Agenda and minutes

The Chairman drew attention to the list of notices published on the back of the agenda.

Apologies for absence had been received from Councillors Miss A M Beale and M W Helm.

To declare the existence and nature of any ‘personal’ or ‘personal and prejudicial’ interests relating to items on the agenda having regard to paragraphs 8 to 12 inclusive of the Code of Conduct for Members.

(Members are reminded that they are also required to declare interests as soon as they become aware should the need arise throughout the meeting).

Councillor M F L Durham disclosed a non-pecuniary interest as a Member of Essex County Council for any items pertaining to that organisation.

Councillor Mrs P A Channer disclosed a non-pecuniary interest as a Member of Essex County Council should there be any matters arising relating to that organisation.

To confirm the Minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 12 September 2019 (copy enclosed).

RESOLVED

(i)              that the Minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 12 September 2019 be received.

Minute 397 – Questions to the Leader of the Council in accordance with Procedure Rule 1(3)(M)

Councillor W Stamp raised the following amendments to her question, as recorded in the Minutes, and these were duly agreed:

·                 The second sentence of the first paragraph should read “…Standards Public Life report by Lord Paul Bew pages 12 section 3.3 regarding…”;

RESOLVED

(ii)            That subject to the above amendments, the Minutes of the Council meeting held on 12 September 2019 be adopted.

To receive questions from members of the public, of which prior notification in writing has been received (no later than noon on the Tuesday prior to the date of the meeting).

There were none.

The Chairman advised that he had no announcements for this extraordinary meeting.

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Planning and Licensing Committee held on 5 September 2019 be agreed.

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Finance and Corporate Services Committee held on 24 September 2019 be approved.

To note that since the last meeting of the Council, up until Wednesday 25 September 2019 (Council agenda dispatch) the following Committees have met, and to receive any questions in accordance with Council and Committee Procedure Rule 6 (2).

Minutes Published

Minutes NOT finalised for publication

The Council noted the list of Committees that had met before and since the last meeting of the Council, up until Wednesday 25 September 2019 for which Minutes had been published.

The Council noted that in accordance with Procedure Rule 6(2) two questions had been received from Councillor C Swain.  A copy of the questions along with the responses from the Chairman of the Council were circulated prior to the meeting.

The questions and the responses are as follows:

Question one:

What has been the amount of identifiable expenditure attributable to the Transformation Programme (including redundancy payments) to date, and what is the eventual total expected to be?

Response from the Chairman of the Council:

The Section 151 Officer will be providing a budget up to the Transformation Board tomorrow (Friday 4 October 2019).  The detail will then be available via the Minutes of the meeting which are made available to Members.

Question two:

How many officers and employees who were on the payroll when the Transformation Programme was initiated are still with the Council?

Response from the Chairman of the Council:

Originally 259 of which 174 are still on payroll.

To appoint Members to serve on Committees.  (Report of the Head of Paid Service on the nominations of the Leader of the Council and the Opposition Leader to the places allocated to their respective groups copy to follow).

The Council considered the report of the Head of Paid Service, circulated prior to the meeting.

Following the Officers’ presentation of the report and in accordance with Procedure Rule No. 13 (3) Councillor C Morris requested a recorded vote. 

Chairman put the three recommendations as set out in the report and voting was as follows:

For the recommendation:

Councillors E L Bamford, R G Boyce, Mrs P A Channer, R P F Dewick, M F L Durham, Mrs J L Fleming, A S Fluker, B E Harker, A J Hull, K W Jarvis, J V Keyes, C P Morley, R H Siddall, Mrs M E Thompson and Miss S White.

Against the recommendation:

Councillors M G Bassenger, M S Beale, V J Bell, M R Edwards, M S Heard, K M H Lagan, C Mayes, C Morris, S P Nunn, N G F Shaughnessy, N Skeens, W Stamp, J Stilts and C Swain.

Abstention:

There were none.

The Chairman declared that the recommendations were agreed with the exception of the appointment of Councillor C Morris to the Strategy and Resources Committee. 

Following a request from the Chairman, the Senior Legal Specialist advised that the suggested appointment of Councillor Morris (as per paragraph 4.3 of the report) to the Strategy and Resources Committee required a unanimous decision by the Council.  It was explained that according to regulations and following the result of the recorded vote Councillor Morris was not able to sit on the Strategy and Resources Committee and therefore the Independent Group were able to nominate another Member to sit on that Committee.

At this point Councillor Morris requested that it be recorded that he was an elected representative who was not allowed to speak at or sit on a Committee.  He also asked why his request for a question under Rule 6 had been denied.

The Chairman advised that he was dealing with the matter of appointments to Committees and again referred to the Senior Legal Specialist who clarified that as the motion had been passed those Members (barring Councillor Morris) had been appointed to sit on the respective Committees.

The Chairman then asked Councillor M S Heard, Leader of the Opposition, if he wished to make a further nomination to the Strategy and Resources Committee.  In response, Councillor Heard proposed that Councillor C Swain be nominated to this Committee.  The Chairman put the proposal to the Council and this was duly agreed.

RESOLVED

(i)              that the Council notes the nominations of the Leader of the Conservative Group and the Leader of the Independent Group to the places allocated to their respective Groups;

(ii)            that the Council ratifies the existing arrangements for the District Planning Committees and Area Planning Committees (minus ex-officio membership) for the remainder of the current municipal year;

(iii)          that subject to Councillor C Swain being added to the Membership of the Strategy and Resources Committee, the Council agrees the membership of the following Committees of the Council for the remainder of the current municipal year:  ...  view the full minutes text for item 448.

In light of Councillor Morris’ refusal to leave the meeting, the Chairman adjourned the meeting at 7:55pm.

RESOLVED that the extraordinary meeting of the Council be adjourned at 7:55pm.

RESOLVED that the extraordinary meeting of the Council resumes in open session at 8:19pm.

The Chairman advised that he was adjourning the meeting to a future date.

RESOLVED that the extraordinary meeting of the Council be adjourned to a future date at 8:19pm.