Transcript

I won't talk about the technical issues now and now that we've gone live. Very well, in the interest of the agenda, I will now swap with the vice chair and call on the vice chair to actually start the meeting at point one. Thank you Chairman. Good morning Council. We move to agenda item one, the election of chairperson. I call for nominations to the office of chairperson of the council. Do we have a proposal? Thank you, Councillor Andrews, a seconder. Thank you, Councillor Stoddart. Are there any other nominations? Okay, I'd like to ask the proposal, Councillor Andrews, to have her in it. Thank you. I'm happy to nominate Councillor Rosie Phillips as chair of the council. Councillor Phillips and I go way back to the beginning of this establishment, quarter of a century. Does it sound a long time? It feels longer at times, I can tell you. But I will spay a recitation of all he has done during this quarter of a century, otherwise we'll be here a long time. But I would say that as his year as chairman, he has acquitted himself with charm and grace in all aspects of the role. He's demonstrated a firm control in running the council. As he said, after all, do remember, he has control of the mute button. And he's actually with scrupulous fairness to all groups, all done with, I say, considerable lightness of touch and also a good sense of humour. And on a personal note, I have appreciated sometimes that he starts a named vote from the other end of the alphabet. So I'm very happy to nominate Councillor Phillips. Thank you, Councillor Andrews. And Councillor Stoddart, would you like to second that? Yep, thank you. In that case, we'd like to move to the vote, please. If all in favour raise their hands. I think that's unanimous, isn't it? And therefore, we duly elect the Chairperson, Roger Phillips, for another term. Thank you very much. It's all declared that I will take that office upon myself and will duly and faithfully fulfil the duties of it according to the best of my judgement and ability. Thank you, Councillor Andrews and Councillor Stoddart, for your kind words. And thank you all very much for re-electing me as your Chairman. It's a very enjoyable job, and particularly as Councillor Andrews says, when you've done 25 years, it doesn't seem 25 years, and when you say it like that, it seems a very long time. But I remember being the young Councillor when I first joined, and now perhaps not quite the young Councillor. But anyway, thank you very much, and I'll continue to work with all of you. And again, I would say to all of you, if for any reason there is that you have a problem with any part of it, and you want to come and speak confidentially to me as the Chair, then please do so, because we're there and we're all elected to a very important role to represent our community and to oversee the governance of public services in this county. And we want you to be able to do that, to the best of your ability, and I hope very much that we can continue to do that in the next 12 months. Thank you. I'll then move on to the next agenda item, which is the election of the Vice Chairman, and I call upon nominations of the Vice Chairperson, and I'll call upon nominations and proposals, please. Councillor CHANDS. I'd like to nominate Councillor Simmonds. And I would like to second Councillor Simmonds. Councillor CHANDS, do you want to say a few words? Thank you. Colleagues, last year when I proposed Councillor Simmonds, Steph, to you as Vice Chair, I spoke about her commitment to public service, her willingness to work cross-party, her personal experience, and her professional expertise. And this year I'm delighted to propose her again, and even more delighted that you have all got to know her over the last year as a person of immense competence, thoughtfulness, professionalism and commitment. I think she's done an exceptional job as Vice Chair. She's done this Council proud in representing us. And thank you, Steph, for being willing to continue to serve so selflessly in this non-political role. Colleagues, I warmly invite you to vote unanimously to elect Councillor Simmonds' Vice Chair. Thank you. And as I say, I second that proposal and say, well, it's been to work with Steph during the last 12 months. So can I go to the vote? All those in favour? I think that's unanimous. Agreed. Any abstentions against? No, that's unanimous. Congratulations, Councillor Simmonds. Thank you, Chairman. And thank you, Council. I've had a really interesting first year as a Councillor in the role as Vice Chair. As you know, I wasn't expecting it last year. I've been delighted to be able to represent the Council this past year and look forward to doing it for the next. Thank you. I, Councillor Stephanie Simmonds, have been elected to the Office of Vice Chairperson of Heritage Council to declare that I will take the office upon myself and with duly and faithfully fulfil the duties of it according to the best of my judgment and ability. Thank you. Very well, having elected the Chair and Vice Chair now, we'll move on to the agenda. Item three is apologies. I have received apologies from Councillor Crockett, Hichner. Councillor Powell, Councillor Powell. I'm pretty sure everybody else is here. Speak now or forever, I'll do a piece of the thing. Agenda item four is declarations of interest. Has anyone got any declarations of interest on this agenda today? I'm looking around. I don't think so. So we then move on to the minutes of the meeting held on the 8th of March, which are in your report from pages 11 to 30. These minutes have been circulated before and the action points as well. Is it your wish that I signed these minutes as a true and accurate record of what took place? All those in favour? Any against? No abstentions. That's fine. So that takes us through to those. Agenda item six, this is the Chair and the Chief Executive's announcements, which is before you. This is for noting. With regard to my own report, can I draw your attention to the King's Award for Voluntary Service? This is for various communities. The Kindle Centre was, of course, an outstanding example of an organisation that does so much in the Community to receive an award. But there are many examples in herificia that have received awards in the past. I do urge you as Councillors and community leaders who would be aware of a lot of the work that goes on in the voluntary and community sector to be aware of this particular award and where you can to, you know, sign post it because I think it's very encouraging and supporting to the voluntary sector. The other thing is, as you turn over the page, we'll see a photograph of the former Mayor of Harry Ford, Councillor COVIDine. And I want to express my thanks to all the outgoing mayors and particularly, of course, to Councillors COVIDine, Williams and Stark, who, of course, are also members of this council as well. That particular picture was a particularly fond memory. As you can see, the bishop was wearing a wig. And it wasn't helped when I turned to Councillor COVIDine and said he looks like one of the Beatles. And to be honest, how she maintained her composure then to do the rest of the event was quite something. But it's great camaraderie that we have and it's an important civic role that we do, again, to promote the city and towns and county that we belong to. And I thank you all very much for your support for 12 months and look forward to working with the new mayors in the future. Chief Executive, have you anything to add to your report? I think, just if I'm a chairman, it's a pretty full and complete report. There is a lot happening across the council and across the county as a whole, as you can see. But I think worthy of special mention was the announcement from the DFE about the funding towards provision of a special school for SCND and an 80 pupils all-aged school facility, particularly welcomed across Harryfordshire. And given the progress we're making across children's services to have the DFE confidence about the provision of that facility. I think boards well for where we are and the journey that we're on. But I thought that was worthy of special note. Thank you, Chairman. Thank you. That was indeed good news for our county. Very well. Let us move on then to agenda item seven. This is the election of the Leader of the Council. I call upon nominations for the post of Leader of the Council. Councillor Swindlehurst. Thank you, Mr Chairman. I would like to propose Councillor JOHNSTON LESTER for the Leader of the Council. Do you want me to make a speech now? Can I just have that seconded first? Seconded by Councillor Durkin. Are there any other nominations? In which case, I'll ask you to now do a motion to the proposal. On the way in this morning, I was listening to Thought for the Day on the car radio. And the substance of the Thought for the Day was a meditation on the return of Craig McKinley to the House of Commons. Of those who don't know, he suffered from sepsis and had to have his feet and hands amputated. And he's shown a remarkable courage to return to public life. And the House was warm and united in their warmth and good wishes towards him. And the Thought for the Day was that isn't that great when politics comes together and sees the person above all else, where people treat each other with respect. And that is, I think, one of the best qualities of Councillor LESTER. When we were in opposition, he was unfailingly constructive in his comments and considered in his delivery. And over this last year's leader, he's been collaborative and considered of all colleagues. And that is the person that he is. Those are the qualities he possesses. And I remember when he was previously elected as leader in 2018, his first act was to go around all the Council buildings, not to hobnob with the great and the good, but to smile and say hi to the front line, to thank them for their work, to appreciate them for what they do. And that left quite an impression on me. And I thought at that point, he is the right person to lead the Council. And my opinion hasn't changed. Having worked his way up from the post room, he's real insight into the workings of the Council. He's been a town councillor, a mayor, elected member, cabinet member and leader, who was first elected in 1997 as town councillor. And that shows a dedication to public service that a few of us can match. Since being elected to lead a last year, he's worked incredibly hard, often still in the building when the building has fallen completely silent at the end of the day. And he seeks to be constructive and collegiate. And that makes him a good leader for the whole council in my view. He does not believe that only one team has all the good ideas or that any idea cannot be improved by listening to the views of others. When I asked him why he thought he should be leader, he struggled to answer, which I thought was quite interesting. Eventually he said that he just wants to help and to improve things and to serve. He combines a modest personal style with ambition for the Council and the county. He's a poet and a politician, cool-headed, clear-sighted, experienced. He commands respect and he respects others. And I have never known him to be anything else, unfailingly calm, polite, compassionate and thoughtful. He's also very hard-working and has absolutely dedicated himself to his role. He inspires others to do their best. And he's always looking for ways we can all do better. There's a saying about working on the factory floor if you want to run the factory. Jonathan has worked his way from post to leader and I'm asking that he's given the opportunity to continue to steer our ship so that he can use all of this experience to navigate the council through whatever storms or fair winds may lay ahead. And I very much hope that you can set aside party politics and support this nomination on the basis that as a person Jonathan is the right choice. Thank you. Thank you and the second was Councillor Turking. There are no other nominations so can I move to the vote by a show of hands? Councillor Harvey. Could I call for a named vote on this please? In that case I need eight people to stand, a minimum of eight people to stand and then I will or in sorry it will just indicate. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. I think we've got eight. Very well we'll have a named vote and because we're having a named vote and because as you know Councillor Andrews was very kind to me in proposing me so we will start with Councillor Woodall. And so you're voting for the Leader of the Council. I'll call for the monitoring officer to read your names though. Thank you. If you could indicate whether you're for against or abstaining, thank you. Councillor Woodall. Abstain. Councillor Robert Williams. Councillor Allen Williams. Councillor Toynby. Councillor Tilit. Councillor Thomas. Four. Councillor Swinglehurst. Four. Councillor Stone. Four. Councillor Stoddart. Councillor Stark. I'm Steen. Councillor Spencer. Councillor Simmonds. Councillor Proctor. Councillor Price. Councillor Ivan Powell. Councillor Phillips. Four. Councillor Peppody. Councillor Owens. Abstain. Councillor Oliver. Abstain. Councillor O'Driscoll. Councillor Mathews. Councillor Mason. Councillor Lester. You are entitled to vote. Yes. Councillor Kenyans. Councillor James. Councillor Herken. Councillor Hyefield. Four. Councillor Heathfield. Councillor Harvey. Abstain. Councillor Hamblin. Councillor Gennard. Abstain. Councillor Gandy. Councillor Foxden. Abstain. Councillor Fagan. Councillor Engle. Councillor Dikes. Abstain. Councillor Durkin. Councillor Dave Davis. Councillor Kair Davis. Councillor Conthway. Councillor Colle. Councillor Choudes. Councillor Colle O'Dine. Councillor Bramer. Councillor Boulter. Councillor Biggs. Councillor Barcham. Councillor Bartlett. Councillor Baker. Councillor Andrews. Councillor Biong. Councillor Biong. I can declare that Council Lester has been declared leader with 25 votes for one again. We now move to the appointment of council committees and outside bodies on your papers from pages 37 to 50. Members should remember that they received a supplement yesterday which reallocated one of the seats last year. Councillor Kenman Kenyon had one of the conservative seats to go on the Children's Committee. He has returned that seat. So that is what the amendment that was sent out to you is about. So when we actually take the vote on that issue. I have ordered Mr Chair. Can I just point out that I had a conservative seat. I'm not a conservative. I'm staunchly independent. Thank you. It was a proportionality issue that gave you the seat. So I just wanted to explain that's why there's been an amendment and you had the supplementary. But otherwise everything else remains the same. So these are gender items are labelled A to G. With regard to A to D I intend to move the recommendations from the chair and I will look for a seconder. Item E, while I remind you, is it is the practice of course to suspend the proportionality rules in relation to those three bodies. But in order to do so, we must have a non-term vote in which case nobody must vote against. When we come to the appointment of chair person and vice persons, I will then make an announcement when we come to that. So let's get through the first of those recommendations. So the first recommendation A is that the list of ordinary committees listed at paragraph 10 be confirmed with their reference as set out in the council's constitution. I move the recommendation. Do I have a seconder. Councillor Hurkham is seconded. All those in favour? Any against? No. Any abstentions? No. Councillor Kenion has abstained. Very well. The recommendation A has been approved. Recommendation B is the number of seats on each committee as set out in paragraph 10 and the allocation of those seats to political groups as set out in the supplement of the 23rd of May, which I have just referred to. Can I also make the point too that if for some reason that you want to serve on a different committee in future, that is something you discuss with your group leader and then they will inform the committees in future. So we're just discussing, we're just outlining what's in paragraph 10 via that supplement. I therefore move the recommendation from the chair. Do I have a seconder? Councillor Swindlehurst. All those in favour? Any against? Any abstentions? No. Recommendation B has been approved. Recommendation C that the allocation of seats of outside bodies to political groups as set out in paragraph 13 be approved. I move from the chair. Do I have a seconder? Councillor Durkin. All those in favour? I think I think there have been times that's taken the photograph. What? Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. We on recommendation C appointing chairpersons and vice chairpersons. No. No. No. We're doing the education committee. Oh. Sorry. I'll let you know. I thought I'd I thought I'd swim through this bit first. Very well. The recommendation is there. I move from there. I've had a seconder. All those in favour? Any against? No. Any abstentions? No. Thank you very much. We then know. Wait a minute. No. Sorry. We were talking about the outside body. Yes. Yes. So now we're moving to the education committee. Recommendation D, the approval of five co-opted members of the Children's and Young People's Group Committee as out laid in the report. I will move from the chair. Any seconder from this, please? Thank you. Councillor Feggin. All those in favour? Any against? Any against? You're against? You're against and no abstentions. Recommendation D has been approved. Recommendation C is the suspension of the rules of proportionality in respect to the standards panel, the River Log Internal Drainage Board and the Y Valley National Landscape Joint Advisory Committee. I will move from the chair. Do I have a seconder? Councillor Swindlehurst. All those in favour? Any against? No. Thank you. Any abstentions? No. Very well. I recommend recommendation E has been approved. We now come to the appointment of chair and vice chairs to all our committees. What I will do is I will go through each of the committees in turn as they appear in your agenda from page 45. Can I say there has been an omission, which is the licensing cut subcommittee, and so we will deal with that one at the end, which is Councillor Paliander's chairs. I will come to each of the names of the committee members are before you together with the current chair and vice chair. I will then seek your support for the nominations for chair and vice chair there. If anybody has any alternative proposals, then they are to be proposed and seconded. With regard to any nominations, including the existing chairs or any proposals, I will allow up to one minute only for there to be comment made, although you all know each other. Can I make the point that that minute is for you to talk proactively as to why you think that person should actually be chair? If I think that you are going off that and leading a stray given the sensitivities of these issues, I will then stop. Stop you speaking. So is that very clear with everybody? Very well. So I will. So if you've all been turned to page 45, so there you will then see the committees that I'm going through and as we deal with them. At the end, when we have sorted out those names, I will then as chair move the entire list before the meeting. So we begin with the chair and vice chair of the Children and Young People Scruting Committee. Councillor Fagan and Councillor Harvey are nominated as chair and vice. Are there any other nominations? No other nominations, then we will move on to the Connected Communities Scruting Committee, the chair and vice chair, a council chounds and council address law. Are there any other nominations to that? Councillor James. Thank you, Mr Chairman. I'd like to nominate Councillor Eric Driscoll as chairman of the committee. You've got nothing else to say? That's fine. Well, I didn't know where we say it now or later. Sorry? Say it now. Oh, yeah. Well, Ed has a normally experience outside the council. He's a thoroughly efficient and well versed in numerous subjects and he will make an excellent chairman of the committee. Very well. Do I have any other nomination? Councillor Harvey. Yes, I'd like to speak in nominating Councillor CHOWNS to retain the position of chair. So I would like to propose Councillor CHOWNS to continue in the role of chair of Connected Communities Scruting Committee to achieve a strong council, particularly with a minority administration in charge. A balance of political leadership in scrutiny is essential and that includes in the chairmanship of our committees. Councillor CHOWNS has done an excellent job in chairing this committee over the last year, exemplified by her leadership of the committee in close scrutiny of the administration's decision on the library project and more recently in her chairing the scrutiny of the Section 106 funding which highlighted key areas for improvement. I encourage members to support Councillor CHOWNS to continue to lead this committee in the coming year. Very well. I've got no other nominations for chair. In that case, we'll go straight to a vote. So, I will take them in order that they were proposed. Sorry, I've got a second for Councillor CHOWNS. Yes, and Councillor JISTLE. Yes, thank you. Very well. I'll take them in order that they were proposed. All those in favour for Councillor O'Dristel? Councillor interjecting. If you put them down. And for Councillor CHOWNS? Yes, the majorities for Councillor JISTLE, Councillor JISTLE, you're nominated to be chairman of the community scrutiny's committee. Can I have nominations for vice-chairmen, please? Oh, sorry. Abstentions? Well, technically, I didn't vote either. We're not recording it because it was a show of hands. Yes, nominations for vice-chairmen then of this committee? Vice-chairperson. Thank you, Chair. I'd like to nominate the vice-chair, Councillor Hichena. Do I have a second of a Councillor Hichena? Is Councillor Hichena aware of this because he's not present in the room? Well, I know he's abroad at the moment. Whether he is or not, Councillor, no, he isn't not aware of it. But to be honest, you as a committee need to make your vote, whatever you do. Councillor KENYAN? Thank you. Thank you, Chairman. I'd like to nominate Councillor FRENCHICORTHY. Do I have a seconder? Councillor THOMAS. Are you prepared to stand, Councillor CASSIDY? Are there any other nominations? Yes. Do I have a seconder for Councillor Hichena? Yes, I do. Yes, thank you. Very well. Are there no other nominations for vice-chairmen? Let's move then to the vote in the order that they were given. Are those in favour of Councillor Hichena? Please raise your hand. Okay. That's 11. And those in favour of Councillor COOTHWATE? And, okay. And yes, and I'll call for abstentions for completeness. Councillor COOTHWATE, you've been nominated for vice-chairmen of the community and scrutiny committee. I move on now to the Environment and Sustainability Committee. The current chair and vice-chair are Louis Stark and Councillor Heathfield. Do I have any nominations contrary to that? Councillor CHANDS. I'd like to propose Justine Pebodie to replace Helen Heathfield as vice-chair. Do I have a seconder? Yes, seconded. Councillor Fagan. Are there any other nominations? Everyone agreed? Yes. Very well. Councillor Peverry. Sorry, that was vice-chair, wasn't it? It was for vice-chair. Yeah, vice-chair. So, Councillor Stark, his chair and Councillor Peverry will be vice-chair. Those are the nominations going through. We now move to the Health Care and Wellbeing Scrutney Committee. Currently the chair is Councillor Crockett. I think everyone, so any other suggestions? No. We now move to Councillor... Sorry, vice-chair. Yes, we're moving to vice-chairman. Councillor JAMES. Thank you, Mr Chair. I'd like to invite you to invite us to nominate Councillor HANDS. Councillor ANDREWS has been nominated to have a seconder for that. Yes, Councillor TILOT. Any other nominations for vice-chair? Very well. Those are the agreed. They're agreed. Therefore, those are the two names that will go forward. We now come to the Scrutney Management Board. Councillor Harvey and Councillor Bartlett are the current chair and vice. Are there any nominations for chair? Councillor JAMES. Thank you, Chairman. I'd like to nominate Councillor... Councillor BEND. Sorry, I've got the wrong list here somewhere. I'd like to nominate Councillor... Councillor BEND proctor as Chairman of the Committee. Do I have a seconder for that? Yes, that's been seconded. Do I have any other nominations for chair? Councillor CHANDS. I wish to nominate the incumbent Councillor Harvey. A seconder? Yes, that's seconded. Councillor JAMES and Councillor CHANDS. Would you like to add to that? Thank you, Chairman. Councillor BEND. Councillor Proctor has been a Councillor for this last year. He has shown himself in our workings together as an efficient and able chairman. He chairs our group and I must say he managed to move the meeting along efficiently and quickly. And we don't have to wait considerable time before we're moved on and we get the business actually done. He has vast experience of local government having worked actually for this council in the past efficiently. He has an efficient and business-like style which will suit well for this particular committee. Thank you, Chairman. Thank you. Councillor CHANDS. I'd like to propose, Councillor Lizz Harvey, to continue in the role of Chair of Scrutiny Management Board. I think Lizz is the most experienced possible Councillor to do this role in an unsurpassed understanding of finance and is highly effective at Scrutiny. Scrutiny committees must be balanced in terms of their political group membership by law and in order to achieve strong Scrutiny which this council absolutely needs and deserves. The leadership of our committees should be in the hands of those most qualified for the job and also should be politically proportionate as has historically been the case. The proposal that's been put before us would seriously violate that principle. Councillor Harvey has specialised in financial matters and corporate governance as becoming a member of this council in 2011 and has also held the role of cabinet member for the finance and corporate service areas which are the remit of this committee. There is no councillor here today who is better qualified to chair this committee. I encourage members to support Councillor Harvey to leave the critical job of scrutinising the council's financial and corporate performance for the coming year. And I would observe that if this vote goes through with Lib Dem and Conservatives voting for this, that would result in three of the five Scrutiny committees being in the hands of only one political party violating the principle of political proportionality. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Very well. We'll now take the vote on the Scrutiny Management Board Chair. I'll begin with Councillor Proctor. All those in favour? Chair, could I please ask for a name vote on this? Very well. Sorry, can we have eight people raise their hands? Yep, we've got that. Name vote. I will start at A this time. Keep you on your toes. So what you'll do is you'll say a name or abstain. I'm sorry, I'm looking at the monitor. Yes, because if you're going to take a name vote, does everyone make sense? You've really got three choices, haven't you? So you vote either for Councillor Proctor, Councillor Harvey or you abstain. Is everybody quite clear about that and is happy with that? Very well. So we will begin with A. Thank you. So first of all, starting with Councillor Andrew's and as you said, if you could indicate whether you're voting for Councillor Ben Proctor or Councillor Liz Harvey. So Councillor Andrew's Ben Proctor, Councillor Baker, Councillor Bartlett, Councillor Bartram, Councillor Biggs, Councillor Boulter, Councillor Brainerd, Councillor Brainerd, Councillor Cawdine. Councillor Carroll, Councillor Colle, Councillor Colle, Councillor Colle, Councillor Colle wait, Councillor Claire Davis, Councillor Dave Davis, Councillor Durkin, Councillor Dikes, Councillor Proctor, Councillor Engel, Councillor Fagan, Councillor Foxden. Liz Harvey, Councillor Ghandi, Councillor Gennard, Councillor Hamblin, Councillor Proctor, Councillor Harvey, Councillor Harvey. Councillor Heathfield, Councillor Harvie, Councillor Hyefield, Councillor Proctor, Councillor Herkham, Councillor James, Councillor Kenne Hye. Councillor Kenyon, Councillor Lister, Councillor Roberta, Councillor Mason, Councillor Matthews, Councillor O'Driscoe, Councillor Oliver, Councillor Owens, Ben Proctor, Councillor Pebodie, Councillor Phillips, Abstain, Councillor Dan Powell. Oh, sorry, it's not here. Councillor Ivan Powell, Councillor Price, Councillor Proctor, Councillor Simmons, Councillor Liz Harvey, Councillor Spencer, Councillor Stark, Councillor Stoddard, Councillor Stone, Councillor Swinglehurst, Councillor Thomas. Councillor Tillott, Councillor Proctor, Councillor Robert Williams, Councillor Woodall, Councillor Colleagues, thank you. Very well, the result of the vote is, Councillor Proctor, 32, Councillor Harvey, with five abstentions, Councillor Proctor is the nominated chair of the Scrutiny Management Board. I will now move to the vice chair of the Scrutiny Management Board. Councillor Bartle, is this sitting in common? Are there any other nominations? Very well. Sorry. Yes? I don't want to be considered the vice chair of this committee this year. Thank you. Very well. So, can I have nominations then for the vice chair? Vice, yes, Councillor Kenion? Councillor Rob Williams. Any nominations for the vice chair? Do the groups need to join this to discuss it? Because we need, at the end of this, I will then put a list of all the appointments for the chair and vice chair of all these committees, and that will be put before you, and I will need all those vacancies filled. Let me move, while you're considered that, let me move on to all Indian governance. We have Councillor Hichner as chair. Are there any other nominations? No. Vice chair, I understand Councillor Oliver is standing down. Is that correct? That's right. Do I have nominations for the vice chair of all different governments? Councillor Chance? I nominate Councillor Woodall. Seconder? Seconder? Sorry. Are you a seconding? No other nominations? Very well. So, that's Councillor Hichner and Councillor Woodall for those, no nominations for the audience governance. The employment panel, Councillor Lester and Councillor Chance, you can satisfy with that. Then move on to the planning and regulation committee. Councillor James and Councillor Davis. Are you content with those names? Very well. And the licensing subcommittee, which is the mission in your papers, the chair is Councillor Andrews. Are you agreed? Very well. Well, then we go back to the vice chairmanship of this scrutiny management board. Again, we'll ask, are there any nominations? Councillor Baker has declined. Can I suggest that at the end of that actually that you, we now adjourn this meeting because we do need to deal with the proportionality and balance of this scrutiny management board in any event and we had intended to take a break for that. It would seem opportune not only to deal with that matter but also to deal with that vice-chairman and the group leaders can go and discuss this and the rest of us can wait for their decision. I would say initially a minimum of 15 minutes. Very well. So can I have the live screen please? 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I will now move those names as was agreed on block. Do I have a seconder? Seconder, Councillor Durkin, thank you. All those agreed? Any against? One against any abstentions? So abstentions? That is agreed. Very well, we now move on then to a recommendation G. This is the size and allocation of seats on the scrutiny management board as agreed. And you have received a supplementary paper outlining the division of seats to the various political groupings. I will now move that recommendation from the chair. Do I have a seconder? Councillor Durkin, thank you. All those in favor? Agreed. Any against? One. Any abstentions? One. Two. Three. Four. Right. Well, that's overwhelmingly carried. So recommend G is also carried. That completes that agenda item. We'll now move on to agenda item nine, which is the Herifature Council Plan for 2024 to 2028. I will call Councillor Stottard to move the motion, please. Thank you. Thank you, Chair. I'm very proud today to introduce to full Council the Herifature Council Plan for 2024-2028, which sets out our proposal for the Council's strategy for the next four years. We have consulted one idly as part of our preparation, including scrutiny management board, a task and finish group, a scrutiny workshop and a highly successful and very positive all-member briefing in late February. I would also like to thank all Councillors for their inputs, which we have incorporated into the final document. And lastly, at last week's cabinet, the group leaders all supported the Council Plan. One of our aspirations for this document was for it to be accessible to all residents and Council members alike. We have therefore kept the language clear and minimized the use of technical jargon. During the consultation period, a number of members mentioned that our plan was lacking in ambition. An organisation that I was part of in my military life has as one of its many tenants, the unrelenting pursuit of excellence, and that is something which I have sought to follow through my professional life. Drawing on this, we have therefore set our vision to be truly aspirational, delivering the best for herifiture in everything that we do. It is our ambition that this will be applied to everything that this Council does. And then including that, officers, together with individuals and members and any organisations that work for us, that work in truly for the people of herifiture. The section on Herifiture Council received a comment by a member at the All Member Briefing to be a good addition and that this would make the document a useful educational tool. The priorities for the next four years will be people, place, growth and transformation, all of which will be underpinned by working with our partners. Under people, we will enable residents to realise their potential to be healthy, to be part of great communities who support each other. And we want all children to have the best start in life. Within place, we will protect and enhance our environment and ensure that Herifiture is a great place to live. We will support the right housing in the right place and we will do everything we can to recover the health of our rivers. As part of growth, we will create the conditions to deliver sustainable growth across the county. Attracting inward investment, building business confidence, creating jobs, enabling housing development along with providing the right infrastructure. Within transformation, we will be an efficient council that embraces best practice, delivers innovation through technology and demonstrates value for money. I am particularly proud of the section titled 'The Plans That Will Deliver the Herifiture Council Plan' as this provides an interactive link to the numerous strategies and plans that together help us deliver the council plan. At the All Member Briefing in February, this was universally welcomed as a single location to find these important documents. The monitoring of the plan will be done through a quarterly reporting into cabinet which will report on the annual delivery plan and will be arranged around the people, place, growth and transformation priorities. And finally, we review and acknowledge the achievements of the previous administration. In conclusion, we have produced a council plan that is the result of wide-ranging consultation and provides clear strategic guidance for the council over the next four years. I strongly endorse this to full council for its approval. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Stoddard. Councillor LESTER, you second. Do you want to speak now or later? Later if I may, Chairman. Very well. We now move to the debate. Members are entitled to speak once only during the debate for a period of three minutes. I will now take representations to speak. Councillor CHANDS. Councillor CHANDS, Councillor STARK and Councillor MATHEWS and then Councillor HARVEY. I'll just stop there and I'll get those forward first and then call afterwards. Very well. I will begin with Councillor CHANDS. Thank you, Chair. I just feel the need to correct the record slightly. I think I was slightly misrepresented by Councillor Stoddard. Last week at Cabinet, I did not fully support the Council plan. The points I made there were that despite the warm words about aspirational and unrelenting pursuit of excellence and so forth, I don't think this plan really quite goes far enough. For example, there are warm words on housing on page 23 and we've heard them repeated here, but there's nothing about how this will actually be achieved and in fact no objective relating to housing on page 25. The covering report in paragraph 13 says climate change is the greatest challenge of modern times, but you really wouldn't know it from reading this plan. It utterly lacks the ambition and urgency required. It's far too weak on that. So while I think it is largely clearly written and accessible, I welcome the accessible map of plans and so forth. I think it does not set out the aspirations that this county needs and deserves. Thank you. Councillor Stoddard. Thank you, Chair. My comments are more specific. First of all, I will congratulate the administration on the consultation on this plan. I think it's a better document than it was when it started, although there are still issues around it, and we'll need to decide today in this debate whether we as a Council will support this going forward, but I still think it needs working on. I have a couple of specific points. One is on social housing. If you look under the growth objective, it does talk about the fact that we will work with housing partners to meet the target of 16,100 homes being built by 2041, and that will include the push for affordable housing. Social housing is not affordable housing. Social housing is a need for those that are the poorest in our society who can't even afford affordable rents, and I can tell you, Chair, affordable rents nowadays are much higher than we were 5 or 10 years ago, and are always going higher as we speak. That is something that I'm disappointed that the plan did not address, because the Lib Dems have repeatedly over the last few months mentioned social housing to the administration. I'm not saying I will not support the plan today, but I just want to draw it to their attention. In particular, if they're going to work through housing providers, including the housing associations, we ward members need to have a stronger relationship with these housing associations. We need to be able to represent our residents when it comes to the issues they have with our social associations. My other point is on inequality. While the plan does actually claim it's tackling inequality, it isn't. It has some mention of inequality in the people's section, nothing in growth. Economic equality can only be, I think, addressed through the growth section. I would ask the administration to look at that again, if they can, and to make sure that the delivery plan has tangible aims in it to help the very poorest in this county and the lowest pay to actually improve their lot. Thank you very much. Thank you, Councillor Stark. I've got Councillor Matthews, then Councillor Harvey, and then Councillor Oliver, and then Councillor Proctor. Councillor Matthews. Thank you, Chairman. We support the plan. There's a lot of excellent recommendations in there, but like all things, it looks very good on paper, and there's various issues we've got to closely monitor. When it comes to growth, you create conditions to deliver sustainable growth across the county, attracting in-grid investment, building business companies, creating jobs, neighboring housing development, along with providing the right infrastructure. Now, if we don't get some of those things right, you'll be driving a car norse right through this plan, so that's something that's going to be monitored very, very carefully. The other thing which I would like to thank the Administration for was on page 91, car parking charges. When initially the reports came out, they were considering their finances, they were recommending an increase in car parking charges. We brought it into the public domain with the support accounts for James and others, and I'm glad the common sense prevailed, because we need a vibrant city centre, because without that, we're losing jobs and businesses, so I'm pleased for that. Then I paid, turned to page 101 chairman, the NFU. The NFU said we would ask the Council to encourage investment in rural communities, rather than just focusing on local towns. While we understand the 23 commitments, the rural areas are a huge part of the county, and it's a economy which needs to be included in funding and not forgotten. We all utterly support that, and I think that over the years that aspect has been neglected, and it needs something that looks at an address very, very carefully. Then the other important issue which I keep wrapping on about is value for money. There's one thing that is concerning me, and I've raised it with the Chief Executive, is the services that the public are receiving from us at the moment. There's far too long delays in their queries been answered, a lot of their queries never get answered, and also we've got the issue of them not responding, as I say, and reducing. We've got to reduce our expenditure, and that's something we've got to look at, whether we can reduce and cut down some of our committees. So in principle, we support the plan, but there are issues in there which we've got a totally monitored to make sure that the plan is fulfilled, and that's when we're dealing with other projects like the infrastructure plan, we make sure that whatever decides there doesn't interfere with what's recommended. Thank you. Thank you, Matthew, Councillor Harvey. Yes, thank you, Chair. And I welcome this plan coming to Annual Council, and I hope that a majority of Councillors are going to be supporting it. It is a better plan for having had more time taken in its development, and I congratulate the Administration in following the encouragement they received to do that. As the ex-chair of the Scrutney Management Board, Scrutney Management Board did take quite a lot of time and trouble to comment on this during its evolution, and I'd like to think that we help to make it the better document that it is before us here today. What I'm a little disappointed about is that despite the excellent consultation that did take place on it, which was very wide ranging, Scrutney's recommendations have not actually been included in the papers that have come to full Council. And I think that's a shame, because they were generated in time to have allowed that to happen. But they are on the record elsewhere in terms of documents that are in the public domain, and I'm glad that the Scrutney Management Board was able to play a useful part in bringing this to full Council. The devil will inevitably be in the detail in terms of the very many strategies, plans, delivery plans, and decisions that will come about as a consequence of this. And I look forward to seeing the delivery plan for the financial year that we're in now coming to Cabinet Cabinet in the very near future to see what we can hope to expect in terms of progress being made in delivering this four year plan over the coming 12 months. Thank you, Councillor Harvey, that Councillor Oliver. Thank you, Chair. I applaud these suggestions under this administration that all things will be the for the best in the best possible world. But sadly in the real world, things are totally different. Our roads continue to deteriorate day by day. Our children's services struggle to come up to scratch, and the shortage of social and affordable housing remains a constant concern. Then it is a statement, ensure residents are able to live healthy lives. I'm unsure how the Council can enable this. We'd all like to be healthy. But, but health can depend on our genetic makeup, whether or not we can track COVID are involved in a car accident, or other accident, or swim in the river why. And then there are those of us who are determined to live unhealthy life, the stagger to the pub every night, to avoid all exercise and live our lives in front of a television set or tablet and phone, texting our lives away, stuffing ourselves with an ultra processed food. How are we going to help these people? Are we going to have a big brother approach and sweep into the house? Take away all their ultra processed food, feed them on raw carrots and aubergines, and force them to do a hand, a thousand paces a day in exercise, or threaten them with George Orwell's Room 101 from 1984. This is all aspirational, and until we see some evidence of how we're going to achieve it, I can't support it. I'll have to sustain all this motion. Thank you, Councillor. I've got Councillor Proctor, then Councillor Fagan and then Councillor Biggs, and at this moment in time, and then Councillor Hamblin. I'd like to echo what quite a lot of people have said before, so I do think I can see that this has improved as a document through consultation, through the worker scrutiny. I'd just like to focus in on that housing question. Housing really underpins a lot of the other issues that this plan is seeking to tackle, and tackling housing isn't simply about allowing developers to build lots more housing. It's about ensuring that we have the right mix of 10 years. It's ensuring we have housing in the right sort of places. It's ensuring the quality of housing. And it's about the Council being more muscular in the housing market and our relationship with landlords, not just social landlords, but private landlords. And I'm disappointed that that sort of more muscular intervention in housing is not reflected in this plan. Thank you, Councillor Proctor. Councillor Fagan. Thank you. My colleagues have said a lot about housing, and I just need to add to that, because I have had several representations over the past couple of weeks about housing. The fact that hereffiture has an aging population and also has one of the worst records of affordability within England and the West Midlands with our low wage economy. We have to have to put affordable housing properly affordable housing at the top of the agenda. And particularly rural housing, those for those who work in the low wage economy, how are we actually going to support them in the rural areas? I've heard this week of children who have had to move schools out of county because they cannot get housing. I've heard people whose health is deteriorated, they can no longer live in their house, but have to live in a caravan because there is no other alternative housing and are being told that there are enforcement notices against them living in their caravans, and various other low wage workers within herrifiture who are unable to find affordable housing who are unable to live low impact lifestyles, which is absolutely crucial as part of the mix in terms of our commitment to climate change. And so I would just add to that argument that colleagues have made about housing and about making our policies ensure that actually everybody in herrifiture can afford to stay here and that we can actually develop our families here. I'd also just like to pick up the issue about partners, and with our partners, could I please urge that Welsh water is put at the top of the priority list in terms of how we work with partners, because I've had several instances in my time as a Councillor, where people have had issues either with Welsh water leaks or floods or sewage issues, and even Balfour BET do not have a point of contact with Welsh water, so basically we have to go through the customer services helpline whenever there is an issue with Welsh water, and it is incredibly difficult to get any sort of urgency when it comes to water issues. Having access to good water supply and to good sewage systems is part of living within a civilised society, and we actually really need to have a point of contact with Welsh water that we as Councillors can raise issues instead of having to wait on the customer services helpline. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Feggin. Councillor Biggs and Councillor Hamblin, and I've got no other indicators at this moment. Councillor Schmittalhurst, Councillor Biggs. Thank you, Chair. I mean, first of all, I'd like to make two thank yous if I could, one to the officers that have worked on this, on this thumb to help us get this plan in position to come in front of full Council today, because we've had some, they've worked tirelessly on this, and then every member of this Council that have worked to your own support in shaping the document to be all it can be. When we were talking about this back at the end of 2023, certainly we needed that extra time, we needed the time to make it all it can be, and I think that time was really well spent and everyone's contributed to it. In terms of housing, worthwhile shapings, I've written it to make sure that we get all the detail in for and get clarity. We've got a new head of housing, Steve Holney, start on the 29th of April, funded from a million pound budget to bring forward housing. Very experienced, he'll lead on delivery. The work to understand best practice now and the way, remember there was a, we needed to identify best practice and bring that through. That report will come to connected communities, scrutiny in September has agreed. We've issued terms of reference for cross-party working group, and we've this week received confirmation group leaders with nominations, and so that first meeting can now be arranged. I'm as keen as any other member to review best practice in the working group and be assured be addressing the needs for housing and are committed to delivering the very best for everyone right across her society, and that goes right the way through all of those housing needs. It isn't just about working with developers, I might fully understand, as well as anyone, that we do need to get that relationship with those that are homing those the most vulnerable in our society as well and make sure that we're managing that better than we have previously. Thanks, Chair. Thank you, Councillor Biggs. Councillor Hanley. Thank you, Chair. I think this is an excellent document, has my full support and, like Councillor Stoddart said, I think we should be proud of it. My question is really, what happens next? What are we going to do with this excellent document? Are we going to print it? Are we going to get it into resident households? My fear is that if it just remains on the website, that it will lose its impact through lack of footfall. Thank you. There's so much something that our proposed and seconders can pick up. Councillor Swindlehurst. Thank you, Chair. I think it's important to remember that this, you know, the kind of panglossian tone of this document, and I agree it does, it does sound a little bit, um, motherhood and apple pie, but this is part of something which will then have a delivery plan, which will add the detail and the, and the how to the what. Um, but what I want to say about this is that this document has changed a lot through its gestation, and it's been infinitely enriched by the thoughtfulness and the consideration and the contribution and collaboration of all members, present, particularly scripting management board who were patient and diligent in their work. Um, and I think that just goes to show that when, you know, when we do do that, when we work like that, we get a better result. And I really hope that we can do that with the delivery plan as well. And so the details that come forward, whether it's about housing or about climate change, that the actual delivery of these ambitions is a sound as the ambitions themselves. Thank you. Um, now I've got Councillor James and then I'm going to go to Councillor Lester and then Councillor Stoddard and one that waned up the debate. Is that okay. Right, Councillor James. Thank you, Jim and I shall be very brief. You know, people touched upon it and Council swing rehearsers were stolen my thunder mention my favorite expressions panglossian and motherhood and apple pie. And so much of our documentation, which is produced, produced is of that nature and I just wish we could get to the point where we could actually find some ways of actually saying how we're going to do it. Because, you know, in all my time I've been involved in local government, I've seen documents like this constantly and they've made no difference to what's actually happened and they didn't actually bring about the changes that have happened. So I do hope that, you know, we can see more detail as it comes on. Having said that, you know, it's very difficult to put the detail in. We're at a turning point in the life of this country with the general election that's coming, which is more than likely to have a massive change in the direction of where, in which central government related to local government. So, you know, I look forward to seeing what's going to happen. Thank you, Councillor James, Councillor Lester. Thank you, Chair, and thank you to all Councillors who've commented this this morning into all of the Councillors that have contributed to this plan. I'm not going to repeat what Councillor Swinglehurst has just said. She spoke very eloquently about the involvement of others and I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiments she's given. Yes, I've written down a lot of the comments today and have listened to the comments that have been made earlier on. And there are times when we disagree and there are times where we think the emphasis should be nuanced in this way or stronger in that way. And I think we could be having that discussion for a very, very long time. But I draw your attention to the vision because I think all of you would agree with me that we want the best for herifice here. That's the aspiration. That's what we should be shooting for. That's what we should be aiming for. That's the thing that all of us want as Councillors in this Council. That's why we got elected and I think that the delivery of it all will be in the delivery plan. That will be crucial. But as a document to say that we want the best for herifice here, I think is the right tone. It's the right ambition. And if anybody is in any doubt about any policy, any decision moving forward, that the way forward is it's got to be the best for herifice here. And I think you would all agree with me in saying that. So thank you for all of your comments and I'll hand the microphone back to the chairman. Thank you and then to sum up Councillor Stoddard and then I'll put it to the vote. Thank you, Chair. I think it's all enough to be said and I think I hand it back to yourself for the vote, sir. Very well. We'll now come to the vote. The recommendation report has been moved. There are two recommendations as outlined on page 51 A and B. So I will call for a hand vote. All those in favour? It looks overwhelming unanimous, but any against? None against any abstentions? I'm sorry. Yeah. Yeah. So that motion has been carried. Can I thank you all very much for your attendance today? Can I tell you that the date of our next meeting is the 26th of July at 10 a.m. I say that to myself as much to any rest of you. Thank you all for your attendance at today's meeting. Can I confirm that the live stream has no stopped? Thank you all. Thank you all very much.