Agenda, decisions and minutes

The Chief Executive welcomed all Councillors to the Annual Meeting of South Somerset District Council and asked for nominations for the position of Chairman of Council.

Councillor Peter Seib, seconded by Councillor Henry Hobhouse nominated Councillor Paul Maxwell for Chairman of the Council.

There being no other nominations it was therefore:

The Chairman thanked his fellow Councillors for supporting him and he read out his formal declaration of acceptance of office.

The Chairman proposed that Councillor Wes Read be appointed as the Vice-Chairman of Council.  This was seconded by Councillor Karl Gill and, there being no other nominations, it was:

The Vice-Chairman thanked his fellow Councillors for supporting him and he read out his formal declaration of acceptance of office.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Robin Bastable, Neil Bloomfield, Hayward Burt, Malcolm Cavill (dispensation granted), Louise Clarke, Val Keitch, Mike Lewis, Mike Lock, Robin Pailthorpe, Dean Ruddle and Garry Shortland.

To approve and sign the minutes of the previous meeting held on Thursday, 17 March 2022.

The minutes of the previous meeting held on Thursday 17^th March were approved as a correct record of the meeting and signed by the Chairman.

The Chairman said that in accordance with the Council’s Constitution, Part 4, Council Procedure Rules, paragraph 13.4, four Members of Council would make statements relating to the minutes of the meeting of 28 February 2022 as points of personal explanation.

Councillor Nicola Clark stated that following the meeting of 28 February 2022, it had become apparent that a misunderstanding had occurred. She clarified that her question to opposition members had not been intended to cause improper inference to any particular Councillor, past or present had been dishonest or had operated in bad faith.  She apologised to Council if her comments were misconstrued and she said she was pleased to set the record straight.

Councillor Adam Dance said that at the Council meeting of 28 February 2022 he had asked a question regarding past or present opposition members.  At no time had he mentioned Linda Piggott-Vijeh and he did not intend to imply any wrongdoing.  He apologised for any hurt felt by Linda Piggott-Vijeh as this had not been his intention in asking the question.

Councillor Andy Soughton stated that during the Council meeting of 28 February 2022 he had asked a question regarding the timing of the former Councillor Linda Vijeh’s resignation.  He apologised to Council and Linda Piggott-Vijeh in respect of the question asked querying the timing of the Motion and at no stage had he meant to indicate any improper action on her part. He apologised for any perceived harm caused by any comments which could have raised any concerns regarding her conduct as a Councillor.

Councillor Peter Seib said he wished to clarify that during his statement to Council on 28 February he did not intend to infer that Linda Piggott-Vijeh, the former Leader of the Conservative Group, had done anything improper in 2013 when she had engaged employees of the Streetscene Department to do work at her French property.  He said that it was his view that her actions in 2013 would have also fallen outside of the scope of the adopted 2012 Member Code of Conduct.  He regretted any ambiguity in his statement made to Council on 28 February 2022 and he apologised unreservedly to Linda Piggott-Vijeh for any upset or harm that may have arisen from that ambiguity. 

In accordance with the Council's current Code of Conduct (as amended 26 February 2015), which includes all the provisions relating to Disclosable Pecuniary Interests (DPI), personal and prejudicial interests, Members are asked to declare any DPI and also any personal interests (and whether or not such personal interests are also "prejudicial") in relation to any matter on the Agenda for this meeting.

Members are reminded that they need to declare the fact that they are also a member of a County, Town or Parish Council as a Personal Interest.  Where you are also a member of Somerset County Council and/or a Town or Parish Council within South Somerset you must declare a prejudicial interest in any business on the agenda where there is a financial benefit or gain or advantage to Somerset County Council and/or a Town or Parish Council which would be at the cost or to the financial disadvantage of South Somerset District Council. 

There were no declarations of interest made by Members.

A former District Councillor said that although she welcomed the statements made earlier by four Councillors it was unfortunate that she had to resort to legal action in order to ensure they were made.  She felt the statements made at the Council meeting on 28 February had been pre-planned to deflect attention from the key Motion put forward by Councillor Wale regarding the lack of information provided to Members at the time of the appointment of the new Chief Executive.  She was concerned at the phrasing of some comments and the lack of truth as some of the dates mentioned did not accord with her records.  She also felt that not all Councillors had been given the opportunity to speak during the meeting of 28 February 2022 and some had been allowed an unequal time to speak.  She expressed her concern that Councillors made assertions in public to make political points.

A resident of Yeovil said that the Secretary of the Yeovil Amateur Operatic Society (YAOS) was finding it difficult to plan ahead for their next upcoming shows due to the uncertainty regarding the proposed extensive renovation of the Octagon Theatre.  He said the stage and backroom facilities offered by the Westlands Complex were insufficient to cope with the requirements of modern professional shows and he asked whether the Octagon Theatre upgrade proposals were going ahead and when?  He also asked if there was a limit on the number of people who could use the stage and backroom facilities at any one time?

The Portfolio Holder for Health and Well-Being replied that SSDC had agreed to continue to progress plans for the Octagon theatre redevelopment at its Council meeting in February 2022, although this was subject to Full Council review throughout the course of the year as the designs progress.  At present, it was anticipated that the theatre would close in January 2023.  The Yeovil Amateur Operatic Society (YAOS) had provisionally booked dates for Westlands Entertainment Venue through 2023 and 2024 with back-up dates also pencilled for the same weeks at the Octagon should there be any significant delays to building works.  He said the Council had been proactive in prioritising local amateur groups and societies at both venues to ensure while The Octagon was closed they continue to stage their productions that are so important to our communities. The programme for the project, that encompasses timescales, was being actively managed by the Project Team.  He said that he understood the limitations of the Westlands facility but it was an available alternative rather than have shows cancelled for an extended period.  He said he would provide a written answer to the number of people allowed backstage at the Westlands Entertainment Complex.

The Chairman reminded Members that there were a number of on-line training courses to be completed by them all:

1)     Equality, diversity and Inclusion for councillors

2)     Health and Safety at work for councillors

3)     Cyber Security for councillors

4)     GDPR for Councillors

The Chairman paid tribute to Councillor Alan Smith who had passed away the previous month.  He said that he had been a long serving member of the authority and had also served on Yeovil Town Council and Crewkerne Town Council and as a school governor.  He said he would be remembered as a thoughtful man with a great sense of humour.  He asked Members to join him for a minute of silence in memory of Alan.

Members stood for a minute of silence.

The Chairman noted that this would be the last Annual Meeting of South Somerset District Council.  He said it had been an honour to serve as Chairman and he thanked all Members and officers for their support.  He asked that all did their best in the final Council year to serve the people of South Somerset so they could look back with pride at their achievements and hand business to the new Somerset Council in the proper manner.  He also asked that Members continue to treat each other with dignity and respect in the last year of the Council.

The list of Chairman’s engagements were noted.

(1)      To note that it appointed the Leader of the Council in May 2019 for a period of four years, starting on the day of her election and ending on the vesting day of the new Somerset Council on 1^st April 2023.

(2)      To note that the Leader appointed a Deputy Leader in May 2019 to hold office until the end of the term of office of the Leader.

(3)      The Leader appoint between 1 and 8 further District Executive Members.

(4)      The re-establishment of the following member-level bodies for 2022/2023:

District Executive and Portfolios

The Deputy Leader of Council introduced the report to appoint the Member level bodies for 2022/23.  The recommendations were proposed and agreed by the majority of Members present. 

(1)      To note that it appointed the Leader of the Council in May 2019 for a period of four years, starting on the day of her election and ending on the vesting day of the new Somerset Council on 1^st April 2023.

(2)      To note that the Leader appointed a Deputy Leader in May 2019 to hold office until the end of the term of office of the Leader.

(3)      The Leader appoint between 1 and 8 further District Executive Members.

(4)      The re-establishment of the following member-level bodies for 2022/2023:

District Executive and Portfolios

This item has been withdrawn from the Agenda and will be presented to a future Council meeting.

It was noted that this item had been withdrawn from the Agenda and it would be re-presented to a future meeting of Council.

(Voting: unanimous in favour)

The Portfolio Holder for Protecting Core Services noted that the cross-party Planning Reimagined workshops had been most productive in identify opportunities for improvements to the planning service and the introduction of a Validation Checklist was a further opportunity to improve the service.  He advised that the report had been presented to both Scrutiny and District Executive Committees and he proposed the recommendations be approved by Council.

Councillor Martin Wale noted that there had been a number of workshop meetings which had resulted in sensible solutions to streamline the planning service and he seconded the recommendations.

Councillor Peter Seib noted that all SSDC Councillors were trained in planning matters and he hoped that the new Somerset Council would take account of the experience. 

The recommendations, having been proposed and seconded were unanimously agreed by Council.

(Voting: unanimous in favour)

(Voting: 36 in favour, 0 against, 1 abstention)

The Portfolio Holder for Protecting Core Services advised that the Planning Application Validation Requirements document and revised Planning Checklist had been introduced to assist all planning applicants to submit the correct documentation and would help to speed up the determination process.  He proposed that the recommendation be agreed and this was seconded by Councillor Martin Wale.

In response to a question, the Lead Specialist for Built Environment said the intention of the checklist was to reduce the need to request additional information from applicants and to ensure they submitted the correct documentation with their applications.  Previously, some required documents were not adding value to an application and the revised planning checklist included documents which did add value to applications like information on phosphate mitigation. 

The Portfolio Holder for Protecting Core Services said that although there was a charge for pre-application advice which assisted applicants with their applications, there was no requirement for applicants to use the service.

The recommendations, having been proposed and seconded were confirmed by 36 in favour with one abstention.

(Voting: 36 in favour, 0 against, 1 abstention)

(Voting: unanimous in favour)

The Portfolio Holder for Protecting Core Services advised that officers had been engaged in sorting issues on applications which the applicant or agent should be resolving.  The fees charged by neighbouring authorities was taken into account in the SSDC proposed Schedule of Pre-application and discretionary planning fees.

The Lead Specialist for Built Environment advised that SSDC had introduced a pre- application charging schedule 5 years previously and it had not changed since.  The proposed changes would also bring SSDC into line with the other Somerset Councils so the charges would not be so different when they merged to the Unitary Authority.  Providing advice on listed buildings was very time consuming, hence the charge and dealing with permitted development queries through an application for a Certificate of Proposed Lawful Development would remove uncertainty that pre-application advice was not binding.

The Portfolio Holder for Protecting Core Services proposed the recommendations and they were seconded by Councillor Martin Wale and unanimously agreed by Members.

(Voting: unanimous in favour)

The Portfolio Holder for Finance and Legal Services advised that the report was for noting as the Chief Executive had agreed the dispensation to continue until 14 October 2022.

Councillor Martin Wale provided an update on Councillor Malcolm Cavill’s treatment and progress and said he hoped to attend a meeting of the Area North Committee very soon.  He also asked that his thanks be given to Councillors Mike Stanton and Adam Dance who had been responding to his ward work. 

The Chairman said that all Members sent their very best wishes for his recovery and asked that they note the decision to extend the dispensation from attending Council meetings, taken by the Chief Executive.

The Portfolio Holder for Finance and Legal Services introduced the report and invited questions. 

The Council NOTED the report.

The Chairman of the Audit Committee said that at their meeting on 24^th March 2022 that had received the Interim Audit Findings Report 2020-21 and it was likely that SSDC would again get an unqualified positive opinion on the financial statements for 2020/21 from the external auditors.  However, there had been some unexpected delays and an incident referred to by the external auditor at the meeting, therefore he had asked the Chief Financial Officer to provide a management response to the Audit Committee at their next meeting on 26^th May 2022.

During discussion it was noted that:-

·         due to the delays in completing the audit, the fees could be 3 times higher than normally expected.

·         as at the end of April 2022, 45%, of Local Authorities were still outstanding their published audited financial statements for the 2020/21 financial year.

·         The Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Audit Committee had met the Chief Executive, Monitoring Officer and Section 151 Officer to understand what the delays had been and this would be reported at the Audit Committee meeting the following week.

The report was NOTED.

The Chairman of the Scrutiny Committee introduced the report and said that despite having two vacancies on the Committee, the quality of the debate and scrutiny undertaken by them.  He also thanked the Portfolio Holders who attended their meetings as he felt their attendance had influenced the outcomes at the District Executive meetings.

The report was NOTED

There were no Motions submitted by Members.

There were no Motions submitted by Members.

There were no questions submitted under Procedure Rule 10.

There were no questions submitted under Procedure Rule 10.

Members noted that the next scheduled meeting of Full Council (Thursday 16 June) was a reserve date and would only be called if there was business to discuss. 

Therefore, the next meeting of Full Council would be Thursday 21 July 2022 in the Council Chamber, SSDC Council Offices, Brympton Way, Yeovil commencing at 6.30 p.m