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Agenda and minutes

Link: This meeting will be held virtually via Microsoft Teams

Items
No. Item

Cl/1/05/20

Election of Chairman

To elect a Chairman of the Council for the 2020-2021 Municipal year.

Minutes:

The Chairman announced the intention to adjourn the meeting at 7.58pm to enable Members to join with local communities in the weekly Clap for Carer’s, and the meeting would reconvene at 8.05pm.

 

At the start of the meeting, the Monitoring Officer advised that this meeting was being hosted remotely using conferencing software which allowed Members, Officers and public attendance whilst being able to protect themselves and others, whilst observing the Government’s lockdown measures.

 

The Monitoring Officer also stated that all votes during this meeting would be taken through an informal recorded vote, though would not be noted as such in the minutes.

 

A Roll Call of all those Members in attendance remotely was then taken.

 

Note: The outgoing Chairman, Councillor Connell, was due to be nominated for re-election as Chairman of the Council, stood down from the Chair for the following item of business. The outgoing Vice-Chairman, Councillor Banks presided over the election of the Chairman.

 

Nominated by Councillor Eyles

Seconded by Councillor Lancaster

 

RESOLVED that Councillor Connell be re-elected as Chairman of the Council for the 2020/21 municipal year.

 

Councillor Connell formally accepted the Office of Chairman, and would be vested with the Chain of Office and sign his Oath of Office at a time deemed safe to do so.

Cl/2/05/20

Appointment of Vice-Chairman

To appoint a Vice-Chairman of the Council for the 2020-2021 Municipal year.

Minutes:

Nominated by Councillor Connell

Seconded by Councillor Holden

 

RESOLVED that Councillor Banks be re-appointed as Vice-Chairman of the Council for the 2020/21 municipal year.

 

Councillor Banks formally accepted the Office of Vice-Chairman, and would be vested with the Chain of Office and sign his Oath of Office at a time deemed safe to do so.

 

Cl/3/05/20

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Armstrong and Councillor Robinson.

 

Councillor Orchard was unable to attend the meeting due to technical difficulties.

Cl/4/05/20

Declarations of Interest

To receive declarations of the existence and nature of any private interests, both disclosable pecuniary and any other registrable interests, in any matter to be considered or being considered.

 

Minutes:

Councillor Eyles gave a personal explanation in that he was intending to audio record the meeting for personal use.

Cl/5/05/20

Minutes

RECOMMENDATION that:

1.            the public minutes:

 

·         HRa/01/07/19 to HRa/04/07/19 of the Human Resources and Appeals Sub-Committee held on 5 July 2019;

 

·         HRa/05/07/19 to HRa/09/07/19 of the Human Resources and Appeals Sub-Committee held on 10 July 2019;

 

·         HRa/10/07/19 to HRa/13/07/19 of the Human Resources and Appeals Sub-Committee held on 19 July 2019;

 

·         HRa/21/10/19 to HRa/24/10/19 of the Human Resources and Appeals Sub-Committee held on 28 October 2019;

 

·         HRa/25/12/19 to HRa/29/12/19 of the Human Resources and Appeals Committee held on 18 December 2019;

 

·         Lic/15/12/19 to Lic/21/12/19 of the Licensing Committee held on 18 December 2019;

 

·         SCb/39/01/20 to SCb/49/01/20 of the Scrutiny Co-ordinating Board held on 16 January 2020;

 

·         HCc/19/01/20 to HCc/28/01/20 of the Housing and Communities Scrutiny Committee held on 23 January 2020;

 

·         EEc/18/02/20 to EEc/25/02/20 of the Environment and Economy Scrutiny Committee held on 6 February 2020;

 

·         AGc/43/02/20 to AGc/50/02/20 of the Accounts and Governance Committee held on 20 February 2020;

 

·         SCb/50/02/20 to SCb/54/02/20 of the Scrutiny Co-ordinating Board held on 20 February 2020;

 

·         E/84/02/20 to E/95/02/20 of the Executive held on 25 February 2020;

 

·         Pla/139/02/20 to Pla/144/02/20 of the Planning Committee held on 27 February 2020;

 

·         EEc/18/02/20 to EEc/25/02/20 of the Environment and Economy Scrutiny Committee held on 6 February 2020;

 

·         Cl/70/02/20 to EEc/84/02/20 of the Council held on 27 February 2020;

 

2.            the confidential minutes

 

·         HRa/04/07/19 of the Human Resources and Appeals Sub-Committee held on 5 July 2019;

 

·         HRa/09/07/19 of the Human Resources and Appeals Sub-Committee held on 10 July 2019;

 

·         HRa/13/07/19 of the Human Resources and Appeals Sub-Committee held on 19 July 2019;

 

·         HRa/24/10/19 of the Human Resources and Appeals Sub-Committee held on 28 October 2019;

 

·         HRa/29/12/19 of the Human Resources and Appeals Committee held on 18 December 2019;

 

·         Lic/21/12/19 of the Licensing Committee held on 18 December 2019;

 

be confirmed and signed by the Chairman as a correct record of those proceedings (copies previously circulated).

Minutes:

RESOLVED that:

 

1.            the public minutes:

 

·         HRa/01/07/19 to HRa/04/07/19 of the Human Resources and Appeals Sub-Committee held on 5 July 2019;

 

·         HRa/05/07/19 to HRa/09/07/19 of the Human Resources and Appeals Sub-Committee held on 10 July 2019;

 

·         HRa/10/07/19 to HRa/13/07/19 of the Human Resources and Appeals Sub-Committee held on 19 July 2019;

 

·         HRa/21/10/19 to HRa/24/10/19 of the Human Resources and Appeals Sub-Committee held on 28 October 2019;

 

·         HRa/25/12/19 to HRa/29/12/19 of the Human Resources and Appeals Committee held on 18 December 2019;

 

·         Lic/15/12/19 to Lic/21/12/19 of the Licensing Committee held on 18 December 2019;

 

·         SCb/39/01/20 to SCb/49/01/20 of the Scrutiny Co-ordinating Board held on 16 January 2020;

 

·         HCc/19/01/20 to HCc/28/01/20 of the Housing and Communities Scrutiny Committee held on 23 January 2020;

 

·         EEc/18/02/20 to EEc/25/02/20 of the Environment and Economy Scrutiny Committee held on 6 February 2020;

 

·         AGc/43/02/20 to AGc/50/02/20 of the Accounts and Governance Committee held on 20 February 2020;

 

·         SCb/50/02/20 to SCb/54/02/20 of the Scrutiny Co-ordinating Board held on 20 February 2020;

 

·         E/84/02/20 to E/95/02/20 of the Executive held on 25 February 2020;

 

·         Pla/139/02/20 to Pla/144/02/20 of the Planning Committee held on 27 February 2020;

 

·         EEc/18/02/20 to EEc/25/02/20 of the Environment and Economy Scrutiny Committee held on 6 February 2020;

 

·         Cl/70/02/20 to EEc/84/02/20 of the Council held on 27 February 2020;

 

2.            the confidential minutes

 

·         HRa/04/07/19 of the Human Resources and Appeals Sub-Committee held on 5 July 2019;

 

·         HRa/09/07/19 of the Human Resources and Appeals Sub-Committee held on 10 July 2019;

 

·         HRa/13/07/19 of the Human Resources and Appeals Sub-Committee held on 19 July 2019;

 

·         HRa/24/10/19 of the Human Resources and Appeals Sub-Committee held on 28 October 2019;

 

·         HRa/29/12/19 of the Human Resources and Appeals Committee held on 18 December 2019;

 

·         Lic/21/12/19 of the Licensing Committee held on 18 December 2019;

 

be confirmed and signed by the Chairman as a correct record of those proceedings.

Cl/6/05/20

Chairman's Announcements

Minutes:

Due to the unusual circumstances of the past three months, neither I nor the Vice-Chairman have undertaken any formal engagements of the kind you would normally expect.

 

Instead I would like to simply give an indication of some of the particular challenges of the pandemic that officers have had to deal with.

 

In March we initiated our business continuity plans following lockdown, this enabled staff to continue working from home.  The leadership from Rose and the Senior Leadership team and efforts from staff across all departments helped to maintain high service delivery, which has continued throughout these past months. Directors and Assistant Directors have sat on many different multi-agency recovery groups and have done some impressive work on behalf of Eden businesses and residents.

 

We were involved in the rapid set up of Penrith Leisure Centre as an emergency Covid-19 recovery centre, which fortunately was put into reserve in April because of the fall in the number of cases

 

The announcement of Small Business and Hospitality, Retail and Leisure Grants from Government meant Eden District Council’s Business Rates, Finance team and others worked hard late into evenings every day to get the money out of the door as quick as possible. We have now supported nearly 2,000 businesses in Eden to the tune of £22m. Each application has been checked for validity and fraud. This was a huge undertaking.

 

We launched Eden Resilience Hubs, which have taken calls and provided support to hundreds of vulnerable Eden residents. Special thanks to Eden District Council Officers Sally Hemsley of and Karen Thompson as Lead Coordinators and Lisa Hartley, Community Warden, who has been doing driver duties for the Eden Hub.

 

We also implemented free car parking on all EDC-owned car parks until end of June (subject to ongoing review) – helping key workers, reducing infections and will play a part in helping the recovery of the high street.

 

In April we introduced Microsoft Teams – a huge IT project to get the software running and working with our systems. Today’s meeting is a testament to the fact that these are doing well.

 

We closed the doors of Town Hall and Mansion House and moved online. There was a huge uptake in calls for Customer Services team (circa 300 per day) and barely a single one was dropped, despite the increase in workload and the team also having to adapt from working from home.

 

We launched daily updates for Members to ensure they were kept informed.

 

Public support for our Eden bin crews was outstanding.  This included letters of support and rainbow drawings – so many messages were received that the workers had to set aside a “thank you wall” at their depot.

 

In May the Eden Residents Covid-19 Support Fund was launched - this has already provided 10 charities with £10k to help residents with difficulties arising from Covid-19.

 

We introduced formal virtual meetings such as this – a mammoth achievement. These meetings allow us to comply with legislation and continue to  ...  view the full minutes text for item Cl/6/05/20

Cl/7/05/20

Statement by Leader

To consider a statement from the Leader of the Council.

Minutes:

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Taylor made a statement regarding the Council’s achievement and the challenges that it had faced through 2020/2021.

 

“This administration enters its second year of office in a global and local crisis none of us could have anticipated. Some of us will have lost someone dear to Covid-19, most of us will have been touched. The swiftness with which Eden District Council  acted, to move everyone to home working must in some part have contributed to reducing the spread of Covid-19 amongst staff. Some people working for Eden District Council suffered illness but are safely recovered. It is of the greatest credit to our IT people that front line services continued uninterrupted, even with the added challenge of hugely increased call numbers dealing with business grants, council tax and other queries. It is of the greatest credit to all that the full range of Eden District Council’s services continued with an efficiency equal to traditional working,  despite being carried out not in a professional environment but cheek by jowl with children, animals, elders, and more. Introducing virtual meetings securely was a huge amount of work. Amey and others continued providing services on behalf of Eden District Council, often in situations exposing them to potential risk. To single people out for special mention will be to miss out, so please, I do mean you, when I offer everyone working for Eden District Council our most heartfelt thanks for everything you have done to deliver services so well.

 

It was only in February 2020 that Storm Ciara brought floods to communities weary with them, as well as to those less often damaged. The aftermath of the broken water main caused great difficulties, notably to farmers with thirsty livestock. Our officers stepped up, as usual, thank you, to mobilise the Emergency Response Plan, and to deal with residents’ calls 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

 

We were returning to the actions in the corporate plan  when the world came to a full stop with the pandemic. I said 8 weeks ago that hitting us ahead of any health emergency, was the negative impact on Eden’s economy. The economic crisis hit us first : and its impact will be felt for many years. The targets in the corporate plan may need realigning to enable economy and community to build back better, but the four ideas underpinning our corporate plan remain – indeed, they could not be more appropriate for this – I hope – brave new world.

 

The first idea, ‘Healthy, safe and secure’ now has real life and death meanings. We have to do all possible to use our place-making role to keep the people of Eden disease free, mentally healthy,  socially confident, and economically secure. Visitors must be able to come without fear, and without creating fear in our residents.

 

The second idea: Connected. The people of Eden are all too practised at managing emergencies, and so when Covid19 struck,  community groups and volunteers largely  ...  view the full minutes text for item Cl/7/05/20

Cl/8/05/20

Allocation of Seats on Committees pdf icon PDF 235 KB

To consider report G17/20 from the Assistant Director Governance which is attached and which seeks to propose the distribution of seats in accordance with the rules of political proportionality and to make appointments to the Committees for the 2020/2021 municipal year.

 

RECOMMENDATIONS that:

1             The proposed allocation of seats to parties in this report be approved;

2             The appointment of Members to Committees as set out in Appendix 2 (to follow) be approved; and

3             The Green Group and the Labour Group adopt a reciprocal arrangement where the nominated Members can act as Standing Deputies. 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Before the commencement of this item, Councillor Wicks queried whether the necessary amendments to the Constitution had been made and published with regard to the changes to the Scrutiny Committee Structures. Councillor Wicks raised concern as to whether Council was acting properly with regard to the Appointment to Committees and Election of Chairs without the necessary Constitution changes having been published.

 

The Monitoring Officer gave advice that she was aware that while amended Constitution had not been published yet, the structure of Scrutiny had been agreed through a resolution of full Council on 9 January 2020, and that she, as Monitoring Officer had the necessary delegated authority to amend the Constitution as a result of any resolution of Council or other Committees. The Monitoring Officer was content that full Council was acting correcting in allocating Members to Committees, and also in regard to appointing Chairmen of Committee. The Monitoring Officer also reassured Members that the Constitution would be updated as soon as was practicable to reflect these changes.

 

Members considered report G17/20 from the Assistant Director Governance which proposed the distribution of seats in accordance with the rules of political proportionality and to make appointments to the Committees for the 2020/2021 municipal year.

 

RESOLVED that:

 

1.            That the following allocation of seats be approved:

 

Group

Proposed number of seats

Conservative Group

21

Liberal Democrat Group

18

Independent Group

14

Labour

3.5

Green

3.5

Total

60

 

Committee name

Number of seats

 

Planning

11

 

Independent Group

3

 

Conservative Group

4

 

Liberal Democrat Group

3

 

Labour Group*

0

 

Green Group*

0

 

*One seat remaining to be allocated to either Labour or Green on Planning Committee

 

 

 

Licensing

10

 

Independent Group

2

 

Conservative Group

4

 

Liberal Democrat Group

3

 

Labour Group*

0

 

Green Group*

0

 

*One seat remaining to be allocated to either Labour or Green on Licensing Committee

 

 

 

Overview and Scrutiny Committee

12

 

Independent Group

3

 

Conservative Group

4

 

Liberal Democrat Group

3

 

Labour Group

1

 

Green Group

1

 

 

 

 

Budget Scrutiny Committee

9

 

Independent Group

2

 

Conservative Group

3

 

Liberal Democrat Group

3

 

Labour Group*

0

 

Green Group*

0

 

*One seat remaining to be allocated to either Labour or Green on Licensing Committee

 

Accounts and Governance

9

 

Independent Group

2

 

Conservative Group

3

 

Liberal Democrat Group

3

 

Labour Group*

0

 

Green Group*

0

 

*One seat remaining to be allocated to either Labour or Green on Licensing Committee

 

 

 

Human Resources and Appeals

9

 

Independent Group

2

 

Conservative Group

3

 

Liberal Democrat Group

3

 

Labour Group*

0

 

Green Group*

0

 

*One seat remaining to be allocated to either Labour or Green on Licensing Committee

 

2.            The appointment of Members to Committees as set out below was approved:

 

*Accounts and Governance Committee – 9 Members

Independent Group           

S Lancaster, D Ryland

Conservative Group          

P Dew, J Lynch, R Orchard

Liberal Democrat Group    

A Connell, M Eyles, N McCall

Labour Group

0

Green Group

D Lawson

Standing Deputies             

M Clark, W Patterson

H Fearon, G Nicolson, A Todd
P Baker, L Harker
A Ross

* One seat remaining  ...  view the full minutes text for item Cl/8/05/20

Cl/9/05/20

Election of Chairmen

a)            Overview and Scrutiny Committee

 

To elect a Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the 2020/2021 municipal year.

 

b)            Planning Committee

 

To elect a Chairman of the Planning Committee for the 2020/2021 municipal year.

 

c)            Licensing Committee

 

To elect a Chairman of the Licensing Committee for the 2020/2021 municipal year.

 

d)            Accounts and Governance Committee

 

To elect a Chairman of the Accounts and Governance Committee for the 2020/2021 municipal year.

 

e)            Budget Planning Committee

 

To elect a Chairman of the Budget Planning Committee for the 2020/2021 municipal year.

 

f)             Human Resources and Appeals Committee

 

To elect a Chairman of the Human Resources and Appeals Committee for the 2020/2021 municipal year.

Minutes:

a)            Overview and Scrutiny Committee

 

Nominated by Councillor Wicks

Seconded by Councillor Beaty

 

that Councillor Raine be elected Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the 2020/2021 municipal year.

 

Nominated by Councillor Lancaster

Seconded by Councillor Rudhall

 

that Councillor Banks be elected Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny committee for the 2020/2021 municipal year

 

A vote was taken and it was RESOLVED that Councillor Banks be elected Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the 2020/2021 municipal year.

 

b)           Planning Committee

 

Nominated by Councillor Banks

Seconded by Councillor Sharp

 

that Councillor Patterson be elected Chairman of the Planning Committee for the 2020/2021 municipal year

 

Nominated by Councillor Wicks

Seconded by Councillor Beaty

 

that Councillor Chambers be elected Chairman of the Planning Committee for the 2020/2021 municipal year.

 

A vote was taken and it was RESOLVED that Councillor Patterson be elected Chairman of the Planning Committee for the 2020/2021 municipal year.

 

c)            Licensing Committee

 

Nominated by Councillor Wicks

Seconded by Councillor Beaty

 

that Councillor Raine be elected Chairman of the Licensing Committee for the 2020/2021 municipal year.

 

Nominated by Councillor Taylor

Seconded by Councillor Eyles

 

that Councillor Holden be elected Chairman of the Licensing Committee for the 2020/2021 municipal year.

 

A vote was taken and it was RESOLVED that Councillor Holden be elected Chairman of the Licensing Committee for the 2020/2021 municipal year.

 

d)           Accounts and Governance Committee

 

Nominated by Councillor Lancaster

Seconded by Councillor Holden

 

that Councillor Eyles be elected Chairman of the Accounts and Governance Committee for the 2020/2021 municipal year.

 

Nominated by Councillor Wicks

Seconded by Councillor Beaty

 

that Councillor Orchard be elected Chairman of the Accounts and Governance Committee for the 2020/2021 municipal year

 

A vote was taken and it was RESOLVED that Councillor Eyles be elected Chairman of the Accounts and Governance Committee for the 2020/2021 municipal year.

 

Councillor Clark left the meeting at 7.52pm

 

e)            Budget Planning Committee

 

Nominated by Councillor Wicks

Seconded by Councillor Beaty

 

that Councillor Nicolson be elected Chairman of the Budget Planning Committee for the 2020/2021 municipal year.

 

Nominated by Councillor Eyles

Seconded by Councillor Rudhall

 

that Councillor McCall be elected Chairman of the Budget Planning Committee for the 2020/2021 municipal year.

 

For Councillor McCall: 17

For Councillor Nicolson: 17

 

The Chairman therefore used his casting vote, and voted for Councillor McCall.

 

RESOLVED that Councillor McCall be elected Chairman of the Budget Planning Committee for the 2020/2021 municipal year.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 7.59pm

 

The meeting reconvened at 8.07pm

 

Councillor Clark returned to the meeting at 8.07pm, and was able to be heard from this point onwards.

 

A roll call was taken to confirm that all Members had returned to the meeting.

 

Due to technical difficulties, although present at the meeting, Councillor Clark was unable to be heard throughout the voting of these items. The Monitoring Officer gave legal advice in that as she was not able to be heard, due to the specifics of The Local Authorities and Police and Crime Panels (Coronavirus) (Flexibility of Local Authority  ...  view the full minutes text for item Cl/9/05/20

Cl/10/05/20

Calendar of meetings 2020-2021 pdf icon PDF 132 KB

To consider report G15/20 of the Assistant Director Governance which is attached and which seeks to formalise approval of the calendar of ordinary meetings of the Council.

 

RECOMMENDATION that an amended calendar of ordinary meetings 2020-2021 as enclosed as Appendix 1 to this report be approved.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members considered report G15/20 of the Assistant Director Governance which is attached and which sought to formalise approval of the Calendar of Ordinary Meetings for the Council.

 

RESOLVED that the Calendar of Ordinary Meeting 2020/2021 was approved.

Cl/11/05/20

Appointment of Returning Officer pdf icon PDF 222 KB

To consider report CE3/20 from the Chief Executive which is attached and which requests that the Council appoint a new Returning Officer and Electoral Registration Officer for Eden District Council.

 

RECOMMENDATION that:

1)           Appoints Rose Rouse, with immediate effect, as the Returning Officer and Electoral Registration Officer for Eden District Council,

2)           Appoints Lisa Tremble as Deputy Returning Officer and Deputy Electoral Registration Officer, and

3)           Give permission for the Assistant Director Governance (Monitoring Officer) to amend the Constitution to reflect these changes.

Minutes:

Members considered report CE3/20 from the Chief Executive which requested that Council appoint a new Returning Officer and Electoral Registration Officer for Eden District Council.

 

RESOLVED that Council:

1)           appointed Rose Rouse, with immediate effect, as the Returning Officer and Electoral Registration Officer for Eden District Council,

2)           appointed Lisa Tremble as Deputy Returning Officer and Deputy Electoral Registration Officer, and

3)           gave permission for the Assistant Director Governance (Monitoring Officer) to amend the Constitution to reflect these changes.

Cl/12/05/20

Date of Next Scheduled Meeting

The next scheduled meeting of Council be confirmed as 30 July 2020.

Minutes:

The date of the next scheduled meeting was confirmed as 30 July 2020.