Agenda and minutes

Venue: The Ocean Suite, Ocean, Queens Drive, Exmouth EX8 2AY

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

Items
No. Item

1.

Election of Chair of the Council for the ensuing year

The Chair will ask for nominations for the Office of Chair of the Council for the ensuing Civic Year.

(The Chair, if nominated, may not vote on their own election).

Minutes:

The Chair, Cllr Ian Thomas, welcomed those present to East Devon District Council’s Annual Council meeting on 19th May 2022.  In the absence of the Vice Chair, Cllr Val Ranger, he invited Cllr Sam Hawkins to act in this role.

 

Before commencing the meeting he reminded those present that the Council was holding the meeting at the Ocean Suite in Exmouth in keeping with the current legal position for Local Authority meetings, which required it to meet physically to hold the Annual Council meeting to appoint the Chair and Vice Chair, the Leader and determine the Governance arrangements and appointments for the coming Civic Year. It was also meeting at this venue in order to continue to meet safely and with due regard to those who have ongoing concerns about their health or that of their colleagues.

 

He then invited nominations for the office of Chair of the Council for the ensuing year. Councillor Chris Wright proposed and Councillor Jess Bailey seconded Councillor Ian Thomas being elected Chair of the Council for the coming civic year.

In proposing, Councillor Wright spoke of Councillor Thomas’s integrity and fair approach across the political divide. He acted professionally and ensured business was done in person or via Zoom and was an active face to residents and organisations across the District.

In seconding, Councillor Bailey said that Cllr Thomas had been an excellent Chair over the past year and always struck the right balance between being firm and fair. 

 

Cllr Thomas asked for other nominations.

 

There were no other nominations so Cllr Thomas invited members to confirm the re-appointment of himself, Cllr Thomas as the Chair of Council.

 

Following a vote by show of hands, Cllr Thomas was duly elected by a majority of those present.

 

 

RESOLVED

that Councillor Ian Thomas be elected Chair of the Council for the ensuing year.

 

Following the election, Councillor Thomas read, and signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office.

He then thanked his proposer and seconder and other Members for their endorsement, and for attending the meeting at Ocean. 

 

 

 

 

 

2.

Appointment of Vice Chair of the Council for the ensuing year

The Chair will ask for nominations for the appointment of the Vice-Chair of the Council for the ensuing year.

Minutes:

The Chair invited nominations for the appointment of Vice-Chair of the Council for the ensuing year.

 

Councillor Eleanor Rylance proposed and Councillor Olly Davey seconded Councillor Val Ranger being appointed to continue as Vice-Chair of the Council for the coming civic year.

 

In proposing, Councillor Rylance stated that Cllr Ranger chaired fairly and had been an excellent support to Cllr Thomas as Chair over the last year. She said the she was the embodiment of the Nolan principles, and would have been present at the meeting if the date had not had to be changed.

In seconding, Councillor Davey stated that Councillor Ranger was always well prepared for meetings, that she had an incisive mind and a keen eye for detail. She would be an excellent Vice Chair.

 

The Chair invited further nominations.

 

There were no other nominations.

 

Following a vote by show of hands, Councillor Ranger was duly elected by a majority of those present.

 

RESOLVED

that Councillor Val Ranger be appointed Vice-Chair of the Council for the ensuing year.

 

 

3.

Public Speaking

This is a period of 15 minutes during which members of the public are permitted to address Council. In order to register to speak, you will need to provide:

 

· your name;

· contact email (if you have one);

· contact phone number;

· brief information about your question or statement.

 

If you wish to ask a question, or make a statement, on any issue, at a meeting please register by emailing publicspeaking@eastdevon.gov.uk or by telephoning 01395 519970, providing the detail set out above, at least 24 hours before the start time of the meeting. If successful in registering, you will be contacted by a member of the Democratic Services Team who will provide more detail about how the meeting will be run.

Minutes:

The Chair welcomed members of the public and invited questions or comments.

 

There were no members of the public wishing to speak.

 

4.

Minutes of the previous Council meeting pdf icon PDF 388 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Following a vote of those present, the minutes of the meeting of the Full Council held on 20th April 2022, and the Extraordinary meeting of Council on 3rd May 2022 were agreed as a true record.

 

5.

Declarations of interest

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

 

Minutes:

No declarations were announced.

 

6.

Matters of urgency

Information on matters of urgency is available online

 

Minutes:

There were no urgent items.

7.

Confidential/exempt item(s)

To agree any items to be dealt with after the public (including the Press) have been excluded. Thereare no itemswhich officersrecommendshould be dealtwithin thisway.

 

Minutes:

There were none.

8.

Announcements from the Chair

Minutes:

The Chair made three brief announcements.

Firstly he thanked all Members who had installed Jubilee Oak Plaques as a gift from EDDC to local Towns and Parishes, and stated that all remaining plaques were available for collection from The Ocean Suite at this Annual Council Meeting. He reiterated that it would be good to ensure that all plaques were installed either before or during the Platinum Jubilee Weekend, as part of a well-received initiative across East Devon.

 

Secondly, he gave a brief update on the Ukrainian Refugee situation. EDDC were continuing to work collaboratively with DCC and other Devon districts to deliver the role that the Government had prescribed for local authorities in the effort to provide safe refuge for people fleeing the invasion of Ukraine.

As part of the Governments Homes for Ukraine Scheme, the Council was continuing to carry out accommodation checks on the suitability of properties across the District, with 56 inspections completed and a further 29 visits booked. To date it was aware of approximately 95 arrangements in East Devon with sponsor or Host families, which would translate into about 300 Ukrainian guests.

The Revenue and Benefits team were continuing to administer subsistence payments to refugees and sponsor households, and payments had been made to 67 individuals and 28 households. 22 Host families have applied for the monthly support payments.

Within the coming few days EDDC would be finalising its offer of welcome support and ongoing support for Ukrainians and sponsor families, having been working with the East Devon branch of CAB on this and would be commissioning them to provide the support required. Cabinet have been consulted on the details of this arrangement and how it is intended to be managed.

EDDC would also be providing support to the newly established’ ‘Devon for Ukraine’ Charity, which would be provided in a few ways as the Charity was already assisting people from East Devon and EDDC is keen to ensure they were able to continue to do so. The Charity have established a pop up ‘Conversation Café’ in Exeter and members of the existing Ukrainian community were pro-actively supporting and running this. This was creating a useful ‘hub’ where support services could also base themselves in order to provide support on a wider scale to those that need it.

EDDC visited the Conversation Café this week and took the opportunity to thank the charity for the outstanding work they were undertaking to help sponsors and Ukrainians who were in East Devon.

There is continuing concern about the breakdown of sponsorship arrangements and the housing team were working closely with the County and others to establish a process for re-matching Ukrainians with alternative hosts, recognising the need to do everything we could to prevent homelessness approaches although inevitability this was predicted over the coming weeks/months.

 

Finally, in relation to former Cllr John Humphreys. The Chair said that nobody would forget the shock of hearing that former East Devon District Councillor, John Humphries had been convicted and sentenced  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

9.

Election of leader of the Council for the ensuing year

Minutes:

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

 

Councillor Dan Ledger proposed Councillor Paul Arnott as Leader of the Council for the ensuing year. This proposal was seconded by Councillor Brenda Taylor.

 

In proposing, Councillor Ledger spoke about how Cllr Arnott had introduced greater transparency, facilitated joint working, such as required by the joint infrastructure plan, and had been at the forefront of Council change.  He had focussed on all areas across the district, including Cranbrook.

 

In seconding, Councillor Taylor said that Cllr Arnott would continue to provide good leadership over the ensuing year.

 

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

 

There were no other nominations.

 

Following a vote by show of hands, Councillor Arnott was duly elected by a majority of those present.

 

RESOLVED

that Councillor Paul Arnott be elected as Leader of the Council for the ensuing year 2022-23.

 

In response to his election, Councillor Arnott thanked his proposer and seconder, and all those supporting his nomination.

 

 

10.

Leader's appointment of the Deputy Leader of the Council

Minutes:

The Leader confirmed his appointment of Councillor Paul Hayward as Deputy Leader of the Council going forward.

 

In response to his appointment Councillor Hayward said that he was delighted to accept the role for another year.

 

11.

Leader's appointment to Cabinet

The Leader will recommend the Cabinet members to act as Portfolio Holders.

Minutes:

The Leader thanked the Chair and Vice Chair for the measured approach that they had adopted in their roles over the past year, dealing with some of the worst challenges facing Local Government.

 

He went on to advise the Members of Cabinet, namely;

 

Councillor Paul Hayward to be the Economy & Assets Portfolio Holder, and Councillor Geoff Pratt to be Assistant Portfolio Holder.

 

Councillor Marianne Rixson to be the Climate Action & Emergency Portfolio Holder, and Councillor Denise Bickley to be Assistant Portfolio Holder.

 

Councillor Geoff Jung to be the Coast, Country & Environment Portfolio Holder, and Councillor Eleanor Rylance to be Assistant Portfolio Holder. 

 

Councillor John Loudoun to be the Council & Corporate Coordination Portfolio Holder, and Councillor Eileen Wragg to be Assistant Portfolio Holder.

 

Councillor Nick Hookway to be the Tourism, Sport, Leisure & Culture Portfolio Holder

 

Councillor Sarah Jackson to be the Democracy, Transparency & Communications Portfolio Holder.

 

Councillor Jack Rowland to be the Finance Portfolio Holder.

 

Councillor Paul Arnott to be the Strategic Planning Portfolio Holder

 

Councillor Dan Ledger to be the Sustainable Homes and Communities Portfolio Holder, and Councillor Sarah Chamberlain to be Assistant Portfolio Holder. 

 

The Leader thanked Councillor Megan Armstrong for all of her hard work in establishing and developing the work of the Poverty Working Panel.

 

He then thanked Officers who had set up the Annual Council meeting in 2022 and for their support throughout the past year.

He then outlined his priorities for the coming civic year, in keeping with the three Council Plan priorities to develop and maintain a strong economic infrastructure, address the shortage of supply of homes and join up the policies and actions around climate change.

 

12.

Governance arrangements and appointments for the Civic Year (2022/23) pdf icon PDF 216 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair invited Members to consider a report by the Chief Executive and Monitoring Officer to enable the Council to formalise its governance arrangements for the remainder of the civic year (2022/23). 

 

The report recommended changes to the Constitution, sought confirmation of the Committees and their size and terms of reference and agreement to the scheme of delegations. There is a specific requirement to agree the composition of the Standards Committee and Housing Review Board. Committee.

It dealt with the allocation of seats on overview,regulatoryand other committees to differentpolitical groupsof seats in accordancewith thepolitical balanceof the Council. It also sought to agree the makeup of the advisory panels and forums and joint bodies.

It also covered the councillor appointments to committees, panels, forums, joint bodies and outside bodies together with the appointment of the Chairs and Vice-Chairs of committees.

The Monitoring Officer outlined a number of changes to membership of the Panels, Forums and Joint Bodies largely as a result of changes within Cabinet. Specifically that Cllr Arnott will be taking on the Strategic Planning portfolio and becoming Chair of Strategic Planning Committee, and Cllr Ledger will be taking on the Sustainable Homes & Communities portfolio. If approved, Cllr Allen will become Chair of Scrutiny Committee and Cllr Whibley will be replaced on the Poverty Working Panel by Cllr Armstrong to ensure it is cross-party.

There were eleven recommendations contained within the report and the Chair stated that he would move the recommendations one by one from the Chair, inviting comments and agreement.

 

The Chair moved to PART A Recommendation 1, and invited comments.

There were no comments and following a vote, the recommendation was carried by the majority of those present.

 

RESOLVED;

That Council approved the amended Constitution to determine the committee structure, their size and terms of reference and the scheme of delegations.

 

The Chair then moved to PART A Recommendation 2, and invited comments.

There were no comments and following a vote, the recommendation was carried by the majority of those present.

 

RESOLVED;

That Council agreed to the convening of the Independent Remuneration Panel to review the Members Allowance Scheme and delegated authority to the Strategic Lead Governance & Licensing to progress arrangements including recruitment of panel members as necessary.

 

The Chair then moved to PART B RECOMMENDATION 3.

There were no comments and following a vote, the recommendation was carried by the majority of those present.

 

RESOLVED;

That Council confirmed the Conservative Group as the formal opposition.

 

 

The Chair now moved to PART C RECOMMENDATION 4,

 

Following a vote, the recommendation was carried by the majority of those present.

RESOLVED;

That Council approved the allocation to different political groups of seats on the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

13.

Member Champion Reports 2021/22 pdf icon PDF 178 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair invited members to consider the Annual reports of the four Member Champions and comment accordingly.

 

In the absence of comments he moved that the reports were duly received and noted.

 

Following a vote the reports were duly received and noted.

 

RESOLVED;

That Council received and noted the Annual Reports of the Member Champions.

14.

Programme of ordinary meetings of the Council, Cabinet and Committees for 2022/23 pdf icon PDF 453 KB

Minutes:

The Chair moved the recommendation and asked Councillors to agree the programme of meetings for the civic year.

 

Following a vote, the recommendation was carried by a majority of those present.

 

RESOLVED

that the programme of ordinary meetings of the Council, Cabinet and Committee meetings for 2022/23 be approved as set out on pages 64-65 of the agenda.

 

 

The Chair then declared the meeting closed and thanked everyone for their attendance.

 

The meeting ended at 6.48pm.