Agenda and minutes
PDF 167 KBVenue: Council Chamber, Ryedale House, Malton
Contact: Simon Copley 277
Recording: Listen to the recording
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Apologies for absence Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Burr, Jowitt and Sanderson. |
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Public Question Time Minutes: There were no public questions. |
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Minutes To approve as a correct record the minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of Council held on 7 July 2016. Supporting documents: Minutes: The minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of Council held on 7 July 2016 were presented.
Resolved
That the minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of Council held on 7 July 2016 be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record, with the following amendments:
(i) To record that Councillor Clark had requested that the notices on motion be brought forward on the agenda and that the Chairman did not agree to this request;
(ii) To change the words "hundreds and thousand" to "hundreds of thousands" in Councillor Clark's question to the Leader on page 6 of the minutes (minute 20);
(iii) To delete the resolved portion of the Part B item on Member Involvement of Appeal Panels (minute 22);
(iv) To add the recorded vote for motion on Member Involvement of Appeal Panels (minute 22), as follows: For - Councillors Cowling, Cussons, Frank, Ives, Jainu-Deen, Wainwright; Against - Councillors Steve Arnold, Val Arnold, Cleary, Duncan, Gardiner, Hope, Oxley, Windress, Maud, Joy Andrews, Clark, Potter, Thornton, Keal, Paul Andrews, Burr; Abstentions - Farnell;
(v) To note that the procedural motion which resulted in the closure of the meeting was dealt with in exempt session (minute 23). |
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Urgent Business To receive notice of any urgent business which the Chairman considers should be dealt with at the meeting as a matter of urgency by virtue of Section 100B(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972. Minutes: There were no items of urgent business which the Chairman considered should be dealt with as a matter of urgency by virtue of Section 100B(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended). |
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Declarations of Interest Members to indicate whether they will be declaring any interests under the Code of Conduct.
Members making a declaration of interest at a meeting of a Committee or Council are required to disclose the existence and nature of that interest. This requirement is not discharged by merely declaring a personal interest without further explanation. Minutes: The following interests were declared:
Councillor Farnell declared a personal non-pecuniary but not prejudicial interest in agenda item 11 minute 41 (Slingsby, South Holme and Fryton Design Statement) as a member of Slingsby, South Holme and Fryton Parish Council.
Councillor Clark declared a personal non-pecuniary but not prejudicial interest in agenda item 15 (Request for an Indemnity for Ryedale Citizens Advice Bureau) as North Yorkshire County Council's representative on the Ryedale CAB Board.
Councillor Goodrick declared a personal non-pecuniary but not prejudicial interest in agenda item 15 (Request for an Indemnity for Ryedale Citizens Advice Bureau) as Ryedale District Council's representative on the Ryedale CAB Board.
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Announcements To receive any announcements from the Chairman, the Leader and/or the Head of Paid Service. Minutes: The Chairman made the following announcements:
· That agenda item 13 (Proposed Joint Public Assets Board for York, North Yorkshire and East Riding) would be brought forward and dealt with after agenda item 8. · That he had been honoured to represent the Council at a number of excellent events over the past couple of months, including Yorkshire Day celebrations in Halifax and the Ryedale Show.
The Leader made the following announcement:
· To thank Phil Long, Corporate Director, for all his hard work over many years at his last meeting of Council before leaving.
The Chief Executive made the following announcement:
· That a response had been issued to the articles about bullying in the Yorkshire Post and the Mercury, and copies had been circulated to Members by email or in pigeonholes. |
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To Receive any Questions submitted by Members Pursuant to Council Procedure Rule 10.2 (Questions on Notice at Full Council) From Councillor Potter to the Leader of Council:
In September 2015 you and the Chief Executive signed the Annual Governance Statement. How many times in the next 9 months did you discuss this matter with the Chief Executive and what were the outcomes of your discussions?
From Councillor Potter to the Chair of Overview and Scrutiny:
Do you consider that the draft minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny meeting on the 28th July 2016 do justice to the questioning of the Audit Report or the Annual Governance Statement?
From Councillor Clark to the Leader of Council:
Do you agree with the Internal Auditors comments on Contract Management Corporate Arrangements and can you, as Leader, give an explanation as to how it has got into this 'state'? Minutes: 1. Councillor Potter submitted the following question: To Councillor Cowling, the Leader of the Council: “In September 2015 you and the Chief Executive signed the Annual Governance Statement. How many times in the next 9 months did you discuss this matter with the Chief Executive and what were the outcomes of your discussions?”
The Leader of the Council, Councillor Cowling replied “The annual governance statement is signed by the Chief Executive and myself in my role as Leader, in line with the requirements of the Code of Practice on Local Authority Accounting and it is a very important document in providing adequate controls within this Council. As a member of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee you will know that in its audit role the Committee has delegated responsibility to review the Council's corporate governance arrangements. An update was presented to your committee on 16 January, at which you were present I believe. In answer to your question, I do not keep a note of how often the Chief Executive and I discuss the annual governance statement. It is such an integral part of the everyday work of this Council, I doubt if we ever meet without touching on several areas that are covered by this document. I do, however, try to stick to my Member role which is policy and leave delivery to the Chief Executive."
Councillor Potter asked the following supplementary question: “Going back to what we were doing at Scrutiny, because we were looking at this quite recently, we pay a substantial amount of money for the auditors and I hope all Members agree that this is essential to assure us of sound financial management and scrupulously accurate budgets, which you might have seen from the minutes from earlier on, that I asked last time. This annual governance statement sets out written concerns of the auditors about Council performance, including contracts that are missing, no copies of contracts, service level agreements missing, audit actions not carried out for over two years, no corporate monitoring of contracts but one specific item that I noted from Scrutiny was that regarding our payroll agreement with City of York it said last year in agreed actions bi-monthly monitoring through the Management Team to continue to 2015/16 and beyond. So could I just ask that you confirm that you have at least 6 meetings in the last year to address these issues please?"
Councillor Cowling replied that: "I don't understand why you're asking me that. The Chief Executive and I meet far more than that, we've had far more than 6 meetings and I don't really think it's my role to be monitoring the actions in the action plan. That is for the Chief Executive and the Chief Financial Officer."
2. Councillor Potter submitted the following question: To Councillor Keal, Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee: “Do you consider that the draft minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny meeting on the 28th July 2016 do justice to the questioning ... view the full minutes text for item 31. |
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Business from the Last Council Meeting on 7 July 2016 Notices on Motion Submitted Pursuant to Council Procedure Rule 11
1. Proposed by Councillor Clark and seconded by Councillor Thornton.
The proposed 2020 programme will introduce very significant changes. These changes will impact on policies and the strategy of RDC. These changes will also impact on the residents of Ryedale. The voice of these people is represented on RDC by the elected councillors. Management of the options and changes is clearly the responsibility of the management at RDC. The options and changes themselves are the responsibility of the councillors.
In order to deliver the above Full Council, this calls for a minimum of 2 special Policy and Resource meetings.
Areas to be covered by first P and R meeting:
2. Proposed by Councillor Clark and seconded by Councillor Thornton.
The issue of bullying has been raised at Full Council on at least three occasions. There has been no satisfactory response from the ... view the full agenda text for item 32. Minutes: 1. It was moved by Councillor Clark and seconded by Councillor Thornton
"The proposed 2020 programme will introduce very significant changes. These changes will impact on policies and the strategy of RDC. These changes will also impact on the residents of Ryedale. The voice of these people is represented on RDC by the elected councillors. Management of the options and changes is clearly the responsibility of the management at RDC. The options and changes themselves are the responsibility of the councillors.
In order to deliver the above Full Council, this calls for a minimum of 2 special Policy and Resource meetings.
Areas to be covered by first P and R meeting:
Upon being put to the vote, the motion was lost.
Recorded Vote For Councillors Joy Andrews, Paul Andrews, Clark, Potter and Thornton.
Against Councillors Acomb, Steve Arnold, Val Arnold, Bailey, Cleary, Cowling, Cussons, Farnell, Frank, Gardiner, Goodrick, Hope, Ives, Jainu-Deen, ... view the full minutes text for item 32. |
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To Receive a Statement from the Leader of the Council and to Receive Questions and Give Answers on that Statement To follow. Supporting documents: Minutes: Councillor Cowling, the Leader of the Council, presented the following statement:
"I hope you have all had a good summer and been able to take in some of our local agricultural shows. We have a very diverse range of shows, which all provide a magnificent showcase for our food and farming industry, but I will have to single out the Ryedale show for special mention. It was fabulous - especially looking back on the history of the show. It was great to see the Duchess of Kent attend the show in its 150th year.
Following on with the agricultural theme, I am pleased that the Government has announced that it will continue to pay farm and other subsidies currently received from Brussels after Britain leaves the European Union until 2020 .
The £40million pound fund to help tourism is also very welcome and recognises the importance of tourism to our economy - tourism was worth in excess of 22billion pounds to the country last year.
The Treasury has also promised it will fully fund structural and investment funds, which are significant to our LEP area and our growth plans, which we have agreed in the Ryedale Economic Action Plan . This should be good news for the extension of Thornton Road Industrial Estate - which is one of the schemes which has been prioritised for progression through the application for Local Growth Deal funding.
We have quite a sizeable agenda tonight and I do not intend to talk at any great length. My last topic for tonight will be Ryedale District Council.
For more than 25 years now I've watched Ryedale develop into the successful and efficient organisation it now is. It never ceases to amaze me that every 4 years we have new Members who are prepared to put their heads above the parapet and give over their time to help make Ryedale a better place to live. Perhaps if they attended a few of our full Council meeting they would think twice.
But more than that I'm immensely proud of the staff of Ryedale District Council who continue to rise to the challenge of continuous change in order to deliver front line services to the residents of Ryedale. Their dedication and versatility is unbelievable. We are a very small organisation and many of us have known each other for many years. It makes me very sad to see Members of this Council accusing staff and Members of condoning bullying, abuse of powers of delegation and breaking the Council's Constitution. Because of the controls we have in place it would be almost impossible for this to happen without the knowledge of a considerable number of staff and Members. So it follows that Councillor Clark is accusing many of us, I've already said some of this but, that Members, if you really have knowledge of such incidents, is fully aware of the procedures to follow. I would say that he not only has a moral duty but a legal duty ... view the full minutes text for item 33. |
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To consider for Approval the Recommendations in respect of the following Part 'B' Committee Items: Planning Committee - 7 June 2016
Minute 5 - Ryedale Community Infrastructure Levy - Payment Instalment Policy (page 23)
Planning Committee - 2 August 2016
Minute 41 - Slingsby, South Holme and Fryton Design Statement (page 29)
Overview and Scrutiny Committee - 28 July 2016
Minute 22 - Counter Fraud Policy and Anti Money Laundering Policy (page 91) Supporting documents:
Minutes: Planning Committee - 7 June 2016
Minute 5 - Ryedale Community Infrastructure Levy - Payment Instalment Policy
It was moved by Councillor Windress and seconded by Councillor Oxley that the following recommendations of the Planning Committee be approved and adopted.
That Council be recommended to approve:
(i) The key elements of a CIL payment instalment policy as outlined in paragraph 6.5 of the report to Committee.
Upon being put to the vote the motion was carried.
Resolved
That Council approve:
(i) The key elements of a CIL payment instalment policy as outlined in paragraph 6.5 of the report to Committee.
Voting Record 21 For 0 Against 3 Abstentions
Planning Committee - 2 August 2016
Minute 41 - Slingsby, South Holme and Fryton Design Statement
It was moved by Councillor Windress and seconded by Councillor Cleary that the following recommendations of the Planning Committee be approved and adopted.
That Council be recommended to:
Adopt the Slingsby, South Holme and Fryton Village Design Statement as a Supplementary Planning Document.
Upon being put to the vote the motion was carried.
Resolved
That Council:
Adopt the Slingsby, South Holme and Fryton Village Design Statement as a Supplementary Planning Document.
Voting Record 24 For 0 Against 0 Abstentions
Overview and Scrutiny Committee - 28 July 2016
Minute 22 - Counter Fraud Policy and Anti Money Laundering Policy
It was moved by Councillor Acomb and seconded by Councillor Wainwright that the following recommendations of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee be approved and adopted.
That the updated Counter Fraud and Corruption Policy and Anti Money Laundering Policy be referred to Full Council with a recommendation for approval.
Upon being put to the vote the motion was carried.
Resolved
That Council approve:
The updated Counter Fraud and Corruption Policy and Anti Money Laundering Policy.
Voting Record 24 For 0 Against 0 Abstentions |
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Treasury Management Annual Report 2015-16 Supporting documents:
Minutes: The Finance Manager (s151) submitted a report (previously circulated) which presented the annual treasury management review of activities and the actual prudential and treasury indicators for 2015/16.
Councillor Keal moved and Councillor Acomb seconded the recommendations in the report.
Resolved
That Council:
(i) Note the annual treasury management report for 2015/16; and
(ii) Approve the actual 2015/16 prudential and treasury indicators in this report.
Voting Record 25 For 0 Against 0 Abstentions |
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Proposed Joint Public Assets Board for York, North Yorkshire and East Riding Supporting documents: Minutes: The Head of Economy and Infrastructure submitted a report (previously circulated) which considered a proposal from the York, North Yorkshire and East Riding LEP Infrastructure Board to also take on the role of Joint Public Assets Board for the York, North Yorkshire and East Riding LEP area.
Councillor Cowling moved and Councillor Steve Arnold seconded the recommendations in the report.
Resolved
That Ryedale District Council supports:
(i) the proposal for the LEP Infrastructure Board to take on the role of Joint Public Assets Board for the YNYER LEP area and become known as the LEP Infrastructure and Joint Assets Board: and
(ii) the draft terms of reference for the LEP Infrastructure and Joint Assets Board.
Voting Record 26 For 0 Against 1 Abstentions |
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Exempt Information That under Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended), the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item as there would be a likely disclosure of exempt information relating the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information). Minutes: Resolved
That under Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended), the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item as there would be a likely disclosure of exempt information relating the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).
Voting Record 23 For 0 Against 0 Abstentions |
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Request for an Indemnity for Ryedale Citizens Advice Bureau Supporting documents:
Minutes: The Chief Executive submitted a report (previously circulated) which presented a request for an indemnity from Ryedale Citizens Advice Bureau.
Councillor Cowling moved and Councillor Steve Arnold seconded the following motion:
“The Council agrees to indemnify RCAB, up to a maximum value of £20k, subject to an indemnity agreement clearly detailed as a written contract (a service level agreement)
1. The whole organisation to be restructured and definite plans to be put in place to merge with one or more CABs in the local area by 5th April 2017, in order to give a long term sustainable future for the CAB and to improve it's ability to attract funding. 2. Frontline services being maintained at 3 drop in sessions plus 1 in Pickering 3. RCAB is released from its obligation to have a paid charity worker if it is felt that this position can be filled by a volunteer.
And that a sum of £20k be ringfenced within the New Homes Bonus reserve as funding should the indemnity be required."
Upon being put to the vote, the motion was carried.
Resolved
That Councilagrees to indemnify RCAB, up to a maximum value of £20k, subject to an indemnity agreement clearly detailed as a written contract (a service level agreement)
1. The whole organisation to be restructured and definite plans to be put in place to merge with one or more CABs in the local area by 5th April 2017, in order to give a long term sustainable future for the CAB and to improve it's ability to attract funding. 2. Frontline services being maintained at 3 drop in sessions plus 1 in Pickering 3. RCAB is released from its obligation to have a paid charity worker if it is felt that this position can be filled by a volunteer.
And that a sum of £20k be ringfenced within the New Homes Bonus reserve as funding should the indemnity be required.
Voting Record 22 For 0 Against 1 Abstentions |
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Any other business that the Chairman decides is urgent. Minutes: There being no other business, the meeting closed at 10.12pm. |