Council - Wednesday 21 January 2026, 2:00pm - Vote_events Tab - Cotswold District Council Webcasting

Council
Wednesday, 21st January 2026 at 2:00pm 

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  1. Councillor Mark Harris
  2. Councillor Mark Harris
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  1. Councillor Mark Harris
  2. Nickie Mackenzie-Daste, Officer
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  1. Councillor Tom Stowe
  2. Councillor Mark Harris
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  1. 03. To confirm the minutes of the meeting held 26 November 2025
    Status: In progress
  2. 03. To confirm the minutes of the meeting held 26 November 2025
    Status: Ended
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  1. Councillor Mike Evemy
  2. Councillor Mark Harris
  3. Jane Portman, CEO
  4. Councillor Mark Harris
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  1. Public Speaker
  2. Councillor Mark Harris
  3. Councillor Mike Evemy
  4. Councillor Mark Harris
  5. Councillor Juliet Layton
  6. Councillor Mark Harris
  7. Public Speaker
  8. Councillor Mark Harris
  9. Councillor Tony Dale
  10. Councillor Mark Harris
  11. Councillor Tony Dale
  12. Councillor Mark Harris
  13. Public Speaker
  14. Councillor Mark Harris
  15. Councillor Mike Evemy
  16. Councillor Patrick Coleman
  17. Councillor Mark Harris
  18. Councillor Mike McKeown
  19. Councillor Mark Harris
  20. Councillor Mark Harris
  21. Public Speaker
  22. Councillor Mark Harris
  23. Public Speaker
  24. Councillor Mark Harris
  25. Councillor Mark Harris
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  1. Councillor Julia Judd
  2. Councillor Mark Harris
  3. Councillor Andrea Pellegram
  4. Councillor Mark Harris
  5. Councillor Len Wilkins
  6. Councillor Mark Harris
  7. Councillor Juliet Layton
  8. Councillor Len Wilkins
  9. Councillor Mark Harris
  10. Councillor Laura Hall-Wilson
  11. Councillor Mark Harris
  12. Councillor Andrea Pellegram
  13. Councillor Mark Harris
  14. Councillor David Fowles
  15. Councillor Mark Harris
  16. Councillor Mike Evemy
  17. Councillor Mark Harris
  18. Councillor Ray Brassington
  19. Councillor Mark Harris
  20. Councillor Mark Harris
  21. Councillor Laura Hall-Wilson
  22. Councillor Mark Harris
  23. Councillor Andrea Pellegram
  24. Councillor Mark Harris
  25. Councillor Laura Hall-Wilson
  26. Councillor Andrea Pellegram
  27. Councillor Mark Harris
  28. Councillor Ray Brassington
  29. Councillor Mark Harris
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  1. Councillor Mike Evemy
  2. Councillor Mark Harris
  3. Councillor David Fowles
  4. Councillor Mark Harris
  5. Councillor Mike Evemy
  6. Councillor Mark Harris
  7. Councillor Mark Harris
  8. 07. Appointment of Councillors to Committees
    Status: In progress
  9. 07. Appointment of Councillors to Committees
    Status: Ended
  10. Councillor Andrea Pellegram
  11. Councillor Mark Harris
  12. Councillor Tristan Wilkinson
  13. Councillor Andrea Pellegram
  14. Councillor Mark Harris
  15. Councillor Tom Stowe
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  1. Councillor Mark Harris
  2. Councillor Dilys Neill
  3. Councillor Mark Harris
  4. Councillor Dilys Neill
  5. Councillor Angus Jenkinson
  6. Councillor Mark Harris
  7. Councillor Joe Harris
  8. Councillor Mark Harris
  9. Councillor David Fowles
  10. Councillor Mark Harris
  11. Public Speaker
  12. Councillor Mark Harris
  13. Councillor David Fowles
  14. Public Speaker
  15. Councillor Mark Harris
  16. Councillor Andrea Pellegram
  17. Councillor Mark Harris
  18. 08. Fees for Primate Keeper Licenses - Agree recommendation 1
    Status: In progress
  19. 08. Fees for Primate Keeper Licenses - Agree recommendation 1
    Status: Ended
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  1. Councillor Patrick Coleman
  2. Councillor Mark Harris
  3. Councillor Patrick Coleman
  4. Councillor Mark Harris
  5. Councillor Paul Hodgkinson
  6. Councillor Patrick Coleman
  7. Councillor Mark Harris
  8. David Stanley, Deputy CEO
  9. Councillor Mark Harris
  10. Councillor Ian Watson
  11. David Stanley, Deputy CEO
  12. Councillor Ian Watson
  13. Councillor Mark Harris
  14. Councillor Gina Blomefield
  15. David Stanley, Deputy CEO
  16. Councillor Mark Harris
  17. Councillor Ray Brassington
  18. Councillor Mike Evemy
  19. Councillor Mark Harris
  20. David Stanley, Deputy CEO
  21. Councillor Mark Harris
  22. Councillor Angus Jenkinson
  23. David Stanley, Deputy CEO
  24. Councillor Mark Harris
  25. Councillor Nigel Robbins
  26. Councillor Mark Harris
  27. Councillor Patrick Coleman
  28. Councillor Mark Harris
  29. 09. Treasury Management Mid-Year Report - Agree recs 1-2
    Status: In progress
  30. 09. Treasury Management Mid-Year Report - Agree recs 1-2
    Status: Ended
  31. Councillor Ray Brassington
  32. Councillor Mark Harris
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  1. Councillor David Fowles
  2. Councillor Ray Brassington
  3. Councillor David Fowles
  4. Councillor Ray Brassington
  5. Councillor Ray Brassington
  6. Councillor Lisa Spivey
  7. Councillor Ray Brassington
  8. Councillor Andrea Pellegram
  9. Councillor Ray Brassington
  10. Councillor Paul Hodgkinson
  11. Councillor Ray Brassington
  12. Councillor Angus Jenkinson
  13. Councillor Ray Brassington
  14. Councillor Claire Bloomer
  15. Councillor Ray Brassington
  16. Councillor Helene Mansilla
  17. Councillor Ray Brassington
  18. Councillor Dilys Neill
  19. Councillor Ray Brassington
  20. Councillor Mike Evemy
  21. Councillor Ray Brassington
  22. Councillor Nigel Robbins
  23. Councillor Ray Brassington
  24. Councillor Laura Hall-Wilson
  25. Councillor Jon Wareing
  26. Councillor Ray Brassington
  27. Councillor Lisa Spivey
  28. Councillor Ray Brassington
  29. Andrew Brown, Officer
  30. Councillor Mark Harris
  31. Councillor Angus Jenkinson
  32. Councillor Ray Brassington
  33. Councillor Nikki Ind
  34. Councillor Ray Brassington
  35. Councillor Mark Harris
  36. Councillor Ray Brassington
  37. 10. Approve Motion A as amended by proposer
    Status: In progress
  38. Councillor David Fowles
  39. 10. Approve Motion A as amended by proposer
    Status: Ended
  40. Councillor Mark Harris
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  1. Webcast Finished

Councillor Mark Harris - 0:00:00
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:00:02
Council's full council on Wednesday the 21st of January 2026. My name is Councillor
Mark Harris and I'm the chair of council. I'd like to welcome all members, the
public in attendance and those watching online you're very welcome. Members of
the public present are entitled to record the meeting themselves provided
it isn't disruptive to our proceedings. For those watching at home the
electronic voting results will be displayed on screen and will be
announced at the end of each vote. Should anything go wrong with the electronic
voting which cannot be resolved we will revert to voting by clear show of hands.
Now let's move on to the agenda. Finally a reminder that we're in very
quickly pre -election period for the Risington's by -election which is taking
place tomorrow so if we could avoid any discussion or any mention of that please
during this meeting. So item number one is apologies. Do we have any apologies

1 Apologies

We just got an apology from Councillor David Cunningham. Thank you very much. I

2 Declarations of Interest

Nickie Mackenzie-Daste, Officer - 0:01:02
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:01:02
assume there aren't any others. Thank you. Item 2, declarations. Oh sorry Councillor
Stowe. Sorry I'm aware that Councillor Tony Slater also sent his
Councillor Tom Stowe - 0:01:13
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:01:15
apologies. Thank you Councillor Stowe. That's all and no others.
Declarations of interest. Any declarations of interest if you if
If there aren't, but you become aware of any
during the meeting, then please declare it at the time.
We'll now move to the minutes,

3 Minutes

and we're gonna confirm the minutes of the meeting
of Council held on the 26th of November, 2025.
So if there are any comments or anything on that,
or any amendments, not by the look of it.
Can I have a proposer then, Mike, Councillor Everly?
And a seconder, please, if I might.
Councillor Stowe, thank you. So the recommendation is that full council approve the minutes of the meeting of the 26th of November as a correct record
and now call for the vote to be opened, Kiera. Thank you.
Remember to press the button properly, otherwise it may not get registered.
We've got one abstention.
25, 27, 28. We've got 28. Okay, we've got 29 now and should there be 30? Okay, so
Somebody hasn't pressed their button properly.
Councillor.
Over there now.
Got it now.
We've got it.
So 29, yeah, okay, cool, brilliant.
That's 30, well done everybody.
Well done, you've all managed to press a button.
See if we can hone that skill for the rest of the meeting.
Right, that's the minutes.
Okay, we now have announcements

4 Announcements from the Chair, Leader or Chief Executive

from the chair, leader, and chief executive.
So I will kick this off.
I'd like to remind members of the need to be disciplined with their comments,
avoid repetition during debate, if you will, and be succinct with any questions raised.
We'll have a comfort break after approximately two hours, if we get that far.
I'd like to draw members' questions, members' attention to the following training sessions.
We've got Treasury management training, which will be provided by Arling Close.
our Treasury advisors, on the 27th of January at 2pm, just prior to the Ordered and Governance
Committee. The training will be held in the Chamber and is open to all members. I did it at GCC and
it's very good training, so I commend it to you. An all -member budget briefing has been scheduled
for Tuesday the 10th of February 2026 at 6pm over Teams and I would encourage all members
to attend this session ahead of our Council meeting to debate the budget on Monday the 23rd
February in 2026 at 6 p .m. I'd also like to draw attention to the fact that
councillor Laura Hall -Wilson will be doing the Sire Ancestor 10k on behalf of
Gloucester Hospital's charity the Pied Piper Appeal and we wish her all the
luck for this exciting closed road race through the historic town of Sire
Ancestor in the heart of the Cotswolds. The race is on Sunday the 22nd of February
and I expect to see all there cheering her along.
Should anyone wish to sponsor Laura, already done,
and this great cause, please pick up one of the papers
at the back which has details.
We're just giving page or democratic services.
And Laura's doing this because just before Christmas,
and over Christmas, her young son was in hospital
for a period of time.
And I think you were incredibly impressed with the service
provided and so on.
You wanted to help out.
So thanks very much Laura for that.
We'll all be supporting you, won't we?
Well done.
Right.
I do now like, Councillor Fowles, you have a,
it's not the time for questions.
That's fine then.
Right, let's move on.
I was wondering if you'd allow me, I failed to mention it to
you earlier, Chairman, but it's an announcement.
It's about the former Councillor.
We were informed a week ago of the death, very sad death,
of Councillor, ex -Councillor Carol Topple,
who some of you, one or two of you may remember,
Paul may remember.
Not too much detail, I'm afraid.
She moved to London and her funeral took place
a couple of weeks ago in Putney.
She was 90 years of age,
but that's the only information we've got.
But she was a long and hard working member of this council
and I'm sure Paul will remember her.
Thank you.
Chairman. Thank you, Councillor Fowles. Just in the future, I'd occur to see if we can mention it before that'd be great.
Thank you very much. And of course our thoughts are with Councillor Toppell's
family.
Okay, we've got announcements now from
from the Leader. You have five minutes Mike.
Councillor Mike Evemy - 0:06:15
Thank you, Chair. I'd like to start today. I need a bit of water.
Excuse me, sorry, by talking about changes to my cabinet.
I think I need tea as well, actually.
You will all be aware that Tony Dale rejoined the cabinet on the 1st of January, taking
over from Paul Hodgkinson.
Welcome back, Tony, to the front row, and thank you, Paul, for all your work on the
cabinet over the last two and a half years.
Some members opposite may have spotted that Claire Bloomer
is not sat on the front row today.
That's because she's stepping down from the cabinet
for personal reasons.
Thank you Claire for all the work you've done since May,
2023 as cabinet member for communities.
Most notably Claire has championed the low income family
tracker programme, which has helped dozens of residents
get the financial support they're entitled to,
making their and their family's lives
just a little bit easier.
I have decided not to appoint a new cabinet member,
but instead to reallocate Claire's responsibilities
to four existing cabinet members.
Patrick Coleman will take over responsibility
for cost of living support,
Tony Dale for safeguarding, Juliet Layton for refugees,
and I will take on liaison with the third sector
plus diversity, inclusion, and young people.
I therefore decided to hand over responsibility
for member development to the deputy leader. Can Democratic Services staff
please circulate the revised list of cabinet members and portfolios to all
members. These changes are with immediate effect. I wish to announce one further
change. Andrea Pellegram is stepping down from the Local Plan Oversight Board and
I am appointing Councillor Patrick Coleman as her replacement. Turning to
other matters, I welcome the changes announced by the Government to
inheritance tax for farmers just before Christmas.
The work carried out by members of this Council and the subsequent letter I sent to the Chancellor
did, I hope, play some small part in getting this change apart, and I thank members and
officers for their work on this and the witnesses who gave time to help us formulate our letter
to government.
It's encouraging to see ministers listening to rural voices raising the threshold from
million to two and a half million or more will bring real relief in the Cotswold district
where land values are high but incomes are often modest. There is still some uncertainty
and we will continue pressing the government, working with our MPs to engage with rural
communities and provide clarity as soon as possible. Whilst we have seen movement from
the government on this, we have sadly not seen the same on housing targets. So I intend
next week to share with government the strength of feeling and opposition that
our communities have shared with us in the local plan consultation as part of
the next phase in our challenge to government over its unrealistic housing
target for our district. I know from conversations with colleagues across the
Chamber, with town and parish councillors and with hundreds of residents I met and
spoke to during public meetings and exhibitions through November and
December and for just some of the responses that the council's planning
team has sifted through already, that there is a prevailing and predominant sense of anger
and injustice at the targets being foisted on our area and the potential impact these
numbers will have. While officers use those consultation responses
and other studies and evidence to inform the next draught of the Local Plan, which will include
site allocations based on all the available evidence, I will share a cross -section of
feedback that we have received from people across our district with the Government. I
to discuss the issue now that our communities have had their say.
Ministers need to understand the implications of their target,
where we are having to consider large developments in or next to small villages
simply because large parcels of land may be available there.
These are places that in normal circumstances would never be considered for so many new homes.
I remain determined to ensure that ministers are completely clear about the potential,
far -reaching ramifications on our people and places of the council being forced
to explore every option to meet an arbitrary and excessive housing target.
And if we do not explore them we will have to face either unsuitable
piecemeal housing developments with little or no infrastructure or the
taxpayers will have to foot a massive legal bills to fight inappropriate
development. We will continue to fight for a reduction in our housing target
while ensuring we can and do plan for genuinely affordable homes where they are needed most.
Finally, I'd like to update members on progress with local government reorganisation in Gloucestershire.
The chief executive and I were on a call with the local government minister
Excuse me, more tea required.
The local government minister, oh dear, gotta go to water at last.
Two of her officials and over 300 council leaders and chief executives yesterday.
The government told us that they'll be launching seven week consultations in the phase three
areas including Gloucestershire in early February.
We expect all three proposals for Gloucestershire to be consulted upon.
The timetable for a decision remains unchanged before the summer parliamentary recess with
elections to the new shadow authority or authorities taking place in May 2027. The
Chief Executive will update you further on preparations for the new council or
councils and the roles of some of our senior officers are playing in them.
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:12:04
Thank you, Chair. Thank you very much, Mike, and drink some more of that water
and maybe we can find a lot in somewhere. Right, just before, rather unusually, the
Chief Executive is going to say a couple of words.
But just before we jump in there, Claire,
thank you very much for everything you've done from
my point of view.
Because I know when I've been out as the chair of
the council, a lot of what people are shouting and
singing about is a result of the initiatives that you've
been involved with.
So, thank you so much.
And one of those is Unsung Heroes,
which you and Nikki charged together.
And just a shout out to anybody out there who'd
like to nominate anybody for our next Unsung Heroes,
please do get in contact with us.
And now we're going to hear from our Chief Executive.
Thank you, Chair, and good afternoon, members.
I just wanted to give you all a very brief update on some
Jane Portman, CEO - 0:12:57
developments that have happened about the local government
reorganisation programme here in Gloucestershire.
As you will be aware, we send out fortnightly updates for
everyone, but I just wanted to take this opportunity,
as we're all together to share with you some news about appointments that have been made.
We've been running a competitive appointments process for LEAD officers to lead on different pieces of work
for the local government reorganisation programme.
There are 11 work programmes all together and we've been appointing LEAD senior officers to those 11 programmes.
And I'm delighted to announce that we have three Cotswold District Council
Officers who've been appointed as leads. So David Stanley has been appointed lead for the finance programme
Helen Martin has been appointed the lead for the neighbourhoods and communities programme and
Matt Abbott at the back there has been appointed as lead for
communications engagement and branding and I'm sure you'll join me in
in congratulating them wholeheartedly.
That's really fantastic.
So I'm sure members will wonder what that means
and what implications there might be
for Cotswold District Council
and the smooth running of the council.
I've already had a conversation with the leader
and deputy leader about the principle
that we will ensure no detriment to Cotswold District Council smooth running
of services during this period of transition while our three senior
officers are working elsewhere on the local government reorganisation programme.
I plan to set out in some detail what that will mean for you all, probably by
the middle to end of February. They'll be starting some work now but it will build
up over the next few months, but we will make sure that we've got full information about
the implications going forward.
And just to reiterate, Councillor Evermy's message about the consultation, we have not
got a start date for that.
The government will inform us, I'm sure, in advance of that start date.
then it will be a seven -week period of consultation where statutory consultees will be requested
to express their views, but it will also be open to everybody who has a connexion to
Gloucestershire, so residents, businesses, local organisations, anybody with a perspective
on how local government might be reorganised going forwards.
We will make sure that all members have information about that consultation so that through your local channels in your wards with your connexions you can promote that and ensure that everybody who wants to have a say has that opportunity.
Thank you, Chair.
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:16:04
Thank you, Jane. Thanks for that.
And well done to those offices.
I'd like to think it says that we do communications pretty well, we do finance pretty well and we do place and communities pretty well.
So, right, we're going to move now to public questions.

5 Public Questions

And I think we have two questioners.
And the first one's here.
It's the mayor who's still on the wall.
Would you like to come forward and grab a seat?
So, I know when you, I know that you prepared your question.
And I think you prepared it for a couple of minutes.
And I know that that was reviewed in a silly bit.
But because we don't have lots and lots of questions,
I'm happy for you to not have to carve your question up. As long as you have a
question some people don't. If you can hit the button that would be great.
Public Speaker - 0:16:56
Good afternoon everybody my name is a Councillor Alison Tai, Mayor of Stow -on -the -Wold.
I've recently sent a letter to CDC voicing concern about the local plan.
Stow -on -the -Wold want to ensure that the challenges facing our town are fully
recognised and addressed in the local plan update process.
My question, will any solutions be provided in the plan,
firstly for housing?
While the local plan consultation document
acknowledges several symptoms of decline,
it fails to propose any meaningful answers.
I realise that development sites are yet to be allocated,
but there is a shortage of affordable and social housing.
and the few potential sites that do exist for development are small and we
feel incapable of delivering the scale of community benefit required to reverse
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:17:52
decline. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you, Alison. And Councillor Layton, do
you have a meaningful answer on that? Oh okay, sorry Mike. Thank you. Thank you,
Councillor Mike Evemy - 0:18:05
Alison. The reason I'm standing up is that you wrote to me. So I obviously had
site of your letter and thank you for raising the points about Stowe and I've
also had an email today from your ward member Councillor Neill on a similar vein.
So what I'm suggesting in response to your question, very happy to come and
meet with you together with our Director of Communities and Place and Councillor
Neill and any of your other colleagues to talk about the issues in Stowe.
Obviously, we've just had a consultation.
The officers are looking at sites, may have come available,
may have been put forward.
So I just wanted to, I guess, reassure you that while we
haven't, whilst we've consulted in Regulation 18, there's a lot
of work going on between now and we get to Regulation 19.
So a conversation that we might have might inform what the
officers bring forward.
But absolutely happy to have that conversation with you
and your colleagues.
Alison, do you have a?
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:18:59
Oh, right.
Sorry, Juliette, you want to respond as well.
Councillor Juliet Layton - 0:19:06
Only that I just wanted to add, as it's in my portfolio, this is something we're very
aware of. I mean, Dylis brings this to us regularly. We have... I'm sorry, Dylis, you're
right behind me. I indicated over there. We are very aware of this, but I mean, in terms
of the local plan, we've got to do what the local plan does. We've got to work with, as
Mike said, with sites that are available, but we are looking at social housing. Small
sites are actually ideal for social housing, but we don't own them, but I'd be very happy
to come on that meeting as well. And I have been with Dylis around Stowe and she's shown
us around a lot of the whole town actually. So we are very aware and we'll do what we
can. Thank you.
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:19:51
Alison, do you have a supplementary question you'd like to ask?
Yes, please.
Public Speaker - 0:19:57
The second question was a solution to the parking in Stowe. It was just because we got
so much limited off street parking already causes severe digestion in Stowe's popular
centre. A problem to set worsen. Now Tesco has introduced a time limit of two hours in
its car park. We think that significant additional off street parking is essential and we've
asking for a parking review for over four years. That's my second. Thank you,
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:20:28
Anderson. Who'd like to pick that up? Tony? Yeah.
Councillor Tony Dale - 0:20:39
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:20:41
Do you remain seated if you wish, Tony? I certainly sit. It's a courtesy to the public speaker who bothered to come all the way here.
Councillor Tony Dale - 0:20:50
Thank you for your question. I think it's very well founded. I fully understand.
I'm disappointed, genuinely disappointed that you think the parking hasn't been reviewed in the last four years.
We spent, officers spent two years during the last two year period doing a whole Cotswold parking strategy,
which has now been published on the Cotswold District Council website.
and there is a full Cotswolds wide parking strategy
for the district's parking assets.
So I strongly, strongly encourage you to look at that
and review it.
Nonetheless, I hear your point,
and if there is to be development within the local plan,
which is substantial,
and the additional traffic warrants the need for it,
then part of the local plan process
will inform the parking strategy moving forwards.
And there is no reason why we should not be working with you as local town councillors to identify a piece of land
where
parking could either be
Planned in an appropriate way or if necessary the mortgage be road car park could be extended or whatever the right answer is
I don't know that answer
But I'm absolutely confident that if you at least take a little bit of time with your fellow councillors and review
the published parking strategy, which is hot from the presses
and was done in consultation with all the local settlements.
At least you'll understand the direction of travel that we have,
that we are keen to maintain and invest in our parking here
for appropriate travel, where we can't encourage people
to travel by bike or walk, then we will do so.
We'll maintain those car parks
and we'll run them successfully and efficiently.
I hope that will reassure you a little.
Thank you.
Thank you, Councillor Dell.
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:22:32
Now, do you have any questions in response to the answers you had?
No, I don't think so.
Thank you very much for coming along.
I appreciate it.
And you're welcome to stay for the rest of the meeting, if you wish.
Our next public question is from Mary Coppett.
Mary, would you like to come forward?
Public Speaker - 0:23:06
Thank you.
Thank you for this opportunity.
I did spend hours this morning trying to get my question down to one minute, so I was very
hot.
Thank you.
My name is Mary Covert and I'm a licenced citizens advice benefit advisor serving both the arms houses and the Sire ancestor pantry.
An increasing number of older pensioners who retired before April 2016 are receiving unexpected tax demands on their state's retirement pension.
Equally important, it means these pensioners are not receiving the correct housing benefit
and council tax reduction they are entitled to, as their benefits are being calculated
on their gross income and not the usual net income which is required.
To claim this underpayment, the old -aged pensioners, and I identify myself as one of those, because
they are all mid to late 70s.
They must apply to CDC for a recalculation on receiving
their simple tax assessment bill.
My client, I have two clients, active clients,
who are appealing this process with me,
and help assisting them do.
And one of the clients is a 78 -year -old woman
with her only income from her state retirement pension,
who has received a tax bill for £24 .25 for £483,
while at the same time having lost £411 in housing benefit and council tax reduction.
This amounts to a total reduction in her income for the year of £894,
one as someone who is completely dependent on her state pension.
The two most under claimed benefits we have always known are pension credit and council tax reduction,
as older pensioners are often not computer savvy and struggle to apply online for benefits.
Often even if computer literate, they do not trust the online banking and forms.
The CDC made a big effort last year to try and recruit people onto pension credit and
we know the reluctance there is and the number of under claimed benefit claims.
The shock of receiving an unexpected bill together with having to then apply for housing
benefit and council tax reductions owed will cause
untold stress and anxiety for most of these elderly
pensioners, many of whom will pay the amount of tax
asked with, and in the first case I have, the
person went out and borrowed the money
immediately and paid it.
The second client has been pressured by HMRC to make
the repayment within three months.
So she's now paying 147 pounds a month as well as
losing her benefit. They are now having to make decisions as whether to eat or
heat their homes and they are not even aware in many cases that they're
entitled to a refund. My questions to the council are how many pensioners are in
the Cotswolds living solely on their pension credit and are receiving housing
benefit and council tax reduction? My second question is as we are about to
send out letters to residents and leaflets about the new council tax
rates, can we include a warning to those who receive a simple
assessment demand for tax to contact CDC immediately to
reclaim housing benefit and council tax reduction they
are owed?
And finally, this is a question to Councillor Joe Harris.
As Vice Chair of the LGA Board, please can you bring this
emerging issue to the LGA forums to ensure all local authorities
are aware of this problem?
This is a national issue that is arising of taking the tax away that then comes down to
the local authority to pick up the loss of income.
Rather than wait for these things to happen, if we could get some traction in getting to
the national discussion on this, that would be very grateful.
Thank you.
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:27:14
Thank You Mary. So the government's nickel and diming pensioners and local
councils are picking up the bill. Who's going to speak to this? So I'll go with
Councillor Ebony first because you had your hand up and then we'll go to
Councillor Colle who's missed the money. I wasn't going to say bags but you know what I mean.
Councillor Mike Evemy - 0:27:34
Thank you. I'll hand over to Patrick to add a little bit. Thank you very much Mary
for your questions and for bringing to a wider audience
the issues that some of the people that you support
are experiencing.
And I think you're right.
You know, you've alluded to the fact that people who are really
on low incomes, you know, never probably in the whole of their
retirement, they've been retired for at least 10 years,
have paid any, needed to pay any income tax and suddenly they're
being sent demands.
Now that's obviously a consequence of the fact that
government hasn't increased the basic rate threshold, which it could have done
and it was warned that this might happen. But the consequences maybe, maybe I'll be
generous to the government, maybe they didn't realise the consequences on the
people that you work with and support, you know, who are on very low incomes and
are currently faced with bureaucracy they've never had to deal with before.
When, you know, their income fundamentally hasn't changed other than
and their pension is increased with the annual increase.
So in terms of the, ask your specific questions,
we need to get you a written answer
about how many people that's affecting.
But I see, Mandy Parthas is at the back
who heads the revenues and benefits team.
So I'm sure she'll be able to work on that
and we'll get you a written reply on that.
Also, we will also look at,
and I'll pass this to Councillor Coleman
in terms of his role as cabinet member for finance,
but looking at how we can do more to communicate.
And obviously with my role as portfolio holder for communications, we've got a head of communications
at the back of the room thinking about how can we communicate that?
And I understand the audience maybe probably isn't online and how do we reach those people
to tell them?
And I'm sure Councillor Joe Harris is listening to what you had to say.
He doesn't have a live reply here, but obviously he sits in another place where these things
may be discussed.
So thank you for bringing it to us.
And if Patrick has wanted, I know anything to add to what I've said.
My voice is going again.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Councillor Patrick Coleman - 0:29:35
Thank you very much, Mike.
I was very keen to obtain the portfolio responsibility for
cost of living support when I heard that Claire was giving up
her post.
And I'm also very pleased to be able to contribute to the
answers today because I've known Mary for a long time.
I know how helpful she's been to individuals
throughout her career.
I discovered that she is younger than me,
so she's definitely not one of those older pensioners.
And the serious point, and I do get to see Mary on a fairly
regular basis since I'm also a member of the pantry
and so on and so forth.
So I was aware that this issue was bubbling under.
It is complex and it goes a little bit further than just communication because of course
it deals with the attitude of tax authorities and I hope that I will find as I get into
it as well that we have the right attitude as well.
I think it may be that we're a little risk averse in the way that we approach this but
I've yet to be certain of these matters and I think it's been really helpful to have you
along today asking these questions on behalf of people who clearly are not
being treated fairly by the system okay we can say it's the government's fault
and it is but it goes beyond that and we're the ones who will carry the can
I'm happy to do that today thank you Thank You councillor Coleman
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:31:10
council McEwen had a I think you wanted to say something on this in your role
Councillor Mike McKeown - 0:31:17
yeah just that something occurred to me that might be helpful for you you're
probably aware of some of it, but just was announced yesterday, but is actually something
we could ask officers to look into and actual members could do.
So there's a new warm homes programme announced that replaced the old one that fully funds
upgrades to homes on I think anybody with an income of less than 36 ,000.
So it's much simpler, less means tested, and it's much expanded so it can make their houses,
as you were saying about heat or heat.
So you can get basically 100 % funding, solar panels,
heat pumps, improved insulation,
which would very tangibly help.
I know my energy bill's probably half
of what it was before from solar.
So that's probably good.
It's only just come out to look at.
We, as you probably know, I guess you work with Warm and Well,
the energy charity that provides free advice for this.
I think they're just digesting the new programme.
I think from an officer perspective maybe for the minutes and action is could we make sure that you know anybody we think could qualify that
Of to that programme or aware because it applies to whether they own their own home or if they're renting
And within that threshold and then the last one which I guess all members can do we have really excellent energy home energy efficiency officer
Justine Mallinson and she's been going round
different town and parish council halls and presenting to the public what can
you do what grants are available what things can you do she's now looking for
this year's programme to go out and do more so if you'd like her to come and
talk for free in you know you'll Claire I know she did one of yours recently
she's done in a couple in my ward ask her she'll come out presented she's
fully useful advice she's actually a professional assessor and she'll go out
to people's homes as well within resource constraints for free
and give energy advice, particularly for those that
need it, and also the aid they pay, because there's a lot of
stuff that's come out of new grants and loans for everybody
to make their homes warmer and snugger and lower carbon.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mike.
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:33:22
Mary, do you have a supplementary question you'd
like to ask on the basis of what you heard from the various
cabinet members?
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:33:42
Public Speaker - 0:33:46
Would you agree with that?
What I, the point that I was making is that this is a national issue.
This is really not the fault of the local authority.
But the local, there is a lot, going back to 2005,
there is a lot of case work that has been around this
since the days of income support where the local authority
actually does have to take responsibility of understanding
and identifying the tax liability that is due
from the time of the benefit.
It is very different from PAYE and they do have a responsibility.
You only get 30 weeks. I'm sorry to be technical, but I need to make this point. You only get 30 weeks of
disregarding
this tax liability. We've gone well past 30 weeks in the year 24 -25, so you are actually in
in fault in not
correcting these
benefits as of November last year.
So I have had to come forward with an appeal.
Appeals for housing benefit come through the local authority,
whereas the rest of the time I've always been in court through the DWP.
And I go, at this case I have to come to the Council.
And I do need a very urgent action on this because I am also,
I am under previous rulings allowed to bypass the Council.
I'm not trying to do that in a,
I'm hoping that the council, Cotswold District Council, has always been very good at delivering
council tax reduction and benefits and looking into the issue of our cost of living issues
and I hope that they will support me in doing this process because it's really important
that we get case law in this and done for other local authorities.
So thank you for your time.
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:35:48
Mary thank you very much for bringing that to us and you want to address that
Public Speaker - 0:35:55
Mike sorry yeah yeah thank you and thank you again Mary for coming in on your
last points yeah I do understand that I was in conversation with officers this
morning so I do and we do need to be able to come back to you with something
in writing about the circumstances of the individual case so I'm Mandy and
working with with Patrick to come back to you on that. Thank you. Thanks sorry
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:36:20
Mike. Thank you Mary. Thanks very much. Enjoy the rest of the meeting.
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:36:33
Hey right thank you. Thank you members of the public for that. We now move on to

6 Member Questions

member questions. We've got 15 minutes for this. So these are questions have been
submitted, they've been responded to in writing. The responses are on your
desk so you can see those. The questions on the agenda are presented in
the order received. So each question will be asked whether they have a
supplementary question. You've got one minute to ask that, which must arise out of the
original question or the response. I'll then invite the cabinet member to
response to each supplementary question they'll have two minutes to respond so
the first one is from Councillor Julia Judd and this is no new subject to
Councillor Judd or Councillor Pellegram on missed bin collection figures. Julia
Councillor Julia Judd - 0:37:28
would you like do you have a supplementary? Thank you chair. Thank you
very, very much your good, clear, written answer and lots of questions, lots of things
which I didn't know which are in there. The only thing is I'm not sure it's really addressing
what I was getting at because we're not really interested in collections which aren't collected
by because the residents actually haven't put their waste out because they're going
on holiday. Nobody's interested in that if you're a resident. I would really love you
UBCO and the waste team to look at it from a resident's point of view rather than from
the council's point of view. If a resident hasn't had their bins collected and they are
unable to report it on the portal because UBCO know that they're not going to collect
in that village or whatever, how can you live without that data? How can you put together
business plan if you don't know those answers.
The clearest evidence that I have that you have that
information is the numerous emails that I have received
from my residents.
So I just, how can you make good business decisions about
future -proofing your investment in the service if
you don't have this accurate data?
Andrea. Thank you chair. Thank you Councillor Judd.
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:39:05
We do take it very seriously. We are trying very hard. We do have our residents at the
actual forefront of our thinking in all of these matters. We've had bad luck, we've had
bad weather, we've had vehicles that are old and that are breaking down. We've had staff
illnesses and we try very hard to keep on top of that.
Councillor Andrea Pellegram - 0:39:28
Just at our last cabinet meeting, we've invested six
million pounds in a new vehicle fleet that should, when those
vehicles are delivered, have a significant positive impact
on the level of services.
We scrutinise, as you're aware, every single case that you call
to our attention and we do learn from all of these things.
When things go wrong, we learn from those lessons and we make
modifications, officers are in regular contact with UBCO at all levels of the organisation
to try to improve how they actually manage the services from their end.
Moving forward is one of my corporate priorities to actually improve the two -way communication
with our residents, not just so that they come onto the website and can say how to,
which bin to put their waste into, or to actually fill out the reporting, which is sometimes
a bit difficult. And I know the officers have just spoken to the website team and they're
going to be rejigging how that website, those pages are structured. But longer term, I'm
hoping to have some kind of a communication system with a push so that if something goes
wrong at our end, we can alert either local counsellors or ideally the people on the, you
know, in the neighbourhood that something has unfortunately gone wrong in that instance
and when it will be rectified. And I think that if people know that if there was a problem
and that they know that it will be rectified, then their level of stress will go down tremendously
and you and I won't receive so many emails. So that's, we're working very hard on it.
As you can imagine, it's very complicated.
And in fact, I was just talking about it,
Gloucestershire -wide, in a meeting before this one.
So it's absolutely on my radar, and I'm doing my utmost to do it
as quickly as possible.
Thank you.
Thank you, Andrea.
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:41:30
Okay, our next question is from Councillor then Wilkins
to Councillor Juliet Layton on resourcing planning enforcement
and addressing the growing workload.
Do you have a supplementary question?
I'm afraid so.
It's got a background to it.
Councillor Len Wilkins - 0:41:45
So the background is actually my colleague Julia there.
Last November, she asked a question
about recruiting retention of the enforcement staff
and suggested the council talk to the armed forces
covenant re -endorsement who find work for veterans
and support employment retired service personnel.
Councillor Judd has contacted both organisations,
spelling them very enthusiastic. They've got the skills, they've got the
organisation ability and the question is simple. Has CDC followed up the suggestion
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:42:25
and what were the results? Thank you. Good question. Councillor Layton. I'm going to get
Councillor Juliet Layton - 0:42:30
a written answer to you to make sure but I'm absolutely positive that when
When these jobs or these advertised, they are advertised thoroughly.
Anybody can apply.
I believe we have had contact with those areas.
We talked to Julia, I think you had a reply about that anyway in November or maybe December.
I have been off a bit because of the broken arms.
I am not that sure about November, December.
okay, but we are we can recruit people from anywhere they come and they are if
they're if they're suitable and they fit the bill however enthusiastic they may
be they've got to be the right person for the job and that is that is to do
with recruitment and and interviewing and things I will get a reply to you but
I'm pretty sure that we have been in contact. Thank you I'm sorry I should
Councillor Len Wilkins - 0:43:32
have said thank you earlier for the question for the answer. Thank you Julia
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:43:40
thank you Len for your question. Question three is from Councillor Laura Hall -Wilson
to Councillor Andrea Péregram on updating councillors and the website
about changes to bin collection arrangements and Laura do you have a
Councillor Laura Hall-Wilson - 0:43:58
supplementary question? Thank you chair and thank you Councillor Péregram for your
your answer. I just think we're over complicating it slightly. Going forwards
can members receive an email if there's due to be a break in service precision
just so that we can fulfil our roles of being a conduit between the council and
our residents. Thank you. Thank you Laura. It's close to my heart because when
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:44:19
my street wasn't collected I'd have appreciated some sort of notification so
I could because all the neighbours come around to me because I'm meant to know.
Councillor Andrea Pellegram - 0:44:29
That solution has been passed to me, but I think that puts quite an undue expectation
on the local councillor because if we're talking about a street was missed because of a broken
vehicle, that councillor has to always be on their emails all the time to make sure that
they've received the email.
So we can try that.
I'll take that back for officers.
But I think we have to have a better solution than that.
and the one that we're looking at would actually deal with individuals who have signed up for
a service. But I will take that back, yes.
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:45:04
Thank you, Councillor Pellegramp. I look forward to that. Question four of Councillor David
Fowle for Councillor Mike Henry about opposition members contributing to the Cotswold Together
magazine. Have you got an article on lay -bys you'd like to furnish it with?
No.
Thank you, I thought the chairman should rise above comments like that.
You should know me by now.
But in your case we have to make an exception.
Councillor David Fowles - 0:45:32
We feel quite strongly about this subject.
I remember back to former issues that were produced by us on council communication and
how upset former leaders of the opposition got when they were not mentioned.
and we feel very strongly that if you're going to call it Cotswolds together, could you engage
with us as the opposition, and I can't speak for the other representatives of the other
parties. It doesn't seem to me to be very complicated, especially with the talents of
Matt, and congratulations on your appointment, to engage with us as a group in terms of content
and storeys, and possibly even feature one or two of our members in it, and for you to
consider just a simple courtesy of signing off with with our leader because
we have been completely and utterly excluded from it and I think it's really
bad form. Thank you.
Do you like to respond? Mike?
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:46:29
Councillor Mike Evemy - 0:46:32
Yeah I mean I answer the question it's not bad form it's standard local authority practise.
I'm the leader of the council and the council would allow with the
responsibility for communications so other than the individual cabinet
members featured and where the articles are about them.
None of the other members on this side of the chamber
are consulted.
I'm consulted as the leader of the council.
Professional work is done by our communications team.
The answer I've given you says very clearly how that
works and you previously sat in the cabinet and you
referred to that but as I remember, before I was a
member of this council, I don't remember seeing very
often people who were sat on the Lib Dem group at that
time featuring.
And the reason for that is a really clear reason.
I am the leader of the council.
It never mentions my party when it describes me,
when Councillor Layton or other cabinet members,
we have a role on behalf of the whole council.
We are the majority group.
I was elected the leader, I have appointed the cabinet.
That's the way the system works.
And we are clearly the main principle spokespeople
for this council with the public.
So it's only right that we're featured.
Now, you mentioned about other members
of the council being featured,
And I do recall, whilst they weren't in this issue,
I do remember the Council of Bloemfeld sat next to you,
featured in a previous edition.
I think Council Turner is featured in a previous edition.
So from time to time that does happen.
And, you know, when we're talking
about backbench members, that's appropriate.
But when we're talking about the corporate priorities
of the Council, the principal spokespeople are here sat
on the front row.
And I think in terms of the points you make
about those particular matters, the local plan
and local government reorganisation.
Well, I'm the lead for local government reorganisation
is council and Julia is the lead for the local plan.
We took and our officers prepare
based on what has been discussed at our meetings
and share that with us.
So it's totally appropriate.
And I think it was an excellent publication
that went out, had many people praising,
not just taking, making jokes about
that me being on the front cover,
but actually praising the contents.
And I think it's an excellent piece of work
and we'll continue to do that at appropriate times.
Thank you, Councillor Evermy.
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:48:36
Question five is from the man on my right,
Councillor Brassington to Councillor Evermy,
about increasing provision of grave plots in Stratton and Sire ancestor
following a commitment given at the 2025 Council meeting.
Thank you, Chair.
Councillor Ray Brassington - 0:48:53
I have no supplementary, just to thank the officers for providing that information.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:49:01
And finally, we move now to, we have an urgent member question.
So in addition to the questions that were submitted in advance, we received this question
which was submitted to the CEO yesterday.
I'm going to exercise my discretion as chair and allow Councillor Hall -Wilson to put his
question regarding recent events in temporary to Councillor Pellegram.
Laura, go for it.
I'm happy to read it out if you want to.
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:49:31
That's fine.
Councillor Laura Hall-Wilson - 0:49:43
Yeah, thank you very much and thank you, Chair, for allowing this urgent question.
And for over a week now, the people of Tepary have been blighted by the most appalling smoke
pollution from continuous burning of waste on
temporary industrial estate.
I've received too many emails, messages, and
calls to count from distressed residents.
The thick black smoke has filled homes, prevented
children from playing outside at nursery, and
poured over the roads, blocking visibility.
Residents have moved out to nearby relatives and to
Airbnb accommodation.
The team at Environmental Health have been very
responsive to me and have visited on several
occasions, keeping me updated and receiving
evidence in the form of photos and videos. The fire brigade has attended and the police
have attended. I know that Councillor Inde has raised it and I think maybe Councillor
Watson as well. None are in any doubt that a serious offence has occurred and a fixed
penalty notice has been issued, yet at the time of writing this question the fire is
still raged on. What more can the council do to enforce the law and protect our residents
from this dreadful intrusion and prevent a very serious fire spreading from this site.
Wow, okay.
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:50:52
Councillor Pedogram, would you like to respond to that?
Thank you.
Councillor Andrea Pellegram - 0:50:57
Thank you to officers for providing such a quick response to this urgent question.
There was quite a lot of activity about this last week.
I have received a written response from the officers, which I've already shared with Councillor
Hall Wilson, it's not Wilson Hall I hope.
So shall I read it out, Chair?
Yes, please.
Officers from Cotswold District Council
attended Tetbury Industrial Estate
on multiple occasions last week
in response to reports of fires and nuisance
affecting nearby residents.
As part of our enforcement powers,
the owner of the site has been issued
with a fixed penalty notice and a nuisance abatement notice
which is the action available to the council at this stage.
Should the fine not be paid or the smoke nuisance recur,
the council will be able to commence legal proceedings.
We will continue to monitor the situation
and take further action where appropriate
to protect local residents.
The fire is now completely out,
which was established from officer visits this morning,
Tuesday the 20th.
In future, as on this occasion,
it is important to establish early contact
with the fire services and to liaise with the police
and the environment agency, especially if there's an escalation.
The council used the legal powers available to it,
and if the fire had spread, putting public safety at risk,
the emergency services would be the first responders responsible
for dealing with the incident.
So I hope that that answers your question.
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:52:34
Thank you very much.
I'm going to ask you if you have a supplementary on it because...
Yeah, go for it.
Thank you very much.
Councillor Laura Hall-Wilson - 0:52:42
And I would like to further extend my thanks to the team at Environmental Health,
who have been really good at dealing with a very difficult situation in Tepi this week.
The only thing I would add was, do you have any idea of what the time scale for further legal action might be,
and what would your advice be to residents as and when the burn starts up again?
Councillor Andrea Pellegram - 0:53:03
I'll have to get you, an officer, to respond, because it's going to be all set out in the legislation.
and hopefully it won't happen again but if it does this is what our response
will be again. Thank you. Thank you Councillor Pergran. The Vice -Chair has asked if I if
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:53:19
he can make a comment and I think given his background in the area I'm minded to
allow that. Would you like to make a comment Councillor Brassington? Thank you
Councillor Ray Brassington - 0:53:31
Chair. The council could take action under section 1 of the Clean Air Act 1968
for admission of black smoke.
And also we could perhaps consider taking out an injunction
if it is bad as well being told.
That would probably need to engage
with legal section on that.
Thank you very much for that.
And it looks like it's being noted.
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:53:50
So thanks.
Always useful to have corporate memory
in an organisation, isn't it?
Thanks very much.
Okay, we're going to move on.
Thanks to everybody for their questions.
Much appreciated and the answers.
We're going to move to item seven now, which is appointment

7 Appointment of Committees- vacant seat Planning & Licensing Committee

of committees vacant we have vacant seats on planning and licencing
committee so the purpose is I'm so I'm in addition to appointing to the vacant
liberal Democrat seat on the planning and licence committee following council
Wilkinson's resignation council is asked to appoint a liberal Democrat member to
the auditing government's committee following councillor Dale's appointment
to cabinet so councillor ever me would you confirm the nomination members
Councillor Mike Evemy - 0:54:35
please. Thank you chair and just to add to that last bit I did raise this with
officers and we checked the Constitution and as Councillor Dale is now in the
cabinet he's not allowed under the Constitution to sit anymore on the audit
and governance committee. So the nominations I had for the Planning and
Licencing Committee is Councillor Joe Harris and for the Audit and Governance
Committee is Councillor Paul Hodgkinson.
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:55:02
Thank you very much. Are there any questions for clarity on that? Pretty clear. Good. Can
I have a seconder please? I remember Councillor Layton, thank you very much. Would anybody
like to speak in debate on this? Councillor Fowles? No one expected. We had a planning
Councillor David Fowles - 0:55:19
and licencing meeting last week and the numbers dwindled during the course of the meeting
went down to eight. And I would just urge colleagues, if they can't come, to please
try and get a substitute. That's point number one. But also, the point that was made by
the chairman would be good if we could review the makeup of planning at our constitution
working group, because the quorum for core rather was three, I think, which is ludicrous
when you think of some of the big decisions we make. And I hope that we can take, I hope
the chairman will take it up with constitution working group. But it's great to see Councillor
Joe Harris joining the committee.
Look forward to working with him.
And I've no doubt he looks forward to working
with you, Councillor Foulton.
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:55:59
Councillor Evermeade.
Thank you and if I can answer that point
Councillor Mike Evemy - 0:56:09
as the chair of the constitution working group,
just to clarify for members,
we appointed 11 members to the planning
and licencing committee back in May of last year
for the meeting that happened last week.
there were only nine of those were still remaining on the committee one having
resigned from the council one having resigned from the committee so there
were eight out of the nine people so I take the point but I think we can have a
look at quorum but I think there are see laws around that that we need to have a
look at but I think generally the attendance is pretty good at the planning
and licencing committee but we I'm happy for us to consider whether we want to
have a higher quorum in order to make sure that we don't have a situation
where three members are making a decision because I totally accept the
point that that wouldn't be healthy. Thank you very much. If I can pull us
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:57:02
back to the appointments of on these committees rather than the operation of
the committees that'd be great but points well made. Juliet would you like
to say anything as a seconder? I would only say that we've got two very
experienced people taking on both of those roles and I'm delighted that we've
got that and I think that we know that they both work very well in
respective committees. Thank you. Thank you and Councillor Everny do you want to
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:57:32
sum up or are you happy to move to a vote? Okay let's move to a vote. The
recommendation is to appoint Councillor Joe Harris to the vacant Lib Dem seat on
Planning and Licencing Committee and Councillor, who was it on? Paul Hodgson.
I'm sorry Paul to the vacant Liberal Democrat seat on the order in government.
Not really sitting that side of the room. Right let's go to the vote.
Sorry Paul.
We have one person against it.
I'm looking for one more.
We have 29.
That's good.
We're in.
He's changed his mind.
Excellent.
Okay, well that's 31 -4, none against and no abstentions.
So that is passed and welcome to those committees, folks.
Right, moving on to item eight.
I think like some of the, if like me, you looked at this and thought, my goodness, they're
licencing senior members of the Church of England.
But it's a different type of primate. So new fee for primate licence. The purpose
is to seek council's approval to implement a fee for primate licencing
applications subject to the proposed fees having been approved by Planning a
Licencing Committee at their meeting on the 14th of January. We've got Mandy
Farley's here in support and Angela will support this as well. And it's being
proposed by Andrea Pellegram and seconded by Councillor Tom Stowe. So Councillor
if you'd like to.
Thank you, Chair.
Councillor Andrea Pellegram - 0:59:31
To just follow up on that point made by you,
and we see in paragraph 3 .2 that this new licence
includes marmosets, tamarins, squirrel monkeys,
spider monkeys, capuchin monkeys, lemurs, and loracids.
I did ask officers why higher primates were not included,
and I was told that the list was so extensive
that it couldn't even be attached as an appendix.
So can I just remind counsellors that the list of primates under this licence excludes fellow
counsellors or ex -spouses.
So in 2024, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs through regulations
made under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 introduced the Animal Welfare Primate Licences England
Regulations 2024.
And we all were aware of that when that happened.
The regulations introduced a licencing scheme with strict rules to ensure that only private
keepers who can provide zoo -level welfare standards will be able to keep primates.
The regulations came into force on the 6th of April, 2025, at which time existing primate
keepers and people proposing to keep primates will be required to hold a licence and from
So this means that an inspection must be carried out prior to the application being determined
and further inspection is required on at least one occasion during the duration of the licence.
So part of the regulations allow that a fee is charged.
We see that various fees are proposed here in the table.
Application for the licence is 530, application for renewal 364, and a variation is 30 pounds.
That's really all I need to say.
It's in the best interest of our primates, so may I please ask you to support this.
Thank you very much.
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:01:26
Thank you very much for that fulsome and illuminating description of what we're being asked to vote
on.
Has anybody got any questions for clarity on that?
Yes, Councillor Wilkinson.
I'm intrigued.
Oh, sorry.
Councillor Tristan Wilkinson - 1:01:41
I'm not used to it.
I'm intrigued that this is going to make a material impact to our income in the next
year.
I'm curious as to how many primates we have across Star District.
Councillor Andrea Pellegram - 1:01:54
This question was asked at the planning and licencing committee, and we don't think there are any.
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:02:04
I was going to ask if anybody in the room had any. I mean, you know, excluding teenagers of course, which don't live in rooms
that are up to zoo standards in my experience.
Okay, Councillor Stowe, would you like to speak to it?
Councillor Tom Stowe - 1:02:18
Yes, thank you, Chair. I'm happy to second these recommendations.
Now, on the face of it, this seems a straightforward item.
However, there is more to this than the matter of licencing,
because this is shining a light on animal welfare matter,
and highlights what role this Council can play in protecting these animals.
Now, keeping these highly intelligent, complex animals in captivity
isn't something which sits comfortably with me.
And I'm sure there are many caring and sensible primate keepers across the country.
However, the reality is that thousands of these primates are cruelly captured from the
wild or bred in captivity and shipped around the world and kept as pets in people's homes,
typically in conditions which are wholly unsuited.

8 New Fee for Primate Licences

And sadly abuse of these animals does happen and closer to home than some may expect.
Back in 2024, two depraved and wicked individuals, Holly Leggresley and Adriana Orme from Worcestershire,
were gaoled for creating and distributing videos involving primate torture.
This new licencing regime is not going to be the golden bullet which solves this worldwide issue.
However, it would seem to give a small degree of protection to these animals by attempting to
ensure that if people do insist on keeping them in the Cotswold district, then this council can
play a role in monitoring where these animals are and ensuring that they are properly cared for to
those zoom level standards. Now the recommendation before us is to set the
fees for private keeper applications in Cotswold districts. The proposed fees
outlined in the table on page 37 are based on cost recovery and are aligned
with other similar licencing fees charged by CDC. It is this planned
approach that leads to the cost falling on the applicants and not the taxpayer
and they will be reviewed annually to ensure that they are set in an
In other words, it isn't a revenue generating exercise. It's about making sure the council
isn't left monkeying around subsidising inspections that can involve vets, specialist officers
and presumably significant paperwork. For those reasons, I'm happy to second these
proposals. Thank you.
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:04:30
Thank you very much, Councillor Sloan. Thank you for shining a light on the serious side
of it and the harm that this aims to address I think that's really important
and we appreciate that. Right we've had a seconder, is anybody wish to speaking
debate on this matter? Ah, Councillor Dili's Neil. Yes I was at the Planning and Licencing
Councillor Dilys Neill - 1:04:51
Committee where we discussed this and first of all I entirely agree with
Councillor Stone. I mean I think in the past we've seen evidence that people who
want to purchase this sort of animal or sort of regard them as
little cute mini humans and treat them in the most
inappropriate way.
And I just want to say that we have got Kevin now.
He wasn't able to attend our planning and licencing committee
because he was on a training course so that he is one of the
responsible people who can actually go out and cheque out on
if you have any requests for new climate licence.
So I'd like to thank him very much for the work that he's done
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:05:34
and he is our man with the expertise. Thanks. Thank you, Councillor Neill. Councillor Jenkins.
Councillor Dilys Neill - 1:05:37
Thank you, Chair. I completely support this measure as a minimum condition for what is
Councillor Angus Jenkinson - 1:05:46
required. I only want to draw the attention of what I suspect we all know, that the sentience
of animals is not restricted to primates.
They may be, so to speak, top of the process,
but it's widely dispersed to the level that we've now got scientific demonstration
that plants are capable of recognising different human beings
and respond in a manner that, under ordinary circumstances,
we would describe as emotional.
That's been scientifically recognised.
they have antipathies and sympathies if we were to use ordinary European human language.
So it is ubiquitous within the whole of the living world that there is some form of sentience
right down to very simple creatures as we would normally describe them.
And it is a travesty that in 2021, the UK Parliament failed to retain the agreement that had only just been made by the EU, that farm animals had sentience.
It was not until a year later that they chose to restore the fact that farm animals were sentient.
I think that therefore we should continue to extend our awareness of the necessity to treat the animals in the care of human beings across all varieties in a much more sensible way than we do at the moment.
And I'm using the word sensible in two senses.
Thank you very much, Councillor Jenkins.
Councillor Joe Harris.
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:07:28
Councillor Joe Harris - 1:07:30
Yeah, I'll actually agree with a lot of what Tom said.
I think, you know, wild animals, which primates are,
are not supposed to be kept in a home environment.
I think it's really weird, actually.
I think it's totally inappropriate.
And I actually support the RSPCA in calling for a ban
on keeping of primates.
I find it really uncomfortable, so, you know,
nothing against what's in the report.
We are putting into practise a policy.
But I think maybe this is something we should raise
with our MPs because why are we keeping wild animals,
why are we keeping monkeys, primates in this country
totally out of their natural normal habitat for,
I don't know, the benefit or entertainment of people.
So I think this is probably an issue that we should contact
our member of parliament about and I will do following
this because I think it's totally inappropriate that
that people are keeping primates in this day and age.
It's sort of akin, isn't it, to a Louis Theroux documentary
where you, you know, in America,
where you have these huge wild animals
being kept in totally inappropriate conditions.
And that's not to say that there aren't people
that do have primates in this country
who treat them very well and love them,
but I think actually this is a bigger issue, isn't it?
It's about that question of whether we should be keeping
wild animals as pets ultimately.
And that is what this report basically outlines.
So I think it's a bit strange.
I don't understand it.
And I think we should echo the RSPCA's call to ban this
practise in this country.
But of course I will vote for the report because it is
absolutely critical that where people are keeping
them, we keep a watchful eye and make sure that animal
welfare is the top of our agenda.
Thank you, Jay.
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:09:20
I'll come to David in a second because I know you want to ask
a question, but if I just made a comment that, in fact,
Joe's brother used to volunteer for a charity that looked after
exotic pets that had gone wrong and the owner could no longer
care for it or wasn't caring for it, and wow,
there's a lot of work to do there and some real
sort of sad storeys.
David, over to you.
Yeah, thank you, Jay.
Councillor David Fowles - 1:09:47
I actually asked the question at licencing, the report is self -explanatory and I share
Councillor Stoves' comments and echoed by Councillor Harris about it sits very uncomfortably
with me, but I asked the question what happens to the animals if we did find one and the
licence fee wasn't being paid or they were being kept in inappropriate conditions and
at the time the officer wasn't able to give an answer and so I wondered whether we do
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:10:15
have an answer. I think the licencing officer could probably respond to that.
Would you like, do you want to come forward?
Public Speaker - 1:10:32
Okay, thank you chair. So if someone is unable to pay the fees and are unable to
accommodate the animal, ultimately there is going to be a view that they're
to care for the animal in that manner. So we would be working with the likes of
RSPCA, that was mentioned. We will also work with the likes of Monkey World, who is a rescue centre.
That's where I've just been to. The animal would most likely be in a situation where it may have to be rehomed.
So we could obviously work with an applicant. They may be in a position to
accommodate
and
provide the level of care that the animal needs,
but ultimately the animal welfare is centre to this.
So it would be working with other agencies,
if they're unable to pay, but we'll work with them,
and it may mean the animal would have to be rehomed.
Good afternoon, Ben.
Absolutely David, yes.
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:11:28
Where does the power rest to remove the animal?
Councillor David Fowles - 1:11:31
Is that with us or with the welfare agency?
Public Speaker - 1:11:41
So the power is with us for, we would receive reports potentially from the public if we
were made aware, or if this person has made the application, it is then with us to enforce
and work with other agencies.
So that does fall with us.
But then we will have the assistance from the other agencies with regards to meeting
that animal to an appropriate place.
Thank you very much.
That's really helpful.
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:12:00
And thank you, Dave, for those questions and for digging in a little bit about what actually goes on behind what we're doing today.
If that's all, I'm going to go to Councillor Péramme to sum up, if you'd like to, if there's any summing up to be done, and then we'll move to a vote.
Councillor Andrea Pellegram - 1:12:18
I would like to thank my fellow councillors for such a round debate.
And yes, I think there's more work to be done, so let us all do it together.
And I look forward to your supporting this report. Thank you.
Thank you, Andrea. Let's hit those buttons.
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:12:30
Okay. That's it. They're all on here, so I think that's unanimous.
Thank you very much. Fantastic.
Okay. Okay. Item 9 now, moving on to the really exciting stuff, Treasury

9 Treasury Management Mid-Year Report

Management Mid -Year Report. And the purpose of this is to receive and
discuss details of the Council's Treasury management performance for the
period 1st of April 30th of September 25 and quarter 2 Treasury
management prudential indicators. We have David supporting on this and it will be proposed
by Patrick Coleman and seconded by Nigel Robbins. Mr Coleman, would you like to introduce the
report and propose the recommendations? Thank you, yes indeed, Chair. This is the
Treasury management report for the first six months of the financial year. It is a necessary
thing to come before us. It's difficult to find any bad news in this. On the other hand,
Councillor Patrick Coleman - 1:13:51
the future is uncertain. I think it would be entirely reasonable for me to pay tribute
again to our advisors Arlene Close, who have helped us to the relatively favourable position
when compared with many other councils.
Over this six months, the best piece of news,
I think we had was in paragraph 5 .3,
statutory override became a very important phrase for us,
well not very important, for other councils,
particularly at the county level.
They've got huge statutory overrides
and those are being dealt with in a different way,
I think, in one case.
But for us, the end that was going to come to statutory overrides in the 31st of March
this year, it's been extended for four more years, which I think takes us beyond our lifespan
as a council and will help us because it made sense for the statutory override to exist
because we hold the treasury investment, externally managed funds.
We hold 10 .5 million of them in externally managed strategic pooled cash, which is designed
for income rather than for growth.
Although you will see that in this six month period there has been some capital growth
in the pooled funds.
And apart from that, we've seen that we've in other areas too the trends are positive.
and I'm grateful that the Chief Finance Officer and Deputy Chief Executive David Stanley is
here and able to answer any technical questions. Thank you.
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:15:39
Thank you very much. And I move the recommendation.
Councillor Patrick Coleman - 1:15:41
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:15:43
Thank you very much, Councillor Coleman. Do we have any questions for clarity on this?
Councillor Hodgkinson, then Councillor Watson and Councillor Bloomfield.
Councillor Paul Hodgkinson - 1:15:54
Yeah, I just wanted to ask a little bit about the pooled funds and whether this is either
Patrick or David answering this because obviously what we've
seen, you know, we have seen the stock market going up quite a
lot actually over the last kind of couple of years.
Anyone with shares, unit trust, pool funds will have seen quite
a substantial increase until this week when Donald Trump's
pronouncements on Greenland has hit the stock market around the
world.
But these are the ups and downs that happen.
So I guess my question is really around those funds is how much
do we as a council actively manage it? Are we relying on our consultants, brokers to
actively manage and look at those funds and switch them around if they need to to different ones if
they suddenly find that one particular area in the world or the UK is tanking and another one is
actually gaining? Is that happening a lot or is it very sort of light touch?
Councillor Patrick Coleman - 1:16:52
Chair, I think that's a very helpful question because we all need to understand more about
financial markets. It's my impression that there's quite a distance between, on the one
hand what's happening on stock markets and on the other hand what happens with poor funds.
But the nature of the connexion between those two measures and those two types of investment
I think it's best explained in terms of how close it is or how far away it is
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:17:23
what the different factors are by our Chief Finance Officer. Thank you chair
David Stanley, Deputy CEO - 1:17:25
just in terms of the council's pooled funds table 5 on page 49 of the public
report back pack breaks those down. The point I would make is those are held for
the longer term, typically a five to ten year period.
Council would have made a decision some years ago to
invest in those very particular funds.
It would require another decision of council to change
those investments.
The advice that I would give and Arlene Close would give is past
performance is not a good indicator of future performance.
And there is also a cost of change.
So when you look at table five, the initial investment that was
made in those pooled funds, which is the column on the left
hand side, 12 .5 million, the column around about the middle
30th September value, 11 .686 million.
So there has been an overall capital reduction in the value.
If we traded those investments and came out of one and bought
another, we would crystallise that capital loss.
So it's not something to undertake lightly, but we can, through our in close, undertake
a review on a regular basis to ensure that the Council has got a diversified portfolio,
because the important point here is that we don't have all our investments in one particular
part of the financial markets.
There are property funds, income maximizer funds, multi -asset funds.
they vary in type and quality in terms of what they are investing in so that
the council isn't overexposed to one particular fund either appreciating or
depreciating so my advice to members is note the current performance and through
audit and governance committee feed that through in terms of the work that we
could undertake with Arlene Close in terms of giving you assurance that those
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:19:27
investments are sound. Thank you for that question. Councillor Watson. Thank you
Councillor Ian Watson - 1:19:33
chair. I've got a specific question on the risk reserve. Is this reviewed and
updated depending on outside events that might be happening out there in the
David Stanley, Deputy CEO - 1:19:51
world somewhere? Thank you chair. So the council holds a Treasury Management risk
Reserve that was originally established around about 18 months ago to deal with the aforementioned
statutory override risk that it was going to end. What that statutory override was doing
was where you have got the pooled funds that are worth less than the initial investment.
At the moment, the statutory override allows the council to disregard that loss because
it's a theoretical loss at a particular point in time. If the statutory override had not
been extended, then the loss that the council might have had at the balance sheet date,
the 31st of March of this year, the council would have had to have provided adequate funds
to cover that theoretical loss. So we do review it and we are looking at, I suppose, the future
position of the council over the next two years in the run -up to LGR to
understand the Treasury management investment income position particularly
when the council through its capital programme will be utilising internal
resources to fund the quite significant investment in the waste fleet that will
reduce the amount of cashed backed investments that councils got which will
reduce the level of investment returns so we're using that reserve to mitigate
those pressures in future years. Thank you David very clear. Thank You
Councillor Ian Watson - 1:21:20
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:21:22
Councillor Gina Blomefield - 1:21:25
Councillor Watson. Councillor Bloomfield. Yes thank you chair I was following up on
Councillor Hodgson's question on the table 5. I see that we have an
investment in fundamental housing I never know whether they call it REIT or
but that sort of thing.
There was a similar one called HomeRight which actually had a lot of publicity and it collapsed recently and it invested in a similar
sort of style of properties as the social housing.
And I'm sure you have been looking into it,
but I'm looking to see the returns of value has already gone down,
that are we secure in that particular one because HomeRight has gone bust as far as I'm aware. Thank you.
David Stanley, Deputy CEO - 1:22:09
I shall provide a written response to members on that particular question.
It's the fundamental housing reaped the council made that investment not that long ago in
terms of the wider pool funds but in terms of support we get from Arlene Close they indicate
where the council should or shouldn't invest.
I would be give assurance to members that if there was a potential problem with any
of our longer term investments that would have been flagged through our ongoing daily
relationship with Arlene Close but I'll provide a full written response to give
members that assurance. Thank you very much and as mentioned I do recommend the Arlene Close
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:22:48
training it really is worth it and illuminating. Oh sorry, Councillor
Councillor Ray Brassington - 1:22:58
Brassington. Yes, thank you. Going back to the table on table 5 where it
identifies the fund names, we can see that some have done very
well, like the Chiroda's got 9 .5.
Then we look at the cautious multi -asset fund is just 0 .51,
which is obviously very poor.
I think what would be helpful if we had comparison figures so we
can compare them to what the average is in that sector,
then we can see whether it's performing better or worse
than the average.
Thank you.
Can I declare an interest before the Chief Finance Officer answers that
Councillor Mike Evemy - 1:23:32
question and the interest I have and I didn't need to declare it until we
started talking about a fund which is run by CCLA so I am as a local authority
Councillor I'm appointed to the board of the local authority Municipal Investment
Trust together with other councillors from across the United Kingdom and we
We own a 13 % share of CCLA, which stands for charities, churches and local authorities.
It's an investment company that was set up then.
So I don't think that affects my decision making here.
We're not talking about changing anything, but as the question was asked by Councillor
Braddington, I want it to be transparent that I have that other role.
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:24:17
And for clarity, you're not, are you remunerated for that role?
No, there's no remuneration for that role, no.
And you don't have any investment in yourself that would result in a payment if things went a particular way?
I do not have any investment in the...
Thank you for the clarity.
Thank you.
David Stanley, Deputy CEO - 1:24:33
Thank you, Chair. Just in terms of looking at the overall performance of the cautious multi -asset income fund,
I'll provide a detailed breakdown of the overall performance since the Council took those investments,
Because when you look at it over that short term period that six month it does seem
0.51 percent is a relatively low performance when compared to some of the other investments
But over the longer term that we've held that investment that might be useful for members of this of the council to understand
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:25:08
Thank you now we I think we did stray slightly to debate but
I'm going to come to the second to council Robbins and ask you if you'd like to
Second now or reserve your right to speak after any more comments questions and so on and so forth
Should we do that yeah
Okay, anybody got anything Oh Angus has got something you'd like to throw so council Jenkins
And my apologies to everybody I kind of I variously use your first name and your council whatever so please bear with me
Angus council Jenkins
Councillor Angus Jenkinson - 1:25:44
Well, thank you very much. Nice to be personally recognised
Obviously, investments have values associated with them.
I mean non -financial values, and there are a variety of
different approaches to ethical, green, and so forth,
various kinds of investment policies that we might have.
How are the values that CDC has, including such as green to the
reflected in our investments.
Thank you, Chair.
David Stanley, Deputy CEO - 1:26:25
So the issue of an ethical investment was something that has been raised in the past
by members and Arlene Close provided quite a detailed breakdown of all the pooled funds
we have and how ethical they are.
I shall provide that information to all members again.
It was around about 18 months ago.
There isn't a standard definition of what ethical is, but it did consider some of the issues that the Council has as part of its priorities in terms of its climate position, investment in particular types of sectors that the Council might not be comfortable with.
But I'll provide that response to you.
Thank you David.
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:27:02
Councillor Robbins, would you like to second now?
Yes, thank you very much. Just a couple of points to make.
Councillor Nigel Robbins - 1:27:08
That question actually frequently crops up, I think,
with the local authorities that have investments as we have with
the Brunel investment pooled fund.
They're always asking that sort of question.
I guess they get some pretty reasonable answers.
Otherwise, they wouldn't be investing in that particular
pooled fund.
The second point I want to make is that the statutory override
seems to me to have been the 13th U -turn of this particular government based on their
complete misunderstanding of the nature of investments in local authorities.
I would finally like to say on page 50 everybody is normally very interested, especially if
it's in colour, on seeing our position in relation to other local authorities within
our investment advisors portfolio. And it looks pretty good. Sometimes people say, well,
why aren't we being a little bit more adventurous in getting higher returns overall on our investments?
And I would say, well, it's a balance between high risk and high return. You have to strike
a balance and we're able to do that rather than pushing for those higher returns because
when it comes to borrowing money we are able to rely on our own reserves and particularly
on the cash that we have for which we are not paying any interest. So overall we are
well balanced even if the Bank of England decides to drop the interest rate further.
We're having to pay nothing on the money we we're borrowing from ourselves because of the cash reserves that we're divert
We appreciate for money coming in at a certain point and then having to go out several months later
And that's tremendously advantageous
But I'm happy to to support this this has already been through a audit in governance
But thank you for your questions, and I hope we can now vote in favour of it
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:29:17
Thank you Councillor Robbins. If that's it I suggest if you'd like to sum up
Councillor Coleman and then we'll move to the vote. Thank you very much chair.
It's not always that we have a sufficient time for such a helpful
debate. Just coming back to the graph at Cragga 511 that's just been mentioned
Councillor Patrick Coleman - 1:29:40
where we sit in very much in mid table as they say in the football circles. If
anything I think they're slightly in the top half this quarter and sometimes
It's slightly in the bottom half.
But the main band, the vast majority of councils
are between 3 .5 % and 4 .5%,
and we're pretty much in the middle of that lot.
Thank you for the promise of written answers,
which will be helpful to me,
as well as I'm sure everyone else.
And thank you for your support.
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:30:05
Thank you, okay, so we're gonna go to the votes.
The council resolves to note for your councils,
treasury management performance of the period,
first of April to 30th September, 25,
and quarter to prudential indicators and approve the Treasury Management Mid -Year Report 25 -26.
Let's open the voting.
Councillor Fowl's got a problem.
Great we're 31 and that's unanimous. Thank you very much. There we go. Right for the
next item, thank you very much everybody for that and the incisive questions and
comments. So if the next item because I'm proposing it I'm going to hand over the
chairing of this next item to Vice Chair Councillor Brasington. So yeah over to you.
Thank you. Do I need your chain of offers?
Not yet, mate.
Councillor Ray Brassington - 1:31:26
Thank you. This is Motion 10. This is for making the Cotswolds a dementia -friendly district.
And I'm going to ask Councillor Mark Harris to give us a report. Thank you.
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:31:39
Thank you. I won't stand up because my head might be chopped off by the camera.
So, thank you very much.
Last year, a longstanding member of our community who has early onset dementia was found crying
in the street because they didn't know where they were.
Luckily, a resident recognised them and helped them get home safely to their family.
When I heard about this, I was reminded of the subject of dementia -friendly communities.
It was raised by the local government association at a national association of local councils
conference.
What was clear from that presentation is that town and parish councils have a crucial role
to play, not in delivering health or social care, but in shaping the places and the communities
that work better for people and their families living with dementia.
So this motion asks Cotswolds District Council to do what we are particularly well placed
to do at district level, to provide leadership, coordination, and encouragement across the
Cotswolds.
Dementia -friendly communities are about everyday things, how easy it is to find your way around
a town centre or village centre, how confident shop staff and restaurant staff are in responding
with patients and understanding, and whether people feel safe, included, and supported
rather than isolated.

10 Notice of Motions

And this aligns strongly with our corporate plan.
We've had priorities around health and well -being, around inclusion, reducing isolation, enabling
residents to live well and independently for longer. So this motion is deliberately
modest and practical. It doesn't ask the council to take on a new service
delivery. Instead it asks us to champion the principle, explore guidance and good
practise through local government association, Alzheimer's societies,
society and existing local groups of which there are many, bring back a short
report setting out realistic next steps as to how we can support and guide towns
and parishes within existing resources or within or minimal additional resource
and I think by doing this we can help Townsend parishes across the
district that want to take action and ensure a consistent joined up approach. So
I believe this is compassionate, sensible and forward -looking motion and I
commend it to council. Thank you. Has anybody got any questions you want to
ask about Councillor Maris.
David.
Thank you, Chairman. I spoke to the Chairman briefly before the meeting and I apologise
for not doing it earlier. I was the prime carer of my father who had dementia. He was
Councillor David Fowles - 1:34:31
member of the executive secretariat of NATO and ten years later he couldn't even sign
his own name. So pretty sad situation. And I wanted some clarity in terms of our role
on the involvement of NHS England and Councillor Harris said our role is to champion, because
I was going to suggest an amendment at the top of page two which said in partnership
with the NHS, then town and parish councils.
But in discussion with Councillor Harris,
I wondered whether we could, under item three,
put in on line three, local government association,
NHS England, and the Alzheimer's Society,
which would be a better place to put it.
And the other suggestion I was going to make was
on the last line of number four, which is suggest next steps
for supporting, I was going to suggest,
saying supporting sufferers, carers, and communities.
Just those two very simple points of clarity,
because it's the sufferers and the carers, as well
as the communities.
You said it.
I mean, I can remember going to a restaurant with my father.
And he didn't know that that was a fork and that was a knife.
They have to be pens.
But that was the point.
And when someone came over and explained it,
it made it easy for him to eat his meal.
Thank you, Chairman.
Do you make the most formal amendment?
Yes, do I need to restate that?
Councillor Ray Brassington - 1:35:56
I'm formally suggesting that under item three,
Councillor David Fowles - 1:35:59
second, third line down, we put Alzheimer's, sorry,
third line down, local government association,
NHS England, and then the rest, and that the other amendment
would be on item four, the last bullet point,
suggested next steps for supporting sufferers,
comer carers and communities those were the two amendments I was going to
Councillor Ray Brassington - 1:36:23
propose do we do we have a seconder for that thank you
Councillor Ray Brassington - 1:36:27
can't follow them with a question yes sorry I just think that we should be
careful about NHS England I think it sort of ceased to exist so I wouldn't
Councillor Lisa Spivey - 1:36:43
put that it'll be our it's integrated care board again so the NHS England
And if it hasn't already, will cease to exist.
And this is all part of the government's health reforms, the 10 -year plan.
So I would just be careful about putting NHS England.
I think it would be better to put the Integrated Care Board, who have the responsibility, along
with the county council for that kind of care.
Councillor Ray Brassington - 1:37:11
I just wanted to comment in support of this.
Councillor Andrea Pellegram - 1:37:13
I too, like most people, had a parent, my mother,
who had Alzheimer's.
She was terrified.
It was terrifying.
She didn't know what was going on.
It was horrible.
She actually died in a care home because she did need complete
assistance and everything.
But, you know, I think there is actually a lot that we can do.
And I'm thinking to the future in terms of local government
reorganisation and the fact that we're going to be doing,
you know, more work with communities.
I think we can certainly promote this sort of thing.
I also think that neighbourhood planning has,
can play quite a good role in this because I'm just looking
at an online definition here.
Mike McEwen will be so proud of me.
I actually used AI here.
You know, that towns are designed with the needs of people
with dementia in mind, featuring clear signage,
safe walking paths, except accessible public areas.
These are things, these are land use matters
that can be dealt with at a very local level by parish and town councils through their
neighbourhood plans and I hope that our community services team continue to support neighbourhood
plans and other services in creating a dementia friendly environment. Thank you.
Councillor Ray Brassington - 1:38:26
We do have a seconder for Councillor Hutchinson. If you would like to speak now.
Councillor Paul Hodgkinson - 1:38:33
I would. Thank you. Yeah, I'm very pleased to support this. And when Mark, Councillor
Harris, senior, approached me asking me to second it, I was delighted to do so. And I
really think it is very thoughtful. It's a very proportionate, very practical motion.
But it does, as you said, Mark, build on what's already happening across the county and the
So it's not about reinventing the wheel, you know, it's more about, it doesn't commit to
very expensive extra services, it's really asking us to show leadership.
I think it's about coordinating things and helping our towns and communities, you know,
do what many of them are already doing well, it's just joining that up.
But as you said, I think dementia does touch every family in some way, it's not just those
who live with the condition. It's also the carers, the friends, the relatives, the
parents, the shopkeepers, the volunteers. It's so many. It's so many people and we
see it all the time including those in public life as well. And so for me
creating Dementia Friendly Communities is really about making everyday life a
bit easier and a bit more dignified for those individuals and those who care for
them. But I do think there are some really good examples of what's already
going on. In fact, Lisa has talked about Gloucestershire County Council and
obviously some of us are there. It has, that council has shown some really
strong leadership around its dementia strategy and its work as a dementia
friendly county as well. That was developed in partnership with NHS, the
voluntary sector, Alzheimer's Society and the County Council has supported
dementia action alliances too, including dementia awareness training. And here in
There are some really good examples of things going on.
For instance, I attended last year in Borton on the water,
a dementia friendly cafe, which runs regularly.
I don't know whether any of my, yes,
there's lots of nods going on.
It was great to go there.
You know, there were members of the community
with their carers, their families,
they were drinking coffee, laughing, playing games.
It was really, really inspiring.
So I think there's lots going on.
What I'd say in sort of summary really is I think this is humane, it's sensible, it's forward looking, it builds on good work, it strengthens partnerships and that's what we should be doing. So I very much support the motion. Thank you.
Thank you.
Councillor Jenssen.
Councillor Ray Brassington - 1:41:03
Thank you, Chair.
Councillor Angus Jenkinson - 1:41:07
At the beginning I wasn't sure whether when you were asking for questions, you were asking
for questions or comments.
This could be either.
By the way, I think that we should recognise that across Gloucestershire there is a specific
memory centre facility organised by Gloucestershire.
So if we're trying to name bodies, we should get that name correct and include it in the
bodies that you work with.
What I want to draw the attention of this process to and to those who have brought it
is the specific issue of the carer who is not recognised as a carer.
And in order to explain what I mean by the carer who is not recognised by a carer, I
take a specific case, was drawn to my attention, and the situation looks like this.
We have a person who is starting to have struggles with their memories, but in the normal course
of events, the medical service expects the patient to come forward and ask for treatment
and take responsibility for their treatment.
In a situation where one is a carer for a person who is
starting to struggle, there is no position that you formally
have in order to be able to do anything to be helpful.
You can push in certain ways and you might receive a receptive
of sorts, but you don't have any formal situation.
When a patient, therefore, at a certain point starts to become aware of it, they can feel
discomfort at the idea that they might have a problem.
And because they have discomfort, any suggestion that they should go along and try and find
it can be resisted and produce quite negative reactions for the carer who might be bringing
up the suggestion that you might need to go and get medical attention.
When at some point you do manage to get the doctor to accept that
they should see the patient and you get the patient to agree to
go, it's a very simple test that the doctor does and the patient
who is maybe a very high functioning individual, very
alert, goes into the meeting and manages to pass with flying
colours, no problem, I don't know, this is a perfectly
ordinary person, and five minutes later there is a problem outside.
When eventually there is a position in which the patient agrees that they might need to
get some care, and they get referenced across to the county services on this front, there
can be then a three to six month delay.
This can easily mean that the process from when everybody around the individual knows
that there's a problem to when they can actually get some
serious attention can easily be 18 months or more,
during which time carers have no formal support and no system
for doing it in our system.
And I think that it would be good to recognise that this
particular issue is a real one.
Thank you.
Councillor Ray Brassington - 1:44:19
Next speaker we've got Councillor Bloomer.
Chair, yeah, I absolutely support this.
Councillor Claire Bloomer - 1:44:23
My grandma sadly passed away from Alzheimer's.
The one thing I was going to mention is I think it's a challenge for the person who's experiencing
Dementia, but actually it's also really hard for those family members that might be supporting
and I just wondered if it will be possible maybe to add a
Little bit of extra work to make sure that we are going to be signpost into all the different
Organisations that are existing currently in Cotswolds because I think that could be really helpful for families
and also many of our community groups that do take a lot of people under their wings
and support them. I think it would be really great to also liaise with them and give them
this information as well. But great, thoroughly support it. Thank you.
Thank you. Councillor Mansella.
Councillor Ray Brassington - 1:45:11
Councillor Helene Mansilla - 1:45:15
Thank you, Chair. I'm speaking today as someone with a psychological background and also from
first -hand experience of how dementia affects a person day to day, not just clinically,
but socially and emotionally. Dementia changes how someone makes sense of the world. People
lose confidence and when confidence goes, people start avoiding going to the shop, meetings,
community events, and that's when isolation starts or grows. And with that, anxiety and
depression. That impact does not stop with the person living with dementia, like everybody
has mentioned. Families and friends carry a huge emotional load, often quietly. A dementia -friendly
community is about removing unnecessary barriers.
And there are small practical changes that make a big
difference, clear information, calm spaces,
enrollments or a culture where people understand what
dementia looks like and responds with patience
rather than judgement.
And there is a wider bonus here as well.
The same changes – carbon spaces, clear information – can also help other residents,
including neurodivergent people who can find busy environments overwhelming.
So yes, I support this motion because asking this council to lead makes common sense.
It supports independence, like has been said before, for longer, and makes the coast walls
a more inclusive place to live in.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Councillor Neill.
Councillor Ray Brassington - 1:47:23
Yes, I've got a couple of somewhat different points I want to make.
Councillor Dilys Neill - 1:47:26
First of all, I represent this council
on the health of the human scrutiny committee.
Council Hodgkinson sits on it as well.
And I have raised a question if we could review
dementia care in the acute setting as well,
because I think that's important.
I'm just engaged in fact with the hospital,
a trust, the foundation trust,
about the care of a resident of mine
who unfortunately had a fall and died
while he was in hospital, he had dementia.
and the way communication went on, not just with the way in which he was, his management
was attempted in the hospital, the staff there were obviously given training on how to deal
with people with dementia, but on the way his relatives and especially his wife were
communicated with over his treatment.
So that's with a professional setting.
So you can see how difficult it is in the wider community.
So one of the things I was going to say is how very important
it is to get people who may be in the early stages of dementia
to arrange for power of attorney, because then that
gives people like his wife much more control over what decisions
about his care.
So that would be one of the things that we could
publicise usefully.
And the second thing, I'm so glad that I've got Mera stay with
me here today because I'm sure she would agree how wonderful it
would be if we could say our town is a dementia -friendly town.
And we have a dementia care home, we have a dementia cafe,
and obviously we have a high proportion of elderly
residents, how wonderful it would be if there could be
education for our retail sector, our hospitality sector,
so that if some patients with impaired memory went into a
cafe, that the staff there understood how to deal with
because often somebody who's confused or disorganised,
disorientated, perhaps can't quite work out how to pay,
not quite sure how to deal with the menu.
And it would be so wonderful if people in those sectors
could get some sort of training.
And I don't know whether we have any way of dealing with that.
And then the final thing I wanted to say
is following my own experience with a dearly loved relative
who had dementia, who died during COVID unfortunately.
And then the resident was just talking about
in his family members, people who've got dementia
can cause a lot of stress and a lot of work for people.
And I think sometimes there's a feeling
that they're a nuisance for their family, you know?
But that's, they're often, you know,
they're part of their family's memory
and they're often really very dearly loved.
So if something goes wrong with the patient with dementia,
it has a knock -on effect from the whole family.
So they're still, you know, valuable human beings,
even if they're no longer quite the person that they were.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Councillor Ebony.
Councillor Ray Brassington - 1:50:31
Thank you, Vice Chair.
Councillor Mike Evemy - 1:50:33
Just a couple of points on the suggested amendment.
I think for clarity, I think given the point made
by Councillor Spivey, it might be helpful just
after local governmentization just to say the NHS, then whatever format it is, that's
covered. And then I've just done a quick cheque because I was a little concerned
when Gaozlefau's used the term sufferers and I've just gone on the Alzheimer's
Society and that is a term that they don't encourage people to use. So I think
we shouldn't be using that term because it's a negative term. So I think the term
in it suggests people can go on the dementia language guidelines from the
Alzheimer's Society themselves. I think we should be saying people with
dementia in this case rather than that word.
But happy with everything else.
And the other reason I wanted to stand up and speak on this
is to respond essentially on behalf of the cabinet.
And say, you know, obviously we will take on,
and I as the leader of the council will take on
responding to this in the request,
assuming that we vote this through shortly,
to ask to come back and obviously work with officers
to see to produce a report that can come back to Council.
So we'll have to determine whether that sits with me as the leader or whether one of my
colleagues on the cabinet takes the lead on this.
But I will advise Council of who that is and who's going to take a lead on it working with
officers.
So obviously we would, obviously if we pass this we will come back to you later in the
year with a summation and what we can do to become a dementia -friendly district.
Thank you, Chair.
Thank you. Councillor Robbins.
Councillor Ray Brassington - 1:52:11
Councillor Nigel Robbins - 1:52:15
Thank you very much. I'm glad that Councillor Neill has brought the question, the issue back to communities, including towns.
The starting point of this discussion was actually the Chair talking about meeting somebody out in the town who was lost and bewildered.
And I think in addition to those organisations that are going to
be at arms length from the individual like the NHS and the
LGA, we ought to include business fora and retail
organisations because nothing can be more practical than
having a sticker in the window of either a cafe or other shops
in the town which says, feeling lost, come and get help here.
Very practical move that I'm sure a lot of communities would
Councillor Ray Brassington - 1:53:02
like to adopt. Thank you very much. Councillor Hall -Wilson. Thank you very
Councillor Laura Hall-Wilson - 1:53:07
much chair and I'd like to speak as well in support of the motion. Other members
have noted the impact on unpaid carers and families of people with dementia.
I've already highlighted two relevant portfolio holders at Gloucestershire
County Council and on Cotswold District Council, a temporary organisation that's
recently started called Lighthouse Dementia Support,
and they've partnered with Training to Care to provide
fully funded places on an immersive experience to better
inform carers of what it's like to live with dementia.
And Paul, Councillor Hutchinson might remember,
and Councillor Bloom, I contacted you about it.
So please do bear them in mind as more training opportunities
arrive through their organisation,
and I think they're a very good one to help as we all try to
mitigate the effects of dementia on the residents of the
Councillor Jon Wareing - 1:54:04
Thank you, Vice Chair. I just wanted to build on what Paul said about
dementia -friendly Boughton, which actually started in 2020 and has indeed run training
sessions with businesses. It's evolved actually in 2023 to become dementia friendly North
Cotswolds and you will see they have a website on a very well known social media platform.
If you want to find out more information about it.
I particularly wanted to make a point why this topic is so
important and particularly in a community like Borton.
And you won't be surprised by what I'm going to say next.
But when you have unsustainable levels of tourism,
one of the impacts is on people who are experiencing dementia,
who are already feeling isolation,
and to not feel that it's safe to go out in your community is
one of the big issues we have.
So, I think it's important that people factor that into their thought processes as well.
So, I totally support this motion. Thank you.
Thank you.
Councillor Ray Brassington - 1:55:04
Councillor Lisa Spivey - 1:55:07
Thank you. Absolutely, wholeheartedly support this. It's a really fantastic motion to bring forward.
Just a couple of things to make members aware of here.
Clearly at the County Council we take a lead on this.
and we have many, many services that we will provide
in partnership with other organisations
across the county in terms of dementia
and how we deal with that.
And I think the other thing I really wanted to bring
to your attention today was, in fact,
the Virtual Social Care Academy,
which we are going to be launching this year.
And as we put forward our budget at the county council,
we've put in £500 ,000 into establishing that and that is absolutely about this
another fantastically good news storey where we'll be looking after not just
paid carers but also unpaid carers so it will be a point of information, advice,
signposting where those who are caring can be given that advice and support
which I think many of you have already mentioned today which is what is really
really important when we are caring for those with dementia that that sort of
support, that community there is really important.
I think it is also important to note that as we look at the
demographics moving forward in Gloucestershire,
we are looking at a rapidly ageing population and very much
of that over 80 -year -olds where we know that this is where we
would be likely to see those suffering from dementia.
So I think really important that we become more aware of that.
There are really good training opportunities and thank you to
Councillor Paul Wilson for pointing out yet another one.
There are really good, and that's fantastic to know that
these are happening within the communities themselves.
There was one final thing that's just gone.
Anyway, well, it can't be important.
But, oh, yeah, actually, I'll tell you what it was, actually.
It was around planning, and I think it's really important as
we look now towards our local plan, what we're doing about
that, about how we can make sure that within what we're doing in
planning that we become not just a dementia -friendly community
and places, but also age -friendly.
And I think that when we look at perhaps the use more of mobility scooters, whether that's
dropped carbs, making sure that our pathways, footways are accessible, because what we want
to do always is to ensure that our population, especially our elderly population, is out
and about and feel safe within their communities because we want to break down that isolation
which does happen so easily.
And we know that if people are out and about and feel safe to be out in the communities,
then they will live much more healthier and much happier lives for longer.
So I would urge us all as we look towards the local plan to make sure that we're embedding
those principles within that plan. Thank you.
Councillor Ray Brassington - 1:57:51
Thank you, Spivey. We've had some amendments suggested, so I'm now going to ask Andrew
to explain what we're going to do with those.
Andrew Brown, Officer - 1:57:59
Thank you, Chair. So some words have been suggested to be added to the motion. The proposer
of the motion can alter their own motion with the general consent of the meeting. So rather
than have to have an amendment and vote on that and then vote on the substantive.
So what I've heard most recently in the debate is in Resolution 3 after local
government association add the NHS and then in Resolution 4 in the final
bullet point suggested next steps for supporting add people with dementia
carers and and then it continues communities across the district so is
Is that generally agreed?
Thank you.
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:58:43
It's what I meant by public services.
And I would, to be honest, I would say I wouldn't exclude
anybody from getting involved who's involved in it.
David, you know, and everybody else.
We've mentioned all the various organisations involved in it.
It doesn't exclude anybody at all.
And I mean, one of the terms as health partners might be one,
But please, I would hope that when this goes forward that nobody says, well, they're not
on the list.
So we're not going to consult them.
Everybody who can contribute would contribute.
So I don't know how we encapsulate that.
But it might be, and any organisation with an interest in any relevant organisation,
would that be okay?
Would that be it?
Would that?
Yeah?
Thank you.
Angus, it's good.
Yes, I was only going to say if you had the word including public services and others
Councillor Angus Jenkinson - 1:59:36
including, and then your list is just indicative.
Councillor Ray Brassington - 1:59:41
Councillor Nikki Ind - 1:59:46
Hi. Yes, I was just going to say does partnership working not cover that really? You've got
partnership working in there, so you're not excluding anybody at all. So any partners
really.
Thank you.
Before I ask Mark, we want to sum up.
Councillor Ray Brassington - 2:00:00
I think, Councillor Dale, you previously asked for a question.
Do you still want to ask a question?
No, it's okay.
No problem.
Yeah, no problem.
Okay, then back to you then, Mark.
Thank you.
Councillor Mark Harris - 2:00:12
And, yeah, I mean, to that point, the idea is not that we
elbow our way to the fore and get to the front to get, right,
okay, we've got it all sorted here.
We're going to sort everything out.
It's absolutely not.
There are lots and lots of organisations from the NHS to small voluntary groups doing exactly
that.
What it is is to Councillor Robbins' point is to ensure that our communities have access
to all that information as well and that when there's a lot of support for carers, there's
a lot of support for people with Alzheimer's.
It's not always adequate, but I think it's helped if the rest of, and I say us, but you
I also have had family who've had Alzheimer's, but those who haven't are exposed to it.
The people in the shops, as said, people in restaurants, and the good work that's happening
in communities already.
This isn't new.
This isn't, I'm not bringing forward some radical new thing.
This is about 10 years old in some places.
I think Baughton has been going for longer even.
So it's about us taking that leadership role and spreading it around the rest of the cotswolds.
and guiding people in the right direction.
But thank you so much.
I wrote down most of your comments here.
I'm not going to run through them,
because they're all relevant.
They're all salient, and they should all be included in here.
Nothing should be excluded.
And I think you might be supporting this.
So I'll hand back to the chair.
Oh, you're now happy to vote on it?
Councillor Ray Brassington - 2:01:37
Yeah, so we can then go on to the vote, please.
Councillor David Fowles - 2:01:44
That's it.
That's carried unanimously by everybody, so thank you very much for that.
And now I'll hand back to the chair.
Councillor Mark Harris - 2:02:05
Thank you very much colleagues. I'm sure a lot of people will appreciate that.

11 Next meeting

Right, that's it. We're on item 11 now, which is the next meeting, which will be held on the 23rd of February,
which is a Monday, okay, in case you're waiting for a... think, you know, you get past a Monday and you go,
I'm sure it's sometime soon. It's on the Monday the 23rd. It's the budget meeting. Thank you members. Thank you officers.
Thank you to the mayor of Stirling the World for sitting out this meeting. I hope it was as exciting as your meetings.
And I now close the meeting.

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