Visitors and members of the public who are unfamiliar with the building and procedures are advised that:

(a)      The fire alarm is a continuous loud ringing. In the event that a fire drill is planned during the meeting, the Chair will advise of this.

(b)      Exit routes from the chamber are located on each side of the room, one directly to a fire escape, the other to the stairs opposite the lifts.

(c)      In the event of the alarm sounding, leave the building via the nearest safe exit and gather at the assembly point on the far side of the car park. Do not leave the assembly point or re-enter the building until advised to do so. Do not use the lifts.

(d)      Anyone unable to use the stairs should make themselves known during this agenda item.

The Mayor outlined the emergency evacuation procedure.

To approve the Minutes  of the Annual Council meeting held on (Minute Nos. 1 -4) as a correct record.

The minutes of the Annual Council meeting held on 15 May 2024 (minute nos. 1-4) were taken as read, approved and signed by the Mayor as a correct record.

Councillors should not act or take decisions in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves, their families or friends.

The Chair will ask Members if they have any disclosable pecuniary interests (DPIs) or disclosable non-pecuniary interests (DNPIs) to declare in respect of items on the agenda. Members with a DPI in an item must leave the room for that item and may not participate in the debate or vote. 

Aside from disclosable interests, where a fair-minded and informed observer would think there was a real possibility that a Member might be biased or predetermined on an item, the Member should declare this and leave the room while that item is considered.

Members who are in any doubt about interests, bias or predetermination should contact the monitoring officer for advice prior to the meeting.

No interests were declared.

The Mayor announced that, since Annual Council in May 2024, he and the Deputy Mayor had carried out approximately 25 events across the borough and neighbouring districts including several different events on the Isle of Sheppey. He said he had attended the Swale Pride event in Sheerness, supporting the only south east candidate for Mr Gay UK, who was from Swale.

Other events the Mayor had attended included:

·         Supporting community organisations at the Swale Community and Voluntary Service event;

·         presented awards to the hard working young people at the Challenger Troop’s awards; and

·         opening of the new tennis courts in Milton Regis.

The Mayor invited Members to attend his Civic Service at St. Michael’s Church, Sittingbourne the following Sunday.

The Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, Councillor Hannah Perkin, led the tributes to the late Alderman, Councillor Mike Henderson. She said he was a dedicated public servant who loved Faversham, especially Priory ward, and was a kind and trusted mentor, beloved father, grandfather, husband, and friend.  Councillor Perkin said he was a passionate environmentalist, a ‘twitcher’ and a cigar lover who loved drinking coffee and reading the newspaper in his flat cap in the market place.  She said he had taught her to be an effective advocate for the community and how to best represent people and she thanked everyone for their kind words, adding that he would be very much missed, especially by those in the Liberal Democrat Group.

The Leader of the Labour group said Councillor Mike Henderson was a unique individual, always willing to offer advice and he would be sorely missed.

The Leader of the Swale Independents Alliance thanked Councillor Henderson for sharing his knowledge and experience.  He referred to the enjoyable time he spent with Councillor Henderson on the Tourism Scrutiny Working Group and suggested looking at the proposals made in the subsequent report as a tribute to him.

The Leader of the Conservative Group said Councillor Henderson always put party allegiance aside to help a good cause for residents. He said he always read and digested the content of Council papers, and his knowledge would be hard to beat.  Finally he said he was a true gentleman, who was friendly, caring and understanding and he sent his condolences to his family, his residents and to the Liberal Democrat Group.

Councillor Alastair Gould said that Councillor Henderson was a good example of preparedness, tenacity and making a point in the Chamber. He referred to Councillor Henderson returning to serve residents after previously stepping down and said it was an honour to have known him.

The Mayor spoke of his many experiences with Councillor Henderson from a very young age. He said without him, he would not have been a Councillor. The Mayor spoke of Councillor Henderson’s contribution as part of the Member Development Working Group and on Planning matters and his kindness and knowledge. He sent his condolences to Councillor Henderson’s family.

There was a minute’s silence in memory of Councillor Mike Henderson.

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

The Mayor advised that eleven questions had been received from the public, one of which was later withdrawn. None were present at the meeting but written responses to their questions would be provided, and are set out below:

Question 1 – Martin Collins, Friends of the Earth

Swale FoE recently collected a large number of signatures from the general public in a short time, to a petition urging action on a particular aspect of planning regulations:

The climate emergency makes imperative, that all buildings be as energy efficient as possible.

That buildings are being constructed now which will soon require to be retrofitted with solar panels and heat pumps, is nonsensical.

We are not convinced that local planning departments are bound by the inaction of the national government in this matter.

What plans does the Council have to take a lead and to impose modern, progressive planning regulations fit for the twenty-first century? Such an initiative would gain broad public support.

Response – Leader

Thank you very much for your question.

National planning guidelines are set out in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and Chapter 14 of the 2021 version sets out meeting the challenge of climate change and flooding. Paragraph 152 states that Local plans should take a proactive approach in mitigating and adapting to climate change; and policies should support appropriate measures to ensure the future resilience of communities and infrastructure to climate change impacts. This is what Swale will be following when drafting policies for its Local Plan.

As you may be aware, Swale Council signed a Joint letter to the Secretary of State regarding the 13 December Written Ministerial Statement which was organised by the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) to express concern about the limiting impact of the 13 December Written Ministerial Statement (WMS) on local authorities wishing to set standards for net zero new homes in their authorities. (Further details can be found atJoint letter to the Secretary of State regarding the 13 December Written Ministerial Statement - Town and Country Planning Association (tcpa.org.uk))

Community Rights Action submitted a judicial review of December Written Ministerial Statement (herein referend to as WMS2023) in early 2023 and was heard in the High Court in June 2024. A summary of the grounds of challenge, and the result of the judgement is as follows:  

1. The Government failed on its duty under Section 19(1) of the Environment Act 2021 (“EA”) to have due regard to the Environmental Principles Policy Statement.

The Council are currently working through this judgement and assessing how it may affect the policies within our emerging Local Plan and how far beyond national targets/standards Swale can go.

The planning policy team have just commissioned a piece of evidence to feed into the Local Plan which will look at the following aspects of climate planning:

·         Climate change legislation

·         Carbon reduction, including:

o   Climate change mitigation

·         Climate change adaptation ( including expected climatic changes and impacts; and policy on how the built environment should  ...  view the full minutes text for item 133.

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

The Mayor advised that seven questions had been received from Members, two of which were later withdrawn.

Question 1 – Councillor James Hunt

I have heard reports that the capacity of the new waste collection lorries are less than those which Biffa were using, resulting in additional trips to the waste transfer station, and ultimately, delays in collections.

Could you please confirm the capacity for refuse/recycling and food waste of the old waste lorries, and the new ones which the council have purchased, please?

Response – Chair of Environment and Climate Change

It is difficult to make a complete comparison as the vehicles were not under our control in the old contract and of course, there are multiple elements that have meant a variation of vehicles was required moving forwards. This included a response to more parked vehicles on our streets following the pandemic, future government waste legislation changes, and being required to tip food at an alternative location over three miles away. 

However, we have confirmed with Suez that the capacity on the current vehicles is likely to be more. Our old vehicles were ‘split back’ vehicles with 70% of the back compartment set aside for the main collection material (refuse or recycling) and 30% for food waste. Our new vehicles are standard single back compartments which are bigger than the 70% compartment on the old ones. The new food pods are smaller than the 30% compartment on the old vehicles, but the tonnages of food waste collected both now and then show that both have remaining capacity within them. Therefore, the benefit of the new vehicles is actually fewer trips to the waste transfer station, as there is more capacity for the main collection material.

The reports you have heard may have been in relation to early settings on the compaction rate in the vehicles. In each compartment are compactors to squeeze the material and create more space. Each vehicle has an adaptable compaction rate relevant to the type of material you are collecting. Suez were trialling different compaction rates in the early stages but now believe they are working to the optimal setting.

Supplementary

The response from Suez was vague, does the Chair of Environment and Climate Change consider there should be more detail?

Supplementary Response – Chair of Environment and Climate Change

I refer to the first line of my response that it is difficult to make a complete comparison as the vehicles used by Biffa were not under our control so it would be optimistic to expect Suez to know all the detail about those vehicles.

Question 2 – Councillor Charles Gibson

Does the council leader agree with the Liberal Democrat group that the council should

* set a date when people can expect the service to work properly

* Push Suez to compensate the community

* not pay Suez for work they haven't done?

Response – Chair of Environment and Climate Change

The Council has been working to a Recovery Plan throughout the disruption.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 134.

The Leader said:

As we have a somewhat packed agenda this evening I don’t intend to engage in extensive discourse in my Leaders statement. I would like to commence this evening by offering not for the first time a sincere public apology to all of our residents that have suffered a less than acceptable level of service during the commencement of our new waste and refuse contract. Frankly there have been far more issues with it than any of us could have reasonably anticipated and it is our intention to ensure that we put it right. We are, and always have been fully committed to ensuring that the contract is the subject of thorough scrutiny to examine why we have experienced the difficulties that we have and to clearly identify lessons that are to be learned. I would also like to take the opportunity to apologise to each and everyone of you as members who have been the front face at such a challenging time.It would also be remiss of me not to pay tribute to our officers who have in a number of cases worked around the clock to resolve the issues, working way in excess of their contractual hours and responding to queries on their days off.

Moving on, since we last met there has of course been a small matter of a General Election and significant political changes both Nationally, in the County and locally here in Swale. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate our newest Swale MP Kevin McKenna who of course was elected to the seat for Sittingbourne and Sheppey, a seat previously occupied for what seems to have been forever by Gordon Henderson and I wish Gordon well in his retirement in whatever form that takes for him. My congratulations also go to returning MP for Faversham and Mid-Kent Helen Whately and I look forward to working with Kevin and Helen for the good of all Swale residents.

On a personal note I remember standing here almost exactly a year ago and stating that it was with a heavy heart that I would be commencing my Leaders statement on that occasion. At that time I recall saying that I sincerely hoped that I never again would have to stand before you all on an occasion where it befalls me to offer reflections on the passing of a serving Councillor. However, that was not to be and I had the sad duty, but undoubted privilege of attending the funeral of Councillor Mike Henderson in June who as you have heard earlier sadly passed away on 29 May 2024. Mike has given selfless and unwavering service to the residents of Faversham for many years and literally worked to the end which bears testimony to his commitment. It is fair to say that Mike was a unique character and all of you will have your own reflections and anecdotes to share, I am sure. Suffice to say his input in this chamber will be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 135.

In proposing the motion, as set out on the Agenda, Councillor Charles Gibson referred to the many benefits and options the introduction of an Overview and Scrutiny Committee would bring. He said there were a number of other Councils successfully operating an Overview and Scrutiny Committee alongside the Committee system, many of whom had a similar political administration to Swale Borough Council (SBC). Councillor Charles Gibson said that at the introduction of the Committee System in the early 2000’s it was obligatory to also have an Overview and Scrutiny function. Finally, he said the motion was not a stick to beat opponents with different opinions or a tool to delay policies but a way to improve transparency, engagement and decision-making, in order to best serve residents.

In seconding the motion, Councillor Lloyd Bowen reserved his right to speak.

In the debate that followed, Members made points including:

·         Could not see any sense in setting up a Committee to overrule another Committee;

·         the scrutiny element of what Committees did had taken a back seat and a formal call-in process would be helpful;

·         Scrutiny was important but a new Committee was not the answer;

·         it was down to the Members of individual service committees to make sure decisions were scrutinised;

·         the Constitution working group could look at making service committees more effective;

·         the solution to a problem was to fix it at its source and service committees needed to be looked at;

·         there was a need for more scrutiny as shown in the upcoming waste scrutiny committee;

·         working groups held behind closed doors were not transparent to residents;

·         sought clarification on whether there was a call-in process to the service committees;

·         Members needed additional scrutiny and chair training;

·         highlighted that the peer review had made suggestions to strengthen the scrutiny in Committees;

·         referred to the Forward Decisions Plan on agendas and said Members could suggest items to discuss;

·         there were already an excessive amount of scheduled meetings and additional meetings would have a resource impact on officers and Members;

·         it was important that Members of a Committee attended meetings in order that decisions could be scrutinised properly;

·         there were already too many service committees; and

·         it was the responsibility of Committee Members to run an effective committee.

The Chief Executive clarified that on the setting up of the Committee System, the Constitution Working Group did not support a call-in process.

Councillor Bowen said there were a number of Members in the Chamber who had not experienced the Council working with a Scrutiny Committee. A Scrutiny Committee provided an independent oversight, and it was essential to have independent reviews of decisions and policies when required, to ensure actions aligned with the communities needs and legal standards. He said that the Scrutiny Committee could propose changes and propose recommendations for improvements which led to better governance.  Councillor Bowen highlighted the benefits of transparency through scrutiny, and he said that scrutiny acted as a check and balance for SBC ensuring there was accountability. Finally, he  ...  view the full minutes text for item 136.

The Chair of the Environment and Climate Change Committee introduced the Waste Contract report, which was originally due to be discussed in June 2024 but delayed due to the snap General Election and subsequent busy meetings calendar. He explained that some of the original questions put were answered in the question session earlier, but others were responded to in the report.  The Chair of the Environment and Climate Change Committee drew attention to paragraph 2.6 which referenced the request to hold a full scrutiny review, and this was agreed unanimously at the Environment and Climate Change Committee meeting the previous week, to commence in early August running to October 2024. He said the outcome of the review would be reported to an extraordinary Environment and Climate Change Committee in November 2024. The Chair of the Environment and Climate Change Committee advised that the public would be invited to engage in the review.

The Chair of the Environment and Climate Change Committee said he hoped the review would get to the bottom of why exactly things had gone wrong and ensure that the same mistakes were not repeated in the future. He paid tribute to the hard work of officers who had tried hard to fix issues, often working late at night and weekends and he shared officers’ frustrations over repeated issues not being resolved by fixes suggested.  The Chair of the Environment and Climate Committee said he had personally received over 1300 emails on the subject and spent up to 300 hours since late March 2024 dealing with the topic and he knew that many officers had spent significantly more time. 

Finally, the Chair of the Environment and Climate Change Committee said he was sincerely sorry to every single resident who felt let down by the poor service the contractors had delivered over the previous four months, and he hoped the answers provided that evening, and from the scrutiny review went some way to soften the levels of anger and frustration that many residents felt.

In seconding the recommendation, the Vice-Chair of the Environment and Climate Change Committee reserved her right to speak.

The Leader of the Conservative Group, Councillor Lloyd Bowen said the service had been a failure. He highlighted poor communications, incorrect website information and failure, lack of response, incorrect data, route changes, repeated missed bin and food waste collections, vehicle failure and staffing issues. He said the late apologies were pathetic and the administration were responsible, yet he had seen members of the coalition criticising the service. The Leader of the Conservative Group questioned the scrutiny and said that the working group should have been reporting back to the Committee. He gave examples of residents in his area who had received a poor service and said whilst he welcomed the scrutiny review it should have been set up much earlier.

The Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group agreed with the comments of the Leader of the Conservative Group and said there had been a catastrophic failure.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 137.

Councillor Alastair Gould introduced the report which set out the consultation timetable options that could be considered as part of the Council’s Local Plan Review. He explained that the timetable had previously been paused in Autumn 2023 as a result of the uncertainty on the previous Government housing numbers. Councillor Gould stressed how important the Local Plan was, and he said that once guidance had been received from the Government, work had been undertaken to put the Local Plan together as efficiently as possible, without risking Government challenge. He said all options aimed for a regulation 19 submission in early 2025, and the favoured option that had been discussed by the Planning and Transportation Policy Working Group (PTPWG) and then agreed by the Policy and Resources Committee was option 2, as set out on page 22 of the report. In proposing the recommendations, Councillor Gould said option 2 was the most efficient in officer time and gave the potential for a reduced land supply target.

The Leader seconded the recommendations.

Members were invited to make comments which included:

·         It was important to get right, and hopefully before any additional, increased housing targets were allocated to the area;

·         referred to item 6.6 on the Faversham Neighbourhood Plan now being at the pre-referendum stage;

·         drew attention that option 2 was not agreed unanimously at the PTPWG;

·         there was too much focus on housing numbers, and whilst there were still concerns the recent Government announcement on increasing housing targets meant it was important to have a Local Plan;

·         welcomed the timetable and referred to a recent appeal when an Inspector considered that there was only a 4.1-year land supply, not a 5-year land supply;

·         SBC needed the protection of a Local Plan to challenge large speculative housing applications;

·         option 2 offered the best protection for residents;

·         Members needed regular briefings to properly inform residents;

·         officers had been working on improved policies;

·         there was no good outcome when Government imposed unsustainable housing levels; and

·         local authorities should have more control.

In summing up, Councillor Gould stressed that in having to follow the process, the aim was to achieve the ‘least worst’ outcome and the best policies.  He supported additional Member briefings.

On being put to the vote, Members voted in support.

Resolved:

(1)  That the Local Plan Review consultation approach option 2 that included a Regulation 18 draft Plan consultation in quarter 4 of 2024 and a Regulation 19 pre-submission Plan consultation in quarter 1 of  2025 be agreed.

(2) That the updated Local Development Scheme at Appendix I be agreed and that it be published on the Council’s website.

In introducing the report, the Chair of the Planning Committee and the Constitution Working Group, Councillor Mike Baldock, thanked the members of the Constitution Working Group and the Monitoring Officer for their input.  He said he hoped the proposed changes would make Planning more transparent and give confidence to the public and Parish Councils that they were being listened to. The Vice-Chair of the Planning Committee seconded the recommendation.

On being put to the vote, Members voted in support.

Resolved:

(1)  That the proposed changes to the Scheme of Delegation and Committee Procedure Rules as set out in Appendix I be agreed.

Appendix III: Membership of Committees added 24.07.2024

In introducing the report, the Leader proposed the recommendations which were seconded by Councillor Bowen. In response to a question, the Chief Executive explained that after changes in group membership, the political balance had to be re-calculated when it was practical but accepted that with a by-election scheduled, it may need to be considered again shortly.

On being put to the vote, Members voted in support.

Resolved:

(1)  That the political balance calculation as set out in Appendix II be agreed.

(2)  That the seats and appointment of Members allocated to those Committees in accordance with the wishes of Group Leaders as set out in Appendix III be agreed.

The Mayor brought forward item 17 Report of the Standards Sub-Committee held on 27 November 2023.

Item added 19.07.2024

The Chair of the Standards Committee, Councillor Ashley Wise, proposed the recommendation which was seconded by Councillor James Hunt.

A Member raised objection to the report being noted whilst the subject member of the report was not in attendance. He was critical of the content of the report and faulted the process stating that the SIA had no confidence in the Standards regime at the Council. The Monitoring Officer advised that, contrary to the comment made, he was not the Legal Advisor at the Standards Sub-Committee hearing that was the subject of the report.

A Member sought clarification on what was being noted whilst another Member highlighted that Council were being asked to note the report, not to enter into further discussion as the decision had been taken.

A Member sought clarification on the agreement of previous sub-committee minutes, another asked for more details of the meeting that took place and another raised objection to the length of time it had taken for the report to be brought back to Council to note.

The Chair of the Standards Committee said that following recent training provided, some issues had been identified in the arrangements for holding Standards Sub-Committees including the length of time for the report to come back to Council to be noted, and these were currently being addressed.

Resolved:

(1)  That the findings of the Standards Sub-Committee held on 27 November 2023 be noted.

Post meeting note:

At the Full Council meeting held on 2 October, Members requested the reason for this late report be added to the meeting:

The report was accepted as urgent by the Mayor as officers had agreed with the subject that the matter would be heard at the ‘next meeting of Full Council’ which was on 31 January 2024 but was overlooked and was not listed on the Agenda. The officer was concerned that if the report was not considered as agreed, it would cause distress to the Councillor. The officer requested that the report be considered by the Council as an urgent item.

To decide whether to pass the resolution set out below in respect of the following item:

That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

1. Information relating to any individual.

Resolved:

(1)  That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act:

1.  Information relating to any individual.

The Leader proposed the recommendation which was seconded by the Deputy Leader.

Several Members sent their good wishes to Councillor Kieran Goulding.

Resolved:

(1)  That health grounds were an appropriate reason to waive the requirement under s85(1) of the Local Government Act 1972 for Councillor Kieran Goulding to attend a Council meeting within six months of his last attendance.

The meeting was adjourned from 8.25pm until 8.35pm.

Members agreed to extend Standing Orders in order that Council could complete its business.