Agenda, decisions and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Mike Best, Malcolm Cavill (dispensation granted), Nick Colbert, David Gubbins, Brian Hamilton, Mike Hewitson, Mike Lock, Pauline Lock, Tiffany Osborne, Robin Pailthorpe, Dean Ruddle, Garry Shortland and Gerard Tucker.

To approve and sign the minutes of the previous meeting held on Monday, 28 February 2022.

Councillor Martin Wale stated that at the previous meeting (minute 133) he had not been given the opportunity to make a final statement on the motion proposed by himself and so had been unable to respond to points raised during the discussion. 

It was agreed to record this point in the minutes.

The minutes of the previous meeting held on Thursday 28^th February 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 by Members.

There were no questions from members of the public present.

The Chairman welcomed Councillor Ray Buckler, the new District Councillor for Neroche Ward to his first Council meeting.

The Chairman spoke of his Ukrainian family connection and the current humanitarian crisis in the Ukraine.  He encouraged members to donate to charity or sponsor a family.

The Leader of Council said she had met with the Minister for Refugees to discuss the sponsorship scheme which would allow people from the Ukraine to live and work in the UK for up to 3 years. She said the UK had a proud history of supporting refugees and as a local authority SSDC would also provide support.

The Chief Executive advised that a Concert for Ukraine was being held at the Octagon Theatre on 1^st April and Rock for Ukraine at the Westland Entertainment Venue on 2^nd April, the proceeds of which would be divided between School in a Bag’s Ukraine Crisis Appeal and the Disasters Emergency Committee’s Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal. 

During discussion it was noted that:-

·         The Mad Hatter Joke and Fancy Dress shop in Yeovil were collecting humanitarian aid items to take to the Ukrainian border.

·         Councillor Colbert was driving to the Ukraine border to collect refugees and bring them to Somerset.

·         SSDC may provide assistance to host families on Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks.

Councillor Tony Lock said that SSDC should lead in providing assistance to Ukrainian refugees and he proposed an emergency motion under Council procedure rule 12 (Motions without notice) that Council urgently review the use of Acacia Lodge, Yeovil and other suitable properties in the area for use as temporary or longer term accommodation to house refugees from the Ukraine.

This was seconded by Councillor Kaysar Hussain.

On being put to the vote, the emergency Motion was unanimously agreed by Council.  It was noted that SSDC were working across the county with charities and health and social care providers to provide suitable accommodation and the Motion would be referred to the Portfolio Holder for Strategy and Housing to progress.

(unanimous in favour)

At the conclusion of the debate, Members observed a minute of silence to reflect upon the humanitarian crisis faced by the people of the Ukraine.

The list of Chairman’s engagements were NOTED.

The Portfolio Holder for Environment introduced a short film highlighting the environmental achievements of the Council since adopting its Environment Strategy in October 2019.

The film can be viewed on the SSDC’s environment website at this link:

https://www.southsomerset.gov.uk/your-council/your-council-plan-and-strategies/environment-strategy/

During discussion the following points were made:-

·         Wind turbines, which had previously been refused planning permission in the area, may be acceptable as renewable energy in the future with government backing.

·         The film of environmental achievements should be shared with Town and Parish Councils.

·         SSDC could do more regarding using a green energy supplier.  The current energy supplier produced a certain amount of green energy but more could be done.

In response to a question, the Portfolio Holder advised:-

·         Parish Councils could obtain dog fouling awareness posters from the Locality Team as PDF documents to print. The Locality team could also advise on fouling enforcement as it was linked to Public Space Protection Orders (PSPO’s).

·         The loan of litter picking kits could be arranged through the Locality team. Contact by email to locality@southsomerset.gov.uk was the swiftest way to arrange for the resources to be allocated to a Parish or group.

At the conclusion of the debate, the Chairman thanked the environment team for their achievements as presented in the film. 

The presentation was NOTED.

(Voting: unanimous in favour)

The Portfolio Holder for Area West advised that the report requested the Shop Front Design Guide be formally adopted by Council as a supplementary planning document.  The said the guide was part of the Chard Regeneration work and the High Street Heritage Action Zone and contributed to the improvement of the town centre by giving clear guidelines to businesses and property owners on quality shopfronts.  He noted the widespread public consultation which had taken placed and presentation to Scrutiny and District Executive Committees.    

Councillor Martin Wale said the ongoing improvements would help to make local businesses more profitable and he seconded the recommendations.

During discussion the report was commended for its detail by members and the recommendations were proposed and seconded and unanimously agreed by Members.

At the conclusion of the debate,the Portfolio Holder for Area West thanked the High Street Heritage Officer for her work as she was shortly to leave SSDC.

(Voting: unanimous in favour)

(Voting: 37 in favour, 1 against, 2 abstentions)

The Portfolio Holder for Economic Development reminded Council that they had made the property investments to create £2m income to fund services. He thanked the Property Investment Project Manager for his careful assessment of investment opportunities as he was shortly to leave SSDC and he noted that the Government had prohibited future property investment for gain although SSDC only had £8m of their original £150m left to invest.  The changes to the Commercial Strategy were made in response to the Local Government Review (LGR) and the proposed changes were tracked in red in the report. He concluded that the report had been reviewed by both Scrutiny and District Executive and he proposed the recommendations be agreed.

In response to a question regarding increased interest rates, the Portfolio Holder said the investments were long term over some decades and money was put aside to pay back the debt which was backed by the asset investment.

The Chief Finance Officer confirmed that the Council only borrowed when cash flow required it and the borrowing was not related to the individual asset but the overall capital programme.  The borrowing included for regeneration schemes as well as the past purchase of commercial property.  The corporate budget had the ability to pay 1% interest rates and there were sufficient reserves. 

At the conclusion of the debate the recommendations were proposed and seconded and agreed by 37 votes in favour, 1 against and 2 abstentions.

(Voting: 37 in favour, 1 against, 2 abstentions)

(Voting: unanimous in favour)

The Chairman of the Audit Committee thanked the Terms of Reference Working Group and officers for their work in reviewing the Audit Committee Terms of Reference.  He thanked the Assistant Director of the South West Audit Partnership for his assistance and he proposed that the recommendations be agreed by Council.

In response to a question, the Chairman of the Audit Committee confirmed that the amendments to the terms of reference were around value for money effectiveness solely being a joint function with Scrutiny and although both looked at value for money, it was not necessary to look at it jointly. He said that risk was taken very seriously and it was part of the updated Terms of Reference.

The Chief Finance Officer confirmed that joint training of Audit and Scrutiny Committees on value for money was for consideration in the future.  

At the conclusion of the debate, the recommendations were proposed and seconded and unanimously agreed by Council.

(Voting: unanimous in favour)

The Leader of Council introduced the report and invited questions. 

The Council NOTED the report.

(Voting: 39 in favour, 0 against, 1 abstention)

Councillor Mike Stanton thanked senior planning officers and planning policy officers and his fellow Councillors for their assistance in drafting the motion.  He noted that a report from Royal Haskoning had very recently been published which proposed a number of options and one related to Wessex Water agreeing to phosphate stripping during the current cycle to 2025 but the water industry currently had no mechanism in place to accept developer contributions towards improvements to treatment works to allow phosphate stripping. He said further discussion with the Government and Ofwat was needed to establish a pathway to achieve phosphate mitigation which was the purpose of his motion.  He noted the damage to plant and wildlife caused by the phosphates which was a problem that could be solved at a sewage treatment works.  Wessex Water could install package treatment works for developments but they had no plans to do this until 2025 to 2030 and neither the Government or Ofwat were pressuring them to change their plans.  He concluded that the problem had been known for 19 months and a phosphate credit mitigation scheme had been promised within months but none of the key agencies had faced the issue and the credit scheme would not immediately solve the issue.  Householders and developers were unable to build or extend their properties and may have to pay up to £15,000 per property for the credit mitigation. Therefore his Motion sought to ask the Government to address the issues as house prices rose and young people could not afford to buy them.

Councillor Sarah Dyke confirmed that she would second the motion.

During discussion, the following points were made:-

·         The issue was affecting the delivery of new homes and the building industry.

·         Could the County Council provide enabling finance to bring forward the Wessex Water investment?

·         The Government had used a Danish nitrate court case from 2018 as the phosphate issue on the Levels and required the phosphate levels to be reduced by 6 times their current level

·         90% of phosphate pollution originated from sewage and the Water Authority were only investing £10m per year in addressing the issue whilst paying £90m to overseas shareholders

·         The Government must invest £300m + in the next two to three years to address the issue and allow houses to be built in Somerset.

·         Developments could install their own treatment plants.

·         The river Axe was now in danger of phosphate pollution and was also to be taken into the same scheme so the whole of the district was affected.

·         Could SSDC also work with Dorset and Devon Councils who were also affected by the issue?

·         The same phosphate issues were happening in Cambridgshire and Hertfordshire and could spread across the country.

·         The environmental impact of the issues affected the quality of the waterways and damaged the local ecology and recovery was uncertain as the levels were below sea level.

·         In June 2020 Natural England downgraded the environmental condition of the Somerset Levels Sites of Special Scientific Interest due to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 147.

(Voting: unanimous in favour)

Councillor Jason Baker said that many parts of the district had suffered increased and regular flooding and whilst development must take place, there should be more robust engagement between the planning department and the lead flood authority.  Development must take account of the water on site and the flow further down. He thanked the Director for Service Delivery and the Lead Specialist for Planning for their assistance in drafting the Motion and he asked that Council support it.

Councillor Jenny Kenton confirmed that she would second the motion.

During discussion, the following points were made:-

·         Would it be possible for outline planning permissions to detail the drainage at that stage?

·         Regular maintenance would reduce the cost of flooding events across the county.

·         Communities suffered flooding because the river authorities stopped at bridge levels

·         There was a cost to the emergency services in responding to flooding events.

·         Flooding had been widely discussed at Parish council meetings.

·         The Local Lead Flood Authority currently only had one officer to deliver this work.

·         Recent flooding in Chard had not been alleviated by an attenuation pond at a development site which should be addressed before another heavy rainfall event.

·         Planning Officers should try to negotiate with developers and incorporate this into the planning system across Somerset.

In response to a question, Councillor Baker advised that the proposals within the Motion were achievable and he had worked with Director for Service Delivery and the Lead Specialist for Planning to ensure this.

At the conclusion of the debate, Members unanimously agreed the Motion.

(Voting: unanimous in favour)

Councillor Colin Winder asked the following question:

The council has now approved the audit committee terms of reference which states under governance and risk control:

1.6 To monitor progress in addressing risk related issues reported to the committee.

1.8 To review the assessment of fraud risk and potential harm to the council from fraud and corruption.

Bearing in mind that the Audit Committee budget was used to finance the investigation, will the CEO now present to the Audit Committee the full details of the investigation into bullying and corruption which resulted in the dismissal in senior staff?

The Chief Executive responded that she would be attending the Audit Committee meeting on 26 May to present a report with recommendations from the investigation and the progress made on them.

Councillor Martin Wale asked the following question:

Has a full independent or internal audit been carried out in respect of Lufton Depot since the Independent investigations and the dismissal of the Director Clare Pestell and the Manager Chris Cooper resigning?’

The Chief Executive confirmed that a full review had taken place and her report to Audit Committee on 26 May would include the outcomes and recommendations and actions to follow.

 
Councillor Wale responded and asked because of the seriousness of the allegations, had it been considered necessary to hold an independent investigation.

The Director for Strategy and Support Services confirmed that an independent audit had been carried out by SWAP Internal Audit Services, and the findings and actions from that would form part of the report to the Audit Committee on 26 May 2022.

Members noted that the next scheduled meeting of Full Council (Thursday 21 April) 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 19 May 2022 in the Council Chamber, SSDC Council Offices, Brympton Way, Yeovil commencing at 6.30 p.m