Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Councils
Democratic Services

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Agenda and minutes

Venue: King Edmund Chamber, Endeavour House, 8 Russell Road, Ipswich. View directions

Contact: Committee Services 

Items
No. Item

32.

DECLARATION OF INTERESTS BY COUNCILLORS

Minutes:

None declared.

 

33.

BC/17/12 TO CONFIRM THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 18 JULY 2017 pdf icon PDF 283 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED

 

That the Minutes of the meeting held on 18 July 2017 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

 

34.

BC/17/13 TO CONFIRM THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 7 AUGUST 2017 pdf icon PDF 180 KB

Minutes:

That the Minutes of the meeting held on 7 August 2017 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

 

35.

BC/17/14 ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM THE CHAIRMAN AND LEADER pdf icon PDF 27 KB

In addition to any announcements made at the meeting, please see Paper BC/17/14 attached, detailing events attended by the Chairman and Vice-Chairman.

Minutes:

The Chairman referred to Paper BC/17/8 outlining recent events attended by the Chairman and Vice-Chairman.

 

He welcomed to the meeting Luke Cresswell, newly elected Member for Sudbury South, and Jan Robinson, Corporate Manager – Democratic Services.

36.

TO RECEIVE NOTIFICATION OF PETITIONS IN ACCORDANCE WITH COUNCIL PROCEDURE RULES

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule No. 10, the Chief Executive will report the receipt of any petitions.  There can be no debate or comment upon these matters at the Council meeting.

Minutes:

None received.

 

37.

QUESTIONS BY THE PUBLIC IN ACCORDANCE WITH COUNCIL PROCEDURE RULES

The Chairmen of Committees to answer any questions by the public of which notice has been given no later than midday three clear working days before the day of the meeting in accordance with Council Procedure Rule No. 11.

Minutes:

None received.

 

38.

QUESTIONS BY COUNCILLORS IN ACCORDANCE WITH COUNCIL PROCEDURE RULES

The Chairman of the Council, the Chairmen of Committees and Sub-Committees and Portfolio Holders to answer any questions on any matters in relation to which the Council has powers or duties or which affect the District of which due notice has been given in accordance with Council Procedure Rule No. 12.

Minutes:

Question from Peter Beer to Lee Parker, Cabinet Member for Planning

In the interests of transparency and openness please could you tell me the total cost to Babergh taxpayers of the three Planning Committees, plus site inspection, judicial review and all back office costs related to planning application No B/16/01254/FUL.  Please provide a breakdown of this total cost and including all the in-house paper transactions costs and time.

 

Answer

Total costs of the three committees, judicial review and back office costs: £6450

 

Breakdown:

 

Planning officer time:                                 £730

Enforcement involvement:                         £270

Legal:                                                         £1700 + £3500

Committee services:                                  £250

 

This does not include Councillors’ mileage for the site visit (because that hasn’t worked its way through the system yet), but that is unlikely to be more than £50 so the overall costs are broadly £6,500.

 

Supplementary Question

Continuing the theme in the interests of public perception and transparency, could you please now acknowledge that at the original Planning Committee that I chaired back in November 2016 the Committee Members and I were given very bad legal advice by the then legal planning officer of the day and that we were not wrong in our actions and decisions.

 

Answer 

No.

39.

MOTIONS ON NOTICE

Luke Cresswell has given notice of his intention to move the under-mentioned Motion at the meeting:-

“That this Council resolves to establish, without undue delay, a timetable for ensuring that the employees of all its contractors are paid at least the Living Wage in order that Babergh is in a position to declare itself a Living Wage employer by no later than one year from today.”

Written notice of the motion was given in accordance with Council Procedure Rule (CPR) No 13.1, signed by Councillors Cresswell and Bavington.  In accordance with CPR 13.5 a valid motion on notice must be moved and seconded at the Council meeting before any consideration or debate can take place. 

 

Minutes:

A motion as set out below was moved by Councillor Luke Cresswell and seconded by Councillor Tony Bavington, the requisite notice thereof having been given in accordance with Council Procedure Rule No 13.1.  Councillor Cresswell explained the purpose of the Motion.

 

“That this Council resolves to establish, without undue delay, a timetable for ensuring that the employees of all its contractors are paid at least the Living Wage in order that Babergh is in a position to declare itself a Living Wage employer by no later than one year from today.”

 

The Chairman of the Council determined that the Motion be referred without discussion to the Cabinet, for consideration and report back to the Council.

 

40.

REPORT FROM THE OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN pdf icon PDF 266 KB

Minutes:

Councillor Barry Gasper, Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, introduced his report circulated prior to the commencement of the meeting, a copy of which is appended to the Minutes.

 

Councillor Gasper responded to Members’ questions.  The report was noted.

41.

BC/17/15 REVISING AND UPDATING THE COUNCIL TAX REDUCTION (CTR) SCHEME FOR WORKING AGE HOUSEHOLDS pdf icon PDF 409 KB

Report by the Cabinet Member for Finance attached.

Minutes:

Councillor Peter Patrick, Cabinet Member for Finance, introduced Paper BC/17/15 seeking Council approval to undertake a public consultation on proposed changes to the Council Tax Reduction Scheme, with a view to adopting a revised Scheme with effect from 1 April 2018.

 

RESOLVED

 

That public consultation be undertaken on the following proposed changes to the Council Tax Reduction (CTR) Scheme:-

 

·       Align the BDC Working Age Council Tax Reduction Scheme with the Housing Benefit Scheme

·       Increase the maximum entitlement for working age CTR Scheme from 91.5% to 95%

·       Introduce a minimum weekly award of £1 per week

·       Make provision for Universal Credit

 

42.

BC/17/16 LAWSHALL NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN pdf icon PDF 269 KB

Report by the Assistant Director - Planning for Growth attached.

 

Minutes:

Councillor Lee Parker, Cabinet Member for Planning, introduced Paper BC/17/16 updating Members on the progress of the Lawshall Neighbourhood Plan which was recommended for adoption, subject to a favourable referendum result.

 

Councillor Parker was pleased to report the overwhelming level of support for adoption, the referendum results being as follows:-

 

Total number of votes cast                                    236 (29.2% turnout)

Number of votes cast in favour of a YES                218 (92.7%)

Number of votes cast in favour of a NO                   17 (7.2%)

 

Councillor Parker responded to Members’ general questions about various related matters including the effect of the current Local Plan consultation on the preparation of Neighbourhood Plans.  He confirmed that Parishes were still being encouraged to proceed, and that Neighbourhood Plans had a specific weight alongside an adopted Local Plan which some other documents did not.

 

Councillor Long expressed Lawshall’s gratitude for the support the Parish had received from Babergh and encouraged other villages to consider engaging in the process.

 

RESOLVED

 

(1)         That the Lawshall Neighbourhood Plan be formally made (adopted) as part of the District Council’s Development Plan and used to help determine planning applications where relevant.

 

(2)         That the Final Decision Statement (Appendix 1 to Paper BC/17/16) be updated to include the referendum results and published with immediate effect.

 

43.

BC/17/17 POLITICAL BALANCE AND COMPOSITION OF COMMITTEES pdf icon PDF 83 KB

Report by the Assistant Director – Law and Governance attached.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Monitoring Officer introduced Paper BC/17/17which set out the revised political balance and composition of Committees following the Sudbury South by-election on 7 September 2017.  Appendix 2 to the report was circulated at the meeting.

 

RESOLVED

 

(1)           That the Committees’ size and numerical allocation of seats be approved as detailed in Appendix 1 to this report.

 

(2)           That the following revisions to the appointments to Committees as set out in Appendix 2 to the report be noted:-

 

·         David Rose (Independent) is no longer a member of the Planning Committee

·         Luke Cresswell is appointed to the Labour seat on the Planning Committee

·         David Rose (Independent) replaces Alastair McCraw (Independent) on the Joint Audit and Standards Committee.

 

44.

BC/17/18 APPOINTMENT OF INDEPENDENT REMUNERATION PANEL pdf icon PDF 79 KB

Report by the Assistant Director – Law and Governance attached.

 

Minutes:

The Leader of the Council, Jennie Jenkins, introduced Paper BC/17/18, relating to the proposed appointment of a new Panel.

 

The Assistant Director – Law and Governance referred to Report C/68/17 appointing the IRP to Mid Suffolk District Council.  Members were advised that  the names of the Panel Members were included in the Mid Suffolk District Council report.

 

RESOLVED

 

That the Independent Remuneration Panel appointed by Mid Suffolk District Council on 22 September 2016 also be appointed by Babergh District Council.

 

45.

APPOINTMENT OF COUNCILLOR TO OUTSIDE BODY

That the following appointment be made:

 

Western Suffolk Community Safety Partnership

 

Margaret Maybury – Cabinet Member for Communities

(replacing Jan Osborne)

 

Leader of the Council – Jennie Jenkins

Minutes:

RESOLVED

 

That Margaret Maybury Cabinet Member for Communities be appointed as the Babergh representative on theWestern Suffolk Community Safety Partnership (replacing Jan Osborne).