Council - Wednesday 27 November 2024, 2:00pm - Vote_events Tab

Council
Wednesday, 27th November 2024 at 2:00pm

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Start of webcast

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1 Apologies

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Councillor Nikki Ind
Caleb Harris, Officer
Councillor Nikki Ind

2 Declarations of Interest

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3 Minutes

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03. Minutes of 25 September 2024 - Approve
Status: In progress
Councillor Len Wilkins
Councillor Angus Jenkinson
Councillor Nikki Ind
03. Minutes of 25 September 2024 - Approve
Status: Ended

4 Unsung Heroes Awards

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Councillor Nikki Ind

5 Announcements from the Chair, Leader or Chief Executive (if any)

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Councillor David Cunningham
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor Tristan Wilkinson
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor Joe Harris
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor David Fowles
Councillor Joe Harris
Councillor Nikki Ind

6 Public Questions

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7 Member Questions

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Member Questions for Council - 27 November 2024

Councillor Tom Stowe
Councillor Tristan Wilkinson
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor Gina Blomefield
Councillor Juliet Layton
Councillor Mike Evemy
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor Tom Stowe
Councillor Mike Evemy
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor Julia Judd
Councillor Tristan Wilkinson
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor Tony Slater
Councillor Tristan Wilkinson
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor Gina Blomefield
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor Len Wilkins
Councillor Tristan Wilkinson
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor Jeremy Theyer
Councillor Tristan Wilkinson
Councillor David Cunningham
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor David Cunningham
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor Daryl Corps
Councillor Joe Harris
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor Daryl Corps
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor Joe Harris
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor David Fowles
Councillor Tristan Wilkinson
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor Daryl Corps
Councillor Juliet Layton
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor David Fowles
Councillor Mike Evemy
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor Dilys Neill
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor Dilys Neill
Councillor Joe Harris
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor Juliet Layton
Councillor Juliet Layton
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor Angus Jenkinson
Councillor Juliet Layton
Councillor Nikki Ind

8 Membership of Committees and Cabinet update

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Councillor Joe Harris
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor Mark Harris
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor Gina Blomefield
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor Julia Judd
Councillor Joe Harris
Councillor Joe Harris
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor Mike Evemy
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor Joe Harris
Councillor Nikki Ind
08. Membership of Committees and Cabinet Update - Approve Rec 2
Status: In progress
Councillor Nikki Ind
08. Membership of Committees and Cabinet Update - Approve Rec 2
Status: Ended

9 Council Tax Support Scheme for 2025/2026

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Councillor Mike Evemy
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor Tristan Wilkinson
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor Len Wilkins
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor Len Wilkins
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor Mike Evemy
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor Mike Evemy
Officer
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor Patrick Coleman
Councillor Mike Evemy
Officer
Councillor Claire Bloomer
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor Joe Harris
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor Claire Bloomer
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor Mike Evemy
Councillor Nikki Ind
09. Council Tax Support Scheme 2025-26 - Approve 1 & 2
Status: In progress
Councillor David Fowles
Councillor David Fowles
Councillor Nikki Ind
09. Council Tax Support Scheme 2025-26 - Approve 1 & 2
Status: Ended

10 Gambling Act 2005 Statement of Principles (Policy) Review 2024

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Councillor Dilys Neill
Councillor Ray Brassington
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor David Cunningham
Councillor Ray Brassington
Councillor David Cunningham
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor Joe Harris
Officer
Councillor Joe Harris
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor David Cunningham
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor Dilys Neill
Councillor Nikki Ind
Officer
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor Julia Judd
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor Juliet Layton
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor Ray Brassington
Councillor Nikki Ind
10. Gambling Act 2005 Review 2024 - Approve 1 & 2
Status: In progress
Councillor Nikki Ind
10. Gambling Act 2005 Review 2024 - Approve 1 & 2
Status: Ended

11 Request for a dispensation pursuant to Section 85(1) Local Government Act 1972

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Councillor Dispensation

Councillor Joe Harris
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor Tom Stowe
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor Paul Hodgkinson
Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor Tom Stowe
Councillor Nikki Ind
11. Request for a Dispensation (Cllr Dale) - Approve
Status: In progress
Councillor Nikki Ind
11. Request for a Dispensation (Cllr Dale) - Approve
Status: Ended

12 Notice of Motions

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13 Next meeting

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Webcast Finished

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Disclaimer: This transcript was automatically generated, so it may contain errors. Please view the webcast to confirm whether the content is accurate.

1 Apologies

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:00:16

Good afternoon and welcome to this meeting of the Cotswold District Council's full council.

My name is Councillor Nicky Inge and I am the Chair of Council. I'd like to

welcome all members, public in attendance and those watching online. You are very

welcome. Members of the public present are entitled to record the meeting

themselves, providing this 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 a

clear show of hands. We move to item 1 apologies. Caleb. Thank you very much

Caleb Harris, Officer - 0:01:11

Chair. We've received apologies from councillors Chris Twirls, Len Mansella

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:01:20

and Tony Dale. Many thanks. Declarations of interest. Are there any other

2 Declarations of Interest

declarations of interest from members please that haven't been declared as

normal? If not, should you find that you become aware of an interest during the

meeting, please declare it at the time.

Agenda item 3, the minutes of the full Council on 25 September. The exempt written member

3 Minutes

question response at item 15 can be taken as read as part of this item, unless Council

wishes to discuss the content which will have to be in private session. To clarify, the

response has been circulated to the questioner, Councillor Tony Slater, and is included for

to note. The document has also been updated online to reflect that the

response was to him and not Councillor Tony Dale which the printed title

suggested. Other than that minor correction which has been noted would

any member like to raise a point regarding the exempt response in private

session no lovely thank you right so are there any suggested amendments for the

minutes or can I have a proposer to accept the minutes please

Councillor fowls proposing seconder Councillor Watson gave the bait please

Thank you.

Councillor Len Wilkins - 0:02:56

Councillor Angus Jenkinson - 0:03:28

Thank you colleagues.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:03:32

That's 23 for two abstentions and a minor technical hitch.

Right.

Secondly, so that's all resolved.

Right.

4 Unsung Heroes Awards

We'll move on to item number four.

the unsung heroes award, the nice part that we have to do.

So this is our second month now, or second meeting where we are celebrating those unsung

heroes in our community that our fellow residents are nominating.

And today we actually have five people coming forward representing three different parts

of our community.

I am going to call them all forward in a second, but in reverse order.

We have Suzy Dry, who according to her nomination, Suzy Dry's leadership has transformed the

Teppery Youth Club into a vital resource for over 100 young people.

Through her relentless pursuit of grant funding and event organisation, Suzy has strengthened

youth opportunities in the town.

Her new venture, overseeing the town council's Friendship Cafe, promises to build even stronger

community connections. Susie is not only committed to the youth but also the broader community.

Then we also have Richard and Kate Cleverley and Gemina Plater, both all coming from Rislington.

So Richard and Kate Cleverley have been nominated for Making Great Rislington Club a hub of

community life. Through their leadership, the club hosts diverse events from sports

activities to the highly successful Risseyfest. Their tireless work has created a thriving

space for social and cultural connections, fostering an exceptional sense of community

spirit in the village.

And Gemina, also representing the Great Risington Club, her nomination describes her as a major

asset to the village.

As coordinator of the Great Risington news magazine, she keeps residents informed about

local events and initiatives, including promoting village safety.

Her management of the local club bar has further strengthened community ties, balancing these

roles with her family and business.

Gemina's cheerful dedication greatly enriches the village.

And then the winner of this time is a gentleman called Christopher Davis.

Christopher's nomination highlights his commitment to improving life in Poulton,

spending over 40 years doing so.

Serving on the parish council for over two decades, including two terms as chairman,

Christopher has tirelessly worked to enhance village life.

He organised the Poulton Summer Fete for many years and played a key role in the development

of Fairford Youth Football Club, leading efforts to secure land, build facilities and create

a thriving sports hub for over 200 children.

Beyond Poulton, Chris has mentored with the Prince's Trust for over a decade, served

as a Governor of Amnecrucis Primary School and was an active member of the Farringdon

Round Table.

Chris exemplifies community dedication and is a true unsung hero.

I'd just like to say we are just so blessed to live in such an amazing district with volunteers and community members who are putting so much time into our lives.

So I'd like to invite them all to come forward now for their presentation.

Thank you very much.

focussed with us.

We'll be using the

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:09:21

Thank you, everybody, and thank you to our nominees.

I'd just like to say that all the nominees receive a letter of congratulations and thanks

for their commitment to our district. Right moving on we're going to move on

now to my announcements from the chair. So members will note that we

have some substantial items on the agenda for discussion this afternoon and

I know many members will wish to ask questions about and discuss this and I

therefore like to just remind members that they need to be disciplined with

comments, avoid any repetition and debate to be succinct with any questions raised please.

The length of the meeting is capped at four hours and after three hours have elapsed if

we get to that point we will take a vote on whether to continue for the final hour. After

four hours we will finish the item we are dealing with in the normal way but any other

remaining business will fall. We will also have a comfort break after approximately two

hours, this break will not count towards the time limit.

And before I start, I just want to remind members about gifts and hospitalities.

There was an email that came out from Andrew Brown yesterday.

Could I just remind you to make sure that you submit any gifts or hospitality that you

receive, especially as we approach Christmas, online through the members portal.

So any questions, please do refer those to Democratic Services.

Firstly, I'd like to take this opportunity to say goodbye and thank you to both Anna

and Caleb, Anna Prolicci and Caleb Harris, two key members of our Democratic Services

team. Anna left us last week and Caleb will shortly be leaving us for past is new. May

I take this opportunity to wish them both well in their future local government careers

and to personally thank them both for all their help and support in my role as

chair. Thank you.

Secondly, I would like to congratulate the local voluntary organisation,

Syrinsester Signpost, who have been awarded the King's Award, the highest

award for voluntary organisations. This charity does a lot of work in relation

to homelessness in Syrinsester and also works to help tackle some of the issues around homelessness

and mental health.

Finally, as I was proud to represent the District Council at Tepi Remembrance Service and at

a short service with colleagues and members of the British Legion during the lowering

of the British Legion flag here at the offices in Trinity Road.

And this week with Councillor Mark Harris I attended the civic briefing at RAF Fairford

And I'm very much looking forward to getting into the Christmas spirit next Wednesday when

I'm representing the District Council at the Forest of Deans Christmas Carol concert in

5 Announcements from the Chair, Leader or Chief Executive (if any)

Colford.

I'm also heading off to the barn for the preview of their 2025 season and the Cheer and Christmas

Carol concert.

So it's that time of year.

And before I finish, we want to acknowledge the recent events of Storm Burt that have

taking place within the district and the challenges and impact that has had on our villages and

our residents.

Councillor Cunningham.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Councillor David Cunningham - 0:12:49

Clearly this is becoming less of a 1%, one in 100 year event and more of a happening

all the time event.

Sadly climate change is with us, it's not coming, it's here.

Over the weekend, more than a dozen properties in Bledington had six inches of water in their

houses and one of the businesses was forced to close.

While the local community reacted as it always does, unbelievably pulling around to get everybody

through this terrible, terrible event, this is the third time in the last 15 years that

it's happened.

I know that GCC is the lead flood authority, but the important word there is lead, not

sole, not exclusive, just the lead. Given how much this council looks towards climate

change and what we can do to mitigate it, I think what we should be trying to do as

well is to make sure that we're mitigating the immediate effects where we can have an

impact. So I would like to ask, and I don't need an answer for this directly, but I would

like to ask that the cabinet member responsible, both on finance and also for the environment,

is working closely with GCC on plans such as the flood mitigation project which is going

on in Bledington. And where possible, where we can add resources, either manpower or I

know money's tight, but anything that can help to get these things over the line, that

We do absolutely everything that we can to help people

that are stuck in these really quite terrible,

terrible circumstances.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Cunningham.

Councillor Wilkinson.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:14:36

Councillor Tristan Wilkinson - 0:14:39

So just very briefly, I just wanted to acknowledge,

sorry, I'm not used to sitting at the front.

So acknowledge the importance of this.

I myself have been flooded twice.

Once actually had to be rescued by the fire brigade

when we lived just outside Malmsbury and on Sunday of this week a neighbour in Hadrop

had the house destroyed by a falling tree, nearly killed somebody on their way to church,

had both cars taken out and their Grade 2 listed house tree through it. I'm going to

probably take them two years to get back in. I think this is one of the most important

things I am absolutely supportive of, a multi -agency, multi -council approach on this and anybody

that wants to be involved in that and any local community that wants to be involved

and I would absolutely welcome their support. Thank You councillor Wilkinson

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:15:26

thank you. Right an accent from the leader. Thank you and can I thank councillor

Councillor Joe Harris - 0:15:34

Cunningham and Tristan yeah flooding is a tremendously important issue and you

know largely we know what the issues are in the Cotswolds with flooding you're

quite right we're getting more serious rain events I think we had a month worth

the rain on Sunday, but equally it is quite often the same places that have the same issues.

So Councillor Cunningham is absolutely right. We have to provide a community leadership

role as a district council, working with the communities, working with the county council

to pull together a solution. We've got a good record today. We've introduced flood wardens

in some communities, and I'd say to communities across, we need more flood wardens. They're

the ground. Can I also say a huge thank you to UBCO staff and operatives and actually

everybody in the public sector in particular and communities that have pulled together

to rally around, support neighbours in need, as I know happened in Hathorah at the weekend.

So no, we know what the issues are, so we must all work together to try and find a solution

and I know our MPs are just as committed to holding agencies to account as we are.

Can I congratulate the unsung heroes? It's always uplifting, isn't it, to see the fantastic work that they do across our District Council.

We'll try not to take it personally that they haven't hung around for the Council meeting, but no, they do a fantastic job and why would we want them to suffer that?

Welcome to Carmelo. It's great to have the press here. First time in four or five years, I think.

Good to have you. I know you're an avid watcher of Cotswold District Council.

Yeah, I think the main thing I want to feed back on is around

the whole debate on devolution.

Now, many of you will know that we've got an English devolution

bill that the government are going to bring forward,

we think, next week.

And there could be some quite profound changes in that,

from the introduction of metro mayors and combined authorities

to reorganization of local government.

Now, I think, you know, we can't be deaf to the fact that there

is a, it looks like there is a serious move towards

reorganization of local government.

And clearly that raises a question mark over the

future of this district council.

Yes, we've been here before, but the frequency of the

reports we hear now, the leaks from government and

the minister's own words, does lead us to believe that

there will be some reorganization of

local government.

So clearly as an authority we need to prepare for that.

So in advance of an announcement next week I

to reassure the council, the chief executive,

the deputy chief executive are looking about what potential

impacts might be and also looking at steps we will need

to take in the short term to ensure that there's no

disruption to business as usual.

As is often the case with government announcements,

we get an announcement but not a lot of detail about how it will

be implemented.

So we could well be in a position where we get a

direction of travel but none of the detail about what might

actually happen.

So we need to be prepared for that.

I think it's right as well that we speak up for how important district councils are.

I know everybody's got a view about reorganisation and unitary authorities in particular,

but I think district councils do a great job, whether that's on responding to flooding as we've seen in recent years,

whether that's being close to the community, helping coordinate volunteers through the Covid pandemic,

two examples of where district councils are really worth their weight in going, it would be an absolute shame to lose them.

But I do want to make clear that I do think we need to engage constructively with the

government.

And I think we need to do that on a county -wide basis.

The government have been very clear that they see the future of local government being metro

mayors and combined authorities working alongside metro mayors.

They have a huge majority and they have a mandate to do this.

So it is right there for that we engage proactively.

So you'll have seen I have written to the Secretary of State on this issue.

I want to ensure that Gloucestershire,

the county council and our district council leaders

engage in a constructive dialogue about devolution.

Because, you know, let's be clear, if we don't,

we will get left behind.

We'll be in a situation where things are done to us rather

than working with the government to work with them.

The government have shown, the new government have shown that

they are willing to work with communities,

like in Essex where they are having a dialogue about a mayor

with the district councils and with the county council there.

So he's absolutely right that we should be doing that.

And I know colleagues at the county

are asking the same question, and we must do that.

I want to add my appreciation to the fantastic work

that Caleb Harris and Anna Prelich have

done over the last few years.

It's not an easy job working with me sometimes.

Stress levels are high.

Deadlines can shift at a moment's notice.

But no, I really appreciate all the hard work

that you've put in.

We are in a much better place than we were a few years ago.

Caleb, I remember around the time you started,

we had that quite stressful meeting post -COVID at the

Royal Agricultural University.

Some of you were there for that.

And I think that was a bit of a low point in terms of

administration, and Caleb, but Caleb, you know,

you've used that as a catalyst for change.

You, Anna, Andrew, you've done a fantastic job.

And I know whoever ends up succeeding you is in really,

really good hands.

They really are because you'll have put processes in place and clear instruction.

So let's make sure there's a good handover, right?

I'd also say our loss is absolutely Stockport Council's gain.

And you won't escape me too much because I've made sure that I've got a LGA appointment at Stockport Council in a few months' time.

So I'll be coming to check in on you.

But, no, Caleb, on behalf of certainly this site, I know I speak for the whole council when we say thank you so much for everything you've done.

and obviously Anna, I'm sure you're watching aren't you in your new role at West Oxfordshire.

Thank you so much for everything that you've done.

I think that's everything. Thank you.

Thank you, Leader.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:21:32

And Mr Stanley, Deputy Chief Executive, no announcements from you today. Thank you.

Councillor Fowles.

Councillor David Fowles - 0:21:43

Thank you, Chairman. I don't wish to interrupt proceedings, but I wondered whether

I meant to mention it to a leader beforehand,

but perhaps we ought to acknowledge the passing

of Jeffrey Adams, Councilor Jeffrey Adams,

who was a town councilor, but also a district councilor

and a former vice chairman.

And some of us, I think Paul and others, knew him.

And I wondered if you might just be willing to stand

on your feet and pass, make some comments about Jeffrey.

Paul Anderson -Hicks.

No, no, quite right.

And of course, we sadly lost Martin Harwood as well,

Councillor Joe Harris - 0:22:14

who was a long -serving district councilor in Fairford,

who passed away.

So, yeah, we've lost two figures who, you know,

were hugely influential in their time.

I'll start with Jeffrey.

Jeffrey was my political nemesis, if you like.

He was my first political opponent.

And, yeah, it was a pretty robust election campaign

back in 2011.

But what I really appreciated and respected about Jeffrey is

he never took it personally.

I know he was really disappointed in the first instance to miss out, but he never showed

any consternation towards me, he never showed any ill will, and in fact when I became the

Mayor he was hugely helpful in advising me at Sire and Sester Town Council about some

of the nuances, the dos, the don'ts, so he was really an important figure certainly in

my role as a town councillor and as the mayor.

And I know he really enjoyed being a district councillor.

He was the vice chair of the council.

So yeah, it's a great loss to our town.

Jeffrey was an active member of Sire and Sester Civic Society.

He was absolutely vocal when it came to all matters,

Cecily Hill.

I called him the honorable member for Cecily Hill,

because there was always a lot of representations.

And I know that Jeffrey was the catalyst for corralling

the public and making representations,

whether that was on parking, whether that was on the rivalry with Cockswell Street.

So no, we will miss Geoffrey and our public life is poorer for him not being around anymore.

And of course Martin Harwood, who will be known to many on this side,

and I'm sure people in this chamber that are slightly longer in the tooth.

Martin was a Liberal Councillor back in the 70s and the 80s for Fairford Ward,

And then he also had a stint in the 90s up until 2003, I think, as the Lib Dem Councillor for Fairford.

Again, somebody else like Geoffrey who just absolutely demonstrated the values that they want to put into practice when a Councillor, a real community champion, really well known in his community.

And again, for me, a great source of wisdom and advice.

I know in his later years he was quite ill, so I didn't have an awful lot of contact with

him, but I know he was a committed liberal, I know that, and had been around the scene

for a very long time.

So both Geoffrey and Martin, we mourn their passing, we appreciate all the years and all

the hours of service that they've put into serving our district, and they are sorely,

sorely missed.

So yeah, David, thank you.

I think that was totally appropriate.

I appreciate it.

6 Public Questions

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:24:56

Thank you colleagues. We will move on to item 6, public questions.

Are anyone in the public that would like to ask a question? No?

7 Member Questions

Right, we will move on to one of the biggest items today.

That will be members questions, item number 7.

We will start with question 1, which is a question from Councillor Tom Stode,

to Councillor Tristan Wilkinson about the economic growth strategy.

Councillor Stowe, do you have a supplementary question?

Councillor Tom Stowe - 0:25:29

Yes, thank you chair and thank you Councillor Wilkinson for your response

and congratulations on your recent promotion to the cabinet of a wide and

varied brief. Clearly there is a small role that CDC can play in economic

developments, however given the size and budget of this authority that role is

limited and very much on the fringes.

So the claim that CDC has created 500 jobs across the

districts will certainly raise some eyebrows amongst the

business community.

Indeed, my own business has created a modest five new roles

over the last 12 months, and I can confirm that CDC have no

input at all in creating these roles.

Do you accept that attributing the drop in unemployment and any

new jobs created directly to the CDC economic growth strategy is

fairly outrageous. These jobs have in reality been created by the hard work and determination

of local entrepreneurs and businesses and this is merely a cheeky attempt by this authority

to piggyback on the success and achievements of these businesses.

Councillor Tristan Wilkinson - 0:26:36

Well, thank you for the question. I think it's really important. I am so proud that

We, as a local council, are creating an environment that

people want to invest in.

You're absolutely right.

It is local businesses that take the risk, use their

entrepreneurship, their skills, their forward -looking

investment in the communities.

They're the ones that create the jobs.

But we play a significant role in creating the

environment where people want to invest not only their

hard -earned money in creating jobs and businesses,

but also an environment where they want their families to to grow and thrive as well and as the local council that

Knits a lot of those things together

We don't directly create those jobs

But I think we create the environment where people want to invest if you take Syrinsester town council

Sorry, Syrinsester town. We have one of the highest occupancies of shops in the country

That is no mean feat when you look at what's happening elsewhere in the country

So I think that across the board we should be really,

really proud that businesses such as yours, Tom,

actually want to invest in our future.

And I think that if the opposite were true,

if unemployment was going up, if the economic environment

around here was less positive, you would be holding

us accountable to that.

So I think that the opposite being true,

that we play a small but significant part in creating

the right environment.

and I'm so thankful that you're able to take advantage of what we do for you.

Thank you.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:28:22

Thank you. Before I go on to question two, I just want to point out for those watching at home

that these member questions that have been submitted, have been responded to in writing,

are on the desks and on the website, and these questions on the agenda are presented in the order

which they were received. So we'll move on to question number two which was a

question from Councillor Gina Blumfeld to Councillor Juliet Layton and this is

about the implementation of the second homes premium. Councillor Blumfeld do you

Councillor Gina Blomefield - 0:28:57

have a supplementary question? Yes thank you chair I do. I want to thank

Councillor Layton for her answer. There is clearly a little uncertainty about what

is going to be decided on charging a second home's premium, we are all aware that a large

proportion of the rates is actually passed over to the Gloucester County Council.

Bearing this in mind, have there been any discussions with the GCC about the possibility

of ring fencing some of the additional fees or rates raised if we did increase

double the tax on second homes to 200%. I just wanted to know because if that is

it would be a good idea if we're going to be doing the work,

identifying the houses on which there would be a second homes premium, that if

that all the money goes to GCC, it would be nice to see some of

it being ring fenced for CDC and for services

in the local community.

Dr. Anne Pritchard -McPherson Thank you very much, Gina,

Councillor Juliet Layton - 0:30:04

for bringing this, actually, because it's good to have this

information going out very publicly on, you know,

people watching live and everything.

However, this is more of a finance rather than

a planning question.

So I'm going to ask Mike Evamy to answer for me.

Thank you.

Councillor Mike Evemy - 0:30:24

Thank you, Councillor Bloomfield, for your question.

Absolutely, you know, when we were looking at this,

obviously, just 7 % of what we pay in our council tax

comes to us here at the district council.

The vast bulk of it goes to Gloucestershire County Council

with another big chunk going to the police and crime commissioner.

I know that our chief finance officer has been in conversations

with his counterparts at both those authorities.

I think it's fair to say that one authority was more receptive to the idea of essentially

spending that money in the district than the other one.

And I'll leave you to guess which one that was.

But essentially, yes, that point about using the extra additional resources that the second

home premiums can provide in order to bolster the services provided by the Gloucester Chicana

Council and the Police and Crime Commissioner.

Those discussions, my understanding, are still ongoing.

But I don't know if there's anything else that the Deputy Chief Executive might be able

to add to my answer.

He's shaking his head, so I doubt not.

Right.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:31:32

Thank you.

Well, nothing else then.

We'll move on to question three.

This is again from Councillor Tom Stowe, this time to Councillor Mike Evermy, and it's regarding

the government's recent budget.

Councillor Stowe, do you have a supplementary? Thank you chair and thank you

Councillor Tom Stowe - 0:31:51

Councillor Avami for your response. Clearly there remains uncertainty about

the direct impact of Labour Government's spiteful and economically illiterate

budgets on CDC's finances. Regardless of how the government compensates for these

decisions the burden will one way or another fall on the taxpayers of the

Cotswolds. With this in mind it is more important than ever to ensure that

taxpayers receive the best value for their money and the unnecessary spending is curtailed.

Does he agree that this administration's perverse decision to spend a vast £250 ,000

per year of taxpayers' cash on a communications and spin team for an organisation of this

size is both excessive, unjustifiable and should be reconsidered?

Councillor Mike Evemy - 0:32:38

No, it's the very short answer and it would be helpful if Councillor Stowe actually checked

before we quoted figures like £250 ,000 in this chamber and in the press.

If you had looked at the paperwork with regards to the changes to communications team, I think

you would find that we're now looking to appoint a new head of communications and that's the

what you need to look at is the difference between the cost of the service as it's provided

by Publica, as it was provided by Publica and as it will be provided by this Council

and I think that's in the region of around about £70 ,000, not £250 ,000, Councillor

Stowe. But I would agree with your point around we need to make sure that we look at value

for money and obviously we have a value for money audit from our auditors that goes through

the audit committee and absolutely, you know, in my role as the Cabinet Member for Finance,

I'm always looking at what we're spending our money on, whether it is good value for

money.

It might be unnecessary for you.

I don't think it's unnecessary to bolster and improve the way in which we communicate

as a council with our residents.

Fundamentally we're here to serve our residents and communicating with them is one of our

essential tasks that we need to do.

Thank you.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:33:58

Moving on to question four.

This is from Councillor Julia Judd to Councillor Tristan Wilkinson about the revised waste collection.

Councillor Judd, do you have a supplementary question?

Councillor Julia Judd - 0:34:12

Thank you, Chair. I do.

First of all, I'd like to congratulate Mike Ebony for a very neat pass across to poor Councillor Wilkinson.

We'll get to know each other very well indeed.

Mike, I'm sure you're going to miss my very, very regular emails.

I would just say it was very difficult to find out who was the cabinet member for waste

because it's not in your title and it's one of the primary functions of this council.

I think that is a bit of a mistake.

But I would like to know that having read or having looked at the link that you sent

me in response to my question, is it true that the lack of communication with staff

at UBICO over their working hours was one of the primary causes for months and

months of dysfunctional rubbish collection in Ermin Ward.

Councillor Tristan Wilkinson - 0:35:11

Thank you for a very technical question and one I will have to defer to you. I

don't want to I don't want to misquote data that I'm not in possession with. On

On a general point, having been responsible for waste and a few other things for 10 days

now, I have spent that time looking at a lot of the data and speaking to the officers responsible.

There's a big disconnect between a lot of our sentiment as residents of the service

we sometimes experience day to day and week to week with actually what the data tells

us, and actually the data tells us that the performance of UBICO is above the KPIs that

we have set them.

That said, every missed bin and every below par service

delivery is unacceptable.

With somebody with a background in data,

I will be using that data to hold UbiCo accountable

on every single metric.

We will constantly iterate that service,

and I absolutely welcome feedback from you, from residents and anybody else in the chamber

as well to make sure that where the service does fall short, which it will do with the

amount of collections we do every single day and every single week, where it does fall

short, let me know and I will absolutely get back to you and I will absolutely hold Ubico

accountable within the contractual kind of obligations they have to this council.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:36:44

Thank you. We're heading in your direction again Councillor Wilkinson. So

this is question five which is from Councillor Tony Slater and this is

about waste receptacles. Councillor Slater do you have a supplementary?

Councillor Tony Slater - 0:37:01

Yes please Chair. Busy day for Councillor Wilkinson. Thanks for the response and it's good to see

that the crews will be receiving direct feedback

when they've left a trail of destruction in their path.

My supplementary is sort of is writing to the future.

And as part of the negotiations

for the next waste collection contract, are there any plans

to simplify the recycling process and reduce the number

of receptacles that householders have to deal with?

For example, the growth in online shopping renders the blue sack thing largely not fit

for purpose.

And if that could be amalgamated into something better, it would improve efficiency still

further.

Councillor Tristan Wilkinson - 0:37:52

Again, thank you for your question.

And I think the short answer is, as far as I'm concerned, everything's up for debate,

including who our service provider should be in the future.

I don't think anybody should take anything for granted.

It's absolutely essential that the residents of the Cotswolds

get good value for money and we should never take anything for granted.

You're absolutely correct.

I think over recent years those changes in habits have meant that

certainly in my household cardboard is probably one of the single biggest

kind of things that we dispose of.

Right now I'm having a hospital pass from my wife because guess what?

It's bin day tomorrow and where am I?

One, she probably can't lift all of the bottles out to the front,

which is probably my fault.

But also, it's quite stressful doing this sometimes.

But the other thing is actually crushing all the cardboard and

stuffing it into that bag is quite difficult.

So I think the short answer is yes,

we will constantly look at ways to improve this.

I also want to refer to the particular incident that came

up in the question because I think it's really important

we acknowledge that incidents like that,

although very unusual and very rare, they should not happen.

There is a standard of delivery that we hold you to code to,

where they fail to meet it, we look for reasons why.

And we also look for reassurance that the training that is

ongoing is robust enough and is having the impact.

Where the service does fall short,

it's often where they are bringing in contractors

an agency staff to make sure that the service gets delivered and they don't

always unfortunately adhere to the same high level of standard as the regular

crew but let me reassure you and the rest of the council members that this is

something that is absolutely under review permanently.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:39:48

And we're heading in your direction again Councillor Wilkinson. Oh sorry

Councillor Gina Blomefield - 0:39:56

Councillor Bloomfield. Yes thank you chair I just wanted to add the incident which

wasn't made entirely clear but it was it happened in Camden a veil ward with

somebody tripping over some of the receptacles which got blown around and

they were elderly and had a terrible fall I'm just hoping that they have had

communication from you I haven't heard back I haven't had been in the loop but

it would be nice to feel that they were reassured and that their concerns have

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:40:22

been addressed thank you thank you councillor Broomfield so question number

6 is from Councillor Lem Wilkins to Councillor Tristan Wilkinson. So Councillor Wilkins do

you have another supplementary?

Councillor Len Wilkins - 0:40:34

Yes Chair. First of all congratulations on the appointment. Thank you for the answer.

I'd like you to do some research for me. How did you become possibly get to 99 % service

level? Because my inbox was filled up.

Because they can't report it.

Ah, I think that's a, we need some way to find out just how good they are.

I have two villages in a rural ward which you because obviously at one point didn't

know they existed, Temple, Guyton and Kyneton.

So thank you for the reply but my people suffered, they were particularly affected in rural wards

and I'd really like to be able to go back to them and say this is what happened.

Thank you.

Once again, thank you for your question.

Councillor Tristan Wilkinson - 0:41:29

Maybe it'd be easier if the people on this side of the chamber just kind of ask questions,

form an orderly queue and we can one by one.

One by meeting, this is your home question.

Absolutely, I'm really open to that and to that particular point, I think that the, you

is very complex.

There's many nuances to it.

I think that, as I said previously,

I think where we fall short, we need to understand that.

And to your point as well, we can only act when people tell

us that things go wrong.

We are iterating that service to make it as easy as possible for

people to report, you know, missed collections or other

incidences, and we will continue to make that as easy as possible.

There is an SLA where if there is a missed collection that

they have to rectify it within three working days,

you know, all of that happens.

I think on the, again, to the particular question of kind of

compensation or some sort of kind of remedy,

I did think about that for a few moments.

I think unfortunately the implementation of any scheme

like that would be disproportionate to the benefit

that people would get.

And I suspect that most people when asked would actually prefer

us to take the available funds that we do have and reinvest it

in the service and making it as good as possible.

And actually, looking at where we stand nationally,

we are in the top 10 of district councils in the country

in terms of our provision of waste services.

So although we can all point to instances

where it does not meet the standard that we would like,

and we often get feedback walking down the street

in our local communities where people grab us

and tell us that they're unhappy,

happens to be all the time,

seems to happen to be a little bit more recently.

and I'm sure that will continue which is fine I'm here to be accountable and I

think that the best we can do is to continue to react to the data that

people give us constantly iterate that and make sure that the service improves

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:43:34

week on week year on year. Thank you we move on to question number seven this is

from Councillor Thayer to Councillor Wilkinson and is on cardboard recycling

processes. Thanks LeFayah, over to you. Thank you, sorry about this

Councillor Jeremy Theyer - 0:43:47

keep dragging you up

in front of everyone. I must think you're the new leader for the Lib Dems but

there we go. For your response for the link provided it isn't very clear where

actually waste cardboard goes. That might be a question. I've done some further

digging and it seems that the Cotswolds waste collected cardboard is processed

then it's shipped halfway around the world to Malaysia for processing further

which I can't believe is very environmentally friendly so why are we

choosing to do this when the recycling and processing can be carried out in the UK?

Again, thank you for the question.

Councillor Tristan Wilkinson - 0:44:32

And there's a long and complex supply chain,

both in and outbound.

Our responsibility kind of is to collect it at the

curbside, and then we take that to Thamesdown,

where there's a commercial agreement in place.

What happens thereafter is kind of down to market

forces, unfortunately.

I think that there is a commercial value to cardboard.

We hold our contractors accountable so we don't just,

here you are, this is your responsibility.

What they do with it and how they provision with it is up to them,

but we have a contract with them and the provisions of that contract are down to us to determine.

So long story short, I think, you know, it goes to Thames down, but how it gets disposal

after that, you know, is down to those contractors.

And I can see David kind of is prepared to challenge that.

So David, if the chair is okay, you can ask your question.

No, we're not okay.

Councillor David Cunningham - 0:45:46

Madam Chair, I really don't think that our waste disposal should be deemed as an excess

set.

We don't just fire and forget it, do we?

We should care what Thamesdown do with it. We should care if they're shipping it halfway across the world.

If we have the ability to put some provision on how much carbon impact it does for them to sell it,

I think it's probably in our best interest as agreeing to the core council to say something about it.

What is this? You've got to bring it back.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:46:12

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:46:15

Councillor David Cunningham - 0:46:17

Sorry Madam Chair, I was asked to make a comment in response.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:46:23

Right, we will move on and I'll expect to see a motion at the next meeting then.

So, question eight, you can take a seat Councillor Wilkinson for a moment.

This is from Councillor Cawe to Councillor Joe Harris, Leader of the Council on the changes to the Council's corporate branding.

Councillor Cawley, do you have a supplementary?

Councillor Daryl Corps - 0:46:45

Thank you Chair, yes I do. Thank you Councillor Harris for your response on making it clear that it was not an extensive rebrand, it was just a light touch refresh.

And I don't want to waste any more time or money on this because an us has been spent already.

But I did want to ask you about what you said about the value in this.

So you basically spent 20 ,000 pounds changing the colour of the council's logo.

Is that correct?

No, we didn't.

Councillor Joe Harris - 0:47:17

As you well know, we have an insourcing of our staff and it's fair to say that the council's

style guidelines, branding and everything associated was a shambolic mess.

So that needed sorting out.

I'm not going to take lectures, however,

from the Conservatives on rebranding.

When Wiltshire Council, Conservative -run Wiltshire

Council spent half a million on theirs.

So actually, I think our light touch refresh is good value

for money.

It's been done as part of a budget item which covers the

transition as a whole, and we will monitor progress on that,

particularly with announcements that could happen in the next

few days about the extent to which we roll that out.

But no, in terms of being an employer of choice,

It's important that we have accurate clear and professional

Branding so we can be an employer of choice for other potential new staff

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:48:03

Thank You kent Harris

Council

Sorry, I was gonna let you about rebranding. I have spent 25 years

Councillor Daryl Corps - 0:48:12

doing it and if you'd asked I would have done it for free

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:48:18

Councillor Joe Harris - 0:48:21

Councillor Daryl Corwin knows that would be totally inappropriate and a breach of the

Code of Conduct and the Nolan Principles of Standards in public life.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:48:27

I think we'll just leave question 8 where it is. Thank you everybody. Moving on to question

9. Unfortunately it's you again, Councillor Wilkinson. This time question from Councillor

David Fowles for around the closure of public conveniences. Councillor Fowles do you have

Councillor David Fowles - 0:48:47

supplementary. I do, Chen, thank you. Congratulations Tristan on your

appointment and I'd like to take this opportunity of acknowledging exactly

what Tristan said about how lucky we were that someone wasn't killed in

Hathorip and how amazing it was that the emergency services got there and chopped

that tree and took it down. But for the grace of God it could have been your

house because it was right next door almost. But we all recognize the provision of

public convenience is not a statutory service.

But that didn't stop us opening public conveniences

in the first place and providing that as a facility

for a number of years.

We also recognize the importance of tourism to the

district, and when they come, they need to go.

And the reality is the more tourists we have, the more

they need to use the facilities, particularly

with the hospitality sector, making it very difficult

for people to go in to hotels and make sure

they're actually a customer.

So could the portfolio holder please provide reassurance that we will continue to provide public conveniences in all the key locations

That we have currently albeit at a reduced level. Thank you

Councillor Tristan Wilkinson - 0:49:53

Thank you David for that for the question and and I

Can't give any cast iron guarantees about what's going to happen in the future

But I think what I can do is speak with a certain amount of conviction that I think the status quo that we've now got to

which was discussed at ONS and other groups.

It looks sustainable for the remainder of this

budgetary period.

There are no further plans currently to reduce the amount.

Every one of our major towns does have some provision.

It hopefully will stay that way.

I think that's the best guarantee I can give with

that kind of cornering myself like I did with the cardboard.

So I'm not going to get into the same situation,

kind of making promises on that one.

I think that the current plan looks sustainable.

Again, going back to data, I'm looking at how we can use data

to better provision some of that,

make sure that we bring in charging where appropriate

to get some revenue, particularly from those high

footfall areas like Stowe and Orton on water.

Again, in my patch, the difference between Fairford

Letchley for instance, Fairford has 2 ,000 usages a year,

Letchley does 15 ,000.

So again, those two areas very close to each other

see very, very different usages.

So we need to make sure that we stay on top of the data,

the usage.

But I think the status quo as it exists today

looks sustainable from what I can see.

Thank you.

Moving on quickly to question 10.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:51:28

This is from Councillor Cawe to Councillor Juliette

regarding of gramping conditions at this Dunstall farm development do you have a

supplementary council call? Thank you council Layton for your response and

Councillor Daryl Corps - 0:51:41

reassurance that the gramping conditions haven't been met does that mean that

they spitfire haven't actually applied yet to occupy over 51 houses I

Councillor Juliet Layton - 0:51:57

believe is the figure. Thank you very much for the question I am gonna have to

come back to you with that with the written spot because I have not got that answer. Sorry.

Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Layton. On to question

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:52:07

11 from Councillor David Fowles to Councillor Mike Evans and me regarding the Living Memorial

Historical Association Museum. Councillor Fowles, do you have a supplementary?

Councillor David Fowles - 0:52:19

I do. Thank you, Chairman. And thank you, Mike, for your answer. The decision to sell

the memorial cottages taken by 30 members of this council, including myself, should

in no way be confused with my personal sadness and I'm sure that of others about the eviction

of the Living Memory Historical Association from the memorial cottages.

And I'm sure that we all remember that that eviction took place in Remembrance Week.

It was two days after Remembrance Monday, which I thought was kind of sad.

Beyond offering help in terms of storage and signposting the museum, I wondered whether

we could give some thought to providing them with a temporary home at Trinity Road because

we have plenty of space and we already have the town lock up here which was relocated

many years ago at great expense.

So it could be something we could consider in the short term to help them because it

would be very, very sad to lose that museum and all its artefacts.

Thank you.

Councillor Mike Evemy - 0:53:21

I think I want to start by challenging the language that Councillor Fowle is using, is

repeating the word evicted, which was used on the front page of the local paper, which

the chap Peter Grace, who actually runs the LMHA, challenged them on in a letter to the

paper and fails at sensationalising the subject.

I mean, eviction is a very emotive word, chopping someone out of their house.

You know, we've worked very, very hard in terms of with the

LMHA, both officers and my council cabinet member

colleagues on my left both made a personal interest and

engagement with to assist the LMHA in finding new premises.

So, you know, I think, you know, it's easy for papers to use

sensational language and I sort of challenge the day

council fails to please not to use that emotive language

because that isn't the language that the person who's subject to that verb is actually using himself.

You can see in terms of the answer that I've given, there's been lots of assistance that we have provided

to the Living Memory Historical Association and we're very mindful of the service that that provides

to residents across the district and schools and other visitors to that facility.

So we are supporting them as Councillor Fowle says in providing storage and we're helping

them to try to find somewhere else.

But Councillor Bloom has just talked to me that they want somewhere really that's close

to the shelter that they have and they continue to have that shelter in town.

So I think it was continuing to work with them.

Obviously we gave them as much notice as we could and enabled them to continue their normal

operations.

And obviously we hope that we will be able to find and help them to find a permanent

home and that museum and those exhibits can continue to be enjoyed by residents and visitors

to the district.

Thank you.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:55:27

I withdraw the word addiction, I apologise.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:55:34

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:55:40

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:55:41

Right, let's move on please to question 12.

This is a question from Councillor Dillis -Neal to Councillor Juliet Layton regarding utilising empty properties within the district.

Councillor Neal, do you have a supplementary?

Yes, thank you very much.

Councillor Dilys Neill - 0:55:57

I'm sorry, this is a bit of a hobby horse of mine, as you all know.

Over the last 20 years or so, probably 40 or 50 houses have been built in Stowe,

plus 150 additional units for older people, more than half of which remain unoccupied.

So despite this building going on in stone,

the number of permanent residents in stone has fallen.

And this is an issue of concern to my residents.

So I did actually make a request in December 23

to find out the total number of empty retirement properties

across the district.

And also to find out if a response could be made

to the planning inspector to say that,

because the Brio development in particular

was allowed by the planning inspector

it to tell them this was perhaps not a successful decision.

And I didn't have a response to that.

And then perhaps I would also like to ask the other

members present, we represent the opposition parties.

Please, could you, if you have the ear of your MPs,

ask them to raise these issues and challenge the

government that building new houses isn't the only way

to address the housing problem?

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:57:23

Councillor Dilys Neill - 0:57:24

We all try to maintain high public standards of debate and I think we've got a lot better.

The constant barracking from Councillor Cunningham I think is totally unacceptable so a plea

to the chair, please can you just you know keep an eye on this. I really appreciate the

but you're doing but yeah he always does it and it's really annoying actually.

Councillor Joe Harris - 0:57:42

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:57:44

Right let's go on to question 13. Last one. Sorry Juliet, apologies

Councillor Layton you have got the right to respond. What happens when things get disruptive?

Councillor Juliet Layton - 0:58:01

Yes well Councillor Leo as you know that I'm very well aware of this we have you

You know, my ward, we have residential homes that some are really super, super, super busy,

I think, and doing very well.

And then we've got others that aren't so popular and they're empty homes.

And as you know, I've been out with our House Strategic Housing Officer going round stone,

looking at your properties round there, trying to, you know, trying to make a – not a judgment,

trying to find out how many properties are really empty and for how long.

And it ties in, I mean, part of your earlier question ties in a

little bit with the holiday, that's the second home,

and everything we heard about before.

And I think this is an important thing to have out again in the

public, because it's not often discussed.

I mean, lots of our public don't know how many, you know,

older people's residential units,

whether they're for retirement at 55 or 65 or proper nursing care.

There's a lot of them around in our district and coming,

and there are more.

We are looking at this in the local plan,

and we are hopefully trying to find some answers for you.

At the moment, I haven't got answers for you,

but I'm sure you're reassured in the fact that you know full well

that we are trying to deal with something.

And it is quite a difficult situation,

but we are looking at it, and hopefully there will be things

resolved when we can package up the whole what's empty,

what's lived in, what's rented to holidays, etc.

That's not a terribly efficient answer,

but I really haven't got an end answer for you,

but we're still working on it.

Councillor Juliet Layton - 0:59:49

My goodness, would we love to make feedback

to the planning inspectors

about many decisions they've made.

I have asked that and I haven't had an answer either because I really think they should be held accountable

And I've heard other other councillors other

Councils saying the same thing I think the planning inspector do need to be accountable

And there are much as movable feast as maybe any planning committee

You know one planning committee and one council might see something as to be perfectly okay

The same cap the same conditions might be thought of there's something different in our planning committee

So it's to do with weight, but I do feel that the planning

and spectra should be made accountable,

especially in some of our past decisions when we didn't have

a local plan, we didn't have a five -year land supply,

which is very worrying.

Thank you.

Karen Pierce Thank you.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 1:00:39

And before we move on to the final question,

question 13, can I just ask colleagues to please be mindful

if they're having conversations in the chamber whilst a member

is still speaking.

If they need to leave the chamber to have a conversation,

that's absolutely fine.

Please be respectful of whoever is listening to their responses.

Question 13.

This is the last one from Councillor Jenkinson.

Angus Jenkinson to Councillor Juliet Layton.

Regarding the enforcement of S106 agreements, do you have a supplementary question?

I do, thank you, Chair.

Councillor Angus Jenkinson - 1:01:12

Thank you also for your answer, Juliet.

I appreciate it.

I'm very delighted to find that it's a unique case of a public open space in the

district suffering under this situation.

You may wish to convey your sympathy to the residents.

I'm sure they would appreciate that.

But my question was about the general problem, as I put it.

This was an example of a development suffering under the effects of a developer failing to

comply with the obligations under a section 106 agreement.

And this was an example of that.

So my broader question, therefore,

remains the extent to which that might still exist.

And I'm hoping that there are no other cases, as you suggest,

in the district.

But I wonder if I could ask you to confirm

whether there are, in fact, no other section 106 situations.

because I'm aware of two wards in two developments in my own ward that maybe

have in the same situation and beyond that it seems to me that you've I've

heard a number of times from planners that they're unable to be able to deal

with the issues because of the restrictions and situation they have and

it would be very helpful to residents to know that our hands are tied in order to

in the ability to actually deal with it if that is the case thank you

Councillor Juliet Layton - 1:02:40

Thank you. Well, first of all, of course I have absolute sympathy for the residents.

I think they are the only development which is actually suffering in the way that you

explained to me about insurances and etc. etc. There are other developments that have

these agreements and land management companies or whether the residents take them on. We've

never liked them, it's been sort of foisted upon us recently by developers.

In terms of what we're looking at in the local plan, and I'm sure you know this because you'll

have seen the draft policy, is we were looking to see how we can not have this situation

arising again, but it's a draft policy at the moment.

As far as the 106s are concerned, yes, 106s came in,

as you, a few years ago, before we had SIL,

most of the money was going off to GCC.

With SIL, we've got a different system.

And what we're now trying to do, which wasn't being done properly,

is actually having the S106s logged and tracked.

And so it will be highlighted, and it's absolutely happening

right now that we are having a tracked system of when the 106

has come in, what they're supposed to do,

what the rules that govern them are for, and the timelines,

and then the planning officers will be highlighted as to when

that timing or that occupancy, et cetera, come in,

and we can act upon it.

And that work is happening right now.

Thank you.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 1:04:26

Thank you colleagues. That brings members questions to a close. We're going to move

8 Membership of Committees and Cabinet update

on now to Agenda Item 8, the membership of committees and cabinet. And the purpose of

this is to inform the Council regarding the changes to the membership of the cabinet and

to agree a new appointment to the overview and scrutiny committee. This is going to be

led by Councillor Joe Harris. Councillor Harris.

Councillor Joe Harris - 1:04:53

Yes, thank you. Well, I think he's made a pretty good debut, isn't he, as far as

new cabinet members go. But yeah, this is just to note that Councillor Tristan

Wilkinson is taking up the portfolio for economy and environment and I can

absolutely clarify, Councillor Judd, that just because it's not in the job title

doesn't mean that it is not within his portfolio. And if you look at the chart

that is reflected under his responsibilities.

So as you can see, I've also taken a member out that saves

the taxpayer a bit of money, around about 8 ,000 pounds a

year, which is always good.

But no, I think it really focuses on the key objectives

of this administration, providing a good level of

service to our residents on those key statutory services,

making sure that we're doing all we can to support our services

and the tax support scheme that we'll hear about in a minute is

a good example of that.

Supporting the local economy.

I'm proud that under this administration we've helped to

create 500 new jobs in our district.

And that is probably on the load side.

And Tristan, I'm really looking forward to you bringing back the

work that Tony started on the refresh of the green economic

growth strategy for our area.

And of course, there are two other priorities of trying our

best to deliver genuinely affordable homes that people can

afford to live in.

and of course the most important of all, protecting and preserving our planet.

We have to reduce carbon emissions and this council has to play its part and our residents in doing that.

So we have very clear priorities. I believe this cabinet helps us to achieve those aims.

And I'd like to extend a warm welcome to Tristan and pay tribute, of course, to the brilliant work that Councillor Lisa Spivey,

who is still a very valued member of our team and is going to be the leader of Gloucestershire County Council in a few months time.

And of course to Councillor Tony Dale who obviously would probably still be in the cabinet

but unfortunately as we know has had his accident I'm sure we'll get on to so we can't continue his duties for the foreseeable future.

Of course there is the formality of appointing Councillor Lisa Spivey to the Overview and Scretionary Committee.

Tristan has done a very diligent job on that and I've no doubt that Lisa with her passion and her forensic eye

will make sure that she brings a brilliant contribution and be very helpful to the Administration,

one would hope, but also hold us to account and point out where we could indeed improve.

And I think on that, I want to extend a massive thank you to Councillor Regina Bloomfield

in particular and the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, because where we have got in just

a few years with Scrutiny is credit to the hard work that you've put in and your chairmanship

of the Committee. We're really on a much better place and you've been incredibly helpful to

as an administration while at the same time asking those tough questions so you

know we really appreciate that so yes that is it I'm in summary and I commend

Councillor Nikki Ind - 1:07:48

it to you. Before I go to Councillor Efremi are there any questions for clarity?

Councillor Mark Harris first. Well it was more more more of a comment

Councillor Mark Harris - 1:07:56

if I may and

And it was just to congratulate Tristan on his new role.

His role is economy and environment.

As long as I can remember, environment has included waste.

Environmental services covers waste and it's the environment agency that issues waste carriers'

So from where I'm sitting, it is in the job title.

Councillor Blomensfield.

Thank you, Chair.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 1:08:25

Councillor Gina Blomefield - 1:08:27

I just wanted to thank Joe Harris for his very kind words

To thank Tristan for the work. He's done on the overview and scrutiny. We'll miss you

So that's you know you that was the but also to welcome Lisa Spivey

Which as Councillor Harris has said will no doubt add a lot to our debates, which is what we want

Um, so thank you and thank you. I look forward to seeing you next. Oh, yes. Thank you

Thank You councillor Jad

Councillor Nikki Ind - 1:08:53

Councillor Julia Judd - 1:08:55

Thank you, Chair. Well, just in response to that, environment to me means the world we

live in and normally, certainly in modern -speak, environment to me means the countryside, the

fresh air, the green grass. If I was a resident in the Cotswolds looking for the cabinet member

who's responsible for my bins, my waste, I would not be looking for environment. I think

it is a massive error that waste or something which is immediately recognisable is not in

the cabinet member's name.

Councillor Joe Harris - 1:09:29

I appreciate that, but when the Conservatives ran this authority, the cabinet member for

Councillor Nikki Ind - 1:09:31

Councillor Joe Harris - 1:09:31

the environment included waste and recycling and indeed we have the person sat right there

on the front row who had helped that brief.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 1:09:41

Right, there are no other questions for clarity. We will go to Councillor Evermy.

Councillor Mike Evemy - 1:09:48

Thank you. As the former portfolio holder for waste and recycling, it didn't seem to

stop people finding me, despite the fact it wasn't in the title. I've got plenty of emails.

As I said, it's on the website. Yeah, so anyway. But I wanted to second the recommendations.

Obviously, the leader has talked about the changes that he's made to the Cabinet and

formally, yeah, obviously the appointment of Lisa to the Ovian Scrutiny Committee. Councillor

place of Councillor Wilkinson so I was second formally second does anyone wish

Councillor Nikki Ind - 1:10:21

to speak further on the debate are we happy to sum up then Councillor Harris

Councillor Joe Harris - 1:10:28

yeah there's anything to add to be honest say I'm commended to you right I

Councillor Nikki Ind - 1:10:36

will read you the resolution for Council resolves to one note the update from the

of the Council regarding the change to the membership and responsibilities of cabinet

members.

And to agree to appoint from the Liberal Democrat Group, Councillor Lisa Spivey to the Overview

and Scrutiny Committee to replace Councillor Tristan Wilkinson.

Over to you, Keira.

Thank you.

Sorry, that was me.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 1:11:39

Thank you colleagues. That's 29 for none against none abstained. That's carried. Thank you.

9 Council Tax Support Scheme for 2025/2026

We will move on to agenda item 9, which is the council tax support scheme.

And this is going to be proposed by Councillor Evony. Councillor Evony, over to you.

Councillor Mike Evemy - 1:12:01

Thank you, chair.

This is

This scheme has to be looked at every year and we bring it to Council every year in advance

of the budget making process itself so that we have that ready.

Mandy Farvers is here who leads our revenues and benefits service, has this ready to plug

into the calculations when we make them in February when we determine our Council tax

for the year. Council tax support is hugely important. It supports those people in our

communities on the lowest incomes. For some it's an absolute life saver. We need to look

at it every year because clearly we all know that the cost of living rises, it very rarely

goes down and therefore we need to make sure that the support that we are giving continues

to have the value that it previously had.

So the paper in front of you looks to increase the

bandings across the board by 4%, looking at the

inflationary figure where we are in terms of

inflation over the last 12 months.

So that's really there to ensure that we continue to

give the real terms value.

We, as a council, our council taxpayers, our residents in receipt of council tax support,

have from this council a benefit collectively of nearly £5 million.

So clearly most of that money would through the preset go to the county council.

But essentially what we are doing here,

and what we're saying is that our residents,

we value our residents.

We want to support those residents who are on the lowest

of incomes, and you'll see, you'll note on Annex A how the

amount of support that we give varies based not just on their

income but on their family composition,

their household composition.

And the difference between what we,

The scheme that we currently have and the one that's in front of us is an estimated

increase overall of £28 ,000 of additional support, of which just under £2 ,000 will

come from us and the balance will come from the County Council and the Police and Crime

Commissioner.

I also wanted to make members aware or remind members that we have a hardship fund for circumstances

where essentially the support we're unable to give them the council tax

support but we are able to we believe in our officers through working with people

believe there is a case for giving them some exceptional support and we put by

£40 ,000 in that and currently we're forecasting there'll be about

£33 ,000 remaining and what we're asking in the recommendations is that

that funding is carried over into next year.

I think it's also important to note that we have an equality

and borality impact assessment of this report.

I said that Mandy is here to answer any technical questions

about how it's administered if members want to know that.

We obviously have got the Deputy Chief Executive here

to answer any detailed financial questions.

But I would commend it to you to note also that we do have a

requirement to consult on this, and we have consulted and we do

that every year.

And we typically, you know, we have relatively few people

respond, but we do have some very,

very valuable engagement from Citizens Advice Bureau and Mary

Cobbett, who many of you know, who do give us a lot of input

and help us to design the best scheme we can for the money that

we're able to put into it. So I would commend it to all members the

resolutions and recommendations one and two and obviously here and help answer

any questions that any members have or listen to any debate on the subject.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 1:16:23

Thank you chair. Thank you councillor Avameeg. Can I just ask are there any

questions for clarity? So the seconder I've got here is councillor

Bloomer would you like to speak now I would like to reserve your right to speak

okay we'll come back to you is there anybody that would like to speak during

the debate on this Councillor Wilkinson I clearly just can't get

Councillor Tristan Wilkinson - 1:16:45

enough I think

this is really important we are all really blessed to live in a part of the

world that has a very unique and distinctive brand when people think

about the Cotswolds, it tends to kind of conjure up

Julie Cooper type images, and I'll

let you wrestle with your own consciences on that one.

But we do live in a wonderful part of the world.

It's often overlooked that there are people in our community

that need genuine help.

I've had a number of people write to me, not large amounts,

but every case in its own right, it's kind of heartbreaking.

people really struggling. I think any help that we can give as a council, even if it's

relatively modest, I think is really, really important. So I just wanted to kind of speak

up in support of this.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 1:17:42

Thank you. And now Councillor Len Wilkinson.

Nearly, Chair. Len Wilkinson.

Councillor Len Wilkins - 1:17:49

I see.

Apologies. Too many Wilkinsons and Wilkins.

We're not joined at the here.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 1:17:54

Councillor Len Wilkins - 1:17:55

We live in difficult times.

The risk assessment says that the caseload

could rise significantly.

Is there any limit that we can put on, or have we put on?

Financially limit, sorry.

Catch there for me?

Councillor Nikki Ind - 1:18:17

No, well, we're setting out a scheme.

Councillor Mike Evemy - 1:18:20

So what we're not doing is rationing the support

that we give.

If you meet the criteria that is shown, then our team obviously will provide you the council

tax support that you are entitled to.

Clearly this process happens every year, so if we were to see a significant increase and

the amount of people coming forward for support was increasing, then when we stand in a year's

time we have to obviously always take that calculation, can we afford this level of support?

But what we don't do is we don't say, you know, sorry, we've run out of money.

We're not going to give you the support.

That would be fundamentally wrong and not what we're here to do.

But I set the point that we, you know, obviously we operate within a financial envelope.

But we think as an administration as well that this is so important and not all councils

give 100 % support.

So there are some councils out there who are trying to get small amounts of money back

from people who have very, very little.

We're not in that group.

we don't want to be there.

What we want is a scheme which, you know,

is easier for our offices to operate,

that people who are on those very lowest incomes don't have

to try to pay us very small amounts of money when they're

just about struggling to get by.

Thank you.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 1:19:35

The next question is actually from me.

So my question is regarding care leavers.

So I attended the care leavers briefing a few months ago now,

and actually I think I asked that perhaps we could put this on the member briefing.

It was very, very enlightening where a young lady who was a care leaver told us her story

and how difficult it is when suddenly you find yourself.

And I'm just wondering if I can obviously understand from an income point of view,

but do we have any specific support as a district council for care leavers?

Thanks.

Councillor Mike Evemy - 1:20:11

I'm, thank you, Chair, for the question.

I also was on that briefing and, yeah, I totally concur with your comments that, you know,

care leavers are some of the most vulnerable adults in our society.

You know, they don't have, typically they don't have a family around them to help them

to navigate their way into adulthood that most of us are fortunate to have had.

Whilst I'm thinking about, I might demand you to come to the front to give me the definitive

answer and she will correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding is they're not part of

this scheme because this is an income dependent scheme.

Obviously, if they were on a low income they might be, but I think we have specific provision

for them.

Mandy's nodding, so Mandy, if you can give the definitive to members on what we do for

care leavers with regards to council tax, that'd be great.

Officer - 1:21:03

So the council does have a scheme for carers up to the age of 25.

What happens is the county refer cases through to us and then we apply the discounts to those

accounts when we've been able to verify everything.

So yes, there is a discount.

Thank you, Mandy.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 1:21:22

Next we've got Councillor Coleman.

Thank you, Chair.

Councillor Patrick Coleman - 1:21:27

I'm sure we're all aware that this benefit is a rare example

of a benefit that is being increased rather than abolished

like the winter fuel allowance or indeed maintained

with the impact of increasing child poverty such as the two child limit on universal credit.

And anybody who thinks we've got a left wing government needs to think again.

I was always proud to be a bit on the left of the Labour Party.

I didn't expect it to be this far left.

I do have a question though, because I am aware that we have issued a leaflet to every

house, which I think is a brilliant leaflet.

I would be very interested if any of our colleagues here, including officers, could explain whether

Whether there is any way of measuring the impact of that, perhaps an increase in take

up or increase in inquiries compared with the base level beforehand, I am thinking as

I speak.

I think also, I am particularly concerned about households where two pensioners would

have got the winter fuel allowance.

I have a household in my own ward, which is a mother and daughter.

The mother is in her 90s and the daughter is in her 70s now.

Because of a mistake made many years ago, they are having to repay a large sum of housing

benefit.

I don't want to identify them but I thought is there something called a discretionary

housing payment that this council could have ministered that might be of help to such a

able to fictionalise it again. Such a household that perhaps contains two pensioners, both

of whom would have been getting the winter fuel allowance and are now under severe pressure.

I answered the first one about the leaflet. I think Mandy is indicating you want to answer

the second one for Councillor Coleman. As somebody who is marketing for a profession,

the impact of one individual leaflet is always quite tricky. What you are trying to do is

keep everything the same to understand the impact of a leaflet. Clearly we want

more people to claim who are eligible to get the support that is there for them

and you know it's thank you for the compliment about the leaflet and

Councillor Bloomer was heavily involved in that and it you know it is a very

good leaflet and also it provides phone numbers it doesn't rely on people

having internet access to be able to find out more there are phone numbers on

So I think that's one for us to take away in terms of whether then we will judge whether

we should be doing that again, whether we should do that every year or so that those

Councillor Mike Evemy - 1:24:21

across the whole district people do get that sense of what the support is available to

them.

I'm going to hand over I think to Mandy to pick up the second point or anyone else, Claire

might want to come in about the discretionary housing payment.

Officer - 1:24:39

So yes, we do have a discretionary housing payment scheme.

People are eligible for that if they are in receipt of housing benefit or the housing

element of universal credit.

So what we can do there is we do look at people's income and expenditure and we can be supportive.

It's to do with the household.

Although it is usually marketed as support for rent, it can be used as a support for

the household itself and for other bills and everything.

I can't comment about the case in question because as you know I am very familiar with

that case myself.

But for other residents out there, there is support.

They can come to us, we can talk through things with them and if we feel that yes, they are

eligible, then of course we will support them through that

application.

Thank you.

Councillor Claire Bloomer - 1:25:40

I think the only thing I would add is, yeah,

it's really important that we can, you know,

help our residents.

And I must say from many of our benefits officers that I've sent

residents to these benefits officers and they actually look

at people in a holistic way.

So, you know, it's about helping them in that moment, you know,

to maybe save a bit of money to be able to get back on their

feet.

So I would really encourage them to be calling, you know,

the District Council and getting some support.

Thank you.

Councilor Stay.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 1:26:10

Councilor Harris.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 1:26:14

Thank you.

Councillor Joe Harris - 1:26:18

I'm delighted to speak in favor of this.

I really am.

Although it's totally unnecessary in my view,

It's totally unnecessary.

I want to make clear, council tax is a totally regressive,

anarchic tax.

It's ridiculous.

We have a system in this country of council tax that is based on

property values in 1991.

It's outrageous.

Council tax should be scrapped.

It needs looking at again.

What we need fundamentally is a government who is serious about

tackling poverty and the root causes of poverty. We didn't have it from the last government

and we certainly do not have it from this government. And the thing that makes me so

angry, the thing that makes me so angry is that across society and in the media we hear

about scroungers, we hear about people abusing the benefits system. Well here's the inconvenient

truth, that most people that claim welfare or benefits, they're not doing it to shaft

the system, they're not doing it to defraud people,

they're in work.

They're what's called working poor.

These are people who have been told that if they work hard,

they will get a safe retirement, they can get access

to safe housing.

Well, I'm sorry, but I think the deal in this country is

fundamentally broken, because I know here in Sirens yesterday,

in my own ward, we have people who work really, really hard,

who, you know, work their, you know,

work themselves to the bone.

They really, really do.

But things just don't get any better.

And then they have decisions from government that aren't in

their interest and end up costing them a lot more,

whether that's through an inflationary crisis,

an energy crisis.

We're not taking long -term decisions in this country,

and it makes me really, really bloody mad, quite frankly.

So for me, yes, it's great that we've got a scheme,

but council tax needs to go.

It really, really does.

And we need a government that is serious about tackling poverty.

And you're quite right.

Patrick, I don't think you have to be left wing on a lot of this.

I don't think actually, I think it goes beyond that.

You know, when I see a labor party,

labor party used to be about the workers, didn't it?

Let's go back to basically about the workers.

Well, all I can see is the working poor being,

you know, slammed.

It doesn't matter whether you're a hardworking farmer struggling

to make ends meet or whether you're,

you know, working in retail.

It's a really, really bad raw deal.

And until we get serious about tackling the root causes of

poverty, you know, we're never going to get there.

And for me, the most shameful thing about this new government,

the biggest thing they could have done to lift people out of

child poverty is to cancel the cruel two -child limit,

and they chose not to act.

I think it's an absolute scandal.

So, yes, it's great that we've got a cancer tax support scheme.

I'd also encourage residents to look at the comprehensive guide

on the council's website, costor .gov .uk,

for the cost of living.

We've got everything in one place.

All the support available.

So I encourage people to do that.

But if we're serious about tackling poverty,

we've got to address the root causes of poverty.

And unfortunately, that is a task that no government

seems to commit to doing,

and which is why we're seeing people like Donald Trump

getting elected in the United States.

And mark my words, there will be a drift to the far right

and the far left in this country

if those of us in the center cannot come up with the answers

to the concerns that normal working people have.

Right.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 1:29:47

Do we have any more questions or to debate?

Ketsler Bloomer, would you like to second?

Thank you.

Councillor Claire Bloomer - 1:29:54

Yes, I'm very happy to second this.

I think it's a small gesture, but it's really,

really going to help some of those families that are

really struggling that I see very, very often.

And yes, as Joe has pointed out,

these families are struggling,

and there's hidden hardship here.

There's some really great reports that have been done.

And if you are interested at all around the cost of living, I know from our last cabinet

meeting we had a hundred page fantastic report on the cost of living and the amazing work

that's being done here at Cotswold District Council.

So I urge all members to read that and I urge all members to support this.

Thank you.

Councillor O 'Brien, would you like to sum up?

Councillor Nikki Ind - 1:30:33

Thank you, Chair.

Councillor Mike Evemy - 1:30:37

Thank you for everyone that's spoken.

and obviously just to pick up a couple of points,

yeah, I remember first being elected to another authority

in 1992, thinking the council tax won't last long.

You know, it's so unfair, obviously unfair,

but it was a bodge to get rid of the poll tax.

And here we are still 32 years later,

we're still having to set council tax.

Because it's probably difficult for those

to be winners and losers, but that doesn't mean

that you shouldn't do something in the best interest of the

country and residents.

I just want to point out that to members that we don't impose a

two -child limit in our local council tax support scheme.

So if you have three children, you have four children,

you get a higher, you know, we allow more for that.

So on the same income, if you have four children,

you will get more support than if you had two.

I think that's how it should be.

That's how the government should be for those people.

Because, you know, as we all know, you know,

if you have more people in your household,

it costs you more.

The basic fundamentals of heating and food and clothing

and all those things mean that, you know, all of us, you know,

we need funds to support and pay for everyone in our households.

So I think, thanks everybody who's spoken.

I think I would also add that actually we are able to do this.

This is a determination locally.

It used to be a national scheme prior to 2013, so this was just a given.

But now we have to determine it locally.

And I'm very proud that we're determining it in the way that we are.

As I said, not everywhere is as generous as we are in this council to its residents on its lowest incomes.

and I would therefore urge everyone to support the recommendations.

Thank you, Councillor Evermy.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 1:32:34

So those recommendations are that 4 Council results to 1.

Approve the increase to income bans as detailed within paragraphs 3 .2, 3 .3 and Annex A of

this report from the 1st of April 2025.

And, two, agree that any surplus in the hardship fund is transferred over to the 2025 -2026

for reasons detailed in paragraphs 3 .6 and 3 .7 of this report.

I now call for the voting to be opened.

Thank you, Keira.

Councillor David Fowles - 1:33:15

Dr.

Councillor David Fowles - 1:33:43

Councillor Nikki Ind - 1:33:50

Thank you colleagues. That is unanimous.

10 Gambling Act 2005 Statement of Principles (Policy) Review 2024

We move on to agenda item 10, the gambling act 2005, statement of principles, policy

review 2024. This is going to be presented by Councillor

Councillor Dilys Neill - 1:34:09

Ray Brasington. Thank you, chair.

report, it is all very clear. The Gangway Act of 2002 requires licensing policies every

Councillor Ray Brassington - 1:34:21

three years to prepare a statement of principles. Before determining that policy, the authority

is required to consult with the police and those who represent the industry. The draft

statement of principles was subject to a six week consultation period and all consultees

were written to and invited to make a written comment.

In addition, the consultation was advertised

on the council's website.

There were no comments made during the consultation period

by any of the consultees.

This draft policy went to the Planning and Licensing Committee

a couple of weeks ago, and a few minor amendments were made.

In conclusion, I would recommend to the council that we approve

a statement and adopt a no casino resolution.

Thank you.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 1:35:15

I know that this is going to be seconded by Councillor Judd.

Are there any questions for clarity?

Councillor Cunningham.

Thank you Madam Chair.

Councillor David Cunningham - 1:35:33

What is the basis of the no casino provision?

What were the driving factors behind that decision? Thank you.

Basically it means we're not going to have any casinos in the cotswolds.

Councillor Ray Brassington - 1:35:48

No one likes humour more than me Madam Chair, is there?

Councillor David Cunningham - 1:35:53

My question is, was it because the police thought it was not conducive to a decent neighbourhood

or whatever? Just more curious than anything else. Thanks.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 1:36:08

To pick that up, as I understand it, if we don't have one of these resolutions, we can't

Councillor Joe Harris - 1:36:11

make a judgement on whether we want one or not. So as I understand it, I mean, I look

to the officers, have we got a licensing professional in the room? That would be helpful to support

this support this item the officers Mandy I will say that and unless

Officer - 1:36:28

you make

a new resolution and it approved that then if somebody comes in with a

planning application for a casino or anything then the council cannot stop

that application going forward because there's no resolution to stop it I

Councillor Joe Harris - 1:36:48

direct 3 .5 in the cabinet.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 1:36:55

Thank you that that that answers the question it just gives us an option

Councillor David Cunningham - 1:36:59

Councillor Nikki Ind - 1:37:02

basically that's fine thanks. Are there any other points of clarity

Councillor Dilys Neill - 1:37:08

Councillor Neill? Yes on page 71 9 about information exchange it says the

I am wondering, would it not be good to have an established

policy regarding exchange of information?

It seems from the top paragraph that we are required to share

certain types of information, in which case I am wondering why

we don't think we need a protocol to do that.

Mandy, do you want that one?

Councillor Nikki Ind - 1:37:42

Officer - 1:37:45

At the moment, yes, we do share information with things like the police, the whole gambling

act is going through a large transition in 2025 and I think the policy will have a good

overhaul then. At the moment the policy is more of a run on from the original one just

so we reach our obligations to ensure that the policy is in place before the

31st of January. So there was no real overhaul with the policy until the

coming year but those things will be looked at then yes.

So before we go to the debate, Councillor Jed did you want to speak now or are you

Councillor Nikki Ind - 1:38:27

Councillor Julia Judd - 1:38:32

happy to speak later? I'll speak now if you don't mind chair only to try and

encourage people not to take this to too much debate.

This is a standard thing that we have to go through,

just to tick a box to make sure that we're protected

for something that might not ever happen.

An enormous amount of work has already gone into it.

It's already taken up the time and effort of officers

for a planning and licensing committee,

and it was the only item,

and people came from the North Cotswolds,

and it took an hour.

We are now already speaking about it too long in my view.

The one thing I would say is that point 2 .2 of what was in the Planning and Licensing

Committee, that the Act of the three licensing objectives which underpin these functions

that the Gambling Commission and the Licensing Authority must perform are a, preventing gambling

from being a source of crime or disorder being associated with crime and disorder or being

used to support crime.

B, ensuring that gambling is conducted in a fair

and open way.

And C, protecting children and other vulnerable

persons from being harmed or exploited by gambling.

The last thing I would say is that at the end of the

Planning and Licensing Committee, when I asked the

senior officer how many times has anybody actually

applied to this council in the last three years,

because this is reviewed every three years, he said

once for a point to point.

So can we just move on to the next item?

Councillor Layton.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 1:40:06

Councillor Juliet Layton - 1:40:08

Yes, I just want to add a little bit to what Councillor Judd was saying.

Being part of my portfolio, I was very aware that this was coming to the planning committee

and I was also aware that there were no planning applications for that.

and we did discuss the reasoning of having to get this through.

It's an important document and it's safeguarding our council,

our area, our children.

All of that is very important and has been spoken about.

But it needed to be done.

It needed to be heard by the Planning and Licensing Committee.

You were called the Planning and Licensing Committee

for a reason and it was for the whole committee to see that.

So I accept the fact that people had to come from a long way

and maybe in the future when the government decides

we can have hybrid voting on matters like that,

that would be very, an ideal time.

But we did discuss the reasoning

and as Mandy has given us are the timing and the dates

and we have to get this through this council today

in order to be in time for January 31st, I believe,

wasn't it?

So I just wanted to clarify that

that it was very well thought about first.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 1:41:23

Thank You councillor Layton are there any more questions? No? Would you like to

Councillor Ray Brassington - 1:41:33

sum up councillor Brasington? No I just recommend we approve it. Thank you so the

Councillor Nikki Ind - 1:41:36

recommendations colleagues are that full council approve number one the statement

of principles and number two that the council continues to adopt a no casino

resolution for inclusions in the published Gambling Act 2005 licensing

policy statements. I call for the voting to start. Thank You Keira.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 1:42:26

Thank you, colleagues. That is unanimous. Thank you, Mandy. We move on to agenda item

11 Request for a dispensation pursuant to Section 85(1) Local Government Act 1972

number 11, the request for a dispensation pursuant to section 85 brackets 1 of the local

government act 1972, and this is to come from Councillor Joe Harris.

Councillor Harris.

Thank you, Chair.

Councillor Joe Harris - 1:42:47

Well, as you know, as I reported at the last council meeting back in September, very sadly

Councillor Tony Dale was involved in a serious car accident while on holiday in Italy back

here towards the end of July.

I've been to see him now and I know a couple of colleagues have and I'm sure that they'll

want to share some of their experiences of going to see him, but, you know, again, as

I said back in September, he's in really good spirits and we certainly hope he'll make us

near to a full recovery as is possible considering the serious

nature of the car accident.

I can tell just by talking to him when I saw him,

he's chomping at the bit to get started.

But I think his lovely wife Jane probably has something

to say about that.

And in, you know, I don't want to cause a domestic issue,

so I think it's probably best if we give him the time and the

space to resume to recover, and then hopefully we'll welcome him

back to this council so he can resume his duties.

So yeah, I'm asking today that under section 85 of the Local Government Act we apply a

dispensation to disregard the six -month rule that would seek and fall off the council on

the 7th of December.

So it is as straightforward as that, but obviously we need council to endorse that.

So I propose that to you and I think the chair's going to second on this occasion.

Thank you, Councillor Harris.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 1:44:11

yes I will be seconding this but at this point does anybody have any points for

clarity counts this day thank you chairs mine isn't a point for

Councillor Tom Stowe - 1:44:20

clarity but so

Paul want to speak first your mind to comment as well so well we'll start with

Councillor Nikki Ind - 1:44:31

councillor Hodgkinson sorry okay thank you very much yeah no I very much

Councillor Paul Hodgkinson - 1:44:35

support this. You know I was thinking back actually and it was it was me who

asked Tony Dale to stand for CDC like I have done with a few other people in this

chamber over the years. It was back in 2018 and he after a bit of thought he

said yes and obviously the rest is history because he's been elected twice

quite comfortably. So you know I know Tony pretty well I know his family and

he's very well thought of in North Leach. I attended something called the Court

Leet, which some of you may have heard of, this very ancient traditional dinner in

North Leet which has been going on for many hundreds of years, just last month

actually, a few weeks ago, and there was a recording that Tony made actually from

hospital which was played. It was very emotional, there wasn't a, you know, there

wasn't a dry eye in the house, I can tell you that, but that's the depth

of sort of support he's got. He's making progress, I saw some of his family last

night and they're very pleased that he's making progress. He's in a specialist

unit now where he's able to actually do some of the things he

wasn't able to do previously in hospital. So they're really pleased about that.

Our thoughts are with all his family I think because what they've been through

and still going through was intensely traumatic, the kind of

car accident that they experienced. So the community wants him back.

I'm sort of holding the fort from in North Beach because obviously it's part of my County Council division

He desperately wants to get back in into the saddle as well

So absolutely I support this

Councillor Nikki Ind - 1:46:15

Thank You councillor stay

Councillor Tom Stowe - 1:46:20

Yes, thank you chair and the conservative group is very pleased to support this

We extend our best wishes to councillor Dale and his family during his continued recovery

and thanks Paul for the for the sort of swift update there and Joe and while we

may not always have seen eye to eye his contributions to this chamber are always

delivered with elegance and good humor and we very much look forward to his

return as his presence certainly enhances the quality of our debates in

this chamber so please pass on our best wishes when you see it next thank you

Councillor Nikki Ind - 1:46:51

Any more questions or items of clarity? Well I'm very happy to second this. Well

not happy because I don't want to be in this position but I'm very you know I'm

actually pleased to be second in this because Tony has been such an

instrumental part of we became councillors at the same time support to

me and encouragement and as you know I'm not wishing to take Councillor

Hodgkinson's words, but he's very well thought of in his community and I can well imagine

that he's chomping at the bit to do more.

But it's very important that as his colleagues we give him the time and space that he needs

to recover so that he can come back fighting fit.

And so yes, I'm just, you know, very happy to second this.

So with no further ado, we're going to vote that the council, the full council, resolves

to approve a dispensation for Councillor Tony Dale in accordance with section 85

brackets 1 of the local government act 1972 on the grounds of ill health call

for the voting to be open Thank You Kira

Councillor Nikki Ind - 1:48:18

Thank you very much colleagues. That was unanimous.

12 Notice of Motions

We move on to agenda item 12, which is the notice of motions.

We have no motions having been received this month.

13 Next meeting

And the next meeting is to be held on Wednesday the 22nd of January 2025 at 2pm.

And all that is left for me to say is that I hope you all have a very happy and peaceful Christmas and New Year.

and I look forward to seeing you in 2025.

Thank you.

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Council - Wednesday 27 November 2024, 2:00pm - Vote_events Tab - Cotswold District Council Webcasting

CouncilWednesday, 27th November 2024 at 2:00pm

Agenda

Slides

Transcript

Map

Resources

Twitter

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Speakers

Feedback

Votes

1 Apologies

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:00:16

Caleb Harris, Officer - 0:01:11

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:01:20

2 Declarations of Interest

3 Minutes

Councillor Len Wilkins - 0:02:56

Councillor Angus Jenkinson - 0:03:28

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:03:32

4 Unsung Heroes Awards

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:09:21

5 Announcements from the Chair, Leader or Chief Executive (if any)

Councillor David Cunningham - 0:12:49

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:14:36

Councillor Tristan Wilkinson - 0:14:39

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:15:26

Councillor Joe Harris - 0:15:34

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:21:32

Councillor David Fowles - 0:21:43

Councillor Joe Harris - 0:22:14

6 Public Questions

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:24:56

7 Member Questions

Councillor Tom Stowe - 0:25:29

Councillor Tristan Wilkinson - 0:26:36

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:28:22

Councillor Gina Blomefield - 0:28:57

Councillor Juliet Layton - 0:30:04

Councillor Mike Evemy - 0:30:24

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:31:32

Councillor Tom Stowe - 0:31:51

Councillor Mike Evemy - 0:32:38

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:33:58

Councillor Julia Judd - 0:34:12

Councillor Tristan Wilkinson - 0:35:11

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:36:44

Councillor Tony Slater - 0:37:01

Councillor Tristan Wilkinson - 0:37:52

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:39:48

Councillor Gina Blomefield - 0:39:56

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:40:22

Councillor Len Wilkins - 0:40:34

Councillor Tristan Wilkinson - 0:41:29

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:43:34

Councillor Jeremy Theyer - 0:43:47

Councillor Tristan Wilkinson - 0:44:32

Councillor David Cunningham - 0:45:46

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:46:12

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:46:15

Councillor David Cunningham - 0:46:17

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:46:23

Councillor Daryl Corps - 0:46:45

Councillor Joe Harris - 0:47:17

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:48:03

Councillor Daryl Corps - 0:48:12

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:48:18

Councillor Joe Harris - 0:48:21

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:48:27

Councillor David Fowles - 0:48:47

Councillor Tristan Wilkinson - 0:49:53

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:51:28

Councillor Daryl Corps - 0:51:41

Councillor Juliet Layton - 0:51:57

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:52:07

Councillor David Fowles - 0:52:19

Councillor Mike Evemy - 0:53:21

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:55:27

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:55:34

Council
Wednesday, 27th November 2024 at 2:00pm