Agenda, decisions and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Marcus Barrett, Dave Bulmer, Gye Dibben, Kaysar Hussain, Sarah Lindsay, Tiffany Osborne, Stephen Page, Dean Ruddle, Garry Shortland, William Wallace and Donna Parham, Assistant Director. 

To approve and sign the minutes of the previous meeting held on Thursday, 23^rd February 2017.

The minutes of the meeting held on 23^rd February 2017, copies of which had been previously circulated, were approved as a correct record of the meeting and signed by the Chairman.

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. 

Ms V Cornelius asked why the Council were proposing to sell part of Yeovil's heritage, namely the four Barwick Park Follies?

Councillor Ric Pallister, Leader of Council, apologised for not publicising the proposal earlier to Councillors, however, at this early stage, he said the Council were doing no more than a market test and no decision had been made to dispose of the historic structures.  By undertaking a marketing exercise, the Council were inviting 'informal tenders', to explore whether there were any interested parties, including individuals,  organisations from the private sector, historic building trusts or public bodies who may be in a position to maintain the structures in the future via grants and funding streams that the Council was not able to access.   Advice had been sought from the conservation team and SSDC fully appreciated its role as guardians of the listed structures.  This was not being carried out with an expectation of any financial return for the Council but to determine if there was a better way of safeguarding their future.

Mr G Czapiewski of Cucklington asked that the council take all steps possible to work with the local communities and the County Council to care for the roads in the district.  A recent incident in his parish had been resolved by the SSDC streetscene service clearing a blocked drain, for which he commended them, but he felt that in a time of financial awareness, it was important that SCC and SSDC worked together co-operatively to reduce costs.

The Portfolio Holder for Environment and Economic Development confirmed that the SSDC streetscene service did operate some gully clearing and they always tried to work in collaboration with the SCC highways service and would continue to do so in the future. 

Councillor Ric Pallister, Leader of Council, noted that some parishes had undertaken a mapping exercise of the critical drains within their parish and could engage the SSDC streetscene service to empty them on a more regular basis for a small fee. 

The Chairman paid tribute to Councillor Tim Inglefield (Blackmoor Vale Ward) who had passed away suddenly on 27^th February.  Members and officers joined him in standing for a moment of silence in his memory.

The Chairman advised that in preparation for the 2021 National Census, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) would be carrying out a census test in South Somerset that year.  He said SSDC was one of seven local authorities across England and Wales chosen to take part in the test on 9 April 2017. 

The Chairman introduced Alison Lowton, (Lead Commissioner), Lucy Dunkeyson, (Review Manager) and Laura Taylor from the Local Government Boundary Commission for England. 

The Lead Commissioner introduced the presentation, advising that the Local Government Boundary Commission for England were independent of Government and completed around 25 boundary reviews per year.  She said they intervened where there was electoral inequality and they were dependent upon a good contribution of local information from the authority to achieve the best outcome. 

The Review Manager then provided Members with a short power point presentation of the process which they would follow to address the electoral imbalances now and into the future in the district.  She said they particularly welcomed community evidence and practical examples to back up any proposals.  Any changes to Ward boundaries would be effective from May 2019.

In response to questions from Members, the Review Manager confirmed:-

·         The key submission dates of 17^th July for Council size, 30^th October for Ward patterns and 19^th March 2018 for the Boundary Commission’s final recommendations.

·         Data would be live on the LGBCE website after the council size submission stage, however, guidance information would already be on the website.

At the conclusion of the debate, the Chairman thanked the officers from the Local Government Boundary Commission for England for attending to explain the process to Members. 

(Voting: unanimous in favour)

The Portfolio Holder for Finance and Legal Services advised that the Council offered a wide range of council tax discounts and housing benefits to residents and any over-claims were a loss which the Council could not afford.  The proposal made it clear to residents that they must inform the Council in a timely manner of any change in their circumstances. The Council would retain the right to quash any penalty imposed and any penalties collected would be retained but would not form part of the collection fund. 

In response to questions from Members, the Revenues and Benefits Manager confirmed that there were a number of staff in the team involved in compliance and it was hoped that the proposal would reduce the overall workload of the team.  

There was no debate and Members were content to confirm the application of Council Tax and Housing Benefit Civil Penalties with effect from 1 April 2017.

(Voting: unanimous in favour)

(Voting: unanimous in favour)

The Portfolio Holder for Finance and Legal Services confirmed that as a result of changes to Rural Rate Relief announced in the Government’s Autumn Statement the recommendations updated the current Business Rates Relief Policy.  One recommendation resolved an anomaly relating to the interaction between Small Business Rate Relief and Charity Relief rules.

In response to a question, the Revenues and Benefits Manager confirmed that there were two local newspapers who qualified for the local discount within the district, however, one already qualified for full business rate relief.  If further newspapers came forward they would be considered. 

There was no debate and Members unanimously confirmed the recommendations of the report.

(Voting: unanimous in favour)

(Voting: unanimous in favour)

Councillor Mike Lewis proposed that Councillor Martin Walebe appointed to the Appointments Committee.  It was also agreed that Councillor Colin Winder be appointed to the Income Generation Board, to replace Councillor Clare Aparicio Paul.

There was no debate and Members were content to confirm the appointments listed in the report. 

(Voting: unanimous in favour)

(Voting: unanimous in favour)

There was no debate and Members were content to confirm the 2017/18 SSDC meeting timetable as presented.

(Voting: unanimous in favour)

The report of Executive Decisions was noted.

Councillor Derek Yeomans, Chairman of the Audit Committee, introduced the report and invited questions upon it.

There was no debate and Members were content to note the report of the Audit Committee.

Councillor Sue Steele, Chairman of the Scrutiny Committee, presented the report. She noted that following the recent Scrutiny call-in of a decision of the Somerset Waste Partnership, the committee had made suggestions to the Waste Partnership to clarify their agenda and decision publication to make it clearer to the public. 

Councillor Jo Roundell Greene, as SSDC representative on the Somerset Waste Partnership, thanked the Scrutiny Committee for their helpful suggestions. 

There being no debate, Members were content to note the report of the Scrutiny Committee.

No Motions have been submitted by Members.

There were no Motions submitted by Members.

No questions have been submitted by Members under Procedure Rule 10.

There were no questions submitted under Procedure Rule 10.

Members noted that the next scheduled meeting of Full Council would take place on Thursday 20^th April 2017 in the Council Chamber, Council Offices, Brympton Way, Yeovil commencing at 7.30 p.m.