Council - Wednesday 16 July 2025, 6:00pm - Cotswold District Council Webcasting

Council
Wednesday, 16th July 2025 at 6:00pm 

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  1. Councillor Mark Harris
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  1. Nickie Mackenzie-Daste, Officer
  2. Councillor Mark Harris
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  1. 03a To approve the minutes 19 March 2025
    Status: In progress
  2. 03a To approve the minutes 19 March 2025
    Status: Ended
  3. 03b To approve the minutes 21 May 2025
    Status: In progress
  4. 03b To approve the minutes 21 May 2025
    Status: Ended
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  1. 03b To approve the minutes 21 May 2025
    Status: In progress
  2. 03c To approve the minutes 26 June 2025
    Status: Ended
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  1. Councillor Joe Harris
  2. Councillor Mark Harris
  3. Councillor Mark Harris
  4. Councillor Mike Evemy
  5. Councillor Mark Harris
  6. Jane Portman - Interim CEO
  7. Councillor Mark Harris
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  1. Councillor Gina Blomefield
  2. Councillor Mike Evemy
  3. Councillor Mark Harris
  4. Councillor Julia Judd
  5. Councillor Mark Harris
  6. Councillor Julia Judd
  7. Councillor Mark Harris
  8. Councillor Mike McKeown
  9. Councillor Mark Harris
  10. Councillor Gina Blomefield
  11. Councillor Mark Harris
  12. Councillor Patrick Coleman
  13. Councillor Mark Harris
  14. Councillor Laura Hall-Wilson
  15. Councillor Tristan Wilkinson
  16. Councillor Mark Harris
  17. Councillor Len Wilkins
  18. Councillor Mike Evemy
  19. Councillor Mark Harris
  20. Councillor Mark Harris
  21. Councillor Tony Slater
  22. Councillor Tony Slater
  23. Councillor Mark Harris
  24. Councillor Daryl Corps
  25. Councillor Juliet Layton
  26. Councillor Mark Harris
  27. Councillor David Fowles
  28. Councillor Mark Harris
  29. Councillor Mike Evemy
  30. Councillor Mark Harris
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  1. Councillor Mike Evemy
  2. Councillor Mark Harris
  3. Councillor Patrick Coleman
  4. Councillor Mark Harris
  5. Councillor Len Wilkins
  6. Councillor Mark Harris
  7. Councillor Mike Evemy
  8. Councillor Mark Harris
  9. 03c To approve the minutes 26 June 2025
    Status: In progress
  10. 08. Constitutional Working Group - recommendations 1-4, 6
    Status: Ended
  11. Councillor Mike Evemy
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  1. Councillor Mark Harris
  2. Councillor Tom Stowe
  3. Councillor Mark Harris
  4. Councillor Joe Harris
  5. Councillor Mark Harris
  6. Councillor Joe Harris
  7. Councillor David Fowles
  8. Councillor Mark Harris
  9. Angela Claridge
  10. Councillor Mark Harris
  11. Councillor Mike Evemy
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  1. Councillor Mark Harris
  2. Councillor Juliet Layton
  3. Councillor Mark Harris
  4. Councillor Patrick Coleman
  5. Councillor Mark Harris
  6. Councillor Angus Jenkinson
  7. Councillor Mark Harris
  8. Councillor Mike Evemy
  9. Councillor Mark Harris
  10. Angela Claridge
  11. Councillor Mark Harris
  12. Councillor Angus Jenkinson
  13. Councillor Mark Harris
  14. Councillor Mike Evemy
  15. Councillor Mark Harris
  16. 10. Independent Renumeration Panel - approve
    Status: In progress
  17. 10. Independent Renumeration Panel - approve
    Status: Ended
  18. Councillor Len Wilkins
  19. Councillor Gina Blomefield
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  1. Councillor Mark Harris
  2. Councillor Mike Evemy
  3. Councillor Mark Harris
  4. Councillor Angus Jenkinson
  5. Councillor Mark Harris
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  1. Councillor David Cunningham
  2. Councillor Mark Harris
  3. Councillor Angus Jenkinson
  4. Councillor Mark Harris
  5. Councillor Paul Hodgkinson
  6. Councillor Mark Harris
  7. Councillor Julia Judd
  8. Councillor Mark Harris
  9. Councillor David Fowles
  10. Councillor Mark Harris
  11. Councillor Helene Mansilla
  12. Councillor Mark Harris
  13. Councillor Andrew Maclean
  14. Councillor Mark Harris
  15. Councillor Angus Jenkinson
  16. Councillor Mark Harris
  17. Councillor Gina Blomefield
  18. Councillor Mark Harris
  19. Councillor Joe Harris
  20. Councillor Mark Harris
  21. Councillor Mike Evemy
  22. Councillor Mark Harris
  23. Councillor Mike Evemy
  24. Councillor Mark Harris
  25. Councillor Juliet Layton
  26. Councillor Mark Harris
  27. 12. British Farming Motion - Approve recommendation
    Status: In progress
  28. 12. British Farming Motion - Approve recommendation
    Status: Ended
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  1. Councillor Mark Harris
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  1. Councillor Mike Evemy
  2. Councillor Mark Harris
  3. Councillor Nikki Ind
  4. Councillor Mark Harris
  5. Councillor Mike Evemy
  6. Officer
  7. Councillor Mark Harris
  8. Councillor Nikki Ind
  9. Councillor Mark Harris
  10. Councillor Mark Harris
  11. Councillor Mark Harris
  12. Officer
  13. Councillor Mark Harris
  14. Councillor Mark Harris
  15. Councillor Juliet Layton
  16. Councillor Mark Harris
  17. Councillor Joe Harris
  18. Councillor Mark Harris
  19. Councillor Juliet Layton
  20. Councillor Mark Harris
  21. Councillor Tom Stowe
  22. Councillor Mark Harris
  23. Councillor Mike Evemy
  24. Councillor Tom Stowe
  25. Councillor Mark Harris
  26. Councillor Mark Harris
  27. Councillor Tony Dale
  28. Councillor Mark Harris
  29. Councillor Tony Dale
  30. Councillor Tom Stowe
  31. Councillor Mark Harris
  32. Councillor Mike Evemy
  33. Councillor Mark Harris
  34. Councillor David Fowles
  35. Councillor Mark Harris
  36. Councillor Patrick Coleman
  37. Councillor Mark Harris
  38. Councillor Patrick Coleman
  39. Councillor Mark Harris
  40. Councillor Ray Brassington
  41. Councillor Mike Evemy
  42. Councillor Mark Harris
  43. Councillor Angus Jenkinson
  44. Councillor Mark Harris
  45. Councillor Tom Stowe
  46. Councillor Mark Harris
  47. Councillor David Fowles
  48. Councillor Mark Harris
  49. Councillor David Fowles
  50. Councillor Mark Harris
  51. Angela Claridge
  52. Councillor Mark Harris
  53. Andrew Brown, Officer
  54. Councillor Mark Harris
  55. 13 Local plan update - amendement - Accept
    Status: In progress
  56. Councillor Mark Harris
  57. 13 Local plan update - amendement - Accept
    Status: Ended
  58. Councillor Joe Harris
  59. Councillor Mark Harris
  60. Councillor David Cunningham
  61. Councillor Mark Harris
  62. Councillor Mike Evemy
  63. Seat 1
  64. Councillor Mike Evemy
  65. Councillor Mark Harris
  66. 13. Local Plan Update - Approve recommendations
    Status: In progress
  67. 13. Local Plan Update - Approve recommendations
    Status: Ended
  68. Webcast Finished

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There you go.
Fantastic.
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:01:39
So I can't even follow my own instructions.
That's good, isn't it?
Good afternoon and welcome to this meeting of Cotswold District Council's full council
on Wednesday the 16th, July, 2025.
My name is Councillor Mark Harris.
I'm the chair of the council and I'd like to welcome all members of the public in attendance
and those watching online.
You're very welcome.
Members of the public present are entitled to record the meeting themselves
provided it isn't disruptive to the proceedings. And 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'll revert to voting by a clear show of

1 Apologies

hands. I'm going to start off with apologies and can I have apologies from.
Nickie Mackenzie-Daste, Officer - 0:02:30
We have apologies this evening from Councillor Claire Bloomer, Councillor
Andrea Pellegram, Councillor Dylice Neal, Councillor Claire Turner, Councillor Nigel
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:02:43
Robbins and Councillor John Waring. Thank you very much and well apologies I
I thought it might be an idea to have some welcomes as well.
And I'd like to welcome back Councillor Tony Dell, who's just at the back there.
Thank you.
Tony, we know you've been through the mill and we've missed you.
And I'm absolutely delighted to see that you return here.
And we look forward to your involvement.
And also we have another welcome.
We have young Bertie sitting in the back there, who's Laura's...
Yeah, who waves, yeah.
And Bertie, you're more than welcome.
And it's nice that I'm now not the only Councillor in this room with a son in the room as well.
Little eye roll there.
So, thank you, Councillor Cunningham.
So do we have any declarations of interest?

2 Declarations of Interest

No, excellent. Well, if you become aware of any during the meeting, please declare it at the time.
Minutes.

3 a) Minutes of Full Council 19 March 2025

To confirm the minutes of the council held on the 19th of March 2025.
Can I have a proposer for those minutes?
Mike have me come to me come to files to second it thank you very much can we
vote on those please voting is open
still waiting for council selection and council no no we did Christian bring I
I think we're there. We've got 25 for... Sorry, 24 none against and five abstentions.
Good, okay. Thank you very much. Next item to confirm the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on the 21st of May 2025.
Can I have a proposal for that? Thank you very much, Councillor McLean. Thank you very much.
We go to the vote?
Yeah.
The results are coming in.
One more.
Well, we've got 24 in total. We've got 21, 4 and 3 abstentions. There's one appears to
be missing there. That's carried. Thank you very much. And then we need to confirm the
minutes held on the 26th of June. Sorry. Oh, sorry, Mike. Go for it.

3 c) Minutes of Extraordinary Council 26 June 2025

Yeah. Thank you, Chair. I just wanted to rise on that on number minutes 17, where it's on
the page 41 deliver the council's priorities whilst it is a priority to
ensure what an efficient waste collection service what I think I said
was to ensure that we deliver efficient services more generally rather than just
the waste service. Thank you for the clarification
Councillor Efremi or leader. With that noted could we and assuming there are no
the comments or questions could we have a proposer please for that.
Councillor Inge and seconder?
Councillor Doolittle, thank you very much and let's go to the vote.
Yeah.
We seem to be acquiring Councillors and losing them.
We have 26 total votes.
That is 22 for abstentions.
Thank you very much.
We have a couple of announcements now.

4 Announcements from the Chair, Leader or Chief Executive

So a couple of, just a small admin one.
Members who still need to review their register of
interest have been provided with a paper copy, which
they were asked to review, update as required, and
return to democratic services who will update the online version. So if you've got that, please do that.
Just to say that we'll...
The length of this meeting is capped at four hours and after three hours...
three hours have elapsed if we get to that point,
we'll take a vote on whether to continue for the final hour. And after four hours, we will finish that item
we're dealing with in a normal way and any other remaining business will fall.
We'll also have a comfort break after approximately two hours.
The break will not count towards the time limit.
First of all, I'd like to congratulate Councillor Ray Brassington on being made chair of the
Gloucestershire Police and Crime Panel.
The panel plays a critical role in scrutinising and supporting the work of the Police and
Crime Commission.
So, congratulations, Ray, on that.
I've attended a number of events on your behalf and
on the representative of the district council.
On May 23rd, I visited year three students at Powell
School who've been learning about courageous advocates
during Make a Change week.
And they've been researching Rachel Carson's work on the
impact of pesticides.
And they wrote to me over 60 letters, which I have here,
urging us to avoid harmful pesticide use.
So I'd like to ask our interim CEO to write back
to reassure them about Cotswold District Council's position.
And to any Year 3 students watching, thank you for speaking up and keep being courageous
advocates.
On June 10th, I attended the Army engagement event at the RAU.
They highlighted the opportunities available to young people, not just infantry and cavalry,
but everything from building, engineering, medicine, and quite a whole lot more.
On June 12th, I attended Homestar Cotswolds, which for 20 years has been offering support,
friendship and practical help for families with young children
in the Cotswolds District Council.
And I was really proud to hear that CDC helped kick start it
all with a grant 20 years ago.
Homestar Cotswolds is still going strong and this year has
helped 212 children, 157 families with 54 volunteers.
And their budget every year is around about 150 ,000 pounds.
So incredible bang for buck there.
On July the 2nd, I attended the launch of Syrinsester Food
Bank's 2025 Food Poverty Report.
And while it's deeply concerning that such support is still
needed, it was encouraging to hear that demand
has slightly decreased.
And that progress is thanks in large part
to some of the targeted initiatives
by Cotswold District Council, particularly
the work of Councillor Claire Bloomer and the officers
she works with.
We should all be proud of the positive impact
their efforts are having on our community.
On the 9th of July, my predecessor, Nicky End,
and I met with Zoe Peace, the Community Relations Advisor
at R .E .A. Fairford.
And I'd really like to take this opportunity, Nicky,
to thank you for all the work you've done in cementing
the relationships with the Air Base and the service personnel
there, too.
It's greatly appreciated, and clearly they appreciate
it as well.
On July the 11th, I was a guest of the National Farmers Union.
We visited Bar House Farm, a dairy farm that is diversifying
into making gelato, which was very delicious.
We met Jenny Hobbs and her son Ollie who run the farm and daughter Emily and son -in -law William Lee who run the gelato business.
And you can help farmers by buying locally and ideally direct from local farms.
The people present acknowledged the large dairy barn this council permitted in Chetworth is really helping there.
And we will of course be discussing farming later in this agenda.
And finally, on the VE Day commemorations, we welcomed Alan Mack -McQuillan earlier this
year. Alan was a D -Day veteran and has very sadly died at the remarkable age of 102. And
before we take a minute's silence, I just wondered if I understand Joe wants to say
a couple of words about Alan, or Mack as we knew him. Joe.
Councillor Joe Harris - 0:11:33
Yeah, you know, very sad news because Alan was part of a generation, I think some call
it the greatest generation, don't they, which we are slowly losing.
And you know, you can always see history evaporating before our eyes.
So you know, it's very poignant.
Alan was a Mac, a lot of us knew him was a real character.
He really, really was.
And he lived an amazingly varied life.
He served as part of the RIS 3210 Servicing Commando Unit.
And he landed on Juno Beach on D -Day
and he served throughout the rest of the war.
And, you know, I think that stayed with him his whole life.
It would, it would shape you, wouldn't it?
And, you know, he was a great advocate for the armed forces
and in particular for the act of remembrance that we all observe every year.
And I think sometimes it can feel a bit routine remembrance, but talking to Alan, he would
remind you of why it's so important.
In fact, one of the last conversations I had with him in this chamber just a few weeks
ago, we were sort of remarking about the state of the world, and he pressed on me how important
it is to fight extremism and fascism, and we have to continue to do that.
His generation didn't die and didn't make the ultimate sacrifice in order that we repeat things.
So that particularly stood with me.
Aside from that remarkable achievement and that amazing story, he was also, I mentioned, a character.
He did his paper round until well into his hundreds, I think.
He would go to the village shop every morning in Kemble.
he'd go and deliver people's newspapers. It was incredible. I know he got a bit of press coverage
off the back of that. And if you talk to the community in Kemble, and certainly looking at
the Facebook comments on the Kemble community Facebook page, you know some wonderful stories
of how Alan absolutely contributed to the fabric of life in Kemble over many many years. So you
an incredibly varied life, an amazingly long life.
And it is so sad that we've lost him
at the grand old age of 102, because as I said,
it is history evaporating before our eyes.
About that V -E Day commemoration in this chamber
a few weeks ago, he sought me out, he said,
Joe, I've got this for you.
And it was a V -E Day badge to commemorate
this 75th anniversary.
I'm gonna keep that forever.
And what a wonderful thing to be able to pass on to
grandchildren or whatever, you know,
a piece of memorabilia to, you know, from a D -Day veteran.
It's incredible, isn't it?
And, you know, I'll treasure that forever.
So, you know, incredibly sad.
A real loss to our community.
And I think, you know, as Alan taught us,
we have to stand up for the values of this country,
particularly when we see around the world,
and even in our own country, so many people doing what they can
to undermine that. So an incredible gentleman and here will be sorely, sorely best by all of us.
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:14:51
Thank you Joe and if we'd all like to stand we'll observe a minute silence.
.
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:16:00
Well, that's all from me for the time being.
and I'll pass over now to our leader, Mike.
Thank you, Chair.
Councillor Mike Evemy - 0:16:15
I'd like to start off my announcements.
Councilor Watson is here from Shire Hall
and so we're now just still waiting for Councilor Spivey,
I think.
As the leader of the council,
I guess she's got to stay to the bitter end
of the GCC meeting.
Oh, you're altered?
Okay, maybe she needs to get over it
a bit longer than you do then.
But I'm sure she will be here shortly.
I'd like to, I've got a few welcomes that I'd like to give.
I'd like to particularly welcome the staff
who transferred to the employment
of Cotswold District Council on the 1st of July.
Some of them may be welcoming back from Publica.
Staff in leisure management, waste management,
project management and property and asset services.
and the Chief Executive and I spoke at a meeting,
packed meeting in this chamber last Monday
to both staff in those departments,
but also the broader staff that work for us here
at Cotswold District Council,
whether they're employed by us or by public.
So welcome to those members of staff.
I'd also like to welcome Jane Portman,
our new Chief Executive,
to her first meeting of the council.
Very much enjoyed working with Jane over the last couple
of weeks and looking forward to continued collaborative working
between us as an administration
and her leading the officer team.
Hugely want to welcome back Tony.
We really missed you, Tony.
Your wisdom and guidance and really value,
I think we all value across the whole chamber,
but I know certainly myself and Joe
as the leadership team before hugely valued your input and we're really glad
that that we're going to be getting it again and it's so great great to see you.
I would just like to add and I did speak at the cabinet last week on behalf of
the council prior to this meeting about the sad passing of Alan McWullan
and just note on behalf of the council obviously we've just heard from Joe very
movingly about Alan so I would just like to add my wishes, not condolences, to his family
and friends. One more welcome at the back to Bertie. It's great to have a baby in the
chamber and particularly congratulate Laura and her family. I've been a Councillor for
20 years and it's the first time that one of my colleagues on the Council has given
birth. So, and I hope it's not the last. I think it's really good that we can be a
council where people can have childcare responsibilities and represent their
communities. I think it's great and congratulations Laura on showing the way
in that regard. Finally, I just want to a couple of dates for diary which will be
going out imminently to you. It's in regard to local government reorganization
and Devolution. Some of you I know joined me at the summit that we had at the RAU
at the start of June for our town and parish councils and that was all about
talking about local government reorganisation and Devolution and what
that might mean for them. I'm very conscious that we haven't done anything
yet for members of this council so we will be holding two events. You don't
need to go to both of them. There'll be an either or, although I'll be at both of
and so will Jane. The first one will be a briefing in this chamber on the 29th of July
between 4 and 6. And then if you're unable to make that, we will be doing a virtual version of that
on the 19th of August between 5 and 6. So yeah, I hope that you'll be able to make one of those
and be able to hear updates from the leader, from myself and from the chief executive on
on what's going on in Gloucestershire and hopefully able to answer some of the questions
that you may have at that point. Thank you, Chair.
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:20:31
Thank you very much, Mike. Now I'd like to welcome our new Chief Executive or Interim
Chief Executive who's going to say a few words.
Thank you so much. I won't take up much of your meeting time but I would just like to
Jane Portman - Interim CEO - 0:20:46
I'd like to say a very big thank you for such a warm welcome.
I'd like to say a very big thank you for the warm words that were
spoken at your extraordinary full council meeting on the 26th
of June to appoint me.
It's my privilege to come here, and it's been an absolute pleasure.
I can't believe I'm in week three already.
It's absolutely flown by, but in a very positive and good way.
As the leader said, it was great timing to be able to speak to
the wider staff group last Monday,
right at the beginning of my time here.
And it was a very, they gave me a very warm welcome and it was
lovely to be able to update them on a few things that are moving
forward at this time.
It's been fantastic to meet with partners.
I've met the chief executives and the leaders of the other
councils across Gloucestershire.
And I'm really uplifted about how positive the working
relationships are across the whole partnership.
I feel really confident that when the going gets tough,
we're going to pull together and really be able to make some very
good decisions on behalf of the residents and businesses and
visitors to Gloucestershire. So thank you very much for a warm welcome.
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:22:10
Thank you and welcome Jay. Right now it's time for our Unsung Heroes Awards and we have

5 Unsung Heroes Awards July 2025

two categories here. We have our Over 25s and we have our Under 25s or our Young Unsung
Heroes as we call them. And I'll just tell you a little bit about each one and then we'll
We'll invite the over 25s up first, and we'll present them
with a badge and a certificate, and then we'll get
our under 25s.
So, first up is Linda Carter, who I don't think is with us
today, but we've got Linda Carter.
Sue Tomlinson will be collecting the award on her behalf.
Linda has devoted over 40 years to volunteering, supporting
people with complex mental health needs and fostering over 40 children. She launched rural
mental health drop -ins, ran a weekly community cafe, taught swimming to children with additional
needs and supported HCPT pilgrimages to Lord. After losing her husband to cancer, she raised
over £20 ,000 for Longfields Hospice. Linda's lifelong compassion, resilience and dedication
and truly inspiring.
Catherine Isles.
For over 30 years, Catherine has been at the heart of the South
Cerny duck race.
Selflessly offering her garden as the event's venue and
dedicating countless hours to its organization.
From coordinating stalls and managing road closures to
ensuring the event runs smoothly from start to finish.
Catherine does it all quietly and tirelessly.
Thanks to her efforts, the event raises vital funds for local
groups including scalps, guides, brownies and mens sheds. Her unwavering commitment
to generosity and behind the scenes work make her a worthy recipient of the Unsung Heroes
Award.
Eric Partington. Eric is the heart and soul of Amne St Mary. A dedicated volunteer and
cheerful neighbour, he has served on village committees, organised community events like
the Jubilee and Coronation street parties and keeps residents informed on everything
from road closures to safety updates.
Alongside his wife Pamela, he attends village green spaces and is always ready to help in
emergencies or with a friendly recommendation.
Whether supporting school projects, caring for a neighbour's pet or simply spreading
good cheer, Eric's quiet dedication makes him a true unsung hero.
So what I think we'll do is if we get our, we'll call you senior unsung heroes up first
and then we'll get our young ones.
I know maybe getting past your bedtime
with some of the young ones, but hey.
APPLAUSE
And we'll do it sort of one by one.
There we go.
Fantastic.
No, well, thank you.
Thank you.
There you go.
Do you want to do it?
Yeah, we'll do that in the two together.
Yeah, Eric?
Yes.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
There you go.
Thank you.
Right.
And then should we pass it back down?
All right, so.
Right.
If we get slightly, I'm not too close.
Thank you very much.
Right, on to our young unsung heroes, okay.
All of whom are under 25, and these awards honour individuals whose quiet, selfless contributions
have made a meaningful and lastful impact on their communities, despite their young
years.
First up, Joshua Smith.
At just nine years old, Joshua is already making a big impact in his local community.
Passionate about the environment, he regularly litter
picks around Cirencester, collecting bags of rubbish
and helping to keep the area clean and beautiful
for everyone.
His dedication and care for the planet are truly inspiring.
Josh is a young hero making a real difference.
The video will be on the website and portal from
tomorrow morning.
You'll be able to see Joshua speaking to camera there
and what he's up to.
Our next one is William Quinn Thomas Lear.
Cadet Officer William Thomas Lear of 1245 Syr ancestor Squadron RAF Air Cadets is an
exceptional young leader.
A master cadet with advanced qualifications in leadership, instruction and cyber skills,
he supports training at both squadron and wing levels.
A former Lord Lieutenant's Cadet, William has earned his Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award,
part of which entailed volunteering at a dementia care home.
He's completed a gliding scholarship, raised over £1 ,400 through a charity parachute jump
and runs the Squatch and Touch shop.
William's dedication, resilience and service to others make him a true role model and worthy
of being an unsung hero.
Oliver Ware, who I don't think is with us tonight, but Helen Sharman -Jones, Head of
Services, is collecting her award for her.
Olivia Ware is a quiet force for good, dedicated to supporting
the mental health and wellbeing of young people in the North
Cotswolds. Through her work with Headspace, she mentors vulnerable
young people with compassion and care, helping them build
confidence and resilience. Travelling long distances without
hesitation, Olivia always puts others first. Her empathy,
commitment and lasting impact make her a true unsung hero,
And we're really lucky to have such a dedicated group of people in the district.
And so could our young people come forward and we'll be able to do that.
Applause.
Yeah, great!
There you go.
Fantastic.
There you go.
Great.
Do you want to tuck in a bit so that we can get the
photo there?
So we're going to look at the camera, not the
television.
Thank you so much.
Thank you very much.
Thank you all very much and well done.
Right, well that's pretty inspirational.

6 Public Questions

That's fantastic.
That's the good stuff, isn't it?
Right, we're on to public questions now.
Do we have any public questions?
Any members of the public who want to?
I'm guessing that's a no.
No?
Okay.
Let's move on to member questions.
I know there are a few member questions.

7 Member Questions

They've been submitted and most of the, they've been responded
to in writing and the answer, the questions and answers are
on the desk and on the website.
And they're presented in the order that they were received.
And each question will be asked whether they have a supplementary
question for which they have one minute,
which must arise after the original question or the response. I'll then invite the cabinet member to respond to each supplementary question
or the most appropriate person for it. The question one is from Councillor Jean Bloomfield to Councillor Mike Efony, leader of the council on the
organizational structure following the phase two transition.
See why they left now, can't you?
Councillor Gina Blomefield - 0:31:19
Yes, thank you chair and thank you.
Thank you for the positive response.
This is something I have requested before, so I welcome this from Jane Portman, our new
CEO who will be overseeing the staffing structures.
Could I check that the structure chart will be available to all officers too, at the moment
it says it is on the Councillor's portal, as they can also find it difficult to identify
the right person on occasion and also could we have photographs included.
Thank you.
Thank you, Gina. Mike?
Thank you. I think it's really a matter for the Chief Executive.
Councillor Mike Evemy - 0:31:59
I'm sure she will want to share names and everybody with all of the staff.
Photographs can be a little bit more sensitive, but obviously it's up to the individual staff members whether they're then foreshared.
But I'm sure the Principal and the Chief Executive heard your supplementary, Gina.
I'm sure that she will be wanting to make sure that her staff and those who are in public
are supporting the Council, know who each other are and what their roles are for good
governance and efficiency.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mike.
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:32:34
Okay, question two is from Councillor Julia Judge to Councillor Mike McEwen, Captain Mayor
for Climate Change and Digital on the retrofit show.
Councillor Julia Judd - 0:32:50
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:32:50
Councillor Julia Judd - 0:32:51
I am delighted. Councillor McKeown, you know how excited I was about your retrofit roadshow.
It was a really splendid event. I was so excited about it, I talked to my group all about it
and said, you've got to have one in your area.
And Councilor Bloomfield immediately jumped up.
She's organized one.
And one has been held in August.
The first one, next one, is in Chipping Candon, I believe.
So that's very exciting.
It's just as a small district council, the reality of it
is there is very little we can do to help residents
retrofit their homes.
We can't pay for it.
But if we can educate them to do it for themselves and get everyone as excited as I was for having
seen this retrofit roadshow, we are going to make a huge, huge contribution towards
climate change mitigation for people in the Coxwolds who are often cold in our dreary
wet houses, damp houses, sorry, wet houses.
My question is, is it possible for perhaps a toolkit, because we're going to be on a
learning curve with these road shows, more and more information is going to come out,
more and more people are going to get excited about it. And the information I bashed out
from that road show, I immediately shared with my group, shared with my parishes, that
has been invaluable. But I'm sure that my pathetic little scribblings could be improved
upon by Justine Maninson, a really talented officer, and other people who might like to
contribute.
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:34:38
Thank You Julia Mike, would you like to answer that question? Yeah. Yeah. Thank you very much. Thanks for the great cross party
Councillor Mike McKeown - 0:34:43
Support coming along. Yeah, I think we both enjoyed that event. Just Justine in particular should be recognized. She's just a fantastic job
She's real expert. She's been out visiting people's homes
Doing surveys as well as running these events as she's been sort of fantastic value
It was a good good use of public money that we got some funding from the Southwest net -zero hub for this program
I think it's good suggestion, we'll follow up with Justine,
her contract will end this year,
because sadly it was only one year of funding
and what we can take away.
We have got some good guidance already,
mainly for more architects and builders
on building extensions that was done some time ago,
but I've written a guide through
the Cotswold Climate Action Network on what you can do,
but we'll get something more on that.
The other thing we're gonna do,
we're broadcasting this event,
good suggestion of yours here,
and we'll record that event so it'll be in the chambers broadcast live and
recorded so we'll put that on our website along with there's quite a lot
of guidance going up they've been putting quite a lot on us website on
there so that adds that and I'm working with the planning team to add some more
guidance on planning because that quite frequently comes up because so many of
our homes are in the conservation area so we'll try and make that easier as
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:35:59
well so thank you very much thank you very much thanks Julie for that positive
feedback and thanks Mike for making sure something's coming of it. Our next
questions question three from Gina Bloomfield to Councillor Patrick Coleman
cabinet member for finance on tenants of Trinity Road. Do you have a supplementary
Councillor Gina Blomefield - 0:36:20
Gina? Yes chair thank you and thank you. No it's one of these things I keep
asking but my question is very straightforward. I just wondered whether
it's possible to have a breakdown of what the income we're expecting from
Trinity Road from the space of his spaces let out at Trinity Road. Thank you.
I'm not expecting necessarily having the answer right now.
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:36:42
Councillor Colm, I don't know if you were writing down the answer there or just
Councillor Patrick Coleman - 0:36:49
making a note of it. Thank you chair and thank you very much Gina. I'm not certain
as to how much detail I have, none at the moment, but I will inquire and find some
I know that if it's confidential, I can fully trust you for some commercial reason, you
will keep it confidential.
It does give me an opportunity to say, although I've never met anyone from Moreton -More Point,
their impact on our district and certainly on Syrinsister has been really quite striking,
indeed impressive.
It is less than five years since Mitsubishi Motors UK pulled out and decided they weren't
going to sell any more here.
And that meant a big site, Watermore Point itself,
became vacant.
And I don't know that anyone guessed that it
would fill back up so quick.
And whilst I'm not here to do an advert,
I think most members will be aware that both the North
Cotswold Conservatives and the South Cotswold Liberal
Democrats have premises at that location.
Furthermore, we have solar panels on this location,
So the energy use will be lower and the charges that we will be levying through our rent might
be expected to be, consequentially, is that the right word, as a result, more competitive.
So I actually have been very impressed.
It is the offices which we can't see into because they are in the corridors around that
are the popular ones, as the first answer shows.
And I think that given that almost all the space in Sire and Sester that we think will be empty for a while
suddenly gets taken, whether it's for retail or offices or indeed multiple uses,
I think that we'll see, although we haven't made a decision about of course the future of this building as a whole,
I think this is likely to be a very attractive proposition into the future.
Thank you.
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:38:45
Perfect timing, Councillor Coleman.
Question 4 is from Councillor Laura Hall -Wilson to Councillor Tristan Wilkinson,
Company Member Economy and Council Transformation on the UK SPF Grant Awards.
Laura, you don't have to stand up for this.
Do you have a supplementary?
Thank you, yes I do.
I will stand up if Bertie will let me.
If you can bop.
Thank you everybody for the warm welcome to Bertie.
It's going to be a juggle, but it's great to still be here
representing my residents.
So thank you.
Thank you very much, Tristan, for your response.
Councillor Laura Hall-Wilson - 0:39:21
It's great to see that there's significant uptake for these
grants, which means the messaging is getting through to
people as to what's available.
Given the demand and the need to justify the allocation,
do you think other applicants and residents might find it a
bit unusual that CDC has essentially awarded itself a
of money to the town centres initiative, a project which hasn't started yet and hasn't
quite defined its aims, especially when businesses in Tepbury are telling me that they already
know the reasons for the vacancies already.
Councillor Tristan Wilkinson - 0:40:00
Thank you, Laura. I think the existence of this fund is really important. I've got to
say I've been really impressed with the way that the money has been allocated. I can put
hand in my heart and say it's completely transparent and fair.
We've got some external advice that comes in.
So any potential accusations of kind of self -interest, I think,
and I'm not sure that's what you're doing at all, but I think
that perception is unfounded.
Every single proposition was judged on its own merits and
then scored appropriately.
where there were marginal decisions being made,
we had particularly robust conversations.
We had three meetings with officers and with the committee
in terms of making those decisions.
So I feel really content with all of the decisions
that have been made.
And I think they've all been allocated on their merit.
I think more broadly, it just shows that
There is huge demand and this is a scheme that is coming to an end in terms
of the funding from government and I'd like to take this opportunity to plead
that we need to keep these sorts of schemes going into the future. Businesses
across the country are seeing more and more distress. Local communities are
finding funding streams drying up really quickly. I think it's really important
that a council like ours that is really well embedded in all of our communities
maintains this source of funding. So I'm really content with where we've got to
but I think we should be doing more of this and I'd like to see some more
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:41:39
funding coming through from government to do this. Thank you very much Laura and
thank you Tristan. Right our next question five is from
Councillor Len Wilkins to Councillor Mike F. Mee, Leader of the Council on Agile
Councillor Len Wilkins - 0:41:52
working. Thank you chair. I was disappointed I haven't got what I wanted
which was percentages so could I ask a supplementary question and it's one
other percentage is missing because they're not measured or the
percentage sorry percentage is missing because we just don't know. Thank you.
Councillor Mike Evemy - 0:42:19
Thank you, Councillor Wilkins. As far as I understand, they're not measured because it's
up to the managers to decide how they want to run their teams within the agile working
policy that we as a council have agreed. So the decisions around this are a matter for
the chief executive in terms of how she feels is best to run her staffing cohort to deliver
what we as a council are asking of them and we set no other prescription other
than the work the policy that has been agreed through this council and is
referred to in my report so yeah that's why there's no percentages because we
don't seek to monitor it to that degree now if if the chief executive wanted to
do that then she could do that if she felt that was a good use of her time but
I'm not sure it is.
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:43:12
Thank you both.
Councillor Sixx, question six, Councillor Tony Slater
to Councillor Tristan Wilkins on the future of Publica.
Shall I go?
Do you have a supplementary question?
Councillor Tony Slater - 0:43:31
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:43:31
Councillor Tony Slater - 0:43:32
No, thank you Tristan for the response.
Perfectly clear, no further questions.
Thanks, I kind of assumed that there are sublimetries,
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:43:37
So my apologies for not posing the question.
Question seven is Councillor Court to Councillor Juliet
Layton, deputy leader and member for Housing and Planning
on the Morton in Marsh working group.
Do you have a supplementary, Joe?
Yes, I do.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Councillor Daryl Corps - 0:43:54
Thank you for your response.
What I was actually asking for was a confirmed date.
And I'm sure you understand, people's diaries get booked up.
And we're getting closer and closer to at some point
in September. I know you didn't say at some point it's September but you're intending
to have it in September. Could we please have a confirmed date and my question to that is
there isn't any intent to disband the Moreton March Working Group at this point, is there,
Councillor? Thank you very much. A confirmed date, yes,
Councillor Juliet Layton - 0:44:29
we're working with officers so we've got to get, I mean at the moment we have got people
on holiday. So it's actually we've got to make sure we've got a date that everybody
can attend. And as you know, it's the first meeting. So it's actually four members and
two officers. So it's a small meeting and at that point we can be discussing how we're
going to go forward. I think lots of information we gave you on that other, on the original
answer on that. But I can't just draw a date out of the hat right now for September. But
we thought September would be a fitting time to have that.
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:45:11
Thank you both. Question 8, Councillor David Fowle, Councillor Andrea Pellegram on waste
in lay -bys. Now Andrea is not here but David, do you have a supplementary question that
one of my colleagues...
Councillor David Fowles - 0:45:28
Thank you Chairman and obviously Councillor Pellegramp is not here so hopefully she can
respond in writing.
I really wrote this question in response to an appeal from Neighbourhood Watch Group on
the Fosse Way which butts up not only my ward but Councillor Hodgkinson's as well.
It wasn't a political decision and I wasn't asking the question of political reasons,
I just wanted to drill down a bit into what this whole issue was in terms of the finances
and how often the laybys are monitored and waste is collected from them.
The answer seems to be related to Cirencester, where the trial took place, and then as bins
got broken or stolen, they weren't replaced elsewhere, which doesn't seem to me to be
very strategic.
And my concern about the FOSS way is twofold.
One is it is incredibly unsightly.
It is our major thoroughfare.
Secondly, a much bigger issue in talking to colleagues who are
farmers is that this waste gets blown across fields.
And as is stated in the answer, we can't clear that waste.
And it's not only unsightly, but it's dangerous to animals.
And so what I would like is an answer to my question.
A, how regularly is the waste collected?
And B, could we review the situation on the Fosse Way and
the impact on local farmers?
Thank you, Janet.
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:46:49
Thank you David and we'll, oh I think Mike's gonna dive in with an answer there
rather than you having to wait. Yeah thank you
Councillor Mike Evemy - 0:46:58
Chair Yeltsin, rising to answer David's questions on behalf of Councillor
Pellegram. David, the Councillor Fowler, you may not be aware that we have
commissioned some work from APSI who are part of the LGA supporting councils
across the country, I think it's Association of Professional Service Excellence, to work
on look at our street service.
So our street cleansing service, we spend one and a half million pounds a year on that.
Members may recall that in this year's budget and in last year's budget, we had a saving
amount of 300 ,000 pounds against that budget.
We have not as yet changed that service provision over and above what Councillor Pellegram has written about in her response to you.
So I think my answer, Councillor Fowles, is that it is open for us as we are now about to look at that service in terms of what we are providing,
what we are paying for, what we're getting across the district to pick up the points that you raise.
So particularly I hear what you're saying about the FOSS way
and the litter and the litter then blows across
into the fields.
And then clearly, you know, in terms of reviewing the provision
of the service is a more fundamental look
that we're doing at it.
So the questions that you ask about how often we're doing it
we will be looking at that as part of this whole review.
So we'll welcome your input and those of other members
at that point.
So I know I have had contact previously with other members
about this so that we set a policy and we go forward with a service that meets the needs
of us as a council. Thank you.
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:48:53
Thank you, Mike. Thank you, David. Right. Item 8, the recommendations from the Constitution

8 Recommendations from Constitution Working Group

Working Group. This is to present recommendations from the Constitution Working Group arising
from a meeting on the 24th of June 2025 and I'm going to ask Councillor Mike
Evermy to propose the recommendation to Councillors on this. Thank you Chair.
Councillor Mike Evemy - 0:49:19
Yeah, Rice, the papers in front of you on agenda page 45 you're looking at the hard
copy agenda. There's two substantive elements to what we're being asked to
agree this evening.
The first relates to the establishment
of an appeals committee, which would consider any appeals
by statutory officers against,
about disciplinary action taken against them,
and that accords with the local government associations
model procedure.
Then asked the committee, so the council to agree
that it'll be politically balanced with five members,
three from the Liberal Democrats
and two from the Conservatives. Members should have been circulated just this evening. The
names that have been nominated from the two groups, just to clarify, and apologies, it's
Helene not Helen, and the names from the Liberal Democrat group are Helen Mansila, Tristan
Wilkinson and Tony Dale, and those from the Conservative group are David Fowles and Tony
points and the fourth point on the recommendations is to authorise our
Director of Governance to put it in the Constitution and noting in the fifth
point there that if there are any other matters relating to statutory officer
employment then they will be first raised through the Constitution Working
Group and then brought to the council as we are doing this evening. The second
matter regards is in regard to procedures at the Planning and Licensing Committee.
And you can read through that in section 4. And we discussed at the Working Group
what does appear to be a slightly increasing trend of papers being
submitted at the very last minute to the Planning and Licensing Committee and
then members being having to read those taking up time often even in the actual
meeting itself and what we discussed was that potentially we should have a and
the proposal here is that we should have a deadline of two o 'clock two days
before the meeting so essentially given that meeting starts at two o 'clock that's
48 hours before the meeting. What that would do as it says in the report is to
stop people putting in late submissions and sometimes there may be applicants
that think if I put it in at the last minute it's more likely to get read I've
got the last word but obviously we have process to try to mitigate against that
and the Planning and Licensing Committee is very regulated and its decisions are
therefore you know important matters of determinations by this council and
appealable by applicants if they don't like them. So you know we essentially
felt that that was a reasonable proposition and we talked about indeed I
raised in the group the issue about what if something comes in after the deadline, the
Council has a duty to consider all the relevant information before it makes a decision. And
it makes that point then the answer in 4 .4 is that if something important or lengthy
comes in late, then it may need to lead to a deferral. I guess the members of the committee
might know that that may happen now but I think what we can then say if we agree
this is that representations need to be in 48 hours before the committee meets
so I would propose all of those recommendations to you for the reasons
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:53:06
I've just outlined. Thank you chair. Thank you very much now we're going to
I'm going to ask if there any questions for clarity this is not the debate bit
I believe that Councillor Len Wilkins is seconding it, but I'll come to you after we've gone to the questions for clarity.
So questions for clarity. Yes, okay. Councillor Coleman, question for clarity, not debate.
Councillor Patrick Coleman - 0:53:28
Thank you, Chair. As I read this, though it's not there in the words, so perhaps we should, we could at the appropriate time make it explicit.
Very often, not always, the last minute responses are after we've
dug hard at statutory consultees to get them to answer.
The highways are not as slow as they used to be, but I think it's
important that we don't cause a delay of four or five weeks in a
decision, thus occasionally putting us at risk of non -determination,
just because the highways haven't managed to get a reply and indeed
of water and sewage and flooding people haven't got their
replies in or indeed some of the other national statutory bodies who perhaps
are a little understaffed and can't get around to answering our letters. But if
that's made clear perhaps at the right time I think that will help. Good point
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:54:19
Councillor Coleman. I found out recently that local planning authority if the
highways hasn't given an opinion or review can actually determine it
themselves and they can seek it.
So we don't, they don't need it, but it's maybe something
for the future.
Do we have any other questions for clarity?
No?
Okay.
Now, and we've got a seconder, Councillor, Councillor
Lem Wilkins, would you like to speak now or reserve
your right to speak?
No, speak now, please, Chair.
Councillor Len Wilkins - 0:54:48
I always think this is a little bit of a Cinderella party group.
It's done on teams and it's really difficult if you're
running in a team to get everybody on charge.
Fortunately, we've got a very good leader in Mike who takes
us through, and he does make us really work on these.
I can assure you, all of these have been very carefully
considered, thought through.
I can't see any problems with them, so I recommend them.
Mr Gerecke.
Thank you very much, Lynn.
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:55:15
I'm now going to ask if anybody wishes to speak in debate,
if anybody wants to.
Well, that seems uncontentious. Would you like to sum up, Councillor Ebony?
Councillor Mike Evemy - 0:55:32
If I could just answer the point I think that Councillor Coleman made. I think if we pass
this, the deadline is 48 hours before, it's not two o 'clock on the day of the meeting.
I think that's a reasonable deadline that I would expect our officers to provide to
to the statutory consultees and yeah, to explain to them
that our members, the members of the committee
need the time to evaluate what's put in front of them.
And it's not reasonable to, I think as in one recent
application in my area where it was appearing,
I think the day before the committee.
And it was quite an important element of consideration
of the application.
So I think I'm comfortable with that.
obviously planning officers have to manage this and it's their job to do
that but I think it's really important that we say you know actually planning
committee and planning licensing committee members need the time to be
able to consider the information put in front of them and putting in front of
them just before the committee isn't acceptable so I'm happy to therefore
just move the recommendations I think I did that earlier just to support them
Councillor Mark Harris - 0:56:39
all as stated. Okay colleagues it's it's quite a large recommendation you've got
it in front of you and it is on the website for members of the public to view. So I'm
not going to read it all out but I'm going to, oh I'm sorry to disappoint you Councillor
Cunningham. But I'm going to, we're going to go to the vote now.
If you'd like to vote on that.
It's 20, oh, yeah.
I have no idea how many people are in this meeting.
So, that's 27 for none against and no abstentions.
So that's carried.
Thanks, Mike.
Thanks, Len.
Okay.
Item nine, local government association corporate peer challenge review.
And this is to consider local government association corporate peer challenge progress report 2024.
And this is to note, so it's not to vote on, it's just to note.
So Mike's going to introduce this.
Go for it, Mike.
Thank you, Chair.
Councillor Mike Evemy - 0:57:59
So, yeah, the report starts on page 51.
It refers to the progress review that we had back in November of last year
on the previous corporate peer challenge in October of 2022.
So members may know that at every corporate peer challenge there's a
follow -up visit. Normally it's within about nine months to a year. The reason
that this one was delayed was because of the changes around Publica and bringing
the staff, some of our staff, back from Publica to the Council. So it was agreed
that they would come back when that had happened.
So they came back in the first month of that happening
in November of last year.
And you can see their report tabled
as an annex to the report.
The report, I understand, was first received
in draft in January.
And then there was a little bit of discussion, I think,
between the chief executive and the LGA and then unfortunately what happened was
we missed the timetable for the March Council so ideally I think we would have
been looking at this in March as a consequence then we haven't had an
ordinary council meeting until now so this is the reason this is before us the

9 LGA Corporate Peer Challenge Progress Review

earliest opportunity to bring it to members I'd like to take this
opportunity to thank the members of the team who are listed in para 3 .1. Some
members may know that I also do peer challenge work at other councils and I
know how valuable it is the input that is made by those people when they're
doing those jobs and I really would like to thank them for for what they did for
us. The main points of their feedback are shown there in 3 .4. They were very
positive about the improvements in our governance. They were clear that we
understood our financial position but they were urging us and myself and the
Deputy Chief Executive at the time, now obviously Patrick Coleman as our cabinet
member for finance to make sure that we have plans in place to close the potential gap
in our finances and so we will be talking about that more in this chamber subsequently.
They obviously remarked about the first stage of the public transition and they essentially
at that point there was rumoured information about local government reorganisation which
which then subsequently came out in the white paper in December.
So they were essentially asking us to have a look at that and wait and see what happened
in that.
And obviously clearly what we decided then at the March Council and the Phase II of Publica
was informed by the fact that we would be potentially ending as a District Council.
And then the last point there on the organizational culture, they really said, you know, as a
new team, largely people coming back from Publica, it's very important that we look
at how we are going to run as a council in terms of our leadership and operational style
and organisational culture. And that's something that I know the previous leader and chief
executive were focused on and certainly I am now as the leader with the new chief executive.
and obviously we've now had more staff have rejoined us or joined us last week
or two weeks ago coming across from Publica so that's a piece of work that
is being led now by the the Chief Executive. I will stop there and happy to
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:02:01
take any questions members have. Thank you Mike. Do we have any questions or any
Any?
Fine.
Oh, kind of stoked.
Well, let's go, let's speak. Speak, debate, question, whole abuse.
Councillor Tom Stowe - 1:02:19
Yes, thank you chair. And so the original LGA peer review reports highlighted
wide -ranging concerns in several areas. Governance,
scrutiny, management of resources and delivery of services.
Looking at this progress review, although a lot of the feedback is subjective, there does seem to have been progress made.
Starting with governance, the Constitution has been tidied up,
but is now much more openly and clearly available for all to see on the website with clear version control.
The Constitution Working Group regularly meets and brings forward recommendations to full Council.
Under the chairmanship of Councillor Bloomfield, the work carried out by the overview and scrutiny is much more focused and it's good to see
recommendations to cabinets arising from these meetings on financial management
we're all aware of the challenging position this council finds itself in
with a significant budget gap and it's correct that robust plans do need to be
urgently put in place to close this substantial gap but I'm assuming now
that Councillor Coleman is well and got his feet well under the desk he is
working carefully alongside David Stanley to get that resolved I found it
somewhat ironic that the report rightly emphasizes the impact that the public a
transition is having on the unfunded budget gap within the
MTFS. Of course, a catalyst which ultimately led to the
public transition was the original LGA peer review. The
challenge with reviewing this report now is although it's
useful to a degree, this review is carried out last autumn.
Things have moved on so much since then that a lot of it is
now out of date. Public of phase two is now complete. The LGR
white paper has now been published. We have a new leader,
a new CEO and the refreshed cabinet. However, as Mark touched on, then there
would seem to be an opportunity to reflect on the considerations in the
organizational culture section. It raises some pertinent points including things
about ongoing engagement with staff, embracing different styles and
approaches to the way that people work. This is still relevant probably more so
than previously, particularly now we have staff back in -house and we need to
prepare them and the organisation for LGR. Now is the time for a complete
overhaul of the council's corporate plan to reflect this. We understand this is
underway and we look forward to scrutinising this over the coming
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:04:41
coming months. Thank you Tom, thank you. Any other comments, questions,
suggestions? Joe, Councillor Joe Harris. Yeah thank you, thank you very much.
Councillor Joe Harris - 1:04:52
I want to start with a massive thank you to all of the staff
who have basically bored us to this point.
I think on the face of it, this is quite a dull
and unremarkable report.
It's a progress update and it shows a clear direction
of travel.
But, you know, let's be clear, it's not just a tick box
exercise, this.
I think it's actually a landmark moment.
I think it's a recognition that under this administration,
Cotswold District Council has been transformed.
Not just in structure, not just in process, but I think as well in purpose.
When the Lib Dems took office, we inherited a council that was tired, opaque,
and quite frankly out of step with the people it served.
And, you know, all of us on this side of the chamber thought we could do better.
We didn't tinker at the edges, we got to the root causes of the challenges.
And we also faced up to difficult truths and we acted.
We brought services back under local control.
Not for the sake of headlines, but because we believe in local democracy.
Because services that are accountable to the people are services that work for the people.
So we've overhauled governance, made it open, we've made it transparent and fundamentally
we've made it trusted again.
We didn't just review the constitution, we've given power back to councillors and I'd argue
as well clarity back to residents.
And we've invested in people, in councillors who want to serve, in staff who want to lead,
in a culture where doing the right thing is now the norm, not necessarily the exception.
And we also never lost sight of the hard reality that you can't deliver good public service
without sound finances, and that is credit to Mike.
So we've tackled that budget gap head on, no illusions and no excuses, just clear plans
and on this side, and I'm particularly proud of this collective responsibility in buying
from everyone.
So I think this council has led with ambition and the administration, not just for the council
but for the communities that we serve.
I think it's clear to see now a council transformed an ambition
that runs through everything we do,
from how we handle scrutiny to how we gauge its staff to how we
plan for the future to how we tackle the climate crisis to how
we tackle the finances to how we deal with our communities.
Of course, there is more to do and can't wait to be part of
Mike's team in a slightly different role as we aim
to do that.
But, you know, let's be very clear.
This Liberal Democrat administration has brought
energy, it's brought clarity, and I'd say it's
brought integrity to this council.
And the difference is being felt in this chamber, in
the offices, and in the lives of residents right
across the Cotswolds.
We started a few years ago with a clear aim to rebuild
trust with the local council.
And I think this report shows we are doing exactly
that, and it's something we can be very, very proud of.
So thank you to all of the staff, all of the members who have paid such a pivotal role
in getting us here.
And of course, I wouldn't be doing my role at the LGA well if I said, please, if you're
interested in doing some member peer challenges, come and give me a shout at the end of the
meeting and I'll send you the form.
We desperately need peers.
We need more conservative peers, actually, because there aren't many conservative kinds
of left across the country.
So if you're interested in some peer challenges, please give me a shout and I'll put you in
the right direction.
But no, this is a report that we can be incredibly proud of and it shows real, real progress over the last few years.
It's something I'm very proud of, I think it's something we can all be proud of. Thank you, Chair.
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:08:43
Thank you very much, Chair. I think Councillor Fowle wants to speak, but when you said conservative peers, it did in fact mean peer challenge, not the House of Lords.
I think you have to make a donation.
Councillor Joe Harris - 1:08:52
For a moment I didn't know which report you were referring to because the comments that were made by our leader
Councillor David Fowles - 1:09:01
seem to differ considerably from yours, Joe. But on a very personal level, I'd be delighted to take up your offer.
Thank you very much.
Thank you, Councillor Fowls.
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:09:12
Bearing in mind this is for noting, do we have any other comments or any questions? No?
Duly noted then, I think. Okay, thank you very much.
let's move to item 10 the appointment of the independent remuneration panel
members this is to seek approval to appoint members of the public to the
council's independent remuneration panel which is responsible for assessing and
making recommendations on the allowances paid the counselors. Councillor Evermy is
going to propose this. Just get the monetarials advice. I recommended one of
the one of the people being proposed this evening. I know her but I'm not
social with her so I'd be guided by the monitoring officer as to whether you
want me to leave the room or whether you're content. Thank you chair. I'm content for
Angela Claridge - 1:10:14
Councillor Harris and Joe Harris to stay. Councillor Harris did recommend one of
candidates, Nikki Clark, but had no part in any of the interview process or
decision -making around her recommendation for appointment, so I'm
I'm happy for you to stay. Thank you Angela, thank you Joe for declaring that.
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:10:31
Okay let's go to Mike to propose the recommendation to Council. Thank you.
Councillor Mike Evemy - 1:10:37
Members, most of you I'm sure are aware, our new members may not be, but one of the
requirements of setting the allowances that we receive for the duties that we
carry out as councillors for this council is that we have an independent
remuneration panel to advise us on the level of those allowances and what roles
that they should be associated with.
So as the report says, we have that panel.
They have met.
We had a situation where a member had left the panel
and we didn't have enough people on it,
and we went down to two.
So at that point, the Monitoring Officer,
Director of Governance, initiated a process

10 Appointment of Independent Remuneration Panel Member(s)

to find some additional members to carry out this task for us.
She then advertised that vacancy and did a recruitment campaign back in February,
which is a little while ago, I know.
And I think, but I'm hopeful that Council will see that the names that she has brought forward for us to agree this evening
give a good range of people with different backgrounds,
experience, people that live in the district,
people that don't live in the district,
at least one of them is female.
So we do have a balance of people to join the existing
two members.
So you can see there the four names of the people that the
monitoring officer is proposing.
And just to add also that I've had no say in who these people
are as well.
It's absolutely down to our monitoring officer
to put these names forward to us.
So we've got Graham Russell, Nick Craxton,
Nicky Clark, and David Hindor.
So those names are here for us to agree this evening.
Just as a reminder for those for you
from the, when we considered this matter
at the council in May of 2023,
We ask for a midterm review to be carried out into our allowances scheme.
Now, once we have appointed these members to the panel, I'm sure they will be getting on with that task.
So be prepared to have questionnaires, potentially be interviewed on what we do to serve our residents in the roles as district councillors,
members, which will then help them inform the report that they will write and then will
come back to us later in the autumn for us to consider whether we wish to make any changes
to our members' allowances scheme in response to their report. Thank you, Chair.
Thank you, Mike. Do we have any questions for clarity on that? It's quite a clear report.
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:13:48
No? Okay. I believe that Tristan Wilkinson is going to second that. Oh, no.
Councillor Juliet Layton, take your pick. Fight it out.
Juliet.
Councillor Juliet Layton - 1:14:02
Yes, very quickly. I'm fully supportive of this.
The names and the credentials of the four candidates are really very high.
We've got people who know about council work, officers.
We've got definitely two of those.
David Hindle, I have to say, I do, I don't know him, but he is, he was a planner, so
I've had a lot of, a lot of communication with him and I know he's very diligent and
very thorough.
I don't think this is a, you know, any reason to declare an interest.
I think many, many of us have probably had some communications with him, but I think
we've got a, you know, it actually looks like an excellent panel, so I'm very happy to second
it.
Thank you.
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:14:45
Thank you very much Julia and do we have any questions or any comments or any of
that? Councillor Coleman. Yeah I may well have missed this but it does mention the
Councillor Patrick Coleman - 1:14:54
retirement of one of the panel members Jane Winstanley and I wonder if we have
some time ago if that was whether since then we've had the opportunity to write
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:15:06
and thank her for her service. I'm sure the leader and deputy leader will do
that and or can it and it has been yeah good okay sorry oh yeah
Councillor Angus Jenkinson - 1:15:20
Councillor Jenkinson go for it. Thank you chair I just think it would be very
helpful to the members the the I believe we call them customers nowadays the
residents of our of our district if we were to state in simple terms what are
the key characteristics that we need from these people whereby they would all be able
to understand why these people have been chosen, they meet these characteristics. What are
they?
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:15:48
I think it's in 2 .2 but I'll let Mike have me clarify if you wish.
Councillor Mike Evemy - 1:15:57
I'm also looking to the Director of Governors because clearly it was her job to recruit
them. So I'm sure in terms of whatever advertising or whatever she sent out in
order to solicit their names coming forward that she had something and
clearly there's obviously different ranges much as for us as councillors
there's different experience that we bring to the chamber. I'm sure that's
reflected in the terms or the person specification that we use for this
because clearly we're asking people to consider you know what we do on behalf
of our residents and how that might be remunerated but if Angela has anything
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:16:36
to add to what I said. Angela yeah I'm gonna I'm gonna assume that it probably be
wrong in these circumstances for us to define it. Absolutely yes thank you chair.
So we have a person specification so when the interviews were undertaken for
Angela Claridge - 1:16:49
applicants just to say we went out to advert on three different occasions it
quite challenging to secure individuals who have the right skills and experience.
So although the process started in February as the leader has outlined
actually with three recruitment campaigns to ensure that we got the
right caliber individuals. So essentially what we're looking for someone who's
done the role before it's clearly very useful and one of the recommendations
today Graham Russell he has undertaken this role it's almost like a sort of
hobby for him, maybe that's not the right word, but it's like a portfolio career
now for him. He's sitting on several so he brings a wide range. But equally it's
important for us to have people who've got good analytical and questioning
skills. You know a HR background which again others have got is useful but so
are you know like say being able to search out, analyse, get the right
questions out there and get some good answers and make some decisions and
recommendations around it.
So it's a wide set of skills.
Liberal government is obviously great because people
understand what members are all about.
But you'll notice that Nick Craxton, who is one of our
recommendations tonight, doesn't come from a public
sector background at all.
That's refreshing for us, too.
So it's a wide, diverse set of skills and experiences.
Thank you, Angela.
That's a good experience.
Oh, back at you, Angus.
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:18:11
Thank you.
The reason I asked the question and why I appreciate
Councillor Angus Jenkinson - 1:18:15
so much the answer, is that at some point in the future there will be some questions,
no doubt, about a decision. I think it's really important to recognise the seriousness with
which we appoint the people who make those decisions. Thank you.
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:18:31
Thank you, Angus. Councillor Edmy, do you want to sum up, or are you happy to go straight
to it?
Councillor Mike Evemy - 1:18:40
I think the only other thing I would like to say, Chair, is obviously after we appoint
these people and there'll be a panel of them working on this. As I mentioned when
I introduced this in conversation clearly with the Director of Governance
we would be keen for a number of them if not all of them who have worked on the
report to come to the council meeting when we consider it hopefully in
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:19:10
November. Thank you Mike, good suggestion. Okay so the recommendation is that
Craigston, David Hindle and Graham Russell to the Council's independent remuneration
panel. Could we open the voting please? Thank you very much.
Right, okay, I think we're good. I think we've got 28 for none against and no abstentions.
Thank you. And that's carried. Good stuff. Item 11 now, overview and scrutiny committee
annual report. This is to receive the annual report from overview and scrutiny. It's for
noting and Councillor Gina Bloomfield is going to present it.
Councillor Len Wilkins - 1:20:16
Yes, thank you, Chair. I just wanted to, sorry, Emory sat on that. Right. Well, first of all,
Councillor Gina Blomefield - 1:20:26
I wanted to thank Andrew Brown and Julia Gibson for compiling this comprehensive report on
the work of O &S together with the recommendations which we put through to cabinet. We have new

11 Overview and Scrutiny Committee Annual Report for 2024/25

members of the committee going forward, including Councillor Joe Harris, who is the leader at
the CDC here, and Nick Bridges, who was elected in May. We're also very privileged to have
Councillor Lisa Spivey, who is the leader of the GCC. It is a formidable team, and together
with our longer -standing members. In addition to what's included in the report and the recommendations
made to Cabinet. I welcome on behalf of the whole committee the clarification on the protocol.
And in view of this, my Vice Chair, Councillor Jenkinson and myself will be meeting with
the Leader and Representative of the Cabinet in the autumn to discuss ways we can build
stronger bridges between O &S and Cabinet. It was also good to see that the improvements
and the effectiveness of O &S were noted in the peer LGA peer group challenge report,
so that which was mentioned earlier in this meeting.
I also wanted to emphasise moving forward the areas of scrutiny which O &S will be focusing
on in this civic year. The first one will be the preparation for whatever form this
new unitary may take and also even more vitally,
the local plan.
We've also, and as we've also requested,
that Bromford, who's our major housing association provider in
the area, and Freedom Leisure, who provides the leisure
facilities for the Cotswolds, report to O &S in the next year.
And finally, I just wanted to, on the current work of the O &S,
We've had a task of finish group which did start in the last
civic year but has going to complete tonight on the impact
of IHT on Cotswold farmers.
I just want to give a big thank you to Councillor Jenkinson who
is a CDC's Councillor for Regenerative Agriculture and
Ecology for all the work he's put into this whilst Councillor
Kernighan was unavoidably away on holiday for most
of the meetings.
I also want to thank everybody else who was on that task
and finish group.
They had to do an intense amount of work over a short time.
Immense amount of research, many meetings,
and interviews with people of experience
in the farming sector.
And I think the final report is something we can all support.
This will be coming up later in the meeting.
That is, if anybody wants to ask me any questions about O &S,
I'm very happy to answer them.
But that is, thank you.
Thank you, everybody.
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:23:21
Gina, thanks very much.
And, yeah, there's an awful lot of work in there, and it's a good report and a good read.
Have we got any questions for Gina or her colleagues on?
Have you all read it?
They're all happy with it, Gina.
Oh, Mike, sorry.
Yes, go for it.
By all means.
Thank you.
Councillor Mike Evemy - 1:23:44
And thank you, Gina, for presenting the report, and thank you for your leadership of the committee.
I always enjoy coming along to your meetings and answering your committee's questions
normally alongside
The deputy chief executive and I guess in future alongside the chief executive
I think the work that your you and your committee are now doing on pre scrutiny and the recommendations that we can see in here
You are making a difference and that's really great in terms of the role of cabinet and scrutiny is the system that we operating
It will soon to be the system that every council has to operate under the government.
But I think we are making it work.
So we as cabinet are coming along and you and your committee are asking us questions,
you're making recommendations and we're responding to them.
So I want to thank you and really see the strengths and work that we've seen from your
committee both last year just gone and the year before under your chairmanship.
I would like to take this opportunity, and I know you did this at the committee, to thank
former Councillor Gary Selwyn for all his work as your Vice Chair over the last four
years.
I saw him earlier on today and he said he was going to be watching at home, so here
you are.
Thanks, Gary, for all the work that you did on ONS.
But I think, you know, picking up on what Joe said in response to the peer review report,
I think, you know, the work that has gone into scrutiny by members across the chamber
has demonstrated that we are working much more effectively as a council than we were six years
ago. And that's testament to everybody who's been a part of that change and that transition,
because we're making it work. We've got to continue to improve. And it's great. We'll
have a meeting, Gina, with yourself and Angus and some of my colleagues, and we'll talk
about how we can continue to improve overview and scrutiny. But it's an excellent report
and thank you and your committee for all the work that you do.
Councillor Jenkinson.
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:25:50
Councillor Angus Jenkinson - 1:25:54
Thank you, Chair. I just wanted to take the opportunity to say the following. We had two
back -to -back overview and scrutiny committee meetings last week.
And what I noticed is that our new chief executive attended both of those meetings.
She must be extremely busy at the moment trying to understand what's going on.
And yet she took the time to sit through two long overview and scrutiny committee meetings.
And I think there are two points to make about this.
It indicates that she believes that what goes on in overview and scrutiny might be important.
And the secondary, it indicates that she is committed to what she is doing.
And I thought I would like to indicate my thanks to her for doing that.
And it's a very good signal for, as far as I'm concerned, for the future.
Thank you.
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:26:44
Thank you very much.
Well, I'm sure we're all happy to note that the formidable work by a formidable committee
there.
So thanks very much, Gina.
and thank you very much for your comments.
Right, the next item is slightly related
because it's the item 12, which is the report back

12 Report Back from British Farming Motion Task and Finish Group

from the British Farming Motion Task and Finish Group.
And the purpose of this was to report back
on the evidence they received
from stakeholders during their inquiries and proposed changes
to IHT, inheritance tax for farmers,
and messages they recommend are included
in the council's representations to government.
And this is being, now I got proposed by David Cunningham
and seconded by Angus Jenkinson.
So should we go...
Who wants to pick this up?
David.
David? Yeah, go for it, David.
Thank you, Mr Chairman.
Councillor David Cunningham - 1:27:37
I'm going to assume that the report has been read by members.
It isn't a long report.
Just to give some background,
this came about because of a motion that was raised by Councillor Judd
expressing concern that she had received from the farming community
around the proposed changes to IHT.
A subsequent motion was passed where the leader asked at the time,
Councillor Harris, asked for more information to be put forward
so that a more comprehensive report or letter could be written to the Chancellor.
The working group met several times. I wasn't in all of those.
I think it's important to note that almost immediately it became clear that there was
an issue that the government had highlighted in terms of potential abuses of the inheritance
tax system through farmland and farm purchases.
However, it did become very clear that the methodology which had been proposed, although
it may have seemed to be the most simple and straightforward, had a whole raft of unintended
consequences which the farming community were quick to point out.
The group met with different interested parties, took in quite a bit of information and the
issues that were highlighted have just been put together in the report for people to read.
And the recommendation today is that the leader does use this information and the recommendations
or suggestions that have been put forward in the report in constructing a letter to
the Chancellor of the Exchequer asking for there to be a review of the proposed changes.
I'm happy to take questions if there are any or comments, but I think it's pretty straightforward.
I think the task and finish group delivered what it was asked to do which was to provide more background for the leader before a
letter could be sent
And I would ask members to
Support that letter writing. Thank you
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:29:51
Thank you very much. Councillor Cunningham. Just any questions for clarity before I go to Councillor Jenkinson
No, okay Councillor Jenkinson as a seconder
You want to speak now or reserve your right? Thank you
Councillor Angus Jenkinson - 1:30:03
And Thank You chair
I'm very pleased to support this motion
And as you've already heard I was privileged to be able to take part in all of the processes
and
I'm also pleased to be able to recognize that I carry some responsibility for farming on behalf of the council
So it's with that in mind that I'm very pleased to support this and second it
This is an issue. That's really relevant to this council because
agriculture is such an important part of the life of this district.
There are so many farmers and so much of the land is actually farmland.
So it's a critical issue that we are discussing and the government should recognise that.
I think when it comes to farms, farming and what goes on, there are many myths that are around.
But one of the things that was really clear to me is that every member of this task and finish group
seem to me to be united on one key idea, one principle,
that this particular measure of the government is going to produce unintended consequences.
And those are of two kinds, and it's just those unintended consequences that I would like to just highlight in my seconding.
They are of the kind in which they will produce unwanted results,
and they are of the kind that will fail to deliver wanted results.
So they are of both types.
There are a number of technically challenging elements of this,
and there's a shortage of data in the process, we discovered, of analyzing this.
And I think that's also true that the government has undertaken this with a shortage of data.
After all, we find that the Treasury did not even consult DEFRA in advance of it.
So the four unintended consequences that I want to highlight.
Firstly, it fails to deal with a distortion in the market.
The distortion in the market is that the current situation on agricultural land makes it a tax haven.
Wealthy individuals buy the land in order to avoid inheritance tax.
What this does is distort the economy of farming by increasing the price of farmland.
I think we're aware of that.
The problem is that the change the government is proposing still makes it an attractive option for those wealthy individuals.
It does not close that particular gate, and that is a gap that it should take.
Second, uninterested consequences.
It will hit farmers in crucial transition pathways.
Now, these transition pathways are what is defined in a number of different reports by
the United Nations, IPCC science reports, and others of the United Nations Agriculture
and Food Group, as well as the Dasgupta review that was done in this government by the UK
government.
and all of these have been adopted by the UK government.
These transition pathways are critical because they are the one way that we can have the biggest
and most significant result in dealing with the biodiversity or ecology crisis on the one hand and the climate crisis.
Without farming, we cannot address that.
Thirdly, it's going to cause unnecessary anguish.
I note that farmers are a tough group of people and we all know that life sometimes has pains
that you have to deal with.
But it is not appropriate to create unnecessary anguish and we are already aware and we've
heard about the dangers of suicide.
Fourthly, it really fails to plan judicious redirection of whatever funds it does actually
raise.
this failure to redistribute it in the right way means that it's missing a crucial option.
It goes back to the point I've just been making about the necessity of transforming farming.
So these four unintended consequences are really important,
and they lead to recommendations that we should make.
Very briefly, one, we should differentiate between real farmers who earn most of their income from their farming
from wealthy people using it as an investment.
The government does not do that, and it should.
Secondly, it should protect those transition pathways,
and it does not do that at the moment.
Farms on those transition pathways need to be protected.
Three, it's essential to give time to prepare.
It takes time to prepare to sort out succession farming
because of the complexities of it.
And fourthly, they need to create an integrated approach to the management of the farming situation
and they should use a portion of the funds to achieve that.
That's what we should let them know.
Thank you, Councillor Jenkins, some really good points there.
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:35:24
And I think maybe an unintended consequence of us not sending a letter early on is that we send a letter now with more evidence
and it tells the government this is still very much a live issue
rather than part of something that happened a few weeks ago.
Do we have anybody wishing to speak?
I know that Councillor Hodgkinson wants to speak,
and then we'll go to Councillor Judd, then Councillor Fowle.
Hello.
And then, oh, right, then, hello.
Yeah, thank you.
Do you want to turn your microphone on?
Great.
Yeah, I really welcome this, actually.
Councillor Paul Hodgkinson - 1:35:59
I think it's an excellent piece of work.
And I remember, you know, when the Labour government announced this last year, I remember
thinking what a massive mistake it was.
Because they were under pressure to come up with stuff which they thought was going to
be easy to implement, which would bring money in.
Well, obviously, they were clearly very wrong about that, because it hasn't been easy to
implement.
It's caused a massive backlash, and it may well not actually raise much money.
I mean, I've talked to farmers in the North Cotswolds.
There's one farmer who those on the planning committee will
remember, put an application in, I think it was last year or
earlier this year, who runs a dairy farm in Chetworth.
Yes, people can remember this.
Great guy.
I visited his farm, and he's trying so, so hard to make a
success of it, but the margins are so tight.
They're so tight.
And so a lot of people are kind of teetering on the edge and all it takes is something like this to kind of push them over.
I remember Councillor Thayer so emotionally described his own situation at one of those last meetings.
So, you know, what's dubbed the family farm tax is, I believe, a mistake.
Unfortunately, it was more informed by the likes of people like Jeremy Clarkson who were using or manipulating the inheritance tax system.
That then gave a bad name to everybody else.
The fact that I've now mentioned it probably means
that this has become click bait.
I don't know.
But maybe not.
I'm sure he's not watching.
But, you know, this does fit in terms of being opposed
to the family farm tax from our national policy, Lib Dems.
And so I think a great piece of work.
I think there's some excellent ideas listed which could easily
inform the government's thinking.
and I hope the leader will be happy to write a letter as is suggested. Thank you.
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:37:59
Thank you Paul. Okay Julia, over to the originator.
Councillor Julia Judd - 1:38:05
I'm so grateful to this working group for the work they've done on it. I know how much
work they have done on it because I've kept my finger on the pulse and I've asked questions
And I've provided information for them and I am passionate about this
That this is a coastal district council and we by now we should have done something to show our support for our farmers
are
The Cotswolds is famous for its countryside
We are tourism industry is huge because how beautiful it is and it is the farmers who keep it beautiful for us
These, and many of the farmers in my wards have been there for generations and they,
one or two of them have already given up.
They can't do it.
They cannot do it.
They're already struggling.
And the trouble is the perception of farmers is that they are asset rich and therefore privileged
and they have, they should be plundered by the government.
I think it's just the most appalling situation.
So it's our duty as this council to help them,
to help them and to give them back some sort of support
because of the support that they give everybody else in the Cotswold
by curating our beautiful countryside, doing the hard work,
trimming the hedges, they don't get paid for that.
They don't get paid for half of the things that they do for us. It's about time we stood up for them
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:39:43
Thank you, Julia David
I'm David now not counselor
Councillor David Fowles - 1:39:49
I
Just wanted to make a couple of quick points
When this first came as a motion put forward by Julia
we were very keen to support it and
Obviously, it then went to over the screen.
There's some very worthy works come out of that.
But I'm mindful of what's on page 127 of the report
which is the minute of the motion.
And I wouldn't want in the minute of this meeting not
to make the point that we did not,
those of us that are listed there, we did not object
to the idea of this letter going forward.
We were concerned about the timetable
and I still am concerned about the timetable
because as Julia said already it's impacting on farmers.
We all on this side know a farmer who's on the County Council, Don Morris,
and the implications of this change on his family's business is very significant.
So I just hope that we can move quickly and comprehensively.
And I'd just like to endorse what Paul has said that we wouldn't want the impression given.
That's what worried me a little bit about the seconding of this motion
that somehow it's an inheritance tax dodge and it's a way of siphoning off money. Although
I'm delighted, Paul, that you'll no longer be going to the farmer's stock and I'd like
to take up your booking. It's always so difficult to get in there. I remember that report, our
planning committee meeting where we were recommending refusal for that dairy farm and a number of
the members on that committee led the charge to say, come on, let's get real. Let's remember
how important farming is to our community and we let common sense prevail and that was
refreshing and for me that was one of the best moments on that committee but for me
it's about getting the message right, getting it out there and fighting for our farmers
and look to you as the leader, Mike, to get that right. Thank you very much.
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:41:50
Thank you, Councillor Fowles.
Elaine. I've got to listen outside. I've got Elaine, I've got Andrew McLean and then I've got Angus and then Gina.
Thank you.
Thank you, Chair.
Sorry, it's, oh yeah, Elaine, sorry, yeah, it is you, my apologies. Go for it. Shoot.
Councillor Helene Mansilla - 1:42:13
I have read the report and it covers land values, tax rules and numbers. That's important.
Something whispered in evidence hasn't yet been said plainly in this chamber and I want
it on the record.
Today, a race not just as a councilor, but as someone
rooted in the land.
Still, this is not about me.
It's about the people I represent.
Farmers, landowners, tenants, farm workers, contractors,
and the students of the Royal Agricultural University in
San Francisco, and other agricultural colleges who hope
for the future on local farms.
Farming is not a job you clock in and out of.
It is not an occupation in a usual sense.
Nobody chooses 3am lambing, harvest through the night
and seven days a week for a payslip alone.
People farm because it's who they are and where they belong.
Families don't just pass deeds, they pass history.
They hand down practical know -how, which land floods, how to save a weak land, how to deal with extreme weather, and the duty to care for the ground.
That is identity carried across generations.
When rules change and families are unsure whether the next generation can stay on the farm, the damage is more than financial.
Confidence stalls, decisions are postponed, tensions rise and worry grows.
Members heard the distress in March of this year when this Council debated the former's motion.
That concern remains real in our communities.
Here is the paradox we might pass on to government.
The stated aim is to stop people buying land to manage tax.
But those with sophisticated advices can often explore other structures.
Meanwhile, the asset -rich, cash -poor working farm with capital tied up in land, livestock, machinery and wages is the one exposed.
That cannot be what was meant.
This Council has already said that it will stand with farmers.
I stand with them again tonight.
Stop tax abuse? Yes.
But don't break the people who keep farming alive.
Farmers don't ask for praise.
They ask to be able to keep farming and to hang the keys, the soil and the life on with
dignity.
Thank you.
Thank you, Helene.
Andrew.
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:45:49
Thank you very much.
Councillor Andrew Maclean - 1:45:54
I hate to break up the party, but I don't think we should write this letter because
My gripe with the government's policy is that they gave no time for implementation.
I think that's really bad that people won't be able to put in the changes and that hits
people very hard.
But overall, the policy of making this change and aligning farmers with other small businesses
and passing it on to future generations, I actually agree with if they had done it in
the right way.
But saying that, it's very hard for us at District Council to comment on central government policy,
but I think the whole system is completely biased against small businesses
and I think they should completely change it to give them more of a boost
and start going after the big guys like Amazon who pay so little tax in our society and are just freeloaders.
So we in the Green Party do see it slightly differently, but nuanced,
but therefore I don't believe we should be writing this letter. Thank you.
Thank you, Andrew, for your comments.
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:46:53
And we've got Angus now, followed by Gina.
Thank you, Chair.
Councillor Angus Jenkinson - 1:47:00
I'm rising because there was a comment about the seconding, which obviously was done by me.
And I want to just emphasise the point that I was making, which was questioned.
because every single person more or less that we spoke to, and that includes farmers,
brought up exactly the same point.
The government does see this, and they declared that they see it,
as a situation in which there is a tax avoidance taking place.
But that's also how the farming industry sees it.
It's how most farmers see it.
It's how the advisors see it.
It's also how senior academics see it.
From that point of view, the issue
is not that farmers, those people who
earn their living from farming, see it as a tax dodge.
Of course they don't.
It's part of their process of farming,
and we've heard about the problem.
And the problem is exacerbated for them because land prices go up because of the people buying
farmland in order to avoid paying taxes.
Those are the people that should be targeted, not the people who earn their living from
doing farming.
The people who are already wealthy do not need to farm to make money, but buy land as
an exploitative technique to avoid taxes.
And this current government plan will not,
reduces the amount of tax from 40 % to 20 % compared with other,
with other places, other types of inheritance tax.
But it does not eliminate it.
It doesn't, I mean what it does not eliminate is the incentive to buy,
to buy farmland. And that is what they should be doing. And that is what we have been recommending
as part of the set of proposals that we have put through from the research. And it flows
directly from what we were told by farmer after farmer and by advisor after advisor.
Thank you.
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:49:21
Thank you for that clarification, Angus. Gina.
Councillor Gina Blomefield - 1:49:27
Yes, thank you, Chair. I just wanted to make two, I think, really critical points. Farmers
do something, it's called grow food. It is something which is essential for everybody
and we want as much food grown in this country and anything which could inhibit that. They
are a different case to most other businesses. Growing food is absolutely fundamental to
our economy, our health, our welfare. The other thing which is absolutely essential
is that they look after our countryside. They are our guardians of the countryside, particularly
all over the country, but in the Cotswolds, repairing the stone walls, the whole looking
off the footpaths, doing so much more than just being a business.
I think there's been mention of, you know, they clear the snow on the roads in the winter,
they look after the hedges.
It is absolutely critical to actually hit these people who actually live, most of them
have a relatively small income.
They work incredibly long hours for that small income and they finally take huge risks and
we can all see it particularly this year, the climate change.
We have had this extended drought, we've had a little bit of rain but for many of the farmers
this year it is looking absolutely grim as a result of the drought.
So for all those things they are not a good target audience for lots more tax.
Thank you.
Thank you Gina.
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:50:53
Councilor Joe Harris and Councilor Mike Ebony.
Thank you.
Councillor Joe Harris - 1:51:00
I don't know about you, but I was tremendously relieved
when the Conservatives were ejected from power last year
in a crushing landslide.
But I have to say, since then, I have been incredibly
disappointed by the offering from this Labour government.
And I know that's a feeling shared by many, whether
that's on local government finance, whether that's on
planning reforms, which I'm sure we'll hear about in a minute,
or whether that's on their handling of affairs such as this.
We all feel very disappointed.
And I think the whole family farm tax speaks to a wider
issue, doesn't it, around this government.
When you elect a Labour government,
you expect that there is going to be at least fairness in
decision making, fairness around tax, leveling up,
you could call it, you know, helping some of the most
vulnerable in society, helping those that are really
struggling.
And I think why this has been such a toxic issue for the
government is that farming is an industry that has had such a
hard decade or so.
The effects of climate change, the effects of leaving the
European Union, that appalling trade deal that Boris Johnson
negotiated, which sold out our farmers, you know,
it has been an incredibly hard decade for farmers.
So whether it's hammering farmers or whether it's
hammering the poorest in society by retaining the
two -child benefit cap, whether it's stealing
winter fuel allowance from some of the most vulnerable
pensioners in our society, I am pretty disappointed
with the offering from this labor government.
And I think actually, this I think Andrew McLean has touched on it.
I think some of the principles here are actually quite sound.
You know, some of the principles around people and farms in particular paying something, paying some inheritance tax.
I think that's quite sound.
I think the issue is the handling of this, you know, the cack -handed way in which this has been communicated.
Andrew mentioned it, the whole thing around the transition period, or lack of a transition period.
I think that speaks to the heart of the issue, and this issue absolutely sums up
why so many people feel so disenfranchised with the current government. So I think this has been
a great piece of work, and I thank David, I thank Angus and the Scrutiny Committee for taking this
forward. I did rather land it on you, didn't I, at quite short notice at the last meeting, but
It's a really good example of where you've got under the skin
of the issue, really understood it.
And Mike can now send a letter that is informed,
that is reasonable.
So, you know, huge congratulations.
And I think, you know, the message needs to go to farmers
this evening, whether you're a liberal Democrat,
whether you're a conservative or a green member or an
independent, sorry, Nicky, you know, we support you.
We understand what you're going through.
And you deserve better.
Not only do you deserve better, a country deserves better
from this Labour government. Thank you.
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:54:11
Thank you, Joe. Let's go to Mike.
Thank you, Chair. I thought I ought to speak as you're asking me to send a letter.
Councillor Mike Evemy - 1:54:17
So I ought to say what I think about it.
So I'd like to just start by thanking Councillors Cunningham and Councillor Jenkinson and their colleagues on the group for the piece of work that they've done.
A very thorough piece of work and I listened carefully, Angus, to what you were saying,
but if you were able to email me those four points, I was scribbling them down as you
were writing so I can incorporate them into my letter, which I'm very, very happy I want
to tell council to write.
Indeed, writing to the chancellor, but I think most importantly as well that I will be sending
that letter to Steve Reid, the Secretary of State at the Department for Food and Rural
Affairs. As members may recall, it appears that he didn't know anything about it either
when the Chancellor came up with this proposal. And I'm sure he probably feels rather similarly
to us and we need to do everything we can to influence the Labour government. And I
appreciate we're a district council that's not of that flavour in a part of the country
which has no Labour representation here in this district, but we do have three Labour MPs in Gloucestershire,
which is where I wanted to turn to because I know how hard my MP, Roz Savage, is working on behalf of farmers,
has been championing this cause in Parliament. I know she has similarly, my party has been doing that,
as has been referred to by Joe. But I think all is not completely lost.
It's scheduled, I understand, for implementation on the 1st of April next year.
And we have seen one or two U -turns from the government in the last few weeks, as Joe referred
to them.
You know, the U -turn on winter fuel and the U -turn on welfare.
Those were much, much bigger numbers than they might get from inheritance tax on farmers.
And I think, yeah, we ought to recognise, and I mentioned the three Labour MPs we have
in Gloucestershire, two of those represent rural areas, in Stroud and in the Forest of
Dean. So, you know, there are people in Parliament who are on the government side who represent
farming communities. You couldn't have said that probably in the past in previous Labour
governments. There will be very, very few. But now, given the size of the majority, there
are a large number of Labour MPs that represent rural areas. And I'm sure that in those constituencies,
there are representations being made to those members of Parliament as well.
But I think what I would like to do on your behalf is get that letter drafted very quickly.
I will consult with Councillors Cunningham and Jenkinson on the contents and then get it sent off
hopefully by the end of next week if we can all agree we're happy.
I'm happy with the contents given any input that they want to give to me.
And obviously I have what's in the report this evening.
But, yeah, I think I'm pleased that we asked
over BN Scrutiny to do this piece of work.
All isn't totally lost yet.
The government clearly has some difficulties in terms
of with its majority.
And, you know, if we can use those difficulties in
order to make a change here, which I think is from all
the speakers have said, you know, the government have
got this wrong, we need to continue to say that to them and if we can do anything we
can to make them, make that, or encourage them to make that change, then we should do
it. Thank you, Chair.
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:58:00
Thank you, Mike. Before I come to Juliet, I think you wanted to speak? Is that right?
Yeah. Before I come to that, at the County Council today, the former leader said that
he, generally speaking, doesn't believe in writing letters to government. But a Green
members stood up and said that their MPs find it very, very useful because it gives them
a hook to then open up a conversation with ministers and to lobby.
So Mike, you've alluded to the fact that you'll make Roz aware of this.
Could you please make sure that Jeffrey Clifton -Brown is aware of this?
He was at the NFU event that I went to as well.
Absolutely.
I will copy both of them into my letter.
Councillor Mike Evemy - 1:58:38
Thank you.
And Julia.
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:58:40
Thank you.
Councillor Juliet Layton - 1:58:44
Well, actually, I'm hoping that you might be able to copy in as well, maybe Cotswolds
National Landscapes, because they are working through the whole of the Cotswolds, not just
our district, but it spreads further and wider as we know, and they work with the farmers.
And I think if they have an idea of what we're doing, that we're sending out this message,
it will encourage them maybe to write their own letter to add more support for this, and
it might have a knock -on effect because the more letters the government get the more power
we might have on that. But that's the decision here. Thank you.
Councillor Mark Harris - 1:59:23
Thank you Councillor Layton. Now I'm mindful that it's two minutes to eight and we'll have
been here for two hours so I'd like to, we'll take this to the vote and the recommendation
is that we request that the leader writes the chance to be expressed in concerns that
proposed changes to inheritance tax rules as they relate to farms will have
unintended consequences that could a fire reaching implication for the
viability of the farming sector of the Cotswolds and if we'd like to go to the
Fantastic.
Right, well, we've got 25 in total, 24 for, one against, so that motion, that recommendation
is passed.
Right, it's eight o 'clock, bang on eight o 'clock according to the clock at the back, not your
speakers.
Should we get back here at 10 past, exactly 10 past, sharp?

12 Report Back from British Farming Motion Task and Finish Group

Councillor Mark Harris - 2:00:34
Okay we're back in the room as it were and thank you to those residents who are watching

13 Local Plan Update Report

online for bearing with us while we wetted our whistles as it were.
Right our final item, item 13 is the local plan update and this is to confirm the way
forward for the local plan and this is going to be presented by Councillor Layton.
No.
Ah, my apologies.
Councillor Ebony, I'm so sorry, my notes are slightly shuffled there.
You're seconding, yes.
So Councillor Ebony to kick this off and then we'll go to questions for clarity and then
we'll go to council later.
Thank you, Chair.
In December 2024, new government housing targets were imposed on this district, which more
than doubled the number of new houses we're required to build every year.
Councillor Mike Evemy - 2:01:29
A district where 80 % of the land, 790 square miles, is designated national landscape.
This is the largest expanse of national landscape out of 46 areas of natural beauty in England,
Wales and Northern Ireland, offering it the highest status of protection against development.
Now we have a housing target of 1 ,036 new homes per year, up from 420.
This huge increase means the district no longer has a five -year housing land supply.
It's backed, it's at 1 .8 years with the new requirements, placing us in a precarious position.
Prior to December, we had over seven years worth of land identified for the delivering
of housing against the previous lower targets and a strong track record of delivering new
homes in excess of the targets.
But while the goalposts have been moved entirely for us, they've been simultaneously made wider
for developers.
The council is already receiving an increase in speculative planning applications for new
homes on Greenfield sites.
Without a five -year housing land supply, we can no longer use our local plan housing policies
when considering these applications, even if the application doesn't align with our
local plan.
If we refuse applications, developers can appeal to the Planning Inspectorate and those
appeals are more likely to succeed, potentially costing local taxpayers tens of thousands
of pounds.
As it stands, the new targets are set to bring piecemeal housing development in the District,
ticking off the targets but the houses may be built in the wrong places and without the
necessary infrastructure.
I will be writing this week to the Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner to set out our
unique circumstances.
I will outline the approach we are taking, urge that the Government carefully considers
the particular situation of this district and ask her, do you think that more than doubling
this district's housing target is proportionate?
And so that is why, also why this agenda item is before you now.
The best and only course of action to regain control of our district and to
justify a smaller housing target is to move ahead with a full update to the
district's local plan at pace. This will achieve a number of things. It will enable
residents to have their say on future development through engagement and
public consultation that will carry genuine weight. It will strengthen the
council's position when it comes to refusing speculative development and
appeals and at appeals. It will help us deliver desperately needed socially
rented housing in this district supported by infrastructure developments
that achieve sustainable growth. It will provide a cost -effective approach to
updating the local plan for development in this district and with local
government reorganization looming large it will create a long -lasting legacy for
the district. A full and recently adopted local plan will be one less thing for the
new unitary council to think about, which they probably wouldn't for five years. All
while ensuring sustainable future development which protects the unique character and beauty
of the Cotswold district. I'd like to thank Councillor Bloomfield and the Overview and
Scrutiny Committee for its consideration of this report and approach as critical given
the time constraints of the process. I'm grateful for the support and recommendations of the
committee. I'd also like to thank our planning officers for diligently and comprehensively
setting out the challenge and recommended solutions. For the sake of future development
in this district, I hope every member will vote for the recommendations so we can crack
on at speed with this vital work. Thank you, Chair.
Councillor Mark Harris - 2:05:28
Thank you very much Mike. Do we have any questions for clarity?
Councillor Inge or Nicky. Thank you chair and I'd like to just thank officers and
Councillor Nikki Ind - 2:05:36
members for their recent five -year housing supply briefings that we
received as members and that also our town and parish councils were able to
attend and it's that that's prompted this question I've received from a
Teppertown councillor. You know I personally acknowledge that by not
taking action we risk speculative development as a district as we did
prior to the current local plan and I do believe that decisions should be made
locally as by with by communities having a voice in the development in their
areas with the real importance on delivery of infrastructure first
although I accept that we do have a housing shortage in the district and we
particularly need social rented houses owing to the price of housing and the
price of rent. So the question is regarding local neighbourhood plans. The
question is how do the towns and parishes that have a local neighbourhood plan, how
does them, should they, the impression is that they should start to review those
neighbourhood plans now. So how does it fit in with this local plan review? Do
they need to go to referendum again? So I'm really asking can we as a district
give our towns and parish councils that have local neighbourhood plans already approved
guidance on what they should be doing now because it's slightly confusing. Do they start?
How do they do it? What is the process? That would be lovely. Thank you.
That's a really good question. Mike, do you want to pick this up?
Councillor Mark Harris - 2:07:11
Councillor Mike Evemy - 2:07:15
Yeah. Thank you. I'll just address your comments maybe first. Thank you for the comments about
the briefing that we did last week.
There are many people from towns and parishes on the call.
Welcome the comment, Art and I didn't say it
and Juliette may about infrastructure first,
but I think what we've seen is where we have a local plan
with an allocated site for development in Syrinsister,
we're getting the infrastructure first,
where we didn't have that in Tethbury, Fairford, Morton,
all these other towns across our district,
we didn't get the infrastructure.
So we need to make sure as part of this part of taking back control is to decide
where the allocation site allocations are and then getting infrastructure to
support them. The point about neighborhood development plans I'm gonna
we've got the officers in the room so I wouldn't want to mislead you Councillor
Ind or fellow members but I will just make the point that the government has
just withdrawn funding for neighborhood development plans. Members may not be
aware of that and hitherto parish and town councils have been able to secure
funding to support those efforts. Sadly they won't be able to do that anymore
but I wonder if the officers present could answer your point in terms of the
details. Matthew Britton, Principal Planning Policy Officer in the Planning
Officer - 2:08:32
Policy and Infrastructure team. So yeah we've got quite a few really good
neighbourhood plans across the district that have already been made and various
so there's on the way to production at the moment. So the council losing its
five -year housing and land supply, essentially the impact is that it's
the policies that have filled the supply of housing which become out of date. So
the rest of the local plan policies, they remain intact and part
of planning decisions and that includes neighbourhood plans as well. So yeah,
So there's neighbourhood plans that are really good for getting really locally specific policies
which adds democracy as well to the area.
So yeah, there's still a lot of value in getting those neighbourhood plan policies in place.
Just when it comes to housing applications, the way that they're determined now, there's
more weight that goes towards granting planning permission for housing essentially. So it
skews towards granting planning permission. So when you're weighing up all the various
factors it's very much skewed now towards granting planning permission for housing.
But that doesn't mean that neighbourhood planning policies don't still have real value and weight
in planning decisions. They can get really good quality development.
So, yeah.
Thank you, Matt.
I've got Joe with a question for clarity,
Councillor Mark Harris - 2:10:07
followed by Tom with a question for clarity.
Oh, Nikki, did you want to come back?
My apologies.
Yeah, sorry.
Can I just ask, it's about reviewing.
So, Tetris is quite an old neighbourhood plan.
Councillor Nikki Ind - 2:10:18
We were one of the very first ones to do it.
And the question is, they've come away thinking they've got to review it.
Councillor Mark Harris - 2:10:24
And what do they need to review it?
How do they review it?
I think that's the point I'm trying to get to because that was the message they got so they're coming back to me saying we've
Got to review our neighborhood plan now. How do we do it?
I said how does that fit in and I said I would ask the question
Over to officers on that
Councillor Mark Harris - 2:10:43
Councillor Mark Harris - 2:10:45
So yeah the the five -year supply issue is to do with the strategic policies of the local plan so neighborhood plan policies
Officer - 2:10:50
They it doesn't affect them and they don't have to be reviewed
I mean yeah, it's it's if there's if they're making site allocations in the neighborhood plan
then that might be something that's a different matter.
But if it's non -strategic policies, it doesn't affect that.
Thank you.
Councillor Mark Harris - 2:11:11
Might it be the case that if parishes or towns are in any doubt,
they might have a word with the planning department?
Spare up, there we go. Thank you.
Right, we...
Go for it and then we'll go to Joe.
Yes, very quickly.
Councillor Mark Harris - 2:11:23
The government is not putting any money towards neighbourhood plans,
Councillor Juliet Layton - 2:11:28
So they're not inviting new ones as such.
But the ones that are still on the, you know,
that are in the pipeline can carry on.
And Matt has answered about the reviewing element of it.
Okay, Joe, question for clarity.
It's been picked up, so I'll comment later.
Councillor Mark Harris - 2:11:44
Thanks, Joe.
Tom, question for clarity.
I'm not going to answer any questions, sorry.
Councillor Joe Harris - 2:11:47
Councillor Mark Harris - 2:11:48
All right, we'll come to the comments in a minute.
But we'll go to, unless there are any other questions
for clarity, no.
Okay, I need a second.
My apologies for switching it around.
Do you want to speak now or reserve?
I'll speak now. Thank you.
Thank you.
Well, Mike has set out the context
Councillor Juliet Layton - 2:12:04
and why progressing with this project at pace is imperative.
This evening the council is being asked to support the merger of the two ongoing planning projects,
the partial local plan update and the development strategy and sites allocation plan
into a single comprehensive full local plan update.
This is not a change in direction,
but a strategic consolidation of work
already well underway with a view
to grappling back control of planning
after changes to housing targets imposed by the government,
which ensure that this council and the residents we serve
shape the future development of this beautiful district
and not the developers.
It is ambitious, but it has the potential to be very beneficial.
It is a practical, cost -effective approach.
Merging the two plans avoids duplication and will save up to £400 ,000 and allows us
to meet the government's December 2026 submission deadline.
Importantly, we aren't starting from scratch.
We're already completed much of the groundwork.
development management policies are ready for consultation and key evidence
is in place. We are also going to invest in the tools, people and processes to
deliver this plan at a pace with robust approach to governance. We plan to
re -establish the local plan oversight board and this board will meet monthly
and will be chaired by the leader of the council. It includes myself as portfolio
holder, two additional cabinet members and senior officers including the head of planning
policy and the assistant director of planning services and the chief executive.
The board will monitor progress, manage risks, oversee the budget and ensure that the project
remains on track.
A dedicated project manager will also be allocated to deliver against detailed project plan and
drive this work on a day -to -day basis. This governance structure ensures transparency,
accountability, and momentum. It gives us the tools to respond quickly to challenges
and to keep this ambitious timetable on course. AI software will be streamlined public consultations,
and we're aligning our work with the emerging Gloucestershire strategic plan to ensure a
smooth transition into a new unitary authority in 2028.
Importantly, updating the local plan in this way provides residents and communities
with plenty of opportunity to have their say at different stages of the plan.
There will be public consultations this autumn and next spring.
And our communications and engagement program will be comprehensive and well resourced,
governed by the statement of community involvement,
which we are bound by legally,
and can be found on the council's website.
Let me be clear, this is not just about meeting targets.
It's about creating a legacy,
a plan that is green to the core,
that delivers social rented plus affordable housing,
and that puts infrastructure first.
A plan that reflects the values of our communities
and the vision of this council,
and importantly provides an opportunity to seek to reduce the housing requirement figure.
The risks of inaction are significant.
Government intervention, costly appeals, you know, we're looking at 100 grand per appeal
really if not more, and unplanned development and reputational damage.
But the opportunity before us to shape development in this district before unitarization in 2020
is greater still and I'm really pleased to second this report and that we've
finally got it here. Thank you. Thank you very much Juliet. Right let's open it to
Councillor Mark Harris - 2:16:10
debate. I've got Tom here followed by Tony. Thanks Tom and then Joe. Yes thank you
chair. Now this council finds itself in a very tricky position due to the manner
in which the government has imposed new and increased housing numbers on the
Councillor Tom Stowe - 2:16:28
districts. Like much of what the government has done in the last 12 months, this legislation
is ill -thought -out, poorly executed and imposed with little regard for the consequences. Although
the cynic in me does wonder whether they knew exactly what the consequences would be and
that this is another deliberate attack on the rural areas such as the Cotswolds which
will be disproportionately impacted by these reforms. The permanent and lasting consequences
of not having an upstate local plan are dire, so for this Conservative group it's a yes
full steam ahead. For us the decision to fast track through these updates is an
utmost priority and we fully support the bulk of the recommendations in the
report to enable this to happen. This report confirms that council is already
receiving a large increase in planning applications for new developments in
locations which previously would not have been considered. The report rightly
highlights the risk and potential financial implications of appeals
arising from these applications coming forward, with the bar now being set much higher for
refusal than previously. It's important that officers and members in this current window
where the local plan is out of date continue to give due consideration to applications.
Although some of the tools previously available to control development are currently obsolete,
there are still constraints and material planning grounds which can be used to control development
by refusing or improving applications in many locations when backed up with
robust methodology. There is a danger that concerns about the financial impacts
of potential appeals starts to creep into and influence the decision -making
process. It's not the job of officers or members to try to second -guess what a
planning inspectors opinion may be. Decisions should continue to be made
against those policies which are still relevant to protect the best interests
of residents of the Cotswolds and our landscape.
Police at Councillor Layton's Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning reassure us that
the Council's decision -making, while the updated Local Plan is being prepared, will
remain robust. And can Councillor Coleman or Councillor Evermy, as Cabinet Member for
Finance or indeed the Leader, reassure us that despite the challenging financial position
the Council finds itself in, resources will be available to both complete this Local Plan
update process and to battle up any appeals that may arise.
Now I do have a concern about the membership of the Local Plan Oversight Board.
It contains just four Liberal Democrat members, all of whom are cabinet members.
I would like to propose a friendly amendment to Appendix A, and that is to add an additional
place to the working group for an opposition member.
This will aid in transparency and make it more proportional to the make -up of this council
both politically and geographically.
Thank you.
Councillor Mark Harris - 2:19:21
So we have a proposal there for a friendly amendment which has been seconded by the Council of Fowls.
If you bear with me I will let...
Colleagues like to respond to it?
I don't think we have seen any amendments. Is it in writing, Tom?
Have you got a second? We haven't seen either.
Councillor Mike Evemy - 2:19:44
Now we do not have it in writing. Will we need to adjourn to have it in writing?
Or can the leader agree to it verbally?
Councillor Tom Stowe - 2:19:55
Tom, if it's more than seven words, it needs to be in writing.
Councillor Mark Harris - 2:20:03
so can you... I find chat GPT good for these sorts of...
Councillor Mark Harris - 2:20:26
Tom I'll give you a couple of minutes to figure that out and then we've got Tony next followed
followed by Joe.
Councillor Tony Dale - 2:20:38
Well, never has a timing been so important it would seem,
just as we need a man with a plan.
And welcome back to Council.
Chair, nice to see you, new in post.
Congratulations and ditto, Vice Chair.
It's lovely to see you all members here again, genuinely.
You've all been so welcoming to me.
But more importantly, you have been so supportive to me
and my family throughout what I can only describe
as 12 months from hell.
I can't believe that little four days short of, actually,
a year ago, I got smashed to pieces in Italy
on my retirement.
Not the way I plan it for anyone.
And I don't want it.
Luckily, it's only about six in a million people in the UK
that this sort of injury happens to.
So I'm hoping it won't happen to anyone else in the chamber.
Even more so, on the grounds of having been to the spinal unit
now, and I think I've kind of done okay getting out of it,
really, is that having got out of it and been one of only
three people that left on their legs and the other two
I think I worked out that may be something like one in seven million.
So I hope you can all live the ego boost that I get from that.
But the reality is day -to -day life is bloody tough.
And the one thing that inspires me is not only the lovely debate
and the constructive debate and engagement I've heard this evening,
the fantastic motions, the great task and finish group,
that the really positive impact every single member is having on our communities in the
Cotswolds, not least because of this most important last item.
All I can say is all of you carry on doing what you're doing.
Matt's life for the next two years is going to be at least as hard as mine.
Matt, I gather you have new colleagues, Joe and Geraldine, and goodness knows how many
others you'll need on your team.
you are going to be a busy man.
I'm right to do two things.
One, to say to us as members, for goodness sake,
support this.
This local plan could be the most single,
most important thing that this council does
before we finally get unified.
Please can we do it well.
Please can we do it to the best of our ability.
Please, please, please can we accelerate the process
to help our planners not place barriers in their way.
Their task is difficult enough anyway.
We all want to support it.
We all want the best possible outcome.
The other thing I wanted to say is that we all know the thing that we need most in the Cotswolds
is homes for young people.
How on earth will we ever get homes for young people if we don't have a great plan
with good locations for those homes to be built?
And they obviously need to be affordable.
If it's a developer's paradise, they'll never end up being affordable homes for young people.
That's not in their interests.
So please think about that.
Please think about these homes for young people.
And as if I was ever going to rise to stand in this chamber and not mention it, please
think about business.
One of our corporate priorities, as long as I've been on cabinet, was supporting the economy.
It's mentioned still, even in this last item, supporting the economy.
That local plan struggles every time, year on year, to figure out how we can create,
in a spectacularly expensive land economy, suitable local sites for local businesses
to get started.
I can give you real examples of that.
in a nearby local farm, very much supported by a local conservative
who has done everything he can for his local community.
He's built 14 units. They were opened in I think something like January, February, March.
It's only now July, all 14 are full.
They're not being sold off cheaply. They are
some of the most expensive units I could imagine. And yet there are
young businesses flocking to those 14 units because they're
They're so sparse.
We desperately need, Matt, when you do your plan,
to support the economy, to find, however we do it,
places where our new local businesses for our young people
and their jobs can thrive with their new digital ideas.
When we get this plan, please, members, let's get it right.
Woo!
thank you chair yes on behalf of the conservative group it is great to have
Tony Dale back here we've always valued his insights humor and we wish him all
the best in his continued recovery so just thank you so yes so lots of
opposing amendments. If we look at appendix a, I think it is page five agenda item 13
is a separate, um, and the membership of the boards. Tony, could you turn off your mic?
Councillor Mark Harris - 2:26:08
Councillor Tony Dale - 2:26:11
Councillor Tom Stowe - 2:26:12
Thanks. Uh, yeah. So we're going to the membership of the board oversight board. And what we're
going to do is that goes over from page five on the page six and we would like just to
after it says Tristan Wilkinson cabinet member for economy and transformation
plus one opposition member
if you have a point of order you need to quote to me where it is in the
Councillor Mark Harris - 2:26:44
constitution, but I'm just going to turn to Mike and ask if you want to respond to that.
Councillor Mike Evemy - 2:26:56
When I introduced this, I didn't talk about the small changes that I made at Cabinet last
week to this document, although we're now looking at an Agenda Item 13. So there were
two changes that I made. One was on E in strategic management. I changed the word member to E
the word cabinet and over the page I added the deputy chief executive in to the list
of officers to sit on the board. Just dealing with that first, that was in response to the
work of the overview and scrutiny committee and in response to the points made earlier
I think in this discussion about making sure that we have financial oversight of this.
You know, it's a massive project.
It's the biggest single project that we will be running as a council.
I think it will vie with local government reorganisation, but there's quite a few other
people involved in that one.
This is our one on our own that we'll be working through.
So I thought it was important that we had the Deputy Chief Executive there.
And I probably now come back to why I'm not going to accept the amendment from the opposition.
Because actually what this is about is very specifically termed a Local Plan Oversight Board.
What it is not is a Local Plan Programme Board which used to exist, which was a cross -party working group,
that met every couple of months and talked about the local plan.
This is very, very clear.
This is about delivery of the local plan project.
It's a cabinet project.
It's a cabinet responsibility to deliver this on behalf of the council with the officers.
Within the process, and it was raised at the overview and scrutiny last week,
there will be opportunities for us as members of the cabinet to be questioned
on how that is developing by members of the,
all members of the council,
members of that committee cross party.
And obviously there'll be things that come to us here.
But what it isn't, is in a working group,
it's there's four named members of the cabinet
who have different relevant experience to sit on that,
to essentially steer this project through the council
with the officers.
And I'm personally taking the chair
because this is an absolutely crucial project
for us as a council.
So that's why I don't think it's not appropriate to add someone else on because it's essentially it's cabinet business to deliver this on behalf of the Council.
And you can hold us to account and you can ask us questions at every Council meeting about it and we'll be at ONS about how this is being delivered.
But we need to deliver that on behalf of the Council as a cabinet. Thank you, Chair.
Councillor Mark Harris - 2:29:49
Okay, the proposal then is that we add the line plus one opposition member, is that right?
And we have a seconder for that.
Councillor Farr, do you want to speak to it before we go to a vote?
You spoke, you're fine. Do you want to speak to it? Go for it.
Councillor David Fowles - 2:30:08
Firstly, I'd just like to endorse what Tom said about Tony Dale.
It's brilliant to see you here.
I've been waiting a year for you to return,
and it's absolutely fantastic how you came back literally
from the dead, and well done, you.
I think it's hugely important.
Secondly, I just wanted to say that we've talked today a lot
about collaboration.
We've talked today a lot about the work that overview
and scrutiny have done.
We've talked today about the importance of the local plan.
We've already said as a group that we're 100 percent,
150 % behind this item on the agenda.
What we are asking for, and we can argue the semantics
of whether it is a programme board or an oversight board,
there is a huge amount of experience
on this side of the room,
and all we are actually asking is if one member of the opposition
could actually be part of that process,
and it may actually save time later on
when it goes to overview and scrutiny.
In the interests of working together,
We hear a lot about what goes on within planning, and planning works brilliantly as a committee
under Ray's chairmanship and now under the new chair.
We all work together, we leave politics outside the room, we focus on the issues.
I think that we've got something to bring to the table.
I don't think it's a huge, huge amendment.
It's a tiny amendment and it shows that we're working together collaboratively in the spirit
with a new chief exec, a new leader, and as I said to you in the break, Mike, it's the
first time I've actually had a question answered positively and supportively by the Liberal
Democrat group. And we do want to work with you and we don't want to feel excluded. And
that's very much how we feel and we really would ask you to reconsider. I think it's
small thing from your side and a huge huge thing from our side thank you thank
Councillor Mark Harris - 2:32:04
you David now we're talking about the amendment now so Councillor Coleman
Councillor Patrick Coleman - 2:32:13
thank you chair yes I when I first saw in private obviously if you some time
ago Mike's plan I was a bit surprised but then I remembered that we had as has
been mentioned had the sort of cross -party progress planning board, something I could
never get on to, but it didn't do badly for the situation it was in. But the times have
changed, the need is urgent, whereas in the past we could take an extra six months here
and 12 months there, certainly in more recent times when our local plan until recently was
quite up to date. This is not that situation. This is a different situation. This is a situation
where frankly we as the people running the council have to be accountable for getting
this done. And therefore I hope, and I can say a few things now since I'm not on it,
that we will be creative at looking at what works and what may help. And bear in mind
to answer the point made at the beginning of the debate, just in passing.
It's not a labour plot, it's the usual civil service incompetence.
A minister says, get a load of houses built and where they're needed by people who haven't
got money.
So they put in what we used to call an algorithm and it says, oh, parts of the country which
are very expensive housing must build lots more so that they're cheaper.
And that's as far as their thinking went.
So never ascribe to malice what may be explained by incompetence, you may have heard that phrase before,
that's certainly what has happened in central government.
So we have to respond, we have to respond creatively, and I for instance would be very happy to see an examination of whether the current, I believe it's 441 homes in our district, are what are called park homes.
They're on four or five sites, they're low, they're very dense in population, they're very happy places and are very good at voting.
Normally we are snobby about them. They are ugly. We don't want them in the console.
Are we speaking about the amendment here?
Councillor Mark Harris - 2:34:12
I am trying to save speaking again. That's all.
Councillor Patrick Coleman - 2:34:16
But yes, I take your point. On the amendment, it's because the time has changed and we need to be accountable for it.
And it's a situation where it's not appropriate to involve the opposition.
Which in a way I'm sorry, but you know whose fault it is. It's the Labour Government.
Thank you very much, Councillor Coleman.
Councillor Mark Harris - 2:34:34
So I know Councillor Pressington would like to ask a question.
I'll come to Angus in a second.
Councillor Ray Brassington - 2:34:51
Thank you. Can I ask the leader please, what are the disadvantages of having an opposition member on this board?
Councillor Mike Evemy - 2:35:01
It's a cabinet board, so there's collective responsibility in the cabinet. We don't invite
the opposition to our informal cabinet meetings. It's not a decision -making body, so there
is, as I've said, there are ample opportunities for members of the council across the council
to scrutinise what we'll be doing. But ultimately, we as members, those of us sitting on this
We will be holding the officers to account for the actions that would be challenging
and then, and we will be encouraging them.
Those discussions are best happening in private as they do all the time now between officers
and members.
That's the role of an administration in a majority administration, is to manage that.
If members of the opposition were there, that could constrain how we as members behave.
And what we don't want is another meeting where we have to meet because we don't want to meet in front of the opposition
We haven't got time for that. This is a project. We've got 18 months to deliver it. I will be accountable for this
As the as the accountable member together with Juliette and delivering this and we're asking the council
To agree to the terms of reference
I do know that the first I heard of this ray was that when
Councillor Stoeck got up.
So he hasn't actually raised it with me in advance.
He's just, as I think the former leader used to talk about,
he's just got up and said it.
So I think he hasn't done me the courtesy
of having a conversation.
And in my view, I don't think we should be doing this.
And I would ask the council to reject this amendment.
Thank you.
Thank you, Councillor Ebony.
I've got Councillor Jenkinson and Councillor...
Councillor Mark Harris - 2:36:36
And thank you, Chair.
I'm very pleased to hear that the opposition
Councillor Angus Jenkinson - 2:36:43
or the Conservatives wish to be collaborative, wish to be supportive, being on the front
line of not experiencing that with the first round of our process with the area plan, I'm
delighted to hear that it will be different in the future.
And I think it's really important that we take every step to try and work together to
make sure that we do not have situations that block us from delivering the speed that we
need.
But I do ask at this point, I do absolutely take the point that this is an operational group that is responsible within the cabinet and are targeting it.
Now within that, I have a technical question therefore.
It is not seven words, the motion has to be seven words long.
Four words have been added to some existing words.
It is the four words by themselves are not a motion.
It is actually only four words plus the existing words that constitutes the motion that is
being proposed.
It changes the meaning of the first part and we have just been hearing about the impact
of that.
So my technical question is, is it actually the case that this is a seven word motion?
No, it's an amendment.
Councillor Mark Harris - 2:38:00
Right, let's go to, I think it was Councillor Stowe wasn't it next?
Yes, thank you chair. I just wanted to come back to Councillor Evermy there who's mentioned
Councillor Tom Stowe - 2:38:15
me in passing. And he says courtesy. I was first given these terms of reference at 6 .25pm
during the meeting. Absolutely no prior notice at all.
Not in the back. Not in mine.
What's in the back? Not in mine.
Not in your ear? No, they're not.
These were circulated. So don't talk to me about courtesy, thanks
you leader. Now this is a hugely important project which
is going to affect the whole district and it's clear that the leader is minded
to completely exclude all opposition members and not just opposition members
but any member north of Sirencester this is absolutely disgraceful.
Councillor Mark Harris - 2:38:56
Thank you for comments Tom. Councillor Fowles is next. Can I put a motion, a closing motion please.
Because I think you have the discussion. I'd like to move the question now be put.
Joe, we haven't voted on the amendment yet.
That's what I'm talking about.
I want to move to the vote on the amendment.
I think this has been adequately discussed.
We're having a silly debate now.
And actually, some of us want to make some points
on the substantive business, not some silly amendment.
If you want to put it to the motion.
David, keep it brief, and then we'll go to the vote.
In the interests of collaboration,
Councillor David Fowles - 2:39:26
I think what Mike clarified was that the agenda
item that was circulated had those two small amendments
on it.
but the membership of the local plan oversight board hasn't changed from the last page of
the papers that we were circulated. So if we hadn't spotted it, Mike, it's perhaps an
oversight on our part. So with this document that was circulated, it's very similar to
the last page but the two points you made. And I wouldn't want the spirit of what we
were trying to achieve today and in previous meetings to be lost.
All I was trying to clarify through Angela was Mike referred to this as a local plan
oversight board, cabinet board, and I just wonder if that sits well with the constitution,
because it seems that we've got a local plan oversight board, cabinet board, that's actually
reporting to the cabinet.
So I'm a bit confused.
It's a cabinet board reporting to the cabinet.
So could someone just clarify, is it within the remit of...
Councillor Mark Harris - 2:40:25
Councillor David Fowles - 2:40:27
Councillor Mark Harris - 2:40:28
We'll ask Angela, would you like to reply to that and then we're going to go to the vote on the amendment
and then we'll continue with the debate on the substantial motion.
Okay, thank you chair. Just to say that it was cabinet last week that approved the compilation of this board.
Angela Claridge - 2:40:43
So I don't have any objections. I think this is perfectly acceptable.
Councillor Mark Harris - 2:40:50
Thank you very much Angela. Okay, could we go to the vote on the addition of...
Go for it.
I think Angela has just made my point that the terms of reference were agreed by cabinet
Andrew Brown, Officer - 2:41:00
last week, so the updated version in the supplement is what cabinet agreed.
And I think, you know, there's an amendment here which is to add an opposition member
to the terms of reference that can be done as an additional resolution in seven or less
words.
So that's what we're voting on.
Thank you, Andrew.
Councillor Mark Harris - 2:41:21
So we're voting on adding the words plus one opposition member to that.
Thank you.
Okay, so we've got 27 votes.
Councillor Mark Harris - 2:42:07
For that amendment, we've got 12 against 15, and we did have one abstention, but that seems
to have disappeared.
But I'm sure it will come out in the wash at the other end.
So that amendment fails, and we're going back into the debate.
So we had our second and we were speaking in the debate.
Now, Joe, I think you had a, you were on my list to speak after the amendment.
Oh, hallelujah.
I'm finally on that.
Well, first of all, Tony, how great it is to see you.
You know, a lot happens in a year, doesn't it?
And holy moly, you've had a very, very busy year indeed.
Councillor Joe Harris - 2:42:46
Tony, I have to say, I've got a few emails that I sent you, you know, around about July.
So if you could get back to me, I know you've got access to your
e -mails now, that would be great.
However, that would be a bit academic now that I'm not the
leader, but no, it's great to have you back and I know we're
all looking forward to having a drink on Tony's Terrace over the
course of the next few months with you.
Yeah, this local plan is, you know,
this is a really difficult subject, isn't it?
I want to start by thanking our hard working planning officers
who have, you know, they've been through hell over the last
couple of years working on the revised local plan, all the stuff with Morton, it's been
really, really difficult. So a special tribute to Matthew Britton in particular for a fantastic
job and still just about smiling at the end of it. You're an absolute star. And of course,
to Juliette, the government have put us in an impossible position, haven't they? We're
local plan that might not actually see the light of day because they are going
to scrap us as a local authority. Their planning changes have rendered our local
plan, our neighbourhood plans, if not meaningless then totally undermines them
and that is an insult I think to the hard work that we have done as a local
authority and indeed to our local communities who have worked on
neighbourhood plans. When I heard about Labour's housing targets announced in
in December. I couldn't quite believe it actually because they just seemed so moronic. The moronic in our context because
80 % of our district is area of outstanding natural beauty. They've doubled our target. So that means a thousand homes a year
predominantly going in areas
that 20 % of areas that aren't AOMB. It's crazy. It is madness and it has just definitely been done
on a spreadsheet by civil servants somewhere. I hope because no politician could put their name to this quite frankly.
Targets are fine if you are able to deliver them.
Now we all agree that housing delivery in this country is run by a cartel of developers.
They hold all the power and they make all the profits.
Not only that, we have a construction industry that is creaking, that is struggling with demand.
Access to supply chains is an absolute nightmare.
So, you know, how are we going to deliver all these houses?
Because we have developers locally who can't build because they can't access supply chains.
We need to get councils building again and building at scale again. That is the
solution to this problem. Let's be clear the only type of affordable housing in
our district is social rented housing and we know that developers don't like
delivering that because it hits their bottom line, it hits their profits, it's
not in their interest to deliver social rented homes. So the government and I say
this very clearly should be focusing on housing tenure not purely housing
numbers. Listen, I'm going to support this but I do have reservations and I know
we've had a lot of debate over the past few months about this. On time local
plans are not the norm. They are as rare as hen's teeth. They are exception to the
rule. So we have quite a feat if we are going to achieve this in the time scale.
We stated in 2020 that we'd be adopting a refreshed local plan in 2003 -23.
That process is still going on two years later.
We are at the mercy of events, we are at the mercy of elections, we are at the mercy of changing guidance,
and there's going to be more changes we predict to planning guidance in the next few years.
And of course we are at mercy to political turmoil, which seems to happen more often than not these days.
So listen, my preference would be to tell the government to bugger off and we'll see you in court.
But I appreciate that is not a pragmatic or indeed probably appetising way forward.
Not indeed for our new chief executive but also our planning officers who work so hard.
So listen, I would say this, I will support this, but communications have to be robust.
Councils are rubbish at communications.
They are rubbish at communications, particularly when it comes to planning and engagement.
and statements of community engagements are fine, but them in themselves, they are not enough.
So we need to push back on government targets, we need to lay the groundwork with communities,
because it is not acceptable that the first residents here about thousands of homes being pitched up on their doorstep
is when they turn up to a consultation event. Chesterton showed us that, Morton has showed us that.
We have to get better, we have to start communicating now.
So listen, we need to be clear, we need a plan for communications, we need a local plan,
But also we need to park the tanks on Angela Rayner's lawn.
Mike, I'm thrilled to hear you're going to be writing them.
And I hope we do it with a flurry of press activity and we're very vocal about it.
Because the situation is not good enough.
We deserve better, Cotswolds deserves better and we need affordable, genuinely affordable homes.
Thank you.
Thank you, Joe.
Councillor Mark Harris - 2:47:43
Right, we've got David Cunningham next.
Thank you, Mr Chair.
Councillor David Cunningham - 2:47:50
So exciting earlier on, wasn't it?
I would ask everyone to support this.
I can't think of anything more important that the council is doing at the moment than trying
to get the local plan put in place.
I am not blind to the irony of the fact that for the last four years I've asked Mike Efremi
to tell me exactly what every paperclip has come from and how he paid for it.
And that now I'm asking him to put as much money as he can, afford, into this local plan.
So the irony of that is not lost on me.
Very pleased to see that cabinet agreed to the recommendations that came from ONS.
I think it is important to have a board, whichever make up, overseeing how the officers are getting on.
But I think it's very important that what comes out of those meetings is reported back.
I don't think we can have any situation where we are finding out at too later stage that things are slipping.
We need to be on top of this absolutely every single day.
I'm not asking officers to waste their time by having to come to meetings to explain what they're doing.
But if they are slipping, they need to let us know so that we can get them the resources they need.
I just would reiterate that we on this side of the room absolutely do support this.
I think it is quite interesting what Joe's saying about the issues that we've had about communications.
because I do think it's important that what comes out of the local plan and what comes
out of the shalah, what it comes out, is communicated as best as we possibly can to the areas that
will probably be, you know, will be impacted by it. I'm not going to say numbers of houses
or towns or anything else. But where there is information, I think it's very important
that we get it out. So I would ask members to support this particular gender item. I
I would also ask that we get the section 151 to do what was agreed in cabinet and have some contingency.
I would also reiterate that I think it's important that we front load the resource increase for this plan
so that we get the resources you guys need as soon as possible to get things kicked off.
If you're in trouble, you've got to let us know. If we don't know, we can't help you. Thank you.
Councillor Mark Harris - 2:50:12
Thank you Councillor Cunningham. Well it looks like we're in fair we've got some accord here, so I'm going to suggest that we go to the vote now
Otherwise I'm late. I'll let councilor ever me sum up
Please be mindful that I'm going to have to ask you to all vote to extend this so keep your comments brief, please
Because I'd rather not
Councillor Mike Evemy - 2:50:35
Okay, we did have a 10 -minute break, so we've got that 10 minutes. I remember that's what you're looking at okay
So to sum up in of service, one day to cancer in points earlier to counselor stays earlier contribution.
We are in a tricky position. I think Joe talked about the government imposed targets.
And I totally agree with you, Joe, that, you know, absolutely running a local plan.
I can see how long it's taken for the progress. And that's no reflection on our offices.
We've had a global pandemic, you know, we've agreeing to the core policies are ready.
We're merging them in this proposal together with our site allocations work that which we will need
to do and you know, clearly it's totally unrealistic and it will be quite a robust letter to
Angela Rayner that I'm going to be writing and I'm also, you know, just to reassure Joe the meetings
and discussions I've had prior to his points made at overview and scrutiny and subsequently
with our head of communications and we're totally aware of the importance of communicating
about this process with our residents and picking up on the point that Councillor Cunningham
just made. Absolutely, really that's absolutely critical that we get the communications right
and it's really difficult and as Jo said councils often don't get it right but you know we're
incredibly hard. I'm very confident in the strength of the communications team
that we've got working to do that with me and with the with a planning team and
I want to take this opportunity to echo Joe's thanks to our planners who are
here this evening and all those who might be subsequently watching this when
they're in work tomorrow because yeah there's a huge amount of work for them
to do and I want to just reflect on my point earlier it wasn't to be sort of
any way critical of the officers,
but the oversight board is about making sure
the project keeps on track.
And to exactly to your point, Councillor Cunningham,
yeah, we are there to make sure
that there aren't any hurdles getting in the way.
If there are problems, we understand what they are,
that the chief executive, the 151 officer
and us as the leaders of the council understand
and take action to resolve them.
And we will be giving every support that we can
to our officers in that.
You wouldn't be surprised for me to say on the money point that Councillor Cunningham
made, you were sent to OV and Scrutiny members, I understand the cabinet's response to your
questions, and there is a response in there in terms of financing for the local plan.
We absolutely need to make sure it's resourced and we have the officers who work for us here
and part of what we will be doing is making sure that where there is any additional requirement
for resource it will be made available and that will be part of obviously the discussions
that we might have at that oversight board if we need to add any. But as they stand the
151 officer is confident that we have sufficient resourcing to enable our officers to get on
and do this work. Huge thank you, Tony, for your wisdom. We've missed it. It's great to
have you back and absolutely what you were saying about needing homes for young people.
Joe has actually some friends who live somewhere near him and they don't all live in Swindon
or other parts of the locality because they can't afford to live in Sirencester anymore.
That shouldn't be how it is.
It's not a way to have a sustainable communities
for people to have to leave them when they start work.
So I think in terms of the debate,
thanks very much everybody for all of your contributions
and your support hopefully in the resolution.
I recognise there's a lot of work that we need to do,
that Juliette and I are working together
very closely with the officers,
and we will have Tristan and Andrea
on the oversight board together.
with us is meeting monthly in order to make sure that we're getting those clear
sight of what's progressing in and for the officers to raise that but obviously
not so rate frequently that we're creating an administrative you as
members across the council to challenge us and officers about how we're
progressing the project but I would hope that all members of the council will
support the resolution. It's a key development that we need to take. It's critically important,
Seat 1 - 2:55:19
as members have said, and therefore please support the recommendations. Thank you, Chair.
Councillor Mike Evemy - 2:55:20
Councillor Mark Harris - 2:55:41
Thank you very much.
members for your contribution. Okay we're going to go to the vote now and I'll
just read the recommendation. Council is recommending to agree to merge the two
ongoing local plan projects. Bullet point one the partial update to the adopted
Cotswold local plan 2011 to 2031 and development strategy in site
and with incorporating work of the Gloucester strategic plan where
appropriate with a view to submission in 2026 and adoption in 2027.
Let's go to the vote.
It sounds a bit game showy, doesn't it?
In the game show tradition, it's a full house.
So that motion is carried.
Colleagues, I'm now going to go and vote on item 14, notice of motions.
We have not received any motions.
The next meeting of Council, item 15, will be held on the 24th of September 2025.
The meeting will start at 6pm.
Have a wonderful summer, new sunscreen.
Thank you to members and officers and of course the public for your attendance.
And I now close the meeting.

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