Agenda and minutes

To confirm the Minutes of the Council meetings held on 16 July 2019 and the Special Meeting of Council held on 18 September 2019 (herewith).

23.1     The Mayor invited Members to confirm the Minutes of the Meetings of Council held on 16 July and 18 September 2019.

23.2     Cllr Follows made a point of personal explanation to draw Members’ attention to the note of correction in the Minutes of the meeting on 16 July which addressed a statement he had made in relation to former Cranleigh Members of the Executive. In relation to the same Minutes, Cllr Deanus reminded Members that he had been an Executive Member from 2015 to 2019, as Member for Alfold, Cranleigh Rural, and Ellen’s Green. Cllr Deanus asked that this correction be added to the Minutes.

23.3     In relation to the Minutes of the meeting on 16 July, Cllr Cosser asked for confirmation that all outstanding appointments to outside bodies had now been made; and Cllr Adams advised that he was still waiting for a response to his question about Local Plan Part 2. The Leader said that he would address these points under Leader’s Announcements.

23.4     The Minutes of the Meetings of the Council held on 16 July and 18 September 2019 were confirmed, subject to the correction of typographical errors and omissions identified, and the Mayor would sign these once the corrections had been made.

The Mayor to report apologies for absence.

24.1     Apologies for absence were received from Cllrs Sally Dickson, Brian Edmonds, Peter Isherwood, Stephen Mulliner, Nick Palmer, Paul Rivers, and Penny Rivers.

To receive from Members, declarations of interest in relation to any items included on the agenda for this meeting in accordance with the Waverley Code of Local Government Conduct.

25.1     The following declarations were received from Members:

Item 9. Minutes of the Executive meeting on 8 October 2019

Re Minute EXE 27/19, Cllr John Neale declared a non-pecuniary interest, as Leader of Farnham Town Council, and left the Council Chamber during the statements on this item.

Re Minute EXE 27/19, Cllrs John Ward, David Beaman, Andy MacLeod, and Mark Merryweather declared non-pecuniary interests, as Members of Farnham Town Council. They remained in the Council Chamber during the statements on this item.

Re Minute EXE 28/19, Cllr Michael Goodridge declared a non-pecuniary interest as he is Honorary Vice-President of Holloway Hill Bowling Club.

Re Minute EXE 28/19, Cllr Steve Cosser declared a non-pecuniary interest as he is a member of committee of Holloway Hill Bowling Club.

Agenda Item 11. Members’ Allowances – Special Responsibility Allowances for Chairman an Vice-Chairman of the Standards Committee.

Cllrs John Robini, Jacquie Keen and Michael Goodridge declared pecuniary interests as they would be the immediate beneficiaries of the proposed Special Responsibility Allowances. The Members left the Council Chamber during the consideration of this item.

26.1     The Mayor thanked the Rev. Ian Maslin and colleagues at St Nicholas Cranleigh for hosting her Civic Service on 22 September, which had been a very enjoyable occasion. She also thanked Andrew Smith and  Annalisa Howson from the Housing Service, Cllr Anne-Marie Rosoman, and the Waverley Tenants’ Panel, for their work in organising the events over the summer to celebrate 100 years of council housing. The Mayor encouraged Members to look at the exhibition at the back of the Council Chamber which told the story of council housing in Waverley.

26.2     The Mayor congratulated Waverley’s apprentices – Tommy Grant, Jasmine Davies, Sophie Mantel, Faye Pringle, Anita Shepard, and Kathy Berry – who had received their certificates at an Apprenticeship and Teacher graduation ceremony at Guildford Cathedral. The Mayor thanked Waverley Training Services for their work in helping young people gain valuable work-based qualifications.

26.3     The Mayor had enjoyed attending many events, including the Surrey Hills Wood Fair where she had planted an oak sapling at the Cranleigh Showground, donated from her own woodland. Surrey County Council had committed to planting 1.2m trees by 2030, and she had been honoured to be part of the launch this important initiative.

26.4     The Mayor reminded councillors that they could follow her activities on Facebook.

26.5     Finally, the Mayor advised councillors that as Mayor she would only use her vote at Full Council meetings in the event of having to exercise the chairman’s casting vote; otherwise, she would abstain from voting.

27.1     The Leader confirmed that all appointments of Waverley representatives to relevant outside bodies had now been filled. He also apologised for not having sent a personal response to Cllr Adams in relation to the questions he had asked about Local Plan Part 2. An email had been sent out to all councillors with an update on the timetable for Local Plan Part 2.

27.2     With regard to Procedure Rule 17, the Leader proposed that all votes at the Council meeting should be taken using the electronic voting, and that they should be recorded votes. He was aware of some concerns raised about how the names of councillors were displayed on the screen following a recorded vote, and this was being looked into; however, in the meantime he did not feel that this should prevent the use of electronic recorded voting which would enable Members’ votes to be recorded in the minutes of the meeting. A number of councillors, including Councillors Paul Follows, Steve Williams, John Neale, Mark Merryweather, and Andy MacLeod, supported the proposal, and the Mayor was happy to confirm that all the votes at the meeting would be taken as electronic recorded votes.

To respond to questions from members of the public, received in accordance with Procedure Rule 10.

The deadline for receipt of questions is 5pm on Tuesday 15 October 2019.

Questions have been received from:

1.    Mr Daniel Kuszel of Godalming

2.    Gill Leslie and Lynda McDermott of Cranleigh

The questions are set out on the attached paper.

28.1     The following questions were received from members of the public in accordance with Procedure Rule 10:

1.    Question to the Leader, received from Daniel Kuszel of Godalming:

“Does the Leader of Waverley Borough Council believe it is right that a road located in the centre of Godalming that is busy with cars and football should only be cleaned once every 30 weeks?”

Response from the Leader of the Council:

“Street Cleaning in the Borough is managed in accordance with the Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse issued by DEFRA and updated in September 2019. Consultants engaged to assist with the Overview and Scrutiny Review of the Refuse, Recycling and Street Cleaning Service carried out an inspection of a random selection of streets in Cranleigh, Godalming, Haslemere and Farnham on 15 and 16 August 2017. The focus had been on retail areas and adjoining residential streets, and certain social housing areas. They advised that the standard was generally very high overall, with no significant litter problems.

Streets in areas surrounding the town centres are classed as low intensity and are scheduled for a 13 week clean. The particular road in question invariably has parked cars along its length and parking suspension has to be arranged with Guildford Borough Council for a mechanical clean.  It was last mechanically cleaned on 3 October. Since April the road has been inspected on several occasions. When and where sections of the road were found to be below the standards in the Code of Practice arrangements have been made to sweep those sections manually.”

2.    Question received from  Gill Leslie and Lynda McDermott of Cranleigh:

“In December 2018 we requested Waverley Borough Council to sign and implement the Charter against Modern Slavery. Waverley Borough Council’s written reply was that they have “committed to making a clear statement on this subject which will be on our website in the New Year.” Our research shows that this has not happened - It is not mentioned at all in the 2019 Safer Waverley Partnership (SWP) plan We therefore call on Waverley Borough Council to take this issue seriously by signing the Modern Slavery Charter as supported by Surrey County Council and more than 50 other local authorities and wider organisations such as the Cooperative Group (See www.co-operative.coop/ethics/modern-slavery)

The Charter against Modern Slavery

Waverley Borough commits to:

1. Train its corporate procurement team to understand modern slavery through the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply’s (CIPS) online course on Ethical Procurement and Supply.

2. Require its contractors to comply fully with the Modern Slavery Act 2015, wherever it applies, with contract termination as a potential sanction for noncompliance.

3. Challenge any abnormally low-cost tenders to ensure they do not rely upon the potential contractor practising modern slavery.

4. Highlight to its suppliers that contracted workers are free to join a trade union and are not to be treated unfairly for belonging to one.

5. Publicise its whistle-blowing system for staff to blow the whistle on any  ...  view the full minutes text for item CNL28.

To respond to any questions received from Members of the Council in accordance with Procedure Rule 11.2.

The deadline for receipt of questions is 5pm on Tuesday 15 October 2019.

29.1     The following question was received from Cllr Jerry Hyman in accordance with Procedure Rule 11:

“In respect of Cllr Macleod’s response to my Question to the Executive, on p34 of the Council Agenda papers, I am grateful for the confirmation that the Executive accepts that appropriate assessment of proposed and/or available mitigation is required before residential consents in the vicinity of their TBH and WH SPAs can be lawfully granted.  Please confirm that no such assessment yet exists, and hence consents cannot be granted lawfully until such assessment is available.

Thank you.”

Response from the Leader:

“The appropriate assessments you refer to are carried out lawfully and in consultation with Natural England. For this reason, planning consents affected will continue to be granted lawfully. The answer given to your question to the Executive on 8 October 2019 provides further detail in this respect and on Habitats generally. Please also note that external Counsel is giving an all-Councillor training on EIA and Habitats on 6 November, where time will be allowed for questions from Councillors.”

To receive any motions submitted in accordance with Procedure Rule 12.1.

The deadline for receipt of motions was 5pm on Thursday 10 October 2019.

There were no motions from Members.

To receive the Minutes of the Executive meeting held on 8 October 2019 [attached, coloured grey], and to consider the recommendations set out within.

There is one Part I matters recommended for Council decision.

EXE 23/19    Statement of Community Involvement – Review of proposed amendments

The Executive considered a report reviewing the amendments to the Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) that had been proposed by Cllr Hyman at the Full Council meeting on 16 July 2019. The SCI had been adopted on 16 July, but it had been agreed that Cllr Hyman’s proposals should be considered with revisions brought back to Full Council.

Having considered the proposed amendments, the Executive RECOMMENDS to Council that no further changes are required to the Statement of Community Involvement, for the reasons set out in the report at Annexe 1, attached.

Members of the Council wishing to speak on any Part II matters of report must give notice to the Democratic Services Team by midday on Tuesday 22 October 2019.

31.1     It was moved by the Leader of the Council, Cllr John ward, duly seconded by the Deputy Leader Cllr Paul Follows, and

RESOLVED    that the Minutes of the Executive held on 8 October 2019 be received and noted.

There was one Part I matter for the Council’s consideration.

CNL 31.2/19    Statement of Community Involvement (EXE 23/19)

31.2.1  Cllr Hyman opened the discussion by reminding Members that the Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) had been brought back to Council for Members to ensure that is was lawful, and to consider whether the public should be consulted on the changes to the SCI. The key issue was whether the SCI was lawful, and he referred Members to paragraph 2.18 of the Officer’s report which stated “The Council does not have a specific policy as such to deal with neighbourhood planning.” Cllr Hyman then referred to S18 (2B) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, which he maintained the Council was not complying with in the published SCI.

31.2.2  Cllr Hyman asked for a response to three questions: that the Constitution did require Members to act within the law? That the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, Section 18 (2B) required that the council have an SCI which sets out the policies for giving advice or assistance on modification of Neighbourhood Plans? And, that the council did not have that policy? Cllr Hyman concluded that he could not support the recommendation as proposed.

31.2.3  Cllr MacLeod advised Members that officers had spent a lot of time considering the amendments Cllr Hyman had proposed in July, and he and officers had met with Cllr Hyman to explain the approach now recommended. Officers’ advice was that the approach was lawful, and he was content with this.

31.2.4  Cllr Cockburn referred to her experience of working on the modification to the Farnham Neighbourhood Plan, and commended Waverley’s Planning Officers, especially Matthew Ellis and Alice Knowles, for all they had done to assist the Town Council in the run up to, and at the Examination. She was content with the words of the SCI, and pleased to have the opportunity to offer her own, and Farnham’s, thanks to Waverley officers for providing such excellent support.

31.2.5  Cllr Hyman made a point of personal explanation, to confirm that he had attended the meeting with officers, and he had been disappointed that officers had refused to put up on a screen the law and show how the SCI was lawful. He asked again for his questions (in 31.2.2) to be answered.

31.2.6  The Leader referred Members to paragraph 2.17 of the report which referred to the statutory functions of the council in relation to Neighbourhood Plans, and he confirmed that the council’s approach was not unlawful. Cllr Hyman raised a point of order to ask the Mayor if he was going to receive a response to his questions. The Mayor advised that she was content with the advice given, and if Cllr Hyman still had  ...  view the full minutes text for item CNL31.

To receive the Minutes of the Standards Committee meeting held on 30 September 2019 (attached – coloured cream), and to consider the recommendations set out within.

There is one Part I matter recommended for Council decision:

STD 12/19       Council Procedure Rules

The Standards Committees considered proposals to change a number of Procedure Rules. The Committee agreed that it did not wish to make any recommendations on changes to Procedure Rule 21.1 (Members Standing to Speak) or Procedure Rule 17.4 (Recorded votes).

The Standards Committee agreed in principle to the re-instatement of informal questions before Full Council meetings, on the same basis as they operated previously, and the Chairman and Vice-Chairman subsequently agreed the proposed wording of the revised Procedure Rule 10, which is attached at Annexe 1.

Therefore, the Standards Committee RECOMMENDS to Council that informal questions be re-instated before Full Council meetings, on the same basis as they have operated previously and on a trial basis, and that Procedure Rule 10 be revised as set out in Annexe 1.

Members of the Council wishing to speak on any Part II matters of report must give notice to the Democratic Services Team by midday on Tuesday 22 October 2019.

32.1     It was moved by the Chairman of the Committee, Cllr John Robini, duly seconded by the Vice-Chairman, Cllr Michael Goodridge, and

RESOLVED    that the Minutes of the Meetings of the Standards Committee held on 30 September 2019 be received and noted.

32.2     The Chairman reported that the Committee had considered amendments to three of the Council’s Procedure Rules. However, at this time the Committee had only one recommendation to Council, which was to amend Procedure Rule 10 in order to reinstate Informal Questions before the start of Council meetings, on the same basis as they had operated previously, and on a trial basis. The proposed wording of the amended Procedure Rule 10 was included in the Council agenda papers.

32.3     Cllr Hyman fully supported the reinstatement of informal questions, and asked that these be included in the webcast of the meetings. Cllr Follows agreed that informal questions were part of the meeting, and should be webcast. Robin Taylor, Head of Policy and Governance confirmed that the PR 10 could be clarified so that informal questions were part of the formal Council meeting. Cllr Goodridge also agreed that informal questions should be webcast, and pointed out that when introduced previously meetings had not been webcast.

32.4     The Mayor moved the motion, that Council Procedure Rule 10 be amended to reinstate Informal Questions at Council meetings, on a trial basis; and that these would be part of the formal webcast meeting.

            As previously agreed, a recorded vote was taken using the electronic voting.

For the motion: 48

            Cllrs Brian Adams, Christine Baker, David Beaman, Roger Blishen, Peter Clark, Carole Cockburn, Richard Cole, Steve Cosser, Martin D’Arcy, Jerome Davidson, Kevin Deanus, Simon Dear, Patricia Ellis, David Else, Jenny Else, Jan Floyd-Douglas, Paul Follows, John Gray, Michaela Gray, Joan Heagin, Val Henry, George Hesse, Chris Howard, Dan Hunt, Jerry Hyman, Anna James, Robert Knowles, Jack Lee, Andy MacLeod, Peter Marriott, Michaela Martin, Peter Martin, Mark Merryweather, Kika Mirylees, John Neale, Peter Nicholson, Julia Potts, Ruth Reed, Anne-Marie Rosoman, Trevor Sadler, Richard Seaborne, Liz Townsend, John Ward, Steve Williams, George Wilson.

            Against the motion: 0

            Abstentions: 2

            Cllrs Mary Foryszewski, Penny Marriott.

            The motion was carried.

            RESOLVED that Council Procedure Rule 10 be amended to reinstate Informal Questions at Council meetings, on a trial basis; and that these would be part of the formal webcast meeting.

32.5     Cllr Robini reported that he had received no requests from Members to speak on matters in Part II.

On 17 July 2018, Council agreed to re-designate the Standards Panel, as the Standards Committee. At the re-appointment of the Standards Committee in May 2019, a Vice-Chairman of the committee was appointed. The Head of Policy & Governance was asked to review the Special Responsibility Allowances (SRA) for the positions of Standards Committee Chairman and Vice-Chairman.

This report draws on the findings and recommendations of the report of the Independent Remuneration Panel of February 2018, and recommends the increase of the SRA of the Chairman of the Standards Committee, and the introduction of an SRA for the Vice-Chairman, both at the same level as the SRAs for the Chairmen and Vice-Chairman of the Overview & Scrutiny, Planning, Licensing & Regulatory and Audit Committees.

Recommendation

It is recommended that Council agrees to amend the Schedule Special Responsibility Allowances within the Scheme of Members Allowances to increase the SRA for the Chairman of the Standards Committee to same level as for other Committee Chairmen, and to introduce an SRA for the Vice-Chairman of the Standards Committee at the same level as for other Committee Vice-Chairmen, and that these SRAs are backdated to the beginning of the current Council year.

Councillors John Robini, Jackie Keen and Michael Goodridge left the Council Chamber for the duration of this item.

33.1     The Mayor referred Members to the report from the Head of Policy and Governance which proposed amendments to the Schedule of Special Responsibility Allowances to the Members Allowances Scheme, which would bring the Special Responsibility Allowances for the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Standards Committee into line with the allowances of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the other Council committees.

33.2     Cllr Follows advised Council that the remit of the Standards Committee had increased beyond that originally envisaged in 2012 when the allowances had first been set, particularly in relation to the oversignt of the Constitution. In due course, the Committee would consider the outcomes of the Governance Review and the implementation of any agreed changes through the revision of the Constitution. Cllr Beaman reminded Members that any Member was only entitled to receive one Special Responsibility Allowance at any time.

33.3     Cllr Hyman argued that the increase came at a time of budget constraints for the Council and recommended that there should be a complete review of Member allowances to ensure value for money for time spent on council work.

33.4     The Mayor moved the recommendation, to amend the Schedule of Special Responsibility Allowances to the Scheme of Members Allowance to increase the SRA for the Chairman of the Standards Committee to the same level as for other Committee Chairman, and to introduce an SRA for the Vice-Chairman of the Standards Committee at the same level as for other Committee Vice-Chairman, and that these SRAs be backdated to the beginning of the current Council year.

            As previously agreed, a recorded vote was taken using the electronic voting.

For the motion: 40

            Cllrs Brian Adams, Christine Baker, David Beaman, Roger Blishen, Peter Clark, Carole Cockburn, Richard Cole, Steve Cosser, Martin D’Arcy, Jerome Davidson, Kevin Deanus, Simon Dear, Patricia Ellis, David Else, Jenny Else, Jan Floyd-Douglas, Paul Follows, Michaela Gray, Joan Heagin, Val Henry, George Hesse, Dan Hunt, Robert Knowles, Jack Lee, Andy MacLeod, Peter Marriott, Michaela Martin, Peter Martin, Mark Merryweather, Kika Mirylees, John Neale, Peter Nicholson, Julia Potts, Ruth Reed, Anne-Marie Rosoman, Richard Seaborne, Liz Townsend, John Ward, Steve Williams, George Wilson.

            Against the motion: 0

            Abstentions: 7

            Cllrs Mary Foryszewski, John Gray, Chris Howard, Jerry Hyman, Anna James, Penny Marriott, Trevor Sadler.

            The motion was carried.

            RESOLVED that the Schedule of Special Responsibility Allowances to the Scheme of Members Allowance be amended to increase the SRA for the Chairman of the Standards Committee to the same level as for other Committee Chairman, and to introduce an SRA for the Vice-Chairman of the Standards Committee at the same level as for other Committee Vice-Chairman, and that these SRAs be backdated to the beginning of the current Council year.

To receive the Minutes of the Licensing & Regulatory Committee meeting held on 23 September 2019 [attached, coloured bright green].

There are no Part I matters recommended for Council decision.

Members of the Council wishing to speak on any Part II matters of report must give notice to the Democratic Services Team by midday on Tuesday 22 October 2019.

34.1     It was moved by the Chairman of the Committee, Cllr Robert Knowles, duly seconded by the Vice-Chairman, Cllr Peter Clark, and

RESOLVED        that the Minutes of the Licensing and Regulatory Committee meeting held on 23 September 2019 be received and noted.

34.2     The Chairman reported that there were no matters for Council to consider in Part I, and he had received no requests from Members to speak on matters in Part II.

To receive the Minutes of the Audit Committee meeting held on 22 July 2019 and 24 September 2019 (attached – coloured lilac).

There are no Part I matters recommended for Council decision.

Members of the Council wishing to speak on any Part II matters of report must give notice to the Democratic Services Team by midday on Tuesday 22 October 2019.

35.1     It was moved by the Chairman of the Committee, Cllr Peter Marriott, duly seconded by the Vice-Chairman, Cllr Jerome Davidson, and

RESOLVED    that the Minutes of the Meetings of the Audit Committee held on 22 July and 24 September 2019 be received and noted.

35.2     The Chairman reported that there were no matters for Council to consider in Part I of either set of minutes, and he had received no requests from Members to speak on matters in Part II.