Agenda, decisions and minutes

Cllrs Davis, Ms Ford, Mrs Holding, Mrs Lovelace, Mrs Matcham, Olliff-Cooper, Rippon-Swaine, Mrs Rostand, Miss Sevier, Tungate and Wappet.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 11 December 2017 as a correct record.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 11 December 2017 be signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

To note any declarations of interest made by members in connection with an agenda item.  The nature of the interest must also be specified.

Members are asked to discuss any possible interests with Democratic Services prior to the meeting.

Cllr Kendal in Minute No. 53, Report of the Cabinet dated 7 February 2018.

All members of the Council had been granted dispensations to speak and to vote on Minute No. 56, the 2018/19 Council Tax.

·         To receive a presentation from First Opportunities, one of the Chairman’s two chosen charities

·         To receive announcements from the Chairman

·         At the invitation of the Chairman, Mrs Morgan and Mrs Alarcon from First Opportunities, one of the Chairman’s chosen charities, gave a brief presentation on the work of the charity. First Opportunities was an independent charity providing therapeutic play and education for babies and young children with special needs. The charity was based in New Milton but served the wider District. The charity not only provided valuable support for the children, but also their parents and carers.

It cost the charity in the region of £70,000 a year to run the group. Only 25% of the charity’s income came in the form of statutory grants; for the other 75%, the charity relied on the generosity of individuals, various voluntary organisations, businesses and churches etc. The charity, along with other organisations, was facing financial challenges with a decline in grants. The generosity of the Chairman and former Chairman Cllr Beck, in fundraising for the charity was greatly appreciated.

·         The Chairman reminded members that she would be hosting a charity music concert at Ringwood School on Saturday 10 March 2018, in conjunction with the Hampshire Music Service. The concert would be dedicated to the memory of former Cllr Sophie Beeton who had recently died.

·         The Chairman reminded members that in accordance with the law, recorded votes would be taken under the budget items.

The Leader of the Council reported that the latest forecasts were that the weather would turn exceptionally cold later in the week with anticipated snowfall.

The Council was prepared for the inclement weather, with Senior Managers meeting on a daily basis to assess the situation, and officers being in daily contact with other agencies including Hampshire County Council, to ensure that any disruption that might occur was kept to a minimum. Should services be disrupted, plans were in place to ensure that the Council was able to return to normal operations as soon as possible.

The cold weather could be particularly challenging to those in the community sleeping rough. The Council’s Homelessness Team had been working hard to get rough sleepers off the streets in the freezing temperatures. The Council had helped approximately 15 rough sleepers to get off the streets. Some were reluctant to leave the streets, but officers had persevered and ensured that these individuals had a room for the duration of the extreme weather. The Leader of the Council thanked officers for their dedication.

To consider the report of the Audit Committee dated 26 January 2018.

The recommendation was agreed.

Cllr O’Sullivan, Chairman of the Audit Committee, presented the report of the meeting held on 26 January 2018.

On the motion that the report be received and the recommendation adopted, it was

RESOLVED:

That the report be received and the recommendation be adopted.

To consider the report of the General Purposes & Licensing Committee dated 12 January 2018.

The recommendation was agreed.

Cllr Clarke, Chairman of the General Purposes & Licensing Committee, presented the report of the meeting held on 12 January 2018.

On the motion that the report be received and the recommendation adopted, it was

RESOLVED:

That the report be received and the recommendation be adopted.

To consider the report of the Planning Committee dated 10 January 2018.

The recommendation was agreed.

Cllr W G Andrews, Chairman of the Planning Committee, presented the report of the meeting held on 10 January 2018.

On the motion that the report be received and the recommendation adopted, it was

RESOLVED:

That the report be received and the recommendation be adopted.

To consider the report of the Cabinet dated 7 February 2018.

The recommendations was agreed.

Cllr Kendal disclosed a pecuniary interest in item 1 of the report of the Cabinet dated 8 February, on the grounds that the area in question was visible from his home. There was no discussion on this item.

The Leader of the Council, as Chairman of the Cabinet, presented the report of the meeting held on 8 February 2018.

Item 3 – Members Allowances 2018/19 – 2022/23 – Report of the Independent Remuneration Panel

The Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group referred to the increase in the number of Cabinet members from 6 to 8 shortly after the Independent Remuneration Panel had met.  He requested that the Panel be asked to review the special responsibility allowance for Portfolio Holders, as, in his view, the workload of the Cabinet was being shared between more individuals leading to greater costs in members’ allowances. He had sought clarification from the independent author of the report, Dr Hall, who had confirmed that the recommendation before members had been based upon the Cabinet structure at the time of the review (namely 6 Portfolio Holders).  Cllr Harrison felt the additional cost of the increase in Cabinet Portfolio Holders (approximately £20,000) was hard to justify.

The Deputy Leader, in disagreeing with this view, stated that the workload of the Leader and other Cabinet members had increased substantially, in light of key legislation (such as the Homelessness Reduction Act) and other external pressures, which underlined the need for additional Cabinet posts.

Item 5 – The Medium Term Financial Plan – Setting the Budget for 2018/19

The Chairman moved that Standing Order 47.6 be suspended to allow the Leader of the Council and the Leader of the Opposition to exceed the time limit for making their speeches. The motion was seconded and carried.

The Chairman ruled that in accordance with Standing Order 47.11, she would allow more than one amendment to be proposed and discussed at the same time.

The Leader of the Council made a statement on the Administration’s proposed budget supported by visual aids, attached as Appendix 1 to these minutes. He also showed a promotional film made by Creative England, which highlighted the District’s special characteristics and unique area as a filming location.

The Deputy Leader of the Council seconded the recommendation.

The Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group then made the statement attached as Appendix 2 to these minutes, and proposed the following: -

That this authority, when sending out council tax bills, includes an invitation to residents living in Band H properties to pay a voluntary additional sum of £100, £250 or £500 which the council will use to support programmes that maintain and improve public services, especially those that have most impact on the poorest, most vulnerable members of our community.

Cllr Wade seconded.

Members discussed the Cabinet’s budget proposals together with the Liberal Democrats’ proposal.

Some members expressed the view that the Liberal Democrat Leader had not researched the contents of his speech, as some statements, particularly his comments pertaining to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 53.

There were none.

To ask questions of Portfolio Holders. Members are reminded that questions must be submitted to the Chief Executive or to the Executive Head of Governance and Regulation by not later than noon on Friday 23 February 2018.

There were none.

To set the Council Tax for 2018/2019.

The recommendation was agreed.

All members of the Council had been granted dispensations to speak and to vote on this matter.

The Council considered the Council Tax for 2018/19.

A recorded vote was taken on the recommendation.

The outcome was:

Members voting for: 46

Members voting against: 2

Abstentions: 0

Details are shown in Appendix 4 to these minutes.

The motion was carried.

RESOLVED:

(a)                 That it be noted that on 11 December 2017 the Council calculated the    Council Tax Base for the year 2018/19:

(i)               for the whole Council area as 70,621.0 [Item T in the formula in Section 31B(1) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as amended (the “Act”)]; and

(ii)        for dwellings in those parts of its area to which a Parish precept relates. 

(b)          To calculate that the Council Tax requirement for the Council’s own purposes for 2018/19 (excluding Parish Precepts) is £11,889,750.

(c)          That the following amounts be calculated for the year 2018/19 in accordance with Sections 31A, 31B and 34 to 36 of the Local Government and Finance Act 1992 as amended by the Localism Act 2011: -

(i)         £144,878,430            being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A(2) of the Act taking into account all precepts issued to it by Parish Councils.

(ii)        £127,250,230            being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A(3) of the Act.

(iii)       £17,628,200              being the amount by which the aggregate at (c)(i) above exceeds the aggregate at (c)(ii) above, calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 31A(4) of the Act as its Council Tax requirement for the year.  (Item R in the formula in Section 31B(1) of the Act).

(iv)       £249.62                     being the amount at (c)(iii) above (Item R), all divided by the Council Tax Base, Item T ((c)(i) above), calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 31B(1) of the Act, as the basic amount of its Council Tax for the year (including Parish precepts).

(v)        £5,738,450                being the aggregate amount of all special items (Parish precepts) referred to in Section 34(1) of the Act.

(vi)       £168.36                     being the amount at (c)(iv) above less the result given by dividing the amount at (c)(v) above by Item T ((c)(i) above), calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 34(2) of the Act, as the basic amount of its Council Tax for the year specifically for the District Council.  There are no non-parished areas.

(vii)               

being the amounts given by adding to the amount at (c)(vi) above the amounts of the special item or items relating to dwellings in those parts of the Council’s area mentioned above divided in each case by the amount at (c)(ii) above, calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 34(3) of the Act, as the basic amounts of its Council Tax for the year  ...  view the full minutes text for item 56.

To consider any changes to the membership of Committees or Panels that might be proposed by the political groups.

There were no changes.