Agenda, decisions and minutes

To authorise the Chairman to sign the Minutes of the meeting held on the 26th August 2004 as a correct record.

The Minutes of the meeting of Council held on 28^th August 2004 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To receive any declarations of interest from Members on matters arising in this agenda.

Councillor JA Quinlan expressed a prejudicial interest in item 6, Local Development Framework Preferred Options Report, and left the Chamber during this item.

Councillor Ms SJO Doggett expressed an interest in item 9 as the applicant of planning application detailed in minute 13. Councillor NJ Scarr declared an interest in the same item as the husband of the applicant.

The Chairman thanked those Members who had attended the recent Chairman’s Reception.

The Chairman expressed his displeasure at a recent e-mail denigrating the prayer at the start of the meeting. He stated that Members were free to abstain from attending the prayer at the beginning of each meeting if they wished. Councillor Mrs DP Roberts stated that the e-mail had been a joke and was not intended to offend.

The Chairman reported that Sylvia Upshaw, a Councillor for the Sawston ward for 20 years, had died. Her funeral would be held at the Crematorium on Tuesday 28^th September at 1:30pm. Councillor Mrs DSK Spink paid tribute to Sylvia as a dedicated Councillor and active member of the old Housing Committee.

The Chairman reported the death of Anthony Cartwright, a Councillor for the Sawston ward in the 1970s.

Cllr JH Stewart thanked the Chairman and other Members for their support following the death of his wife.

None received to date. 

None received. 

To note all petitions received since the last Council meeting.

None received. 

The Scrutiny and Overview Committee on the 16th September 2004 is to consider the call-in of Cabinet’s decision on the Northstowe paper.  The action Council will be asked to take will depend on the outcome of that consideration.

There is a possibility that the Planning and Economic Development Portfolio Holder’s approval of the Cambourne Annexe Paper (supplement to the Rural Centres Preferred Options Report) will be called in after the preparation of this agenda.  In view of the urgency to agree papers for public participation, similar arrangements are being made to cover this eventuality.

Members are asked to bring to the meeting the papers circulated to the Steering Group/Cabinet/Scrutiny and Overview Committee.  Some paper copies will be available for Members who have not already received them.

An introductory report from the Development Services Director is attached.

The Chairman explained that this item was on the agenda to allow Council to discuss any recommendations from the recent Scrutiny and Overview Committee regarding the Rural Centres Preferred Options report or the Northstowe Preferred Options report. However, the Scrutiny and Overview Committee had not made any recommendations to Council. The Rural Centres Preferred Options report had not been called in and the Scrutiny and Overview Committee had agreed with Cabinet’s original decision when discussing the call-in of the Northstowe Preferred Options report. It was understood that the draft minutes of the Scrutiny and Overview Committee would be available on 30^th September 2004.

Council NOTED the report.

As there appears to be some uncertainty about the way votes individually recorded electronically will be used, and votes are automatically recorded when the system is turned on, Council is asked to determine:

When the Council agreed on 13th January 2004 that the system should be purchased, it had the views of the Constitution Review Working Party, which expected that constituents would be able to see how their local member voted and that the names would be available on request.  It was not, however, the intention that names should be recorded in the minutes unless a request for a recorded vote was made and agreed.

Council is invited to confirm that names are recorded in the minutes only when a specific request has been made; and to clarify the issues set out above.

For the amendment

Against the amendment

Not voted

SJ Agnew

RF Bryant

NN Cathcart

3

For the resolution

Against the resolution

Not voted

RF Bryant

1

Councillor JD Batchelor, Information and Customer Services Portfolio Holder, presented this item which sought to clarify the way in which Members wanted the automatic vote recording system to be used. He made the following recommendations:

·                      Where practical, votes taken at Council, Cabinet, Scrutiny and Overview Committee and Development and Conservation Control Committee should be recorded.

·                      Members’ names only to be recorded in the minutes when a specific request has been made, as laid out in the constitution.

·                      The voting record should be available to the public through electronic means.

·                      These records to be retained for 6 years.

·                      Votes taken over confidential items would not be recorded.

It was understood that the electronic vote recording system could only operate in the Council Chamber, so it would not be practical to record votes taken at meetings in other rooms.

Councillor NJ Scarr stated that vote recording should be restricted to important matters so he saw no reason to change the current rules that a recorded vote should only occur if six members demand it. He stated that the electronic vote recording system existed to facilitate the recording of votes but its existence did not warrant a change in the rules.

Councillor Scarr expressed particular concern over the recording of votes at Development and Conservation Control Committee Meetings, as a voting record could be misleading without hearing the debate and being aware of planning law. He added that Members would be liable to intimidation from violent pressure groups regarding controversial planning applications if the voting record of members became a public record. Councillor JA Quinlan spoke in favour of Councillor Batchelor’s recommendations which would bring more transparency to the decision making process. He stated that the low possibility of Councillors being intimidated regarding a controversial decision was an insufficient reason to decide against the recording of votes. Councillor Mrs GJ Smith asserted that Members had a duty not to be intimidated by terrorist organisations.

Councillor Dr DR Bard agreed with Councillor Scarr and stated that the public could be misled if shown a voting record without a record of the debate or any other background information. Councillor Mrs DP Roberts stated that members of the public could attend Council meetings, where they could observe the debate and the way members voted. She expressed concern that Members’ individual voting records could be used selectively by political opponents during election time.

Councillor Mrs DSK Spink expressed her opposition to recording all votes at Cabinet as this would erode collective responsibility and was far less flexible than the existing system. Councillor Mrs EM Heazell stated that collective responsibility occurred after the vote and so Cabinet votes should be recorded as well as other public meetings held in the Council Chamber.

Councillor SGM Kindersley stated that in January the Constitution Working Party had recommended that Members’ votes at public meetings should be recorded. He stated that a system should be in place to allow our residents to check the voting record of their local members if they  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

The minutes of the following meetings were RECEIVED, subject to the comments recorded in Minutes 9 to 12 below:

Minute 1 2004-05 Pay Award

Councillor Cathcart expressed his concern that a rigid adherence to the new flexi-leave provision could force the Council to hire more staff. The Chief Executive replied that other measures such as Time Off In Lieu (TOIL) and paid overtime provided more flexibility than was immediately apparent from the Cabinet minutes.

Minute 7 Housing Adaptation and Improvement Grants

It was noted that the first sentence of the penultimate paragraph should be amended to read “The Environmental Health Portfolio Holder appealed to Cabinet to approve the recommendations in the report, which it was hoped would address the backlog in the current year.”

Minute 15 Treasury Management

It was noted that in the final sentence of this minute the word “treasure” be amended to read “treasury”.

Attendance

It was noted that Councillor NIC Wright was in attendance for this meeting.

Minute 9 S/1253/04/F – Babraham

It was noted that the final sentence had been duplicated and this should be remedied.

End of Meeting

This meeting had ended at 11am and this fact needed to be recorded in the minutes.

Given the length of time until the Steering Group is likely to meet again, members of the Group (only) are asked to confirm the minutes as a correct record.

No comments were made on these minutes. 

The decision notice of the meeting of the 10th September 2004 are being circulated with the weekly bulletin of the 15th September 2004.

Questions were invited, but none received. 

To note the Chairman’s engagements since the last Council meeting: 

Council NOTED the Chairman’s engagements.