Agenda and minutes

Venue: Online via the Zoom App.

Contact: Susan Howl, Democratic Services Manager  01395 517541; email  showl@eastdevon.gov.uk

Media

Items
No. Item

70.

Public speaking

Information on public speaking is available online

 

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed members of the public, Councillors and Honorary Aldermen to the second of East Devon District Council’s Extraordinary Virtual Council meetings on Thursday 28 May 2020. 

He explained that all participants were taking part remotely and the meeting was also being viewed online and recorded.

 

The Chairman then started the meeting by doing a roll call of everyone present, and then confirmed that the meeting was quorate.

 

During the meeting the public would be able to participate if they had pre-registered to speak, and the Chair would invite public speakers to participate in the meeting at the under item 1. 

 

One member of the public, Sally Galsworthy, had requested that a statement be read out at the meeting on her behalf. The statement was read out by one of the Democratic Services officers.

 

71.

Declarations of Interest

Guidance is available online to Councillors and co-opted members on making declarations of interest

 

 

Minutes:

There were no Declarations of Interest.

72.

Motion: to elect a Leader and receive the Leader's appointments

‘Following the resignation of Cllr Ben Ingham as the Leader that the Council elect a new Leader for the remainder of the civic year and that Council receive the Leader’s appointments of the Deputy Leader and the Cabinet and their Portfolios’.

Minutes:

The Chairman invited nominations for the role of Leader of the Council.

 

Councillor Eileen Wragg proposed Councillor Paul Arnott, saying a few words in support of her nomination.

Councillor Paul Hayward seconded the proposal for Councillor Paul Arnott.

 

The Chairman asked if there were any other nominations for the role of Leader.

 

Councillor Tom Wright proposed Councillor Andrew Moulding, saying a few words in support of his nomination.

Councillor Helen Parr seconded the proposal for Councillor Andrew Moulding.

 

The Chairman asked if there were any further nominations and received confirmation that there were none. He then invited comments from other Councillors before holding a vote.

Councillor Megan Armstrong asked for a recorded vote which was seconded.

 

The Chairman invited those present to vote for either Cllr Arnott or Cllr Moulding.

 

Just before the end of the recorded vote the Livestreaming via YouTube was taken down and could not be reconnected.

The meeting was adjourned, to be reconvened at the earliest opportunity. It was confirmed that notification would be made public on the EDDC website.

 

At the point when the meeting had to be formally adjourned due to the Livestreaming being taken down, the recorded vote was as follows:

 

Councillors Megan Armstrong, Paul Arnott, Jess Bailey, Denise Bickley, Sarah Chamberlain, Andrew Colman, Olly Davey, Cathy Gardner, Steve Gazzard, Paul Hayward, Nick Hookway, Sarah Jackson, Luke Jeffery, Vicky Johns, Geoff Jung, Fabian King, Dan Ledger, John Loudoun, Dawn Manley, Tony McCollum, Kathy McLauchlan, Paul Millar, Geoff Pratt, Val Ranger, Marianne Rixson, Jack Rowland, Eleanor Rylance, Brenda Taylor, Joe Whibley, Tony Woodward, - voted in favour of Councillor Paul Arnott – 30.

 

Councillor Mike Allen, Dean Barrow, Colin Brown, Fred Caygill, Maddy Chapman, Iain Chubb, Bruce De Saram, Alan Dent, Ian Hall, Marcus Hartnell, Mike Howe, Stuart Hughes, Ben Ingham,  David Key, Andrew Moulding, Helen Parr, Christopher Pepper, Philip Skinner, Phil Twiss, – voted in favour of Councillor Moulding – 19.

Councillors Kevin Blakey, Kim Bloxham, Susie Bond, Peter Faithfull, Sam Hawkins, Paul Jarvis, Geoff Pook, Ian Thomas, abstained – 8.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 18.45pm and reconvened at 11.00am 29 May 2020.

The Chairman welcomed back members of the public and Councillors to East Devon District Council’s reconvened Extraordinary Council meeting commenced on Thursday 28 May 2020, but adjourned due to the live-stream being taken down on YouTube. 

He confirmed that the meeting was quorate with over 15 members in attendance.

 

He explained that all participants were taking part remotely and the meeting was being viewed online and recorded. 

In the event of a break in the internet connection or a power cut attempts would be made to reconnect, but if this could not be done after 15 minutes the meeting would be adjourned and reconvened at a later date, in which case, there would be details on the committee page on the EDDC website.

 

The Chairman reiterated the need for Cllrs to make sure all microphones were muted when they were not speaking to avoid any background noise or inappropriate comments.

He went on to explain that as this may have been the reason why the meeting had to be adjourned the previous evening (28 May), he wanted to ask Cllr Tom Wright to address the meeting.

 

Cllr Tom Wright gave a full apology to the Council and the public for his use of inappropriate language during the Council meeting on 28th May, and the fact that it had caused the meeting to be disconnected from YouTube.

 

The Chairman thanked Cllr Wright and as the Chairman also sincerely apologised on behalf of East Devon District Council to members of the public who were watching yesterday and experienced this unfortunate incident.

 

He then proposed that Council return to the business that was being conducted prior to the meetings adjournment.

 

The Chairman confirmed that prior to the adjournment of the meeting on 28 May, three votes remained to be cast by those present at the meeting, during the recorded vote being held to elect either Councillor Paul Arnott or Councillor Andrew Moulding as Leader of the Council.

 

He invited Councillors Eileen Wragg, Chris Wright and Tom Wright to vote accordingly, and the results was as follows;

 

Recorded vote:

Councillors Megan Armstrong, Paul Arnott, Jess Bailey, Denise Bickley, Sarah Chamberlain, Andrew Colman, Olly Davey, Cathy Gardner, Steve Gazzard, Paul Hayward, Nick Hookway, Sarah Jackson, Luke Jeffery, Vicky Johns, Geoff Jung, Fabian King, Dan Ledger, John Loudoun, Dawn Manley, Tony McCollum, Kathy McLauchlan, Paul Millar, Geoff Pratt, Val Ranger, Marianne Rixson, Jack Rowland, Eleanor Rylance, Brenda Taylor, Joe Whibley, Tony Woodward, Eileen Wragg, Chris Wright- voted in favour of Councillor Paul Arnott – 32.

 

Councillor Mike Allen, Dean Barrow, Colin Brown, Fred Caygill, Maddy Chapman, Iain Chubb, Bruce De Saram, Alan Dent, Ian Hall, Marcus Hartnell, Mike Howe, Stuart Hughes, Ben Ingham,  David Key, Andrew Moulding, Helen Parr, Christopher Pepper, Philip Skinner, Phil Twiss, Tom Wright – voted in favour of Councillor Moulding – 20.

Councillors Kevin Blakey, Kim Bloxham, Susie Bond, Peter Faithfull, Sam Hawkins, Paul Jarvis, Geoff Pook, Ian Thomas, abstained – 8.

 

The Chairman confirmed that following the vote, the Leader of the Council was Councillor Paul Arnott.

He called on the new Leader to say a few words and to confirm his appointment of the Deputy Leader and the Cabinet and portfolios.

 

Cllr Arnott thanked those members who had voted for him and said that he hoped to introduce a new era of strong leadership and a cooperative approach to working across all political groups, without any silo working.

 

He confirmed that the Deputy Leader would be Councillor Eileen Wragg.

 

He went on to confirm his appointments to Cabinet and that he would be introducing three critical new portfolio roles.

 

Corporate Services & CO-VID 19 Response & Recovery – Portfolio Holder -Cllr Jess Bailey.

Climate Action - Portfolio Holder – Cllr Marianne Rixson, Portfolio Assistant – Cllr Denise Bickley.

 

Democracy & (Accountability) Transparency - Portfolio Holder – Cllr Paul Millar, Portfolio Assistant – Cllr Sarah Jackson.

 

Economy & Assets - Portfolio Holder – Cllr Paul Hayward, Portfolio Assistant – Cllr Geoff Pratt

 

Coast, Country & Environment - Portfolio Holder – Cllr Geoff Jung, Portfolio Assistant – Cllr Eleanor Rylance.

 

Finance - Portfolio Holder – Cllr Jack Rowland, Portfolio Assistant – Cllr John Loudon.

 

Strategic (Planning) Development - Portfolio Holder – Cllr Dan Ledger.

 

Sustainable Homes & Communities - Portfolio Holder – Cllr Megan Armstrong

 

The Chairman brought the meeting to an end at 11.26am and thanked everyone, including any members of the public watching online, for taking part and extended again his sincere apologies on behalf of East Devon District Council for the incident leading to the need to adjourn and reconvene the meeting.