, it would start a domino effect, and he advised that talks were being held with a national cinema operator.

Question 5

Councillor Ghlin Whelan asked the Cabinet Member when the resident could expect a reply; what was meant by ‘as quickly as possible’?  The Cabinet Member expressed his anxiety about this issue, and advised that if the Member gave him contact details he would follow this up.  He explained on average it took three months from request to installation.  There had been an increase in applications this year and there was a modest budget.  He had agreed to review this area, and advised that if there were problems, they should be explained to the residents.

Question 6

Councillor Mick Galvin asked a supplementary question of the Cabinet Member for Health.  The Cabinet Member advised that the supplementary question should be on the same subject as the original question. 

Question 7

Councillor Roger Truelove asked the Leader if he envisaged, in view of the government policy,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 139.

Members may ask questions on the Leader’s Statement.  (To follow).

Statement added to agenda 27 July 2015.

The Leader presented his Statement to Members which gave an update on the Local Government Association (LGA) Conference; LGA – General Assembly; LGA – Senior Management Changes; Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) Pilot Update; Swale CCG recruitment of young people to take access courses in social and health care;  and Community Safety Unit update. 

The Leader advised that since the Statement had been written, the Chairman elect for South East England Councils (SEEC) had been agreed as Councillor Paul Carter, the Leader of Kent County Council (KCC).  In respect of senior management changes at the LGA, he advised that Mr Mark Lloyd would replace Caroline Downs.

The Mayor invited Members to ask questions.

The Leader of UKIP advised that he had also attended the LGA Conference, and asked a number of questions:  could the Council look at developing the night-time economy? Was the Council ready for change, when another planning application had gone to appeal for non-determination?  He welcomed the update regarding the FPN  pilot, and asked if it was possible to expand it? In respect of the community safety update, he asked whether the reduction in incidents reported to the police was a case of under-reporting; what could be done to encourage residents to report; and what was meant by renewed focus?

The Leader responded by advising that Councillor Ken Pugh would respond to him direct regarding the Community Safety Update.  In respect of the non-determination of planning applications, the Leader advised that this was an historical problem and he was confident that recent applications would be determined within time limits.  Regarding the FPN update, he undertook to ask officers to look into this.  In respect of the question regarding the night time economy, the Leader advised that this was being dealt with as part of plans for the development of Sittingbourne Town Centre.

The Leader of the Labour Group advised that he had also attended the LGA Conference, where devolution was a key theme.  He asked the Leader for his views on the possibility of a Combined Authority for Kent and Medway and a new Kent and Medway Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).  He also suggested that the Statement should have included an update regarding Operation Stack.

In respect of Operation Stack, the Leader advised that the Council was limited in what it could do.  However, the suggestion from Gordon Henderson MP that the Sheerness ferry link be looked at again was a matter he had raised previously with Peel Ports and the KCC Cabinet Member for Transport.  This was a national government issue to solve.  In respect of the likelihood for revised LEP boundaries, he could not see that this would happen given that the Minister would only go down that route if there was uniformity of support by all authorities and the local MPs.  In respect of the likelihood of a Combined Authority for Kent and Medway, again he could not see that this would happen.

The Leader of the Independent Group referred to the LGA update and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 140.

To consider the Audit Committee Annual report.

The Cabinet Member for Finance invited the Vice-Chairman of the Audit Committee to present the Audit Committee report.

The Vice-Chairman of the Audit Committee in 2014/15 presented the annual report and thanked Members and Officers for their contributions.  In particular, he thanked the Cabinet Member for Finance, the Head of Finance and his team, the Revenues and Benefits Manager (Technical and Financial), the Head of Audit Partnership and his team, and the professional team at Grant Thornton.

A Member made comments on the report, in that he would have liked to have seen more detail about what reviews had been undertaken and the results of each audit.  He asked the Cabinet Member for Finance if this information could be provided to Members.  The Cabinet Member agreed to look into this.

Resolved:

(1) That the report be noted.