Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Brackstone and Docwra.

There were no public questions.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of Council held on 10 October 2019 and the minutes of the Extraordinary Meeting of Council held on 14 October 2019.

The minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of Council held on 10 October 2019 were presented.

Resolved

That the minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of Council held on 10 October 2019 and 14 October 2019 be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

The minutes of the Extraordinary Meeting of Council held on 14 October 2019 were presented.

Resolved

That the minutes of the Extraordinary Meeting of Council held 14 October 2019 be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record

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.

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.

The Chairman advised that the declarations of all members of North Yorkshire County Council would be taken as given.

The following interests were declared:

Councillors Clark, Cleary, Cussons and Hope declared a personal non-pecuniary but not prejudicial interest in Item 10b as users or former users of the Cattle Market in Malton and Councillor Raines declared a personal non-pecuniary but not prejudicial interest in Item 10b as owner of a business in the vicinity of the Cattle Market in Malton.

Councillor Paul Andrews declared a personal pecuniary and prejudicial interest in item 9 as the Chair of the Milton Rooms Management Committee.

To receive any announcements from the Chairman, the Leader and/or the Head of Paid Service.

The Chairman had no announcements.

“What do you believe will be the environmental and health impacts of 5G in Ryedale?”

To Councillor Duncan, Leader of the Council from Councillor Clark::

1.         Councillor Clark submitted the following question:

“What do you believe will be the environmental and health impacts of 5G in Ryedale?”

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Duncan replied

“It is too early to provide a full answer to this question, because at this stage we have not received any specific development proposal related to 5G, and any case would need to be assessed on its individual merits.  However, for general guidance:

Environmental impact:  As/when we receive a proposal we would need to consider what constitutes environmental impact, and how best to benchmark and measure this.  At present we often assess visual/landscape issues when considering applications for telecoms development – as does the National Park, which is the local planning authority for a large part of Northern Ryedale. However, it has been suggested that Veritau undertake a piece of work to help us to understand how other Councils are putting measures around environmental issues, which would help to inform our own approach.

Health impact:  When a development is proposed, the proposal is accompanied by a variety of technical information including an ICNIRP certificate.  (ICNIRP stands for International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection).  This is a document which the applicant must produce to state that the installation is designed to operate within what the Government and the International Commission considers to be safe limits in relation to radiation issues.  A development would not proceed without the ICNIRP to confirm it meets health considerations.”

“With reference to the potential cattle market site at Riggs Road:

1.    What enabling development was agreed by RDC with the Fitzwilliam Trust Corporation (FTC) in return for their offer of land for a cattle market?

2.    How many separate sites and how many hectares of land were involved in this enabling development?

3.    What is the approximate value of that land as:

i.              In its original planning status

ii.             Development / building land

4.    What was the additional planning gain collectively from those enabling developments, other than the offer of land for the cattle market, in terms of S106, CIL or any other agreements?”

To Councillor Duncan, Leader of Council, from Councillor Potter.

2.            Councillor Potter submitted the following question:

“With reference to the potential cattle market site at Riggs Road:

1. What enabling development was agreed by RDC with the Fitzwilliam Trust Corporation (FTC) in return for their offer of land for a cattle market?

2. How many separate sites and how many hectares of land were involved in this enabling development?

3. What is the approximate value of that land as:

i.  In its original planning status

ii.  Development / building land

4. What was the additional planning gain collectively from those enabling developments, other than the offer of land for the cattle market, in terms of S106, CIL or any other agreements?”

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Duncan replied:

1 The FTC did not make an offer of land to anyone for a cattle market.  The Malton Cluster applications that were submitted identified an area that could accommodate a livestock market and agri-business as part of the larger commercial development at Eden Camp.  However that land was not gifted to anyone as part of the planning permission.

2. Four applications were submitted in 2014 on four separate sites.  These were:

Reference 14/00426/MOUTE commercial development at Eden Camp (17.8 hectares total) - including a substantial surface water drainage facility.

Reference 14/00427/MOUTE.  Outline pp for circa 227 dwellings at The Showfield Pasture Lane Malton (Circa 11.9 hectares)

Reference 14/00428/MOUTE. Outline pp for circa 35 dwellings on land south of Westgate Old Malton (Approximately 2.0 ha). Note part of this site was the former highway depot and derelict Coronation farm yard)

Reference 14/00429/MOUTE. Outline pp for 50 affordable dwellings Rainbow Lane, Malton (Circa 3.4 ha) All of the dwellings on this site are affordable and the site is being developed by Broadacres.

There is a detailed S106 agreement that relates to all four applications which was finally agreed in March 2015. The content of the agreement is publicly available and can be viewed online.

3. This is commercially sensitive and can be shared with Members privately, if required.

4. In terms of planning gain/ developer contributions these are set out in full in the S106.  We had not adopted CIL at this point and there are no other agreements in place that involve the Council.  In summary:

·         The main S106 contributions cover education, POS and Highways contributions towards Brambling Fields

·         The three residential sites make contributions to Education at a rate of £3399/ dwelling for primary education and £1338/dwelling for secondary education.

·         Highways contributions are £30k for the Rainbow Lane and Old Malton Sites, £172.5k for the Showfield site and £150k for the commercial development at Eden Camp

·         POS contributions are £38,170 from  the Old Malton Site and £165k from the Showfield site

The S106 does of course also include a sum of £1,019m towards the provision of a new livestock market and associated infrastructure- again this is set out clearly in the S106 agreement.

Councillor Potter then made the following statement:

The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 66.

Councillor Duncan, the Leader of the Council, presented the following statement:

“This is our last Full Council meeting of 2019 - and what a year it has been. We have had an election, seen familiar faces go and new ones take their places. We also started to make progress on some of the key issues in need of attention.

Tonight’s meeting covers some of those issues, and there will be plenty of chance for debate and discussion on them. Therefore, I would like to use this pre-Christmas statement instead to give a festive message.

I would like to say thank you to those who will be working over Christmas, the staff of this council and those working for other authorities, charity organisations and the emergency services. We won’t notice their work, but are safe in the knowledge they are there if we need them. Let us also remember those less fortunate than ourselves, in Ryedale and elsewhere, on Christmas Day.

And finally - thank you to all of you, the members of the council, who in the past few months have stepped up to deal with the extra workload demanded from us. I hope new members have enjoyed their first months on the council, and those who have been around a little longer are still (just about) enjoying the role.

Merry Christmas - and let’s hope we have a prosperous 2020.

The following questions were received on the Leader’s Statement:

1.    From Councillor Burr

“Following the May election and regarding your notice of motion tonight re wording, coalition can you confirm is there now an official coalition in this Council between the Conservative party and the Ryedale First Independents, as it is in the agenda tonight re the Notice of Motion? And my second question is while you are thanking the people in your statement, could we also give a thought to the desperate people who are actually using our food banks in Norton, Malton and Pickering and thank the volunteers who work there. Whilst no one should be subject to using food banks, could I ask for your commitment as our Leader to write to whoever is elected as our Prime Minister that we are very concerned the numbers of people using our food banks is growing and this needs urgent attention for that to reduce?”

The Leader replied:

“Thank you for your questions, none of which relate to the statement that is before us however I am happy to answer the questions that you have put forward. The first one regarding food banks I would very much like to say well done and thank you to all of the volunteers that work at the food banks within Ryedale and in particular to my colleague Cllr Mackenzie who, as people may know, is a key volunteer at the food banks in Ryedale and does a lot of good work so particularly well done to him and also the team that he works with. He spent a lot of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 67.

To consider a resolution to exclude the press and public from the meeting during any discussion of the contents of the reports relating to the following item as provided by paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972.

The public interest test has been considered and, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption is considered to outweigh the public interest in disclosing the information.

Resolved       

That under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 that the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item as there will be a likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 3 of Schedule 12A of the Act as the information provided relates to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).

Recorded vote

For: Councillors J Andrews, Arnold, Bailey, Clark, Cleary, Cussons, Delaney, Frank, Garbutt Moore, Goodrick, Graham, Hope, King, Keal, Middleton, Oxley, Potter, Raper, Wass and Windress

Against: Councillor P Andrews

Abstention: Councillors Burr, Duncan, Keal, Mason, Raine and Thackray

It was moved by Councillor Duncan and seconded by Councillor Garbutt Moore that the following recommendations be approved and adopted.

That Council be recommended to approve:

That Ryedale District Council:

(1)     Does not take a direct, investment role in the construction of a new livestock market, nor in the development of the Eden Business Park;

(2)     Supports the retention of a livestock market facility in the district and the development of the Eden Business Park;

(3)     Engages with and supports partners to create viable proposals that can be delivered on a commercial basis.

Councillor Clark moved and Councillor J Andrews seconded the following amendment:

“This Council looks further into the basic cattle market scheme as the centre part of a “Food Hub” for Ryedale including café and abattoir.

Upon being put to the vote the amendment was carried.

Recorded vote

For: Councillors J Andrews, Arnold, Burr, Clark, Cussons, Frank, Hope, Keal, Mason, Potter, Raine, Raper, Thackray, Wass and Windress.

Against: Councillors Cleary, Delaney, Duncan, Garbutt Moore, Goodrick, Graham, King, Mackenzie, Middleton, Oxley and Riby

Abstentions: Councillor Bailey

Upon being put to the vote the substantive motion was carried.

Resolved

This Council looks further into the basic cattle market scheme as the centre part of a “Food Hub” for Ryedale including café and abattoir.

Recorded vote

For: Councillors J Andrews, Arnold, Burr, Clark, Cussons, Frank, Hope, Keal, Mason, Potter, Raine, Raper, Thackray, Wass and Windress.

Against: Councillors Cleary, Delaney, Duncan, Garbutt Moore, Goodrick, Graham, King, Mackenzie, Middleton and Oxley

Abstentions: Councillors Bailey and Riby

It was moved by Councillor Duncan and seconded by Councillor Arnold that the following recommendations be approved and adopted.

That Council be recommended to approve:

a.  That Council be asked to note the content of Appendix 1 of the report which formed the basis of the Council’s Financial Strategy. The details in the document had been updated since being presented in October to Full Council

b.  That Council be asked to consider and approve the proposed consultation with the public, as set out in Appendix 2.

Upon being put to the vote the motion was carried.

Resolved

That Council approve:

a.     That the content of Appendix 1 of the report which formed the basis of the Council’s Financial Strategy be noted. The details in the document had been updated since being presented in October to Full Council

b.     The proposed consultation with the public, as set out in Appendix 2.

Voting Record

Unanimous

It was moved by Councillor Duncan and seconded by Councillor Arnold that the following recommendations be approved and adopted.

That Council be recommended to approve:

That the report be noted.

Upon being put to the vote the motion was carried.

Resolved

That Council approve:

That the report be noted.

Voting Record

Unanimous

Councillor P Andrews left the meeting at 7.30 pm following consideration of this item.

It was moved by Councillor Duncan and seconded by Councillor Arnold that the following recommendations be approved and adopted.

That Council be recommended to approve:

(i)           A Local Council Tax Support Scheme for 2020/21 which simplifies the existing Council Tax Support Scheme with the following changes:- 

(a) Increase Maximum Eligible Council Tax of support from 91.5% to 100%;

(b) Introduce an income ‘grid’ scheme for all working age applicants replacing the current means tested approach;

(c) Simplify the claiming process for all applicants who receive Universal Credit

(d) Reduce the capital limit to £6,000;

(e) Remove non-dependent deductions;

(f) Limit the number of dependent children used in the calculation to two;

(g) Remove the current earnings disregards and replace with standard disregards;

(h) Disregard £25 of Carers Allowance;

(i) Remove Registered Child Minders who are self-employed from the Minimum Income Floor;

(j) Make all changes of circumstances apply on a daily basis and

(ii)          Authorise the Section 151 Officer in consultation with the Chairman of Policy and Resources Committee to undertake the necessary consultation work to design a scheme for 2021/22, in light of the experience in 2020/21, to be presented to Policy and Resources Committee in November 2020.

Councillor Clark moved and Councillor J Andrews seconded the following amendment:

“Delete (f)”

Upon being put to the vote the amendment was lost.

Recorded vote

For: Councillors J Andrews, Burr, Clark, Keal, Mason, Potter, Raine, Riby, Thackray and Wass.

Against: Bailey, Cleary, Delaney, Duncan, Frank, Garbutt Moore, Goodrick, Graham, Hope, King, Mackenzie, Middleton, Oxley, Raper and Windress

Abstentions: Councillor Arnold and Cussons,

Upon being put to the vote the motion was carried.

Resolved

That Council approve:

(i)            A Local Council Tax Support Scheme for 2020/21 which simplifies the existing Council Tax Support Scheme with the following changes:- 

(a) Increase Maximum Eligible Council Tax of support from 91.5% to 100%;

(b) Introduce an income ‘grid’ scheme for all working age applicants replacing the current means tested approach;

(c) Simplify the claiming process for all applicants who receive Universal Credit

(d) Reduce the capital limit to £6,000;

(e) Remove non-dependent deductions;

(f) Limit the number of dependent children used in the calculation to two;

(g) Remove the current earnings disregards and replace with standard disregards;

(h) Disregard £25 of Carers Allowance;

(i) Remove Registered Child Minders who are self-employed from the Minimum Income Floor;

(j) Make all changes of circumstances apply on a daily basis and

(ii)          Authorise the Section 151 Officer in consultation with the Chairman of Policy and Resources Committee to undertake the necessary consultation work to design a scheme for 2021/22, in light of the experience in 2020/21, to be presented to Policy and Resources Committee in November 2020.

Voting Record

17 For

15 Against

2 Abstentions

It was moved by Councillor Duncan and seconded by Councillor Arnold that the following recommendations be approved and adopted.

That Council be recommended to approve:

The re-admittance of Scarborough Borough Council into Veritau North Yorkshire Ltd subject to satisfying the Director of Finance and Commercial (s151 Officer) that all the necessary shareholder approvals from other Councils and the satisfactory conclusion of due diligence checks have been obtained.

Upon being put to the vote the motion was carried.

Resolved

That Council approve:

The re-admittance of Scarborough Borough Council into Veritau North Yorkshire Ltd subject to satisfying the Director of Finance and Commercial (s151 Officer) that all the necessary shareholder approvals from other Councils and the satisfactory conclusion of due diligence checks have been obtained.

Voting Record

Unanimous

It was moved by Councillor Duncan and seconded by Councillor Wass that the following recommendations be approved and adopted.

That Council be recommended to approve that:

               i.        Members receive this report; and

              ii.        The mid-year performance of the in-house managed funds to date is noted.

            iii.        Members note the update regarding NYCC Treasury services and sweeping.

Upon being put to the vote the motion was carried.

Resolved

That Council approve that:

              i.          Members receive this report; and

            ii.          The mid-year performance of the in-house managed funds to date is noted.

           iii.          Members note the update regarding NYCC Treasury services and sweeping.

Voting Record

24 For

2 Abstentions

“This council tasks the Head of Paid Service to update and amend the constitution to reflect the following:

Leader

•         The Annual Council Meeting will appoint a Councillor to be the Leader of the Council for theMunicipal Year

•         The Annual Council Meeting will also appoint the Leader to be a member of the Policy & Resources Committee and to act as itsChairman

•         The Leaderwill:

•         be the Chairman of the Policy & ResourcesCommittee;

•         provide overall strategic vision and direction to the council;

•         coordinate the work of the council’scommittees;

•         work closely with the Head of Paid Service to ensure member priorities aredelivered;

•         act externally as the council’s main politicalrepresentative;

•         and be the council’s main spokesman in themedia

Deputy Leader

•         The Annual Council Meeting will appoint a Councillor to be the Deputy Leader of theCouncil

•         The Annual Council Meeting will also appoint the Deputy Leader to be a member of the Policy& Resources Committee and to act as its ViceChairman

•         The Deputy Leaderwill:

•         be Vice Chairman of the Policy & ResourcesCommittee;

•         work closely with and support theLeader;

•         act and speak on the Leader’s behalf at meetings and in the media when required to doso

Lead Members

•         The Leader and Deputy Leader will serve as Lead Members, each with a LeadPortfolio

•         The Annual Council Meeting will appoint up to three other Lead Members, each with a Lead Portfolio relating to areas of council policy, for the Municipal Year

•         The Annual Council Meeting will agree the portfolio areas for each Lead Member and appoint the Lead Members to be members of the Policy & Resources Committee

•         Lead Memberswill:

•         provide political oversight and leadership of their portfolio area;

•         provide collective oversight and leadership of the authority;

•         act as a public spokesman for their portfolioarea;

•         present relevant reports, as required, to the Policy & Resources Committee andCouncil;

•         and be answerable to the Policy & Resources Committee and Council for service performancein their portfolio areas

•         The “Administration” of the Council, therefore, comprises the Leader, Deputy Leader and Lead Members, who are drawn from all, or part of, the controlling group’s or controlling coalition’s membership of the Policy & ResourcesCommittee

Member Champions

•         Subject to the ongoing review into Member Champions, the Annual Council Meeting may appoint Member Champions responsible for promoting general themes in a non-partisan manner.

Committees

The council will continue to operate under non-executive arrangements i.e. ‘the committee system’, with no individual member wielding executive power.

It will have the following committees:

•         Policy & Resources Committee with power to establish an Appeals Sub-Committee andan Appointments Sub-Committee

•      Overview & ScrutinyCommittee

•      Planning Committee

•      Licensing Committee with power to establish a LicensingSub-Committee

•      Audit, Governance & Standards Committee to carry out the Audit Committee andCorporate Governance Standards Committee functions currently exercised by the Overview & Scrutiny Committee  ...  view the full agenda text for item 75a

Proposed by Councillor Duncan and seconded by Councillor Arnold:

 “This council tasks the Head of Paid Service to update and amend the constitution to reflect the following:

Leader

•          The Annual Council Meeting will appoint a Councillor to be the Leader of the Council for the Municipal Year

•          The Annual Council Meeting will also appoint the Leader to be a member of the Policy & Resources Committee and to act as its Chairman

•          The Leader will:

•        be the Chairman of the Policy & Resources Committee;

•        provide overall strategic vision and direction to the council;

•        coordinate the work of the council’s committees;

•        work closely with the Head of Paid Service to ensure member priorities are delivered;

•        act externally as the council’s main political representative;

•        and be the council’s main spokesman in the media

Deputy Leader

•          The Annual Council Meeting will appoint a Councillor to be the Deputy Leader of the Council

•          The Annual Council Meeting will also appoint the Deputy Leader to be a member of the Policy& Resources Committee and to act as its Vice Chairman

•          The Deputy Leader will:

•        be Vice Chairman of the Policy & Resources Committee;

•        work closely with and support the Leader;

•        act and speak on the Leader’s behalf at meetings and in the media when required to do so

Lead Members

•          The Leader and Deputy Leader will serve as Lead Members, each with a Lead Portfolio

•          The Annual Council Meeting will appoint up to three other Lead Members, each with a Lead Portfolio relating to areas of council policy, for the Municipal Year

•          The Annual Council Meeting will agree the portfolio areas for each Lead Member and appoint the Lead Members to be members of the Policy & Resources Committee

•          Lead Members will:

•        provide political oversight and leadership of their portfolio area;

•        provide collective oversight and leadership of the authority;

•        act as a public spokesman for their portfolio area;

•        present relevant reports, as required, to the Policy & Resources Committee and Council;

•        and be answerable to the Policy & Resources Committee and Council for service performance in their portfolio areas

•          The “Administration” of the Council, therefore, comprises the Leader, Deputy Leader and Lead Members, who are drawn from all, or part of, the controlling group’s or controlling coalition’s membership of the Policy & Resources Committee

Member Champions

•          Subject to the ongoing review into Member Champions, the Annual Council Meeting may appoint Member Champions responsible for promoting general themes in a non-partisan manner.

Committees

The council will continue to operate under non-executive arrangements i.e. ‘the committee system’, with no individual member wielding executive power.

It will have the following committees:

•          Policy & Resources Committeewith power to establish an Appeals Sub-Committee and an Appointments Sub-Committee

•          Overview & Scrutiny  Committee

•          Planning Committee

•          Licensing Committeewith power to establish a Licensing Sub-Committee

•          Audit, Governance & Standards Committeeto carry out the Audit Committee and Corporate Governance Standards Committee  ...  view the full minutes text for item 75a

For the Independent Group:

On Policy and Resources Committee –

Councillor Burr to replace Councillor Riby

Councillor Riby to become a substitute

On Planning Committee –

Councillor Riby to replace Councillor Burr

Councillor Burr to become a substitute

It was moved by Councillor Burr and seconded by Councillor Thackray that the following recommendations be approved and adopted.

That Council be recommended to approve the following changes to committee membership:

On Policy and Resources Committee

Councillor Burr to replace Councillor Riby

Councillor Riby to become a substitute

On Planning Committee

Councillor Riby to replace Councillor Burr

Councillor Burr to become a substitute

Upon being put to the vote the motion was carried.

Resolved

That Council approve:

The following changes to committee membership:

On Policy and Resources Committee

Councillor Burr to replace Councillor Riby

Councillor Riby to become a substitute

On Planning Committee–

Councillor Riby to replace Councillor Burr

Councillor Burr to become a substitute

Voting Record

18 For

8 Against

1 Abstentions

There being no items of urgent business, the meeting closed at 9.55 pm.