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Agenda and minutes

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Contact: Stephen Rowan
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Items
No. Item

14/18

Minutes of the Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 71 KB

To approve the minutes of the meetings held on 28 February 2018 and 23 May 2018 as accurate records.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The minutes of the meetings held on 28 February 2018 and 23 May 2018 were agreed as an accurate record.

15/18

Disclosure of Interests

In accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct and the statutory provisions of the Localism Act, Members and co-opted Members of the Council are reminded that it is a requirement to register disclosable pecuniary interests (DPIs) and gifts and hospitality to the value of which exceeds £50 or multiple gifts and/or instances of hospitality with a cumulative value of £50 or more when received from a single donor within a rolling twelve month period. In addition, Members and co-opted Members are reminded that unless their disclosable pecuniary interest is registered on the register of interests or is the subject of a pending notification to the Monitoring Officer, they are required to disclose those disclosable pecuniary interests at the meeting. This should be done by completing the Disclosure of Interest form and handing it to the Democratic Services representative at the start of the meeting. The Chair will then invite Members to make their disclosure orally at the commencement of Agenda item 3. Completed disclosure forms will be provided to the Monitoring Officer for inclusion on the Register of Members’ Interests.

Minutes:

There were none.

16/18

Dispensations for Members pdf icon PDF 56 KB

To consider and comment on the proposed general dispensations that are proposed to be given to all Members of the Council pursuant to the Council’s dispensation procedure.

Minutes:

The Committee considered and commented on the proposed general Member dispensation regarding council tax and Members’ allowances, payments and indemnities.

 

The Committee considered the content of the report and RESOLVED:

 

(i)            That all Council Members be granted a dispensation until May 2022 for matters relating to Council Tax or a Precept.

(ii)          That all Council Members be granted a dispensation until May 2022 for matters relating to Members’ allowances, payments and indemnities.

 

 

 

17/18

Urgent Business (if any)

To receive notice of any business not on the agenda which in the opinion of the Chair, by reason of special circumstances, be considered as a matter of urgency.

Minutes:

There were no items of urgent business.

18/18

Work Plan pdf icon PDF 32 KB

To consider the draft work plan for the Committee for the 2018/19 Municipal Year.

Minutes:

The Committee considered the draft work programme for the 2018/19 municipal year as outlined by the Director of Law and made no amendments.

 

RESOLVED – That the Committee agreed the draft work programme for the 2018/19municipal year.

 

19/18

Members' Learning and Development Plan 2018/19 pdf icon PDF 59 KB

To note the Members’ Learning and Development Plan 2018/19.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Director of Law presented the Members’ Learning and Development Plan for 2018/19, highlighting the induction training for new Members and the mandated training sessions for Members of selected Committees.

 

Members enquired what the annual budget was for Members’ Development and how the spending was approved. The Head of Democratic Services and Scrutiny informed the Committee that it was £21,000 per year and that applications for expenditure of £600 and under were approved by Officers, with applications over this threshold being referred to the Members’ Learning and Development Panel for approval.

 

Mr Ashok Kumar questioned whether there had been improvements to the Members’ induction programme implemented in 2014. The Director of Law informed the Committee that significant improvements to the previous programme had been made, including a wider variety of sessions that had been more actively advertised to Members. The new programme also looked to take feedback from Councillors on the individual sessions to further improve any future learning and development activities.

 

The Director of Law further informed the Committee that all training materials from these events would be made available to Members via the Council’s paperless software, as would any future Case Law updates brought to the Committee. Councillor Clive Fraser noted that the sessions he had attended had been good and that future sessions could include more on Officer Roles and Members’ IT.

 

RESOLVED – That the Committee noted the report.

20/18

Dispensation Applications for Members pdf icon PDF 58 KB

To receive the report of the Director of Law on Members' dispensations for consideration, if any are received.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

(Part A summary)

 

Members’ applications for dispensation were received from Councillor Alisa Flemming, Councillor Lynne Hale, Councillor Simon Hall, Councillor Maggie Mansell and Councillor Paul Scott.

 

RESOLVED – The Committee resolved to consider these applications in Part B of the meeting.

 

21/18

Exclusion of the Press and Public

The following motion is to be moved and seconded where it is proposed to exclude the press and public from the remainder of a meeting:

 

“That, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information falling within those paragraphs indicated in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended.”

Minutes:

The following motion was moved by Councillor Fraser and seconded by Councillor Henson to exclude the press and public:

 

“That, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information falling within those paragraphs indicated in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended.”

 

The motion was put and it was resolved by the Committee to exclude the press and public for the remainder of the meeting.

22/18

Dispensation Applications for Members

To receive the report of the Director of Law on Members' dispensations for consideration, if any are received.

Minutes:

The Committee considered applications for dispensations from Councillor Alisa Flemming, Councillor Lynne Hale, Councillor Simon Hall (two applications), Councillor Maggie Mansell and Councillor Paul Scott.

 

Councillor Flemming

 

Following the consideration of the application the Committee RESOLVED:

    i.          That Councillor Flemming be granted a dispensation until May 2022 in regard to matters related to housing issues which could affect Council tenants, as the Councillor was a tenant of the Council.

 

Councillor Hale

 

Following consideration of the application, the Committee concluded that a dispensation was not required in this instance, as the matter raised did not constitute a disclosable interest. The Committee RESOLVED:

   ii.          That Councillor Hale be invited to withdraw this application for a dispensation, as the matter raised did not constitute a disclosable interest.

 

Councillor Hall

 

Following the consideration of the applications the Committee RESOLVED:

 iii.          That Councillor Hall be granted a dispensation until May 2022 in regard to matters related to Transport for London, as the Councillor’s partner was employed by Transport for London.

 iv.          That Councillor Hall be granted a dispensation until May 2022 in regard to matters related to Barnardos, as the Councillor’s partner was an Adoption Panel member for Barnardos.

 

 

Councillor Mansell

 

Following consideration of the application, the Committee concluded that a dispensation was not required in this instance, as the matter raised did not constitute a disclosable interest. The Committee RESOLVED:

  v.          That Councillor Mansell be invited to withdraw this application as the matter raised did not constitute a disclosable interest and that Councillor Mansell also be advised to include the matter as a voluntary declaration on her entry in the Members’ Register of Interests.

 

 

Councillor Scott

 

Following the consideration of the application the Committee RESOLVED:

    i.          That Councillor Scott be granted a dispensation until May 2022 in regard to matters related to the Development and Construction Industry, and with regard to planning applications and construction projects, as the Councillor is employed by TP Bennett, who practise architecture, planning and interior design.

 

 

Councillor Stranack

 

Following the consideration of the application the Committee RESOLVED:

   ii.          That the application be deferred to allow the Monitoring Officer to seek additional information from Councillor Stranack regarding the nature of the disclosable interest, and the grounds on which a dispensation had been sought.