Agenda and minutes
Venue: Conference Chamber, West Suffolk House, Western Way, Bury St Edmunds, IP33 3YU
Contact: Claire Skoyles: Democratic Services Officer
Email: democratic.services@westsuffolk.gov.uk
Items
No. |
Item |
274. |
Minutes PDF 400 KB
To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on
21 February 2023 (copy attached).
Minutes:
The minutes of the meeting held on 21 February
2023 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the
Chair.
(Councillor Karen Richardson arrived during
the consideration of this item.)
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275. |
Chair's announcements (Paper number: COU/WS/23/005) PDF 126 KB
To receive announcements from the Chair.
As this is the last meeting of Council before
the district council elections in May 2023, announcements will
include placing recognition on record to members that have served
under the current administration, as shown in the attached paper:
COU/WS/23/005.
In addition, a list of civic
events/engagements attended by the Chair and Vice-Chair since the
last ordinary meeting of Council held on 21 February 2023 are
attached.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Chair drew members’ attention to
Paper number: COU/WS/23/005, which formally gave recognition to
current and former members of the Council.
As this was the last Council meeting ahead of
the elections on 4 May 2023, the Chair took the opportunity to
acknowledge and thank members for their contribution to the work of
West Suffolk Council and their dedicated service to the
community.
The Chair also paid tribute to Councillors
David Gathercole, Jim Meikle and John Smith who had sadly passed
away during this first administration of West Suffolk Council.
Following the election, the Chair would be
inviting all non-returning members from the current administration
to a reception at West Suffolk House on 11 May 2023 at 6.30pm.
The Chair then reported on the civic
engagements and charity activities which he and the Vice-Chair had
attended since the last ordinary meeting of Council on 21 February
2023.
Attention was particularly drawn to an event
scheduled for 9 March 2023, which was to unveil a new painting at
Palace House, Newmarket. Unfortunately, this engagement was
cancelled due to bad weather.
(Councillor Marion Rushbrook arrived during
the consideration of this item.)
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276. |
Apologies for absence
To receive announcements (if any) from the
officer advising the Chair (including apologies for absence).
Minutes:
Apologies for absence were received from
Councillors Trevor Beckwith, Tony Brown, Simon Cole, Jason Crooks,
John Griffiths, Brian Harvey, Rachel Hood, James Lay, Aaron
Luccarini, Joe Mason, David Nettleton, Karen Soons and Julia
Wakelam.
Councillor Simon Brown was also unable to
attend the meeting.
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277. |
Declarations of interests
Members are reminded
of their responsibility to declare any pecuniary or local non
pecuniary interest which they have in any item of business on the
agenda no later than when that item is reached and, when
appropriate, to leave the meeting prior to discussion and voting on
the item.
Minutes:
Members’ declarations of interest are
recorded under the item to which the declaration relates.
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278. |
Leader's statement (Paper number: COU/WS/23/006) PDF 475 KB
Paper number: COU/WS/23/006
Council Procedure Rules 8.1 to
8.3. The Leader will submit a report (the Leader’s
Statement) summarising important developments and activities since
the preceding meeting of the council.
Members may ask the Leader questions on the
content of both his introductory remarks and the written statement
itself.
A total of 30 minutes will be allowed for
questions and responses. There will be a limit of five minutes for
each question to be asked and answered. A supplementary question
arising from the reply may be asked so long as the five minute
limit is not exceeded.
Minutes:
In the absence of Councillor John Griffiths,
Leader of the Council, Councillor Joanna Rayner, one of the Deputy
Leaders, presented the Leader’s Statement on Councillor
Griffiths’ behalf, as outlined in paper number:
COU/WS/23/006.
In her introductory remarks, Councillor
Rayner:
a. Recognition:
paid tribute to all members, staff and to Councillor Griffiths for
his leadership during the first four years of West Suffolk Council.
Councillor Rayner placed her thanks on record for the hard work and
dedication of the aforementioned in
helping to deliver successes for the benefit of communities across
the district despite living in challenging times.
b. Mildenhall
Hub: referenced Report number: OAS/WS/23/003, which was
presented to the Overview and Scrutiny (O&S) Committee on 9
March 2023. This report provided details of a post-implementation
review that had been undertaken on whether the Mildenhall Hub had
met its ten objectives. Councillor Rayner emphasised that not only
had the objectives been met, but all had been surpassed. She
thanked members of the O&S Committee for their scrutiny of the
report and for their recommendations which would be presented to
Cabinet for consideration in due course. Recognition was also given
to the former Forest Heath members who began the process for
creating the, now nationally award winning, Mildenhall Hub.
c. UK Shared
Prosperity Fund (UKSPF): provided an update on the
Council’s distribution of its share of the Government’s
UKSPF. The funding provided in the first year of its three-year
total allocation of £1,943,467 had been given or allocated to
more than thirty initiatives across West Suffolk.
d. Environment:
congratulated winners of the West Suffolk area in Suffolk County
Council’s Creating the Greenest County 2023 Awards; including
how tackling climate change and making improvements to the
environment required commitment from partners, organisations,
businesses and individuals alike. The
West Suffolk winners and the schools taking part in the anti-idling
campaign were examples of where this commitment was being
positively demonstrated.
e. Holiday
Activities and Food (HAF): provided details of the forthcoming
Government funded HAF programme that would be taking place over the
Easter holiday period.
f. 850th
Anniversary of The Battle of Fornham: explained that together with The
Battlefields Trust All Saints Hotel, activities would be put on at
Moyse’s Hall Museum and West Stow
Anglo-Saxon Village to encourage people to learn more about the
national significance of this part of history.
The Deputy Leader responded to a range of
questions relating to:
a. Supplementary
questions: that working within the requirements of the Council
Procedure Rules contained in Part 4 of the Constitution, it was not
always possible for public speakers to be given the opportunity to
ask a supplementary question arising from the reply to their
question. The response given depended on the level of detail
required to fully answer the question. Whilst a maximum time
allocation of five minutes for the question to be put and answered
was a requirement of the Procedure Rules, it was at the
Chair’s discretion to allow a supplementary question if the
maximum ...
view the full minutes text for item 278.
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279. |
Public participation
Council Procedure Rules Section 6.
Members of the public who live or work in the district may put
questions about the work of the council or make statements on items
on the agenda to members of the Cabinet or any committee.
(Note: The maximum time to be set aside for
this item is 30 minutes, but if all questions/statements are dealt
with sooner, or if there are no questions/statements, the Council
will proceed to the next business.)
Each person may ask one question or
make one statement only. A total of five minutes will be
allowed for the question to be put and answered or the statement
made. If a question is raised, one supplementary question will
be allowed provided that it arises directly from the reply and
the overall time limit of five minutes is not exceeded.
If a statement is made, then the Chair may
allow the Leader of the Council, or other member to whom they refer
the matter, a right of reply.
The Constitution allows that a person who
wishes to speak must register at least 15 minutes before the time
the meeting is scheduled to start.
We
urge anyone who
wishes to register to speak to notify Democratic
Services by 9am on the day of the meeting so that
advice can be given on the arrangements in place.
As an alternative to addressing
the meeting in person, written
questions may be submitted by members of
the public to the Monitoring Officer no
later than 10am on Monday 20 March 2023. The written
notification should detail the full
question to be asked at the meeting of the
Council.
Minutes:
The following members of the public spoke
under this agenda item:
1. Aaron Leeves, a resident in
the district, asked a question in connection with so-called
’20 minute neighbourhoods’ that were being trialled in
towns in various parts of the country. It was asked whether West
Suffolk Council was also going to trial a ’20 minute
neighbourhood’ in any of the district’s towns.
In response, Councillor Andy Drummond,
Portfolio Holder for Regulatory and Environment, first drew
attention to a document produced by the Town and Country Planning
Association which provided guidance to local authorities on
planning for climate change. He urged attendees to read the
document.
He then responded to the question firstly by
reinforcing West Suffolk Council’s commitment to addressing
the challenge of climate change. That commitment was very
transparent through the Council’s declaration of a climate
emergency and the production of an action plan. The annual
monitoring of the action plan, together with the Council’s
environmental performance was reported to Cabinet with the papers
published on the Council’s website.
The action plan stated the need to address
travel and transport emissions through a range of measures;
however, the evaluation or rolling out of 20-minute neighbourhoods
was not featured.
West Suffolk Council was also a partner in the
Suffolk-wide Suffolk Climate Emergency Plan. This Plan also
recognised the need to address transport emissions and means by
which these could be reduced. As Suffolk was a very rural county,
this would be challenging; however, there were currently no plans
for 20-minute neighbourhoods across Suffolk.
2. Robert Seys, a resident in
the district, provided a statement in the lead up to his question.
He expressed concern regarding a number of issues relating to
global sign ups to Agenda 21, Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable
Development Goals Programme. On a local level, he felt that the
infrastructure was not in place to support the so-called
’20-minute neighbourhood’ zones. The specific question
related to the Council’s understanding of the origins of
Agenda 21, Agenda 2030 and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals
Programme.
In response, Councillor Drummond reiterated
the various policy approaches there had been to addressing
environmental challenges. The references made by Mr Seys related to
international approaches. The UK Government had put in place its
own policies which directed the work of the Council. All this
information was publicly available.
3. Ian Smith, a resident in
the district, expressed concern that West Suffolk Council had
signed up to the UK100 organisation, which as a member included
pledging ‘to deliver a Net Zero future’. Mr Smith asked
whether the Council supported the implementation of restrictive
traffic measures in Bury St Edmunds or other towns in Suffolk. He
urged members not to implement a Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN),
otherwise known as a ’20-minute neighbourhood’ or a
’15-minute city’.
In response, Councillor Drummond reiterated
the reply he had given earlier to Mr Leeves and hoped that this had
addressed his concern regarding ’20-minute
neighbourhoods’ and restrictive measures. The Council joined
the UK100 ...
view the full minutes text for item 279.
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280. |
Referrals report of recommendations from Cabinet
There were no referrals
emanating from the Cabinet meeting held on 14 March
2023.
Minutes:
Council noted that there were no referrals
emanating from the Cabinet meeting held on 14 March 2023.
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281. |
Pay Policy Statement 2023 to 2024 (Report number: COU/WS/23/007) PDF 120 KB
Report number: COU/WS/23/007
Additional documents:
Minutes:
Council considered this report, which sought
approval for the Pay Policy Statement 2023 to 2024.
The Localism Act 2011 and
supporting guidance provided details of matters that must be
included in this statutory pay policy, but, also, emphasised that
each local authority had the autonomy to take its own decisions on
pay and pay policies. The Pay Policy
Statement must be approved formally by Council each
year. The statement could be amended in
year, must be published on the Council’s website and must be
complied with when setting the terms and conditions of Chief
Officers.
Set out in paragraph 1.2 of the
report, were details of what was included in the Pay Policy
Statement 2023 to 2024, which was attached at Appendix
A.
Councillor Carol Bull,
Portfolio Holder for Governance, drew relevant issues to the
attention of Council.
On the motion of Councillor Bull, seconded by
Councillor Sara Mildmay-White, it was put to the vote and with the
vote being 44 for the motion, none against and four abstentions, it
was
Resolved:
That
the Pay Policy Statement for 2023 to 2024, as contained in Appendix
A to Report number COU/WS/23/007, be approved.
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282. |
West Suffolk Council Constitution - proposed amendments (Report number: COU/WS/23/008) PDF 216 KB
Report number: COU/WS/23/008
Additional documents:
Minutes:
Council considered this report, which sought
approval for amendments to the two areas of the Constitution.
The Constitution Review Group
periodically met to review the effectiveness of the Constitution,
identifying any areas that could be developed further to improve
the way the Council made decisions, ensuring that processes were
efficient and transparent.
The Group met on 8 February 2023 and considered two areas
recommended for amendment:
-
Part 4; Council Procedure Rules
-
Part 4; Scrutiny Committees Procedure
Rules
The specific amendments proposed were
summarised in paragraphs 2.2 and 2.3 of the report, with each
clearly laid out as tracked changes in Appendices 1 and 2 attached
to the report.
Councillor Carol Bull, Portfolio Holder for
Governance, drew relevant issues to the attention of Council. This
included, as proposer of the substantive motion, proposing an
additional change to one of the suggested amendments to the
Scrutiny Committees Procedure Rules, as follows:
Referring to paragraph 2.3 of the report
(paragraph 1.3 of Appendix 2), the following
additional text, shown in bold, was proposed in addition to the
suggested revised wording, as indicated below:
(n) To
appoint one member of the Committee to act as the Council’s
representative on the Suffolk Health Scrutiny Committee who will
report their findings back to the Overview and Scrutiny
Committee and to appoint one member of the Committee as
a substitute member on the Suffolk Health Scrutiny
Committee.
On the motion of Councillor Bull, seconded by
Councillor Jim Thorndyke, it was put to the vote and with the vote
being 46 for the motion, none against and two abstentions, it
was
Resolved:
That:
1. The
revised wording for Part 4; Council Procedure Rules (as set out in
paragraphs 1.1.4; 1.2 and 1.3 of Appendix 1 to Report number
COU/WS/23/008), be approved.
2. The
revised wording, as amended to include the additional text shown
below, for Part 4; Scrutiny Committees Procedure Rules (as set out
in Section A; Overview and Scrutiny Committee; paragraph 1.3 of
Appendix 2 to Report number COU/WS/23/008), be approved:
(n) To
appoint one member of the Committee to act as the Council’s
representative on the Suffolk Health Scrutiny Committee who will
report their findings back to the Overview and Scrutiny
Committee and to appoint one member of the Committee as
a substitute member on the Suffolk Health Scrutiny
Committee.
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283. |
Any other urgent business
To consider any business, which
by reason of special circumstances, should in the opinion of the
Chair be considered at the meeting as a matter of
urgency.
Minutes:
There were no matters of urgent
business considered on this occasion.
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In this section
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