Agenda and minutes

AGREED      that that minutes of the meeting held on 16 July 2019 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

NOTED:-   (a)       the interests declared as shown in the schedule circulated at the meeting; and

                 (b)       the additional interest which was declared at the meeting as follows:

NOTED       that in addition to the Council undertaking a video recording of the meeting, Councillor L. Goff declared his intention to record Agenda Item No. 8 – Receipt of Petition in relation to the Elm Avenue Stadium.

The Chairman advised the Council of the success of the Sleep Out event organised by the Housing Options Team in order to raise awareness of the homeless. He advised that, to date, £2,700 had been raised for local charities and he thanked all those who had taken part.

The Chairman also invited Councillor Mrs S Saddington to celebrate the success of the ‘Big Convey’ event arranged by Terry Galloway which enabled 650 children in care to be taken on a day trip to Alton Towers. The Chairman again thanked those involved in helping with the event.

The Leader of the Council advised the Council that £4.5m had been allocated to the ongoing improvement works to the A46; up to £25m had been allocated from the Towns Fund for Newark; and a successful application had also been made to Historic England for up to £250k to be recognised as a former Heritage Action Zone.   

The Leader of the Council further advised that works had commenced at the former Robin Hood Hotel and that all Newark schools had been awarded the status of either good or outstanding in their most recent assessment which should be considered a tremendous achievement.

The Council also celebrated their success in the annual East Midlands in Bloom Competition with Newark being awarded town Gold Standard and second overall in the East Midlands.  Newark was also awarded a Gold Cup for the least littered environment in the East Midlands.  The Leader congratulated all those involved and the Chairman presented  Certificates to representatives of the Street Cleansing and the Grounds Maintenance Teams.

The Chairman of the Leisure & Environment Committee also advised the Council that the Sconce & Devon Park and Vicar Water had been awarded Green Flags and that the RSPCA had awarded the Council a Paws Print Gold Award for their Policy on dealing with stray dogs. 

Finally, the Chairman of the Economic Development Committee advised the Council that the Newark Lorry Park had received a Safer Parking Award, and added that when the improvement works had been completed it would be necessary to increase projected revenues from the site. 

‘Keep the Elm Avenue stadium as a sports ground’ – to be presented for debate by the Council by Paul Baggaley in accordance with the Council’s Statutory Petitions Scheme.

In accordance with the Council’s Statutory Petitions Scheme, Paul Baggaley presented a petition to the Council in relation to ‘saving the Elm Avenue Stadium’.

The petition, which had 550 signatures, called upon the Council to keep the Elm Avenue stadium as a sports ground for local people and to quash the planning application and the proposed development of the land. 

In opening the debate, the Leader of the Council highlighted that the information contained in the presentation by Mr. Baggaley had been wider than the remit of the petition which had been signed.

The Leader of the Council advised that decisions on this site had already been taken and proceeded to inform the Council of the exceptional community facilities wgich would be provided at the YMCA Community & Activity Village.   

Councillor D Lloyd moved and Councillor R Blaney seconded that the petition be noted and that the Council welcomed the continued development of the YMCA Community & Activity Village and looked forward to hearing many stories of lives being transformed by its services and facilities.  This proposal, on being put to the meeting, was declared carried with 27 votes for and 11 against.

The Council considered the report of the Director – Governance & Organisational Development which sought approval for proposed changes to Council Procedure Rule No. 14 – Questions by Members of the Council and Council Procedure Rule No. 15 – Questions by the Public. Revised wording for the two Rules were set out in the Appendix to the report.

The Councillors’ Commission considered proposed changes to these rules at their meeting held on 30 September 2019. The Commission were proposing to align the deadline for receipt of all questions to the same as the deadline for motions, which would enable questions to be published with the agenda. It was also proposed to revise Rule No. 7 – Order of Business at Meeting of the Council to enable all questions to be taken together on the agenda.

It was also reported that the Councillors’ Commission had considered the time allocated to public questions, currently set at 30 minutes, but with no time limit being prescribed for Member questions. The Commission were proposing a maximum period of 30 minutes for both questions but with the express provision that a minimum of 15 minutes be reserved for public questions.  In respect of questions from the public, the Commission were also recommending that the Chairman no longer be required to read out the text of the question in full and that the Rule be clarified to require that citizens submitting questions must be resident in the District.   

Subject to the changes being agreed, it was suggested that a review of the new arrangements be undertaken after 12 months and greater information being provided on the Council’s website to guide the public as to the process for asking questions. 

AGREED      (unanimously) that:

(a)          the revised Council Procedure Rules No. 14 and No. 15, as set out in the Appendix to the report, be approved;

(b)          the Director - Governance & Organisational Development revise Council Procedure Rule No. 7 – Order of Business at Meetings of the Council in order to reflect that questions would be taken together before ‘ordinary’ items of business; and

(c)          the Council’s Constitution be amended accordingly.

The Council considered the report of the Director – Governance & Organisational Development which sought approval to revise the Petitions Scheme for the Council. The proposed new scheme was attached as Appendix A to the report.

The Councillors’ Commission considered proposed changes to the Petitions Scheme at their meeting held on 30 September 2019. Currently, the Council operates both a statutory and a local scheme, however following legislative changes there was now no requirement to have a statutory petitions scheme. The Commission were therefore proposing that a single scheme be adopted which would address some of the issues with the Council procedures for handling petitions. 

The Commission were recommending that the provision for local Ward Members to present petitions with insufficient signatures to trigger a Council debate would remain unchanged. In the proposed new scheme a petition would be required to be submitted 10 working days prior to a specific Council meeting in order for it to be presented and/or debated.  This would also enable the wording of any valid petition to be included on the Council agenda.  The revised scheme also strengthened the requirement around who could sign petitions, with this being prescribed as those who live, work or study in the District with a valid postcode being supplied. In addition, for electronic petitions a valid email address would be required.   

The Commission were also recommending that the threshold for the number of signatures required to trigger a debate be increased from 500 to 1000 and that such a debate could be held if the lead petitioner was unable to attend the Council meeting for any reason.  It was also proposed that the requirement for an Officer to give evidence at a Council meeting in relation to petition with over 1000 signatures be removed.  The proposed scheme also included provision that the Council may consider there to be a more expedient way to deal with a petition which failed to meet the threshold for requiring a debate at full Council, if appropriate. 

The Commission also recommended changes to Council Procedure Rule No. 10 – Presentation of Petitions - which now encompassed the presentation of petitions by Members and those for debate into a single rule.   

AGREED      (unanimously) that:

(a)          the proposed Petitions Scheme, as set out in Appendix A to the report, be approved;

(b)          the revised wording for Council Procedure Rule No. 10, as set out in Appendix B to the report, be approved; and

(c)          the Council’s Constitution be amended accordingly. 

The Council considered the report of the Director – Governance & Organisational Development which sought Members’ approval to convene a Members’ Independent Remuneration Panel.

The report set out the process for determining and setting Members’ Allowances noting that the current allowance scheme was last approved by the Council on 6 February 2016.  It was appropriate to consider Members’ Allowances at the beginning of the life of the new Council, therefore, preparations had commenced to convene a Members Independent Remuneration Panel.

At their meeting held on 30 September 2019 the Councillors’ Commission considered the proposed membership of the Panel and supported the Monitoring Officer’s proposal that the Council’s two Independent Persons be appointed. In terms of the third member of the Panel who would act as Chairman, the Commission recommended that the Monitoring Officer look to identify a person with the requisite skills and local government finance background.

The Commission also considered timings for the Panel undertaking the review given the impending governance review and the expenses payable to the Panel members.

AGREED (unanimously) that:

(a)          the appointment of the Council’s two Independent Persons onto the Members Independent Remuneration Panel be approved;

(b)          the Monitoring Officer be given delegated authority, following consultation with the Leader of the Council, to appoint an appropriate Chairman of the Members Independent Remuneration Panel;

(c)     the  fees for the payment of the Panel members be in accordance with paragraph 3.6 of the report, to be financed from the Corporate Change Management budget; and

(d)     the Monitoring Officer convene the Members Independent Remuneration Panel when appropriate to do so in view of the impending review of the Council’s current governance arrangements.

Councillor Mrs Woodhead was absent from the meeting during the discussion and vote on the above item.

The Council considered the report of the Director – Growth & Regeneration which sought approval for amendments to the current Scheme of Delegation in relation to planning matters and the subsequent amendments to the Constitution. The proposed changes to the Constitution were set out in Appendix 1 to the report.   

The report set out the background to the review of the Scheme of Delegation and detailed the existing arrangements together with comparative data from other local authorities. The proposed changes to the Scheme of Delegation, aimed at streamlining the process, had also been considered by the Planning Committee and the Councillors’ Commission, who were now recommending the proposed changes for approval.

AGREED      (unanimously) that:

(a)     the proposed revisions to the Scheme of Delegation, as set out in Appendix 1 to the report, be approved; and

(b)     the Constitution be amended accordingly.

The Council considered the report of the Director – Growth & Regeneration which sought to approve the arrangements for the Neighbourhood Plan Referendums in Epperstone and Fiskerton-cum-Morton. It was reported that both of the Neighbourhood Plans had now been subject to independent examination and both Plans had met the Basic Conditions and the other statutory requirements. It was therefore proposed that both plans proceed to referendums.

AGREED      (unanimously) that:

(a)          the report be noted; and

(b)          the Chief Executive, acting as the Returning Officer, be authorised to arrange separate referendums for the Epperstone and Fiskerton-cum-Morton Neighbourhood Plans on a date no earlier than Thursday, 28 November 2019.

Councillor P.R.B. Harris left the meeting at 7.34pm.

The Council considered the report of the Director – Governance & Organisational Development which sought to raise awareness and to update Members about the Armed Forces Covenant working at the Council. The report also demonstrated the additional ways in which the Council would support the Armed Forces Covenant in the future.

The report provided Members with information as to the Armed Forces Covenant promise, the history of its adoption at the Council, together with how the Council supports the armed forces community and their families. 

AGREED      (unanimously) that:

(a)     the Council note the enhanced Armed Forces Covenant working outlined in the report; and

(b)     advocacy for the Armed Forces Covenant and Employer Recognition Scheme outside Newark & Sherwood District Council as required, be supported by the Council.

The Council considered the report of the Director – Governance & Organisational Development which sought to approve a Modern Slavery & Human Trafficking Statement for the Council. The Statement was attached as Appendix 1 to the report and had been recommended for approval by the Homes & Communities Committee at their meeting held on 30 September 2019. 

The Modern Slavery Act 2015 came into force on 29 October 2015 and Section 54 of the Act required organisations that supplied goods or services and had a consolidated global turnover of £36m per annum or more to prepare a slavery and human trafficking statement for each financial year.  It was noted that although not legally required to publish a statement, the Council had elected to do so as a matter of good practice.  Details of the key areas included within the Statement were detailed in the report. 

AGREED      (unanimously) that the proposed Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery Statement as set out in Appendix 1 to the report be approved, and adopted by the Council.

In accordance with Rule No. 13.1, Councillor M. Brown will move and Councillor L. Dales will second a motion to the following effect:

The Mental Health Challenge

“This Council notes:

1 in 4 people will experience a mental health problem in any given year with over 6000 people taking their lives through suicide. Suicide is the most common cause of death for men aged 20-49 years in England and Wales. The World Health Organisation predicts that depression will be the second most common health Condition worldwide by 2020. Mental ill health costs some £105 billion each year in England alone. People with a severe mental illness die up to 20 years younger than their peers in the UK. There is often a circular relationship between mental health and issues such as housing, Employment, family problems or debt.

This Council believes:

To sign the Time to Change is led by Mind and Rethink Mental Illness.

We commit to appoint an elected member as “mental health champion” across the Council.

We will seek to identify a member of staff within the Council to act as “lead officer” for mental health.

The Council request:

That officers submit a detailed report to Policy & Finance Committee setting out what the Council will do to meet the requirements of the Time to Change Pledge from an employer perspective. Provide details of what actions the Council will take to support the mental health agenda within the wider community in accordance with the recently adopted Community Plan.

On the basis of the above the Council agree to sign up to the Time to Change Pledge”.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule No. 13.1, Councillor M. Brown moved and Councillor Mrs L. Dales seconded a motion to the following effect:

“This Council notes:

1 in 4 people will experience a mental health problem in any given year with over 6000 people taking their lives through suicide.  Suicide is the most common cause of death for men aged 20-49 years in England and Wales.  The World Health Organisation predicts that depression will be the second most common health condition worldwide by 2020.  Mental ill health costs some £105 billion each year in England alone.  People with a severe mental illness die up to 20 years younger than their peers in the UK.  There is often a circular relationship between mental health and issues such as housing, employment, family problems or debt.

This Council believes:

To sign the Time to Change is led by Mind and Rethink Mental Illness.

We commit to appoint an elected member as “mental health champion” across the Council.

We will seek to identify a member of staff within the Council to act as “lead officer” for mental health.

The Council request:

That officers submit a detail report to Policy & Finance Committee setting out what the Council will do to meet the requirements of the Time to Change Pledge from an employer perspective.  Provide details of what actions the Council will take to support the mental health agenda within the wide community in accordance with the recently adopted Community Plan.  On the basis of the above the Council agree to sign up to the Time to Change Pledge”. 

The motion, on being put to the vote, was declared carried with 35 votes for and 2 abstentions. 

Minute No. 20 – Sherwood Forest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Presentation

Councillor B Laughton expressed his thanks to the Chief Executive of the Trust, Mr. Richard Mitchell, for the informative presentation given to the Committee, and the efforts being made to improve the services at Newark Hospital.