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Contact: Committee Services
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DECLARATION OF INTERESTS BY COUNCILLORS Minutes: There were no declarations of interests.
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BC/21/19 TO CONFIRM THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 21 SEPTEMBER 2021 PDF 911 KB Minutes: It was RESOLVED:-
That the Minutes of the meeting held on 21 September 2021 be confirmed and signed as a true record.
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BC/21/20 ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM THE CHAIRMAN AND LEADER PDF 16 KB In addition to any announcements made at the meeting, please see Paper BC/21/20 attached, detailing events attended by the Chairman.
Minutes: The Chair informed Members that the Leader of the Council, Councillor Ward had pre-recorded his Leader’s Announcements as he was not able to attend the meeting.
Councillor Ward made the following announcements:
Good evening, everyone. Unfortunately, I can’t be with you all in person this evening as I have a very bad cold and cough. It is definitely nothing more – I have done two LFTs and one PCR test and all were negative.
This is the first of additional council meetings designed to enable members to participate in debates on a range of topics. We are reinstating Cabinet member reports, and we have the first two this month. We are introducing debates on current live issues and topics of interest as an alternative to member briefings, which are not always well attended. This evening we will be discussing the current status of Covid recovery in Babergh, covering business confidence, its lingering impact and ongoing changes to the behaviour of residents. Finally, we will also be having a series of location reports from different parts of the district. There will be a rolling programme running from East to West, and this will start next year.
I hope you will value these themes and please feed back any comments or suggestions you may have.
Economy Briefing Last week an all member briefing from the Economic Development team was held. This was excellent and highlighted the huge amount of activity and projects delivered in the district.
Our approach to supporting innovation is getting recognition nationally and we are definitely having an impact on stimulating the post-Covid economy and delivering jobs.
New Public Realm Team Yesterday marked the start of our new in-house public realm service. 15 new members of staff arrived at the Stowmarket depot and Cllr Dawson was there to welcome them alongside our officers. I would like to thank our project team for all their hard work over the past 12 months to make this such a success.
ERA As announced at the weekend, the government has agreed to Suffolk’s request to be designated a Covid Enhanced Response Area. We will get extra resources to increase vaccinations and provide other support. Increasing booster vaccinations and the vaccination rate for 12-15 year olds are the main priorities. A walk-in service at Hadleigh church on Saturday was very successful with 2,030 people getting a jab.
Belle Vue Engagement You will all have been aware of the recent exhibitions of plans for Belle Vue park in Sudbury. I want to thank the officers who were present for giving their time, particularly on the Saturday, and to all the councillors who also visited and spoke to many of the public there. Feedback regarding the Churchill development was, as to be expected, mixed – but not totally dominated by those who oppose our plans to regenerate the park. The feedback on our new entrance was, in contrast, overwhelmingly in favour of the plans, praising the design, thoroughness and quality of the visual elements. The major ... view the full minutes text for item 56. |
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TO RECEIVE NOTIFICATION OF PETITIONS IN ACCORDANCE WITH COUNCIL PROCEDURE RULES In accordance with Council Procedure Rule No. 11, 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: The Deputy Monitoring Officer advised that the following validated petition had been received and would be dealt with through the usual planning process:
233 valid signatures regarding planning application DC/21/03644 in Ballingdon, Sudbury.
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QUESTIONS BY THE PUBLIC IN ACCORDANCE WITH COUNCIL PROCEDURE RULES PDF 98 KB The Chairman of the Council 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. 12.
Minutes: The Chair invited Mr Morelli, a member of the public to ask his question. In the absence of the Leader of the Council, the Cabinet Member for Customers, Digital Transformation and Information, Councillor McCraw responded.
Question 1 Mr Thomas Morelli to Councillor John Ward, Leader of the Council
“Councillor John Ward has, on several recent occasions, sought to draw a distinction between the physical presence of Babergh in Sudbury being referred to as an ‘access point’ and as an ‘advice centre’ — with the latter being something Babergh has apparently “never run in any of [its] face-to-face locations”. Can Councillor Ward please therefore explain why the Babergh website referred to its location in Sudbury as the “Sudbury Advice Centre” until at least November of 2016?”
Response
The reason I felt it was important to make the distinction between access and advice is that the customer services provision we offer is focused on providing face to face supported access to Council services and wherever possible resolving that enquiry at the 1st point of contact. The word access reflects similar language used across several different Councils and best describes service provision offered.
I appreciate the language may have changed since we looked at our wider public access strategy back in 2016 to recognise there are other ‘advice’ led services such as citizens advice, where residents can access advice on a wide variety of topics, not just Council led services.
It’s important to acknowledge that our residents need change overtime, and that many people wish to access our services in different ways such as online* or via telephone. However, we understand some of our residents would still prefer to contact us via face to face, which is why we offer several in-person services to allow them to do so. In addition to our access point at Sudbury library, we have also resumed our pop ups in Hadleigh and Shotley.
At present we are seeing approx. 10 people at the Sudbury access point per day (since April). We have 2 officers based there, so this equates to 5 visits per officer, per day, which we feel is sufficient coverage.
*Between 2013 and 2019, the proportion of internet non-users in Suffolk has decreased at a faster rate than regional and national averages. In 2019, only 8.3% of Suffolk’s 16+ population never used the internet. This demand for more online led services is also reflected via our website visits increasing by 16% from 2,284,163 in 2017 to 2,638,391 in 2020.
Mr Morelli then asked a supplementary question to the Cabinet Member for Customers, Digital Transformation and Information.
Supplementary Question
Given that when the singular unified access point was present at the town hall, residents could go in and enquire about a town council service, a district council service or a county council service and given that this integration was something that Babergh has previously highlighted on its website, does Councillor Ward or Councillor McCraw agree that this has now been lost and does he feel ... view the full minutes text for item 58. |
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QUESTIONS BY COUNCILLORS IN ACCORDANCE WITH COUNCIL PROCEDURE RULES PDF 5 KB 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. 13.
Minutes: The Chair invited Councillor Dawson to ask her question to the Cabinet Member for Assts and Investments, Councillor Busby
Cllr Dawson to Councillor Busby, Cabinet Member for Assets and Investments
Please provide a breakdown summary of the full annual running costs since vacating, of the Corks Lane Development in 2017 up to development dated expected Spring 2022?, to include security maintenance, and insurance. For clarification, what were the original estimated cost for development of Corks Lane Development at 2017 and what are the recalculated development costs at Spring 2022?
Response
The total costs for repairs, maintenance and security at the Former HQ site in Hadleigh from 2017 to the end of this financial year are anticipated to be £500,000. This is against budgeted costs of £342,000.
The original costs for development were anticipated to be £12.9m delivering a net receipt to the Council of £865,000 with a total of £1.4m being delivered back to the public purse including the net receipt, loan interest paid to the Councils from the Growth Company, taxes and planning and building control income. Full details of which are set out in the confidential Council report from December 2018 - which can be resent to Cllr Dawson.
The development costs are currently anticipated to be circa £13m with a similar level of return being anticipated with a net receipt of £900,000. Whilst there have been delays with delivering this complex site, the works are currently being tendered and we anticipate that works will start on site early in the New Year.
Councillor Dawson asked the following supplementary question:
Taking into account the development costs which have, please confirm, in my understanding building costs have significantly risen from 18-35% in the building industry and that is right across the board. My concern now is that our original estimated profit is now not a viable financial proposition for our stakeholders. And I believe that really you ought to confirm perhaps if you ensure that this comes back to the Cabinet to be discussed and to reconsider that formal business case particularly if you are saying costs have gone up from 12.9 million to 13 million and that doesn’t really marry up with price increases for all the items that will be required to develop this site. So, will you consider or take it on that you will ensure it comes back to Cabinet to consider the business case?
Response Councillor Busby
I think this is a little premature, as I said we are waiting for tenders to come in, they should be in this month. We have a growth meeting in early December at which time we will be in a much better position to understand what the costs and returns are likely to be. If the situation is as you suggest, then bringing it back to Cabinet may be an option, but let’s not jump the gun, let’s wait and see what the tenders come in at.
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OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE UPDATE Chair of Overview and Scrutiny Committee Minutes: 60.1 Councillor McLaren verbally updated Council on the Joint Scrutiny meeting that had been held on 20th September 2021.
60.2 The Committee had undertaken an annual review of the Joint Homes and Housing Strategy and Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Reduction Strategy 2019-2024.
60.3 The Committee had asked for further information on the day to day activities of the action plan and resolved that the Strategy was reviewed bi- annually to ensure that the action plan was on track.
60.4 Councillor McLaren informed Council that two information bulletins had also been presented to the Committee:-
· A Customer Services Update · Anti- social behaviour Update
60.5 Councillors questioned officers on the detail in the bulletins and noted the reports.
60.6 Councillor McLaren informed Council that the committee scheduled for October had been cancelled. This was due to the substantive item on the agenda being the examination and review of the relationship between Cabinet and Scrutiny. However, as the Constitution Working Group was currently reviewing the governance arrangements of the Council with recommendations coming to Council in January, the Monitoring Officer had advised that it was not the appropriate time to carry out this review.
Council noted the report.
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RECOMMENDATIONS FROM CABINET / COMMITTEES |
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BC/21/21 GAMBLING ACT 2005 – STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES STATUTORY THREE-YEARLY ADOPTION PDF 115 KB Chair of Licensing and Regulatory Committee Additional documents: Minutes: 62.1 In the absence of the Chair of Licensing & Regulatory Committee, Councillor Arthey introduced the report and informed Council that the purpose of the report was for Council to adopt the amended Statement of Principles as recommended by Licensing and Regulatory Committee at its meeting on 15th October 2021.
62.2 Councillor Arthey added that it was a statutory requirement to review the Policy every three years and the decision may only be taken by Council.
62.3 A consultation exercise had been undertaken with only one response being received.
62.4 Councillor Arthey MOVED the recommendations in the report which Councillor Simon Barrett SECONDED.
62.5 Councillor Lindsay proposed an amendment to the Statement of Principles to introduce a “no Casino resolution”
62.6 The Chief Executive clarified that if this was to be introduced the Council would need to consult on the matter. It would therefore need to be a separate motion on notice to the Council to orchestrate this.
62.7 Council debated the issue and requested that the Licensing and Regulatory Committee examine the issue and report back to Council on its findings.
It was RESOLVED:-
That the draft revision Gambling Act 2005 ‘Statement of Principles’ document as attached as Appendix A to the report be adopted, for publication and to take effect for three years (unless sooner revised) from 31 January 2022.
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PRESENTATION REGARDING THE COVID RESPONSE AND RECOVERY Assistant Director for Economic Development & Regeneration and Assistant Director for Communities & Wellbeing Minutes: 63.1 The Chair invited the Chief Executive, and the Deputy Leader of the Council, Councillor Clive Arthey to introduce the presentation.
63.2 The Strategic Director and the Assistant Directors for, Economic Developments and Regeneration, Housing, and Health and Wellbeing provided the presentation.
63.3 After the presentation, Members agreed that the debate on the item was deferred and that Group Leaders would discuss the most effective mechanism for collecting comments.
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TO RECEIVE REPORTS FROM CABINET MEMBERS PDF 151 KB CMU1 – Cabinet Member for Communities CMU2 – Cabinet Member for Economy
Additional documents: Minutes: 64.1 Councillor Davis, Cabinet Member for Communities presented his report and updated Council on his portfolio. Councillor Davis then invited questions from Council.
64.2 In the absence of Councillor Holt, Cabinet Member for Economy, the Chairman requested that any points for clarification were sent in writing to the portfolio holder.
64.3 Both reports were noted by Council.
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BC/21/22 POLITICAL BALANCE AND COMPOSITION OF COMMITTEES PDF 220 KB Monitoring Officer Additional documents: Minutes:
It was RESOLVED:-
That the Committees’ size and numerical allocation of seats be approved as detailed in Appendix A to the report with effect from 4th November 2021.
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COUNCILLOR APPOINTMENTS PDF 92 KB Minutes:
It was RESOLVED:-
That the following appointments be noted:
Planning Committee Councillor Alastair McCraw (replacing Councillor Simon Barrett)
Joint Audit and Standards Committee Councillor Melanie Barrett (replacing Councillor Simon Barrett)
Overview and Scrutiny Committee Councillor Adrian Osborne (replacing Councillor Sian Dawson)
Councillor Margaret Maybury to be removed from Overview and Scrutiny Committee (seat currently vacant)
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MOTIONS ON NOTICE |