The Chairman will advise the meeting of the evacuation procedures to follow in the event of an emergency. This is particularly important for visitors and members of the public who will be unfamiliar with the building and procedures.

The Chairman will inform the meeting whether there is a planned evacuation drill due to take place, what the alarm sounds like (i.e. ringing bells), where the closest emergency exit route is, and where the second closest emergency exit route is, in the event that the closest exit or route is blocked.

The Chairman will inform the meeting that:

(a) in the event of the alarm sounding, everybody must leave the building via the nearest safe available exit and gather at the Assembly points at the far side of the Car Park.  Nobody must leave the assembly point until everybody can be accounted for and nobody must return to the building until the Chairman has informed them that it is safe to do so; and

(b) the lifts must not be used in the event of an evacuation.

Any officers present at the meeting will aid with the evacuation.

It is important that the Chairman is informed of any person attending who is disabled or unable to use the stairs, so that suitable arrangements may be made in the event of an emergency.

The Chairman outlined the emergency evacuation procedure.

To approve the Minutes of the Meeting held on 29 September 2016 (Minute Nos. 384 - 389) as a correct record.

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 29 September 2016 (Minute Nos. 384 – 389) were taken as read, approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

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 Chairman 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.

(c)          Where it is possible that a fair-minded and informed observer, having considered the facts would conclude that there was a real possibility that the Member might be predetermined or biased the Member should declare their predetermination or bias and then leave the room while that item is considered.

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 Monitoring Officer, the Head of Legal or from other Solicitors in Legal Services as early as possible, and in advance of the Meeting.

Councillor Mike Henderson declared a Disclosable Non-Pecuniary Interest in respect of Faversham Pools.

The Chairman welcomed all to the meeting and advised that he would go through the working papers page by page. The Vice-Chairman proposed an additional recommendation “That the Local Development Framework Panel be renamed as the Local Plan Panel”, which was supported.

(A) Delegations to Officers

The Committee went through the document page by page and drew attention to a number of typographical errors and format changes.  The Committee was advised that the document was in a draft format and the document would be reformatted and renumbered before a final version was issued.  It was also clarified that all delegations would be exercised in accordance with policy and legislation.  An amended draft version would be submitted to the Council meeting to reflect the changes suggested by the General Purposes Committee.  Officers also answered Members’ questions regarding the wording of the delegations, and why some were featured in more than one service area.

The following sets out details of the changes recommended by the General Purposes Committee, for submission to the Council on 21 March 2018.

Chief Executive:

7.  To be amended to read “To be responsible for Health and Safety and Welfare”

An additional delegation was suggested “To be responsible for Security”

25. To be amended to read “to administer the approved Members’ Allowances Scheme”.

27. To be amended to read “to deal with issues relating to the Commission for Local Administration (Complaints to the Local Government Ombudsman) in consultation with the relevant Cabinet Member or Leader”.

Director of Regeneration

7. To be amended to include the word “for” between the word “Director” and “all”.

13. To be amended to read “to issue press statements following discussion with the relevant Cabinet Member, and where appropriate other involved Members.”

Monitoring Officer

The Monitoring Officer clarified the legal process for the appointment of the Deputy Monitoring Officer.

An additional delegation was suggested “to deal with all complaints under the Code of Conduct”.

5. To be amended to read “to make any necessary updates to the constitution (as required by law) where there is no discretion in consultation with the Leader”.

Delegations to the Head of Legal Partnership

16. To be amended to read “to be responsible for Data Protection and Freedom of Information”.  It was clarified that this would need to be further amended to reflect the new General Data Protection Regulations 2018.

17. To be amended to change RIPA to Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.

Head of Economy and Community Services

An additional delegation was suggested “to be responsible for safeguarding”.

43. To be amended to change reference to “Faversham, Sheerness and Sittingbourne” to “the Borough”.

Delegations to the Head of Resident Services

Officers agreed to check whether a delegation was needed regarding Universal Credit.

A Member asked whether any delegations were needed in respect of new legislation regarding Houses in Multiple Occupation.

Head of Commissioning and Customer Contact

It was clarified that pages 25 and 26 of the working papers should be disregarded, and the document to consider was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 535.