Agenda, decisions and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Malcolm Cavill (dispensation granted), Karl Gill, Wes Read, Dean Ruddle, Alan Smith and Lucy Trimnell.

To approve and sign the minutes of the previous meeting held on Thursday, 16 December 2021.

The minutes of the previous meeting held on Thursday 16^th December 2021 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.

The Chairman welcomed all to the meeting and reminded Members that only those present in the room would be able to vote although participation in the debate was welcome by all present on-line.

He also advised that in the absence of the Vice Chairman he had invited Councillor Mike Best to act as Vice Chairman for the evening.

The Chairman wished all Members a Happy New Year and noted that this would be the last full year as South Somerset District Council as the Council moved towards being a Unitary Authority in April 2023.  He said that it had been a privilege to have served and represent the people of South Somerset.  He asked Members to continue to do their best to help residents and be proud of their achievements.

The Chairman advised that on 6^th February he would be attending a service at Wells Cathedral to mark the Queen’s Accession Day, 70 years ago. 

(Voting: unanimous in favour)

The Portfolio Holder for Licensing thanked the officers for their work in compiling and reviewing the policy due to changes in statutory guidelines.  He highlighted the important changes within the policy to Members and the public consultation which had taken place   He concluded that he fully supported the policy and he proposed the policy to Council.

In response to questions from Members, the Lead Specialist for Environment advised:-

·         The percentage of registered disabled people within the district would be provided.

·         The percentage of taxis which were wheelchair accessible vehicles had been set in line with guidance from the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee which was a national recommended standard.

·         Disability was often hidden in different guises including hearing and sight impairment.

·         Currently 33% of the licensed taxis were wheelchair accessible vehicles.

(Subsequent to the meeting from the 2011 Census just under 100,000 people in Somerset (18.8% of the population) said they had a long-term condition or disability which limited their day-to-day activities a lot or a little).

The Portfolio Holder noted that many people requiring taxis across the district were unable to drive.

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

(Voting: unanimous in favour)

(Voting: unanimous in favour)

The Portfolio Holder for Finance and Legal Services introduced the report and advised that following presentation to the District Executive Committee, Council was recommended to agree the unchanged scheme for 2022/23.  He noted the scheme had been changed the previous year and it had only been in operation for a few months and indications were that it was working well.  The recent changes to the Universal Credit payments would be affecting some households and the Council Tax collection rates had dipped due to the pandemic and so it was not possible to reliably report that the new scheme had affected collection rates.  His recommendation was to continue with the present scheme.

In response to a question, the Portfolio Holder advised that

·         The Council’s approach to recovery action for Council Tax arrears was constantly under review by officers and was in line with the other Somerset Councils.

·         There would be a discussion between all the Councils when any change to the current approach to recovery action was felt necessary.

·         The Council would react sensitively to any hardship claims as food prices and living expenses, including utility bills were increasing and people were facing hardship.

·         He hardship scheme budget had not been exceeded yet.

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

(Voting: unanimous in favour)

(Voting: unanimous in favour)

The Portfolio Holder for Finance and Legal Services introduced the report and advised that its purpose was to learn from the project, improve the process and learn from any mistakes made.  He encouraged Members to visit the new leisure centre which had been well received in the community and had increased visitors to the town. He noted there was still some elements of the project to be completed but the majority had been completed whilst coping with increased construction costs, materials and staff shortages, and Covid.  He concluded that local Members knowledge was key to any project and as a result of this project, End of Stage Assessments were proposed for all capital projects over £1,000,000 and all capital projects over £250,000 that also had a risk impact score of moderate or above in one or more risk categories. 

The Portfolio Holder for the Chard Regeneration Scheme said the site had been challenging but the new leisure centre had increased the footfall in the town.  He noted that some of the regeneration phases were now paused but he was confident they would come forward in future to complete the overall project. 

In response to questions from Members, the Portfolio Holder for Finance and Legal Services advised:

·         The original budget for the leisure centre had been based upon Sport England’s assessment of cost per square foot of site and had not included any element for adverse conditions as voiced by local Ward Members.

During discussion the following points were made:

·         local knowledge was key to local development projects.

·         each project was a learning process.

·         SSDC had provided a new leisure centre as requested by local residents following the closure of the local swimming pool.

·         The contractors had delivered the leisure centre on a very tight town centre site

·         Local residents welcomed the leisure centre.

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

(Voting: unanimous in favour)

The Leader of Council introduced the report and invited questions.  She said she was pleased that SSDC had been able to financially support the South Somerset Citizens Advice Service during 2022/23.

In response to a question, the Leader advised that future funding for voluntary organisations would be for the new Unitary Authority to decide.

The Council NOTED the report.

There has been no meeting of the Audit Committee since the last Full Council meeting.  The Audit Committee are due to meet on Wednesday 9^th February 2022.

It was noted that the Audit Committee had not met since the last meeting of Council but they were due to meet on 9^th February 2022.

The Chairman of the Scrutiny Committee said they continued to be the critical friend of the authority and he noted that there were two meetings of the Scrutiny Committee and District Executive during February due to the number of reports coming forward.  He said they had recently undertaken a Corporate Plan review which had been a useful discussion.

The report was NOTED.

There were no Motions submitted by Members.

There were no Motions submitted by Members.

Councillor Martin Wale submitted the following question under Procedure Rule 10:

“At the December meeting of District Council we were informed by the Chief Executive that serious criminal allegations had been reported to the Police.

For clarity I would request the date that this report was made and by whom and whether the two independent investigation reports undertaken by SSDC were given to the Police to assist in their enquiries?”

The Chief Executive responded that she had reported the matter to the Police on Thursday 16 December and both independent investigation reports were included in a larger bundle of documents handed to the Police to assist them in their enquiries.

There was no supplementary question.

Members noted that the next scheduled meeting of Full Council would take place on Monday 28^th February 2022 at the Westland Entertainment Venue, Yeovil commencing at 6.30 p.m.

The Chairman noted that the date of the next meeting had changed due to the availability of the Westland Entertainment Venue.