Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Council Offices, Cecil Street, Margate, Kent

Contact: James Clapson 

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Councillors Bambridge, Braidwood, Brimm, L Fairbrass, Falcon, Hillman, Matterface, R Potts, Pugh and Stummer-Schmertzing.

 

2.

Minutes of Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 95 KB

To approve the Minutes of the meeting of Council held on 6 September, copy attached.

Minutes:

It was proposed by the Chairman, seconded by the Vice-Chairman and agreed, that the minutes of the Council meeting held on 6 September 2018 be approved and signed by the Chairman.

3.

Announcements

To receive any announcements from the Chairman, Leader, Members of the Cabinet or Chief Executive in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 2.2 (iv).

Minutes:

The Chairman announced that former Councillor Trevor Emes had recently passed away.  Members stood for a minute’s silence as a mark of respect, and offered sympathy to Mr Emes family.

4.

Declarations of Interest

To receive any declarations of interest from Members in accordance with Council Procedure rule 2.2 (v)

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

5.

Petitions

To receive petitions from the public in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 12.

Minutes:

No petitions were received in accordance with council procedure rule 12.

6.

Questions from the press and public

To receive questions received from the press or public in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 13.

6a

Question No.1 from a Member of the Public – Street Cleaning Around St Johns Road and Addington Street pdf icon PDF 180 KB

Minutes:

Ms White asked Councillor Savage, the Cabinet Member for Operational Services, the following question:

 

“What steps are being taken to clean the streets around Hawley Square?  The only time the Square and Addington Street are free of litter is when I carry out a litter-pick.  The area outside St John’s Road is of particular concern with dumped mattresses and other rubbish”

 

Councillor Savage responded with the following points:

·  A mechanical sweeper attended the area 5 days a week after 9am at the request of the residents to avoid noise disruption.  However this reduced the effectiveness of the sweep due to the number of parked cars on the street after 9am.

·  A manual sweep of Hawley Square took place daily.  The Council intended to trial some pedestrian sweeping machines that were able to clean pavements and smaller spaces.

·  Bulky waste should be taken to Margate Refuse and Recycling Centre, or pick up could be arranged with the Council for a charge.  In cases where items were dumped, enforcement investigation would be carried out then arrangements made to remove the items.

·  The Council greatly appreciated the efforts of proactive residents who took care of their local environment, and hoped that seeing this would encourage others to not drop litter or dump waste themselves.

 

7.

Questions from Members of the Council

To receive questions from Members of the Council in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 14.

Minutes:

No questions had been received from Members in accordance with council procedure rule 14.

8.

Notice of Motion

To receive any Notices of Motion from Members of Council in accordance with the Council Procedure Rule 3.

Minutes:

No motions on notice had been received in accordance with council procedure rule 3.

9.

Leaders Report pdf icon PDF 171 KB

To receive a report from the Leader of the Council in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 2.4.

 

Minutes:

During his report the Leader covered the following areas:

  • The Council had been allocated an additional £483,000 to tackle rough sleeping in 2019-20.
  • Currently there were no families with children living in temporary accommodation.
  • Feedback from the House of Lords Select Committee visit to Margate had been good.
  • New rules had come into force regarding Houses of Multiple Occupancy (HMO’s), these rules would mean that more rented properties would fall into this category and required a license from the Council.
  • The Council was looking at the possibility of transferring the Cliftonville shelter to a community group.
  • 80 assets had been transferred to community groups, Parish or Town councils and sold on the open market.  This had bought revenue into the Council.
  • The recent beach clean event had been a success and had seen more volunteers than ever before.
  • There had been a large number of visitors to the District over the summer; the Visitor Information Centre at Droit House had recorded a 19% increase in footfall compared to the previous year.
  • Public toilets would remain open until the end of October.

 

In the absence of Councillor Wells, Councillor Crow-Brown as Opposition spokesperson for the Independent and UKIP Group, made the following points:

  • It was good to hear of extra funding to tackle rough sleeping.
  • The new rules around HMO’s were welcome, the selective licensing scheme in Margate and Cliftonville had also been effective in dealing with bad landlords and antisocial behaviour.
  • It was good that visitor numbers to the District had increased.

 

Councillor Reverend Piper as Leader of the Thanet Independent Councillors Group made the following points:

  • Homelessness was an increasing problem, congratulations were offered to all those connected with the success of Winter Shelter project who helped the most vulnerable.
  • The HMO changes were welcome as they would help to protect vulnerable tenants.
  • It was a shame that the House of Lords Select Committee did not see Ramsgate when they visited the District.
  • If the Western Undercliff site had to be disposed of, the Council should consider a partnership with the new owners, because the site was an important part of community.
  • The Visitor Information Centre in Ramsgate should also be recognised for its important work.

 

The Leader replied to Councillor Reverend Piper’s comments with the following points:

  • Rough sleeping was an increasing problem nationally, however the Council had responded well to the challenge.  The Winter Shelter project had received a number of awards and the volunteers that were involved deserved recognition for their hard work.
  • Once the Western Undercliff site had been registered as a community asset the Council was obliged to follow the legal process that was currently in progress.

 

Councillor Constantine as representative of the Labour Party Group made the following points:

  • There was double the national average number of rough sleepers in Thanet.
  • While there were no families in temporary accommodation, children were still being moved away from their support networks.
  • Volunteers who worked in the Visitor Information Centres should also be thanked for their  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

10.

Report of the Chairman of the Executive, Policy and Community Safety Scrutiny Panel pdf icon PDF 203 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor G Coleman-Cooke, the Chairman of the Executive, Policy and Community Safety Scrutiny Panel, presented his report and the following points were noted:

  • The Panel met on 27 September 2018, where it considered a report on Museums (Asset Management), and a report on the Food Law Service Plan and Enforcement Policy.  The Panel made a number of recommendations to Cabinet on both topics.
  • Under the new scrutiny arrangements, the Executive Scrutiny Panel was responsible for call-in of executive decisions; however since the last meeting of Council, no call-ins had been made.


Members noted the report

 

11.

Report of the Chairman of the Finance, Budget and Performance Scrutiny Panel pdf icon PDF 196 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor L Piper, the Chairman of the Finance, Budget and Performance Scrutiny Panel, presented her report and the following points were noted:

  • The Panel had not met since the last meeting of Council, however Members were advised that the Ramsgate Port accounts would be considered at the October meeting, and the use of temporary accommodation would be considered when the Panel met in November.
  • Members were invited to email the Panel Chairman if they had any topics that they wished to be considered at a future meeting of the Panel.

 

Members noted the report.

 

 

12.

Constitutional Changes - Changes to contract procedure rules pdf icon PDF 83 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

It was proposed by Councillor Gregory, seconded by Councillor Game and Members agreed that Council approve for adoption the revisions to Contract Standing Orders as shown in annex 1 of the report, including the recommendations provided by the Constitutional Review Working Party and the Standards Committee shown in paragraph 3.1 to 3.3 of the report, namely:

 

‘3.1  That consideration was given to the inclusion of a provision to require contractors to pay the national living wage.

 

3.2  That a reference to the purchasing guide, that contains examples of added social value, should be included in paragraph 7.

 

3.3.  That the reference to £10,000.00 should be removed from paragraph 16.1, the sentence should read ‘Each contract shall include standard clauses (excluding spend transacted on Government Procurement Card), including those indicated “where applicable” dependant on the nature of the contract as follows:’

13.

Declaration of Vacancy Margate Central Ward pdf icon PDF 82 KB

  • View the background to item 13.

Minutes:

Ms Nartey, Interim Head of Legal Services and Deputy Monitoring Officer, advised Members of the Council’s legal obligation to declare the vacancy for the Margate Central Ward.

 

It was proposed by the Chairman and seconded by the vice Chairman that Members agree the recommendations within the report, namely that:

 

‘1. Council notes that Ian Venables has become disqualified for being a member of this authority;

 

2. Council declares as vacant the office held by Ian Venables as a Councillor for the Margate Central ward.’

 

Members agreed to hold a recorded vote on the proposal.

 

Before a vote could be taken the meeting was adjourned due to disruption from the public gallery.  The Chairman advised that the meeting would reconvene on Monday 15 October 2018.

 

Meeting adjourned at 20:20.

 

Meeting reconvened at 19:00 Monday 15 October 2018

 

Members present:

Councillors Ashbee, Bayford, Braidwood, Brimm, Buckley, Campbell, K Coleman-Cooke, Connor, Constantine, Crow-Brown, Dellar, Dennis, Dexter, Dixon, Evans, J Fairbrass, L Fairbrass, Falcon, Fenner, Gregory, Grove, Hillman, Jaye-Jones, Johnston, Martin, Parsons, L Piper, S Piper, L Potts, R Potts, Rogers, Rusiecki, D Saunders, M Saunders, Savage, Shonk, Taylor, Tomlinson, Townend, Wells, Wright.

 

Mr Howes, Director of Corporate Governance and Monitoring Officer, reminded Members of the Council’s legal obligation to declare the vacancy for the Margate Central Ward.

 

In response to a question, Mr Howes advised Members that if an unlawful decision was made, he would have to consider his duty to prepare a report under Section 5 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989.

 

Mr Howes conducted the recorded vote.

 

13 Members voted in favour the motion: Councillors Ashbee, Bayford, K Coleman-Cooke, Dexter, Gregory, Martin, Parsons, Rogers, D Saunders, M Saunders, Savage, Tomlinson, Wright.

 

27 Members voted against the motion: Councillors Braidwood, Brimm, Buckley, Campbell, Connor, Constantine, Crow-Brown, Dellar, Dennis, Dixon, Evans, J Fairbrass, L Fairbrass, Falcon, Fenner, Grove, Hillman, Jaye-Jones, Johnston, L Piper, S Piper, L Potts, R Potts, Rusiecki, Shonk, Townend, Wells.

 

1 Member abstained from voting on the motion: Councillor Taylor.

 

The motion was lost.

 

 

14.

Changes to Committees, Panels and Boards - 2018/19 pdf icon PDF 97 KB

  • View the background to item 14.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Leader proposed, Councillor Johnston seconded and Members agreed to postpone consideration of the item until a future meeting of the Council.