Agenda and minutes
Venue: Virtual Meeting Only - Facilitated by MS TeamsLive Meeting Platform
Contact: Claire Skoyles: Democratic Services Officer
Email: claire.skoyles@westsuffolk.gov.uk
Media
Items
No. |
Item |
114. |
Welcome and Meeting Facilitation
Minutes:
The Chair formally opened the meeting and
welcomed all persons present including those that were viewing the
meeting externally via the live broadcast, to the Council’s
first virtual meeting of Cabinet.
Jill Korwin, one of the Directors, was acting
as facilitator for the meeting, and upon invited to do so by the
Chair, detailed a number of housekeeping matters and guidance to
help those present and viewing to familiarise themselves with how
the meeting would operate within the virtual setting.
|
115. |
Apologies for Absence
Minutes:
No apologies for absence were received.
As it was not possible to see on screen all
those present in the virtual meeting room at any one time; for the
benefit of all persons present and those viewing the live
broadcast, the facilitator verbally listed the names of those
present, which included all Cabinet Members, two non-Cabinet
Members and several officers supporting the meeting.
|
116. |
Minutes PDF 288 KB
To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on
11 February 2020 (copy attached).
Minutes:
The minutes of the meeting held on 11 February
2020 were confirmed as a correct record.
|
117. |
Open Forum
At each Cabinet meeting, up to 15 minutes
shall be allocated for questions or statements from and discussion
with, non-Cabinet members. As this
meeting is being held virtually, Members wishing to speak during
this session must notify Democratic Services by
9am on the day of the meeting that they wish to
attend. Who speaks and for how long
will be at the complete discretion of the person presiding.
Minutes:
The following non-Cabinet Member spoke under
this item:
1. Councillor Diane Hind,
Leader of the Labour Group, asked a question in connection with
one of the Chief Executive’s Urgency Decisions
listed under Agenda Item 6.
Councillor Hind made a
suggestion to amend the wording of the motion that would
have been presented to Council on 31 March 2020 had the meeting not
been cancelled due to the impacts of COVID-19. This was in respect
of seeking adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance
Alliance (IHRA) definition of Anti-Semitism.
In response, Councillor John Griffiths, Leader
of the Council stated that whilst the Cabinet would wholeheartedly
agree with Councillor Hind’s sentiments, the decision made by
the Chief Executive using his urgency powers was to agree to adopt
the definition. The wording of the motion, which was attached to
the report for information, helped explain the background as to why
the decision was made. A review of the
Chief Executive’s decision was not considered to be
necessary; however, Councillor Robert Everitt, Portfolio Holder for
Families and Communities, who would have put the motion to Council,
was invited to add further comments.
Councillor Everitt responded accordingly,
stating that it was unfortunate that due to the circumstances,
Members did not have the opportunity to resolve this motion which,
in ordinary times, would have been considered by Council at the end
of March 2020. Councillor Everitt
agreed that the Council was firmly committed to promoting equal
opportunities and eliminating all forms of discrimination,
harassment and victimisation, and this had already been recognised
in the Council’s approved equality scheme prior to adoption
of the IHRA definition.
Councillor Hind sought clarification on
whether there was a time limit by which the IHRA definition of
anti-Semitism needed to be adopted; and whether she could be
directed to the exact wording regarding the Council’s
commitments in the Council’s equality scheme. A detailed response would be provided by
Councillor Everitt following the meeting.
|
118. |
Public Participation
Members of the public who live or work in the
district are welcome to speak and may ask one question or make a
statement of not more than three minutes duration relating to items
to be discussed in Part 1 of the agenda only. If a question is asked and answered within three
minutes, the person who asked the question may ask a supplementary
question that arises from the reply.
As the meeting is taking place virtually, a
person who wishes to speak must register by 9am on Friday 22 May
2020 to ensure that there is time to brief them on how they can
speak at the meeting. This can be
done by sending the request to
democratic.services@westsuffolk.gov.uk or telephoning one of the
numbers provided on the Public Information Sheet at the start of
this agenda. Members of the public will
be provided with a telephone number they can call when prompted to
do so during the meeting to enable them to participate.
If a member of the public cannot attend the
meeting remotely, they may submit a written question or statement
to Democratic Services by midday at the very latest on the day of
the meeting and this will be read out on their behalf during the
meeting.
There is an overall time limit of 15 minutes
for public speaking, which may be extended at the Chairman’s
discretion.
Minutes:
There were no members of the public present
within the virtual setting. No members of the public viewing the
live broadcast had registered to speak.
|
119. |
Report of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee: 12 March 2020 (Report No: CAB/WS/20/029) PDF 194 KB
Report No:
CAB/WS/20/029
Chair of the Committee on 12
March 2020: Cllr David Nettleton
Lead Officer: Christine
Brain
Minutes:
The Cabinet received and noted this report,
which informed Members of the following substantive items discussed
by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee at its meeting held on 12
March 2020:
1. Registered Provider
of Social Housing (Havebury
Partnership);
2. West Suffolk Housing
Strategy Implementation Plan 2018-2023: Year 1 Review;
3. Suffolk
Cross-Authority Task and Finish Group – Citizens Advice
(Final Report);
4. Suffolk County
Council: Health Scrutiny Committee – 21 January 2020;
5. Decisions Plan: 1
March 2020 to 31 May 2020; and
6. Work Programme
Update 2020.
This report was scheduled to be considered by
Cabinet on 24 March 2020; however, that meeting was cancelled
following the publication of the agenda and papers due to the
impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Chair firstly welcomed Councillor Ian
Shipp to the meeting and took the opportunity to congratulate him
on his appointment as the new Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny
Committee, following Councillor David Nettleton’s decision to
step down having fulfilled this role between May 2019 and May
2020.
Councillor Griffiths paid tribute to
Councillor Nettleton for his excellent work steering the Committee
over the past year. Unfortunately, Councillor Nettleton was unable
to attend this meeting to present his final report; however,
Councillor Shipp was more than willing to assist.
Councillor Shipp paid his own tribute to
Councillor Nettleton, adding that he was very much looking forward
to the role and working with his Vice-Chair, Councillor Simon Cole,
other Committee Members, the Cabinet and officers.
He then drew relevant issues from the report
to the attention of Cabinet.
|
120. |
Chief Executive Urgency Decisions (Report No: CAB/WS/20/036) PDF 141 KB
Report No:
CAB/WS/20/036
Portfolio Holder: Cllr John
Griffiths
Lead Officer: Ian Gallin
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Cabinet received and noted this report,
which provided a summary of decisions recently taken by the Chief
Executive utilising his urgency powers.
The COVID-19 pandemic had
required the Council to work rapidly to respond to the emerging
threat and Government guidance as the situation evolved.
In the vast
majority of cases, officers throughout the organisation were
empowered, through the Council’s business continuity plans
and scheme of delegation, to be able to make decisions to support
the Council’s response. This had
enabled the Council to continue to deliver vital services to its
communities whilst ensuring appropriate measures were taken to
safeguard staff and its stakeholders.
In a small number of cases,
decisions needed to be made that fell outside the scope of the
scheme of delegation, or the terms under which decisions were
delegated to officers, and therefore it was necessary to employ the
Chief Executive’s Urgency Powers.
Two decisions were taken that
fell under the scope of executive functions, namely:
·
Suspension of on and off street
car parking charges;
·
Adoption of the IHRA definition of
Anti-Semitism.
One further decision, relating
to the moving of a polling district in Haverhill, was scheduled to
be reported to Cabinet on 24 March 2020, however, that meeting was cancelled
following the publication of the agenda and papers due to the
impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and was therefore deferred for
reporting at this meeting.
|
121. |
Decisions Plan: 1 May 2020 to 31 May 2021 (Report No; CAB/WS/20/037) PDF 281 KB
To consider the most recently published
version of the Cabinet’s Decisions Plan
Report No:
CAB/WS/20/037
Portfolio Holder: Cllr John
Griffiths
Lead Officer: Ian Gallin
Minutes:
The Cabinet considered this report which was
the Cabinet Decisions Plan covering the period 1 May 2020 to 31 May
2021.
Members took the opportunity to review the
intended forthcoming decisions of the Cabinet; however, no further
information or amendments were requested on this occasion.
|
122. |
Conclusion
Minutes:
On conclusion of the meeting, the Chair
thanked all present for their attendance at this first virtual
meeting of Cabinet. The live broadcast subsequently ended at this
point.
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In this section
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