Agenda and minutes

MINUTES

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of the Council held on 26 June 2019 be approved and adopted.

To receive any disclosure of interests from Members or Officers in matters to be discussed.

Note: Councillors are reminded of their obligations to declare disclosable pecuniary interests, personal and/or prejudicial interests in accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct.

Councillor Humby declared a personal (but not prejudicial) interest in respect of agenda item 5 (b) (Station Approach Proposals for Delivery and Further Public Realm Development, Report CAB3172 refers) as he was the Hampshire County Council Executive Member for Economy, Transport and Environment and also sat on the Local Enterprise Board.  Therefore, as he had a material conflict of interest with regard to this item, he left the room during its consideration.  Councillor Humby also stated that he would leave the room during consideration of both Notices of Motion at agenda items 8 (a) and 8 (b) due to his role as Hampshire County Council Executive Member and he having a material conflict of interest.

Councillors Hiscock, Porter and Tod declared personal (but not prejudicial) interests in relation to agenda items due to their role as County Councillors.

The Mayor announced that further to former Prime Minister Theresa May’s resignation honours list, she would be writing to George Hollingbery, Member of Parliament for Meon Valley and former Minister of State for Trade Policy and Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister to congratulate him on         having been honoured with a knighthood.

The Mayor then announced that she had hosted a lunch on17 September 2019 in Abbey House in honour of Professor Martin Biddle where he was presented with an Honorary Freeman Badge in recognition of his eminent services and ongoing support with regard to archaeology in Winchester and the district.

The Mayor reported on other recent events.  These included the Mayors for Peace and Hiroshima Peace Day held in Abbey House on 8 August 2019 which had been very well attended.  In addition, the annual Heritage Open Day event at Abbey House had also been very successful.  The Mayor had attended the ‘Sounding of the Retreat’ event at the new Logistics, Policing and Administration building at the Worthy Down defence college.  This was a full military parade including the household cavalry and blues and royals.  The incoming brigadier of Worthy Down reiterated that the military would like to continue to cement its relationship with the Council.  The Mayor then reported that she had officially opened a New Homes development at Knowle. She thanked the New Homes team and the previous administration for bringing forward a very high standard scheme.

The Mayor then referred to her recent charity events which had included the very successful annual bowls match and the Mayor thanked former councillor Richard Izard for organising and for officers for taking part.  Finally, there was to be a skittles evening in the Phoenix Inn at Twyford and the Mayor thanked Councillors Bronk and Cook for their assistance with the arrangements.  

The Leader then made a number of announcements.  Firstly, the Council was pressing ahead with changes to improve its openness and transparency.  This meeting of the Council was the first where it was receiving questions from the public.  The meeting was also the first to be audio recorded which was to allow for technical testing to take place before live broadcasting takes place.  The Leader was also looking forward to equipment being installed in the Walton Suite to allow for full webcasting of meetings to take place in due course.  The Leader was also pleased to have observed that the public gallery at recent Cabinet meetings had been full which demonstrated that many residents wanted to be involved with decision making. 

The Chief Executive announced apologies for the meeting. 

The Chief Executive then reported that David Griffiths and Ross Shepherd from Council’s Animal Welfare Team had won two Gold RSPCA awards: one for Animal Licensing and one for work with stray dogs.  The Chief Executive reiterated that there were only five Gold awards in total nationally and Members congratulated the team for their securing two Awards with applause.

To receive and answer any questions from the public.

(Questions must be received in writing by Democratic Services – democracy@winchester.gov.uk – no later than noon on Tuesday 24^th September 2019.

20 written questions had been received of which eight were presented by members of the public at the meeting along with associated supplementary questions. All questions and responses were subsequently set out in full on the Council’s website.

Establishing the Winchester Housing Company

(Report CAB3160 refers)

The Recommended Minute of Cabinet of 18 September had not been notified for inclusion on the agenda within the statutory deadline.  The Mayor agreed to accept this item onto the agenda as a matter requiring urgent consideration in order that regard be had to their content in reaching its decision.

Councillor Learney, Cabinet Member for Housing and Asset Management, moved that the Recommended Minute (5 and 6) be approved and adopted (seconded by Councillor Thompson, Leader). 

Council proceeded to ask questions and debate the matters in the Report and Recommended Minute.

During questions, clarification was sought with regard to the membership of the Housing New Build Panel.  The Strategic Director Services (Interim) confirmed that would include the Cabinet member for Housing and the Strategic Directors for Services and Resources.  The Strategic Director (Place) would not be involved in the Panel whilst he was formally appointed as a Company Director. Furthermore, an error at paragraph 13.2 should be corrected so that reference to the Housing Scrutiny Panel should read “New Build Panel”.

Council agreed that nominations to the Housing Company Scrutiny Panel should all be in proportion to the political make-up of the Council (two Liberal Democrat and one Conservative) and that Group Managers advise the Strategic Director accordingly

     RESOLVED:

That the Recommended Minute of the Cabinet held 18 September 2019 (as follows) be approved and adopted:

(1)  That Council gives permission to establish a company limited by shares and wholly owned by the Council to deliver and manage units for sub-market rent, shared ownership accommodation and units for outright sale.

(2)  That the Council approves the establishment of the Housing Company Scrutiny Panel and nominates three Members to sit on the Panel.

The meeting adjourned for a comfort break between 8.15pm and 8.35pm.

Station Approach Proposals for Delivery and Further Public Realm Development
(Less exempt Appendices 4a,  4b and 9*) 
(Report CAB3172 refers)

RECOMMENDED: 

1.         Approval to agree and to enter into the LEP grant agreement for a total sum of £5m based on the Heads of Terms (Appendix 6), with final amendments to be delegated to the Strategic Director: Place in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Local Economy.

2.         Approval to incur capital expenditure in stages totalling £5m to be funded from the LEP grant recognising the terms and conditions attached to the grant agreement and that such expenditure will be subject to payback to the LEP should the scheme not progress and achieve the grant objectives.

*NB Due to its size, Appendix 10 of CAB3172 has been circulated separately under a supplementary agenda pack.

Councillor Humby was not present for this item.

Councillor Green left the meeting before consideration of this item. 

Councillor Weir, Cabinet Member for Local Economy, moved that the Recommended Minute be approved and adopted (seconded by Councillor Learney, Cabinet Member for Housing and Asset Management).

Council proceeded to ask questions and debate the matters in the Report and Recommended Minute.

Members were reminded that the only matters that required its decision in Recommended Minutes of Cabinet were with regard to the Local Enterprise Funding.

          AMENDMENT (1) Councillor Lumby (2) Councillor Godfrey

          Addition of the following words (in bold) at the end of Recommendation 16

“Approval to incur capital expenditure in stages totalling £5m to be funded from the LEP grant recognising the terms and conditions attached to the grant agreement.  Such expenditure will be subject to payback to the LEP should the scheme not progress and achieve the grant objectives.  This approval is subject to the Council requiring that any proposed disposal of the site should be structured so far as possible to ensure a high likelihood of the scheme proceeding within the required period to avoid clawback of the LEP monies.”

The Mayor allowed for an adjournment of the meeting between 9.15pm and 9.30pm so that Cabinet could informally consider the Amendment.

Upon the Mayor reconvening the meeting, Councillor Weir (Cabinet Member for Local Economy) advised that she would be pleased to invite Councillor Lumby to join a team currently producing a report to be considered at Cabinet in October setting out the detail of the evaluation process against criteria for the disposal of the site to a purchaser.  Councillor Weir hoped that, on this basis, Councillor Lumby would reconsider his Amendment.  

On the basis of the Cabinet Member’s statement, the proposer and seconder of the amendment (Councillors Lumby and Godfrey respectively) agreed to withdraw their amendment.

As it was the will of five members present at the meeting, a recorded vote was taken on the Motion to approve the Recommended Minute.

Division Lists

The following Members voted in favour of the motion:

Councillors Achwal, Becker, Bell, Bentote, Brook, Clear, Clementson, Cook, Craske, Cunningham, Cutler, Evans, Gemmell, Godfrey, Gordon-Smith, Hiscock, Horrill, Hutchison, Learney, Lumby, Mather, McLean, Miller, Murphy, Pearson, Porter, Power, Read, Ruffell, Scott, Thompson, Tod, Weir, Weston, Williams.

The following Members voted against the motion:

Councillors Gottlieb.

The following Members abstained:

Councillors Bronk, Fern, Ferguson, Laming, Prince, Rutter.

Motion carried.

RESOLVED:

That the Recommended Minute of the Cabinet held 28 August 2019 (as follows)  be approved and adopted:

(1)  Approval to agree and to enter into the LEP grant agreement for a total sum of £5m based on the Heads of Terms (appendix 6 of Report CAB3172), with final amendments to be delegated to the Strategic Director: Place in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Local Economy.

(2)  Approval to incur capital expenditure in stages totalling £5m to be funded from the LEP grant recognising the terms and conditions attached to the grant agreement and that such  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5b)

Draft Annual Scrutiny Report 

(Report SC004 refers)

(CL146 refers)

Councillors Becker and Williams left the meeting during consideration of this item 

Councillor Thompson, Leader, moved that the Recommendations in Report CL146 be approved and adopted (seconded by Councillor Cutler, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Risk), subject to inclusion of the following.

  AMENDMENT (1) Councillor Thompson (2) Councillor Cutler

Addition of the following words (in bold)

 “That to facilitate the introduction of Cabinet Member Decisions days, Council agree to the changes to the Constitution, as set out at Appendix A to the report, and delegate any further and final amendments to facilitate the introduction of Decision Days to the Monitoring Officer in consultation with the Leader.”   

Council proceeded to ask a number of detailed questions and debate the matters in the Report and the Recommendations (as amended).

MOTION (1) Councillor Hiscock (2) Councillor Tod

           That Council Procedure Rule 17 – Rules of Debate – Closure Motions – “That the question now be put.”

           Motion carried

Recommendation in Report CL146, as amended above, carried.

RESOLVED:

That the Recommendation in Report CL146, as amended, be approved and adopted.

(CL147 refers)

The Strategic Director Services (Interim) was not present for this item.

Councillor Bronk left the meeting before consideration of this item. 

Councillor Thompson, Leader, moved that the Recommendations in Report CL147 be approved and adopted (seconded by Councillor Cutler, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Risk)

RESOLVED:

That the Recommendation in Report CL147 be approved and adopted.

“This Council supports the declaration of a Climate Emergency and confirms its commitment to reducing waste and pollution through its own activities and to continue to support residents in the Winchester District to make the same commitment.  In support of this commitment, this Council agrees not to introduce any charge for Winchester residents for the collection of garden waste and to lobby other neighbouring authorities to keep the collection of garden waste free of charge.”

(a)     The following Motion had been submitted by Councillor Godfrey:

“This Council supports the declaration of a Climate Emergency and confirms its commitment to reducing waste and pollution through its own activities and to continue to support residents in the Winchester District to make the same commitment.  In support of this commitment, this Council agrees not to introduce any charge for Winchester residents for the collection of garden waste and to lobby other neighbouring authorities to keep the collection of garden waste free of charge.”

Councillor Humby was not present for this item.

Councillor Godfrey introduced the Motion, which was seconded by Councillor Brook, and during the debate which followed, the following points were raised:

• Charging for the collection of garden waste in rural areas (where the scheme was currently very popular) would result in less efficient collection rates and also create an environment which may potentially attract vermin.
• Other Hampshire councils charged for garden waste collection and this council also charged for the second and third bags issued.
• Rather than lobby other councils with regard to free garden waste collection, it would be preferable to work with other Hampshire authorities to consider the proposed changes by the County Council as to how it funded waste recycling services.
• Councillor Murphy, Cabinet Member for Environment, advised that the Council was unable to make a decision with regard to whether to levy a charge on garden waste collection at this time as the Council was currently awaiting the outcome of the tender for the waste and recycling contract and would also need to consider the impact of the County Council’s proposals with regard to the funding of waste recycling services.  Furthermore, the Council was awaiting the details of the Government’s Waste Strategy.  Therefore Councillor Murphy indicated that she could not support the motion and the matter would be brought back to Council (via Cabinet) through the budget setting process, by which time this information would had been properly considered.
• A view was expressed that there had been increased fly tipping following the introduction of changes to what was able to be taken to household recycling centres.  Any charges for garden waste would further exacerbate this. 
• Residents should be provided with advice with regard to recycling and reducing waste.  Any charge for garden waste collection would be against the objectives of achieving carbon neutrality.  The Council should support the County Council’s proposals with regard to reducing contamination of recyclable waste.
• Councillor Cutler, Cabinet Member for Finance and Risk, supported Councillor Murphy, in bringing the motion back to Council as part of the budget setting process as the most appropriate response.

The Mayor outlined and reiterated the response and proposal put forward by Councillor Murphy, supported by Councillor Cutler.

RESOLVED:

            That the matters in Councillor Godfrey’s Motion be brought back to Council through the budget setting process.

"The City of Winchester Movement Strategy has been developed following input from almost 3,000 people and adopted by Hampshire County Council and Winchester City Council and sets out an agreed vision and long term priorities for travel and transport improvements in Winchester over the next 20-30 years. The Strategy is accompanied by an Action Plan that considers what needs to happen when, in order to deliver the Strategy. To this end the 2019/20 budget provided £500,000 towards the first stages of delivering the plan.

This project, its progress and deliverables are not currently visible to residents or Councillors.  In support of this key initiative and commitment to residents this Council agrees to set up a cross party committee to regularly monitor and review progress, and to be involved in key decisions ongoing and for these meetings to be open to the public"

"The City of Winchester Movement Strategy has been developed following input from almost 3,000 people and adopted by Hampshire County Council and Winchester City Council and sets out an agreed vision and long term priorities for travel and transport improvements in Winchester over the next 20-30 years. The Strategy is accompanied by an Action Plan that considers what needs to happen when, in order to deliver the Strategy. To this end the 2019/20 budget provided £500,000 towards the first stages of delivering the plan.

This project, its progress and deliverables are not currently visible to residents or Councillors.  In support of this key initiative and commitment to residents this Council agrees to set up a cross party committee to regularly monitor and review progress, and to be involved in key decisions ongoing and for these meetings to be open to the public"

Councillor Humby was not present for this item.

Councillor Horrill  introduced the Motion, which was seconded by Councillor Cunningham, and during the debate which followed, the following points were raised:

• The Movement Strategy should relate to previous work undertaken by the Council with regard to air quality and also carbon neutrality in response to the Council’s declaration of the Climate Emergency.

• There must be consideration of the scope of any new committee, which should drive forward the work of both the County Council and this Council.  Walking and cycling (across the whole district) must feature in the Movement Strategy.  The County Council should have involvement in the governance of the new committee.
• The Strategy was always going to be expensive to support and to deliver. It should also have regard to not just movement around the city, but also from those coming into Winchester.
• Councillor Murphy, Cabinet Member for Environment, advised that the Strategy was important to ensure the Council met the demands of the climate emergency, balanced with needs of the local economy. The Movement Strategy had already been identified by the Council as a key project and so progress was therefore already reported quarterly and updated to the Scrutiny Committee.  The Committee could also ask for more detailed updates and therefore a separate committee for this purpose was unnecessary.

Council proceeded to vote on the Motion. 

RESOLVED:

            That the Motion is not carried.

To receive any resignations from committees and to make any necessary reappointments.

There were no changes to committees required to be made.

The total time for questions and the answer and supplementaries thereto shall not exceed 30 minutes.

MOTION        (1) Councillor Learney      (2)       Councillor Hiscock

“That Council Procedure Rule 17 – Rules of Debate – Closure Motions – that Council proceed to next business”

                               Motion carried.

It was noted that 15 written questions had been received.  All questions were set out on the Council’s website, together with responses from the relevant Cabinet Member.

To consider whether in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

(i) To pass a resolution that the public be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the following items of business because it is likely that, if members of the public were present, there would be disclosure to them of 'exempt information' as defined by Section 100 (I) and Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.

RESOLVED:

1.         That in all the circumstances, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

2.         That the public be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the following items of business because it is likely that, if members of the public were present, there would be disclosure to them of ‘exempt information’ as defined by Section 100I and Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.

Station Approach Proposals for Delivery and Further Public Realm Development

 EXEMPT APPENDICES 4a,  4b and 9)

(Report CAB3160 refers)

RESOLVED:

            That the exempt appendices be noted.

The meeting commenced at 7.00 pm, adjourned between 8.15pm and 8.35pm and between 9.15pm and 9.30pm and concluded at 11.30pm

The Mayor