Agenda and draft minutes

To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from CouncillorsBrine, Davies, Fryer, Gray, Hall, Housden, Miles, Mossman and Wilsher.

To receive declarations of interest.

There were none.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 26 October 2023.

Councillor Turner proposed an amendment to section CL.035 of the minutes. She requested for the second to last bullet point of her amendment to state a ‘six-monthly basis’ as opposed to the monthly basis.

Councillor Braun seconded the amendment.

On being put to a vote, the Motion was carried unanimously.

RESOLVED To make the above amendment to the Minutes and bring back to the following meeting for approval.

To receive announcements from the Chair of Council, Leader of Council or Chief Executive.

The Chair held a minutes silence in tribute to the former Chief Executive, Richard Ollin, the former Monitoring Officer, Patrick Arran and Councillor Norman Kay who had sadly passed away and offered her heartfelt condolences to their families. Councillors and the Chief Executive were invited to say a few words in remembrance.

The Leader, Councillor Braun provided an update regarding the Local Plan and advised that it was still going through the Examination in Public. She confirmed that the Council had been working with the Inspectors to address concerns which focused on specific strategic road network issues with Junction 12 and 14 of the M5. She confirmed that in October the Inspectors had written to Stroud District Council (SDC), National Highways, South Gloucestershire Council and Gloucestershire County Council asking all parties to work together to agree a joint action plan. She confirmed that they had responded to all the points raised by the Inspectors and all parties had worked together to submit the joint action plan. The response was sent by the deadline of the 30 November 2023 and the inspectors had given permission last week to publish the correspondence. She reminded Members that currently the Inspectors controlled the timetable, the publishing of documents, any modifications or changes to the draft plan and any future consultations. All these elements were outside of the Council’s current control.

She confirmed that they were now waiting for the Inspectors to consider the joint action plan and determine whether they would grant a six month pause in the examination.

The Chair of the relevant Committee will answer questions from members of the public submitted in accordance with the Council’s procedures laid out in Section 3, Paragraph 8, of the Constitution.

Public questions were submitted and supplementary questions were also asked by Mr Steve Willetts. (Please refer to the Council’s recording and Agenda Item 5).

See Agenda Item 5 deadlines for submissions.

There were none.

Councillor Green advised that 2 questions were submitted but they were rejected. The Chair was provided with a signed request for an extraordinary meeting of Full Council by Councillor Green and agreed to consider the request.

The Council commits to:  

·         Ask the Chief Executive of the Council to write to the Secretary of State at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities requesting that the franchise for local elections be extended in England and Northern Ireland to all qualifying foreign nationals in line with eligibility criteria in Scotland and Wales. This would ensure a UK-wide and fair approach so that all our residents who are also our council tax payers are enfranchised. The letter should emphasise the Stroud District Council’s support for such measures.

·         Continue collaborative work with voluntary sector organisations in our local authority area to reach residents about current voter eligibility rules and how to vote. 

·         Follow the legislative process to implement the Elections Act and develop a process to ensure that the implementation of the Elections Act, including the removal of some EU citizens from the register, does not wrongfully remove eligible voters from the register. 

·         Continue promoting voter registration and photo ID requirements to residents at citizenship ceremonies, events, and other communication channels. 

Councillor Hynd introduced the Motion which asked for the support of those who called the Stroud District their home by allowing them to exercise their right to vote in local elections. He stated that Councillors power as local councillors was derived directly from those who elected them and that as long as they were denied the right to vote their standing as elected representatives would be diminished. He provided a brief outline of the key changes to the franchise as a result of the Elections Act being introduced. He confirmed that from May 2024 any EU citizen who entered the UK after 31 December 2020 would only have the right to vote in England if there was a reciprocal voting arrangement, these were currently only in place for; Poland, Luxembourg, Portugal, and Spain. He stated that these changes were fundamentally unfair and that the added complexity would only compound the existing problems as under the current rules just 66% of commonwealth and EU citizens were registered to vote compared to 87% of UK citizens. He also advised that there were a host of other reasons for people needing to be on the electoral register, for example, it could improve their credit score and therefore residents would be disadvantaged.

Councillor Green asked for clarification as to how the Motion was about a matter which the Council had responsibility and drew Members attention to the Officer implications which included details of work that was underway. Councillor Hynd confirmed that it was a way of showing support for Officers work and to go a step further by writing to the Secretary of State.

In response to a question from Councillor Studdert-Kennedy, Councillor Hynd advised that everyone did not have equal voting rights across the world and that the Motion was asking for voting rights to be based on residency rather than Nationality so that everyone who was legally living in the UK would have the right to vote.

Councillor Hynd confirmed, in response to Councillor Watson, that they were requesting the same rights for residents of England as were available in devolved authorities.

Councillor S Davies asked if the franchise was extended as requested in the Motion whether an American citizen would have the right to vote in presidential elections and local elections in the UK. Councillor Hynd confirmed that was the case.

Councillor Hynd provided clarification, in response to a query raised by the Chair, that the Motion was only about local elections and not national elections.

Councillor Schoemaker asked whether if England adopted the extended franchise whether other Countries would also implement similar franchises. Councillor Hynd advised that extending the franchise might encourage good will to British Citizens living elsewhere.

Proposed by Councillor Hynd and Seconded by Councillor James.

Councillor Smith advised that he was pleased to see the Motion brought forward and stated that he had spoken at length to the Migrant Democracy Project regarding their campaign. He stated that the power and responsibilities as councillors came from those who  ...  view the full minutes text for item CL.048

Strategy and Resources Committee - 23 November 2023

The Chair of this Committee will present this item.

The Committee resolves to agree the proposition and the next steps required for implementation.

The Chair of Strategy and Resources Committee, Councillor Braun, introduced the report which included a proposal to establish community funding. She advised that the decision Council was being asked to consider was adding the £35K per annum running costs to the annual budget. She gave a brief introduction to the crowdfunding/community funding practice and advised that it was a common way of raising funds for good causes. She highlighted the ties community funding had with wider Council aspirations including helping to empower communities and creating an environment where innovation and collaboration were encouraged.

The Chair of Strategy and Resources Committee confirmed that many councils were already successfully operating community funding campaigns. They would be working with a specialised funding vendor called Spacehive who would provide expert support in terms of how to publicise, establish and operate the campaigns. Typically, Spacehive delivered an 85% success rate.

She advised that Strategy and Resources Committee had discussed at length the next steps and Officers were working on detailed processes and policies, including the role of Members and how the fund would operate. This would be presented for discussion to the Strategy and Resources Committee meeting in March 2024.

In response to Councillor Watson the Strategic Director of Resources confirmed that Council were not being asked to agree to the match funding pot as this would come from an allocation of funding already within the Councils reserves which the Strategy and Resources Committee had the power to allocate.

Councillor S Davies asked for clarification as to whether the £35k would be spent prior to the agreement of procedures and processes at the next Strategy and Resources Committee. The Strategic Director of Resources confirmed that Strategy and Resources Committee had already made the decision to procure and that this process had begun but was not expected to be finalised by March.

In response to Councillor Studdert-Kennedy the Strategic Director of Resources advised that the £35k annual sum would be included, if Council agreed, when they presented the MTFP for 2024/25 as they were looking at a 3 year term. He confirmed that other financial elements had already been agreed by Strategy & Resources Committee and it was only the annual running cost which Council was being asked to consider.

The Chair of Strategy and Resources Committee, in response to Councillor Studdert-Kennedy confirmed that in the event that a project was successful, funding that had been committed would go to the project but if it wasn’t successful it would be returned back to the person who made the pledge.

Councillor Green asked for clarification on who paid the 5% fee. Councillor Braun highlighted paragraph 6.1 on page 26 which referenced the need to decide how to budget for the 5% success fee for each project and advised that this could either be through an additional allocation to the revenue budget or from the match funding pot. Final proposals would be included in the follow up report covering the scheme detail in March 2024.

The Chair of Strategy  ...  view the full minutes text for item CL.0491

To consider a proposal allowing for the extension of the SDC Car Park at Marybrook Street Berkeley.

The Chair of Strategy and Resources Committee introduced the report which contained a proposal to extend the District Councils car park at Marybrook Street in Berkeley. The extension would provide approximately 23 additional spaces close to the town centre. The work would involve demolishing a garage site owned by the Housing Revenue Account and expanding the existing District Council car park onto the site. The full market value of the garages would transfer into the Housing Revenue Account. Works would require planning permission and subject to Council approval officers would begin the process of developing and submitting a planning application. Any detailed proposals for the site would include consideration of the number of disabled spaces available. The project was being developed in partnership with Berkeley Town Council.

Councillor Luff asked what safeguards could be imposed on the development to support active travel. The Chair of Strategy and Resources Committee advised that if the concept was approved the planning application would need to be considered by Development Control Committee and cycle parking facilities could also be considered.

In response to Councillor Watson, the Chair of Strategy and Resources Committee advised that she was unable to confirm what the exact investment return would be but it would allow the Council to support market town vitality and would help to support local businesses and local shops.

Councillor Green provided clarification to questions from Councillor Luff and Watson to confirm that bicycle storage was available in the town centre and that the car park would help to support tourism which was a key part of the Council Plan.

In response to Councillor Turner, the Chair of Strategy and Resources Committee advised that work hadn’t started on the detailed planning application.

Councillor Brown asked for clarification as to whether the garage sites were currently in use. The Chair of Strategy and Resources Committee advised that the next step would be to make sure the site was vacant and to give notice on anyone who was still renting before the site was sold. She highlighted paragraph 2.3 which stated that 8 garages were vacant and 5 were rented on a monthly basis.

Councillor Layfield asked for assurance that enough disabled parking would be provided to ensure a decent provision and not just a token gesture. Councillor Bennett advised that she had spoken to a resident from Berkeley previously about the lack of disabled car parking spaces and had spoken to the Strategic Director of Resources to confirm that it was a priority. The Strategic Director of Resources confirmed that it was covered in the equalities analysis and that it was seen as an important issue. He advised that when drawing up the plans it would include consideration of the appropriate number of disabled places.

Proposed by Councillor Braun and Seconded by Councillor Bennett.

Councillor Pearson stated that he would be supporting the extension of the car park as it was a way to help market towns.

Councillor Green was also fully in support of the extension  ...  view the full minutes text for item CL.0492

Housing Committee - 6 December 2023

The Chair of this Committee will present this item.

The Government is asking Local Authorities to pledge how many migrant households, arriving in the UK via safe and legal routes, can be housed by each Local Authority in 2025. The aggregate figure will then be used by Government to cap the number of migrants allowed to enter the UK.

The Chair of Housing Committee, Councillor Ross, introduced the report and advised that the Government was asking local authorities to pledge how many households, of people who arrive in the UK via Safe and Legal Routes, could be housed by each local authority in 2025. The aggregate figure would then be used by Government to cap the number of migrants that would be allowed into the UK. The UK currently operated 7 Safe and Legal Routes for migrants to enter the UK, these included resettlement schemes such as the UK Resettlement Scheme as well as bespoke schemes for individuals from Afghanistan, Ukraine, Hong Kong and close family members of refugees. The Government had stated that the objective of the cap was to check that the UK could accommodate and support those arriving through safe and legal routes effectively. She confirmed that the timescales were tight and that the deadline to provide the figures was 15 December 2023. The Housing Committee had recommended that the Council pledge a nominal 2 housing units at this time, with Housing Committee committed to review the capacity to increase this pledge within the next financial year.

In response to Councillor Brown, the Chair of Housing Committee confirmed that refugees wouldn’t have any priority over local people but the houses would need to come from SDC stock. She also confirmed that they had not heard of any funding being provided.

Councillor Hurst asked for confirmation of how many houses the Council were building at the moment. The Chair of Housing Committee confirmed that there had been 229 completions of new affordable homes in the District but there were 3966 local residents on the waiting list. There were 54 new homes left in the new build programme.

Proposed by Councillor Ross and seconded by Councillor Schoemaker.

A number of Councillors raised concerns and highlighted the following points:

·         Councillor Jockel stated that it felt like passing the buck and that framing the host population and refuges as being in competition with each other was entirely false.

·         Councillor Prenter stated that he had concerns as to why central Government wanted the information.

·         Councillor Aldam was angry by the appalling way that the country was treating people who needed help. She stated that the language from the Home Office outlined coldly the cost and burden refugees had on local authorities and that Councils were being manipulated to produce ridiculously low figures so government could hold it up as a hard limit. She highlighted government actions against core British values in relation to its recent legislation on refugees and immigration.

·         Councillor Turner was disgusted by the ideology behind the questionnaire they had been asked to complete but respected the work by Officers that had gone into the report.

·         Councillor Baker stated that the paper had upset her as she believed that the Government was asking cash strapped councils to justify low limits on refugees being housed.

·         The Chair advised that it was a trap for local councils whether they did or  ...  view the full minutes text for item CL.0501

To consider the final recommendations for the polling districts and places arrangements in the district following public consultation and changes as a result of the Community Governance Review.

The Leader, Councillor Braun, introduced the report and confirmed that the council had a duty to conduct and complete a polling district and a polling place review between 1 October 2023 and 31 January 2025. The review was being carried out to ensure that the council was able to deliver the next UK parliamentary General Election on the correct boundaries and make any necessary changes following the community governance review which was agreed by council earlier in 2023. She confirmed that two consultations had taken place earlier in the year, the consultation sought the views from interested parties and the residents of Stroud District. It also sought views from the residents or groups that had specific expertise in disabled access. Consideration had been given to all consultation responses received and where alternative venues were listed officers had explored these locations against the accessibility criteria and guidance from the Electoral Commission. A number of proposed changes were outlined in section 2 of the report and the schedule of polling places had been included in Appendix B.

The Chair raised a question regarding the polling station in Dursley. The Democratic Services and Elections Manager advised that they had received a recommendation from Dursley Town Council to consider an alternative venue because of the closure of the car park next to the Methodist Church which had been used in the past. She advised that a visit to the Chantry Centre had been undertaken by Officers and although there was a 23 hour free car park nearby it was on a very steep incline which would make it difficult for people to be able to access the polling station independently especially for wheel chair users. She confirmed that the Tabernacle was also considered as a polling station but the parking provision was also not suitable and so they were recommending that the polling station should remain at the Methodist Church. There was carparks nearby at the Pulse and Sainsburys which had flat and level access to the polling station.

Proposed by Councillor Braun and seconded by Councillor Bennett.

Councillor Bennett stated that it was important to make sure polling stations were accessible to as many people as possible and was in full support of the recommendations.

On being put to the vote, the Motion was carried unanimously.

This report brings forward proposed amendments to the Constitution as recommended by the Constitution Working Group.

The Corporate Director (Monitoring Officer) introduced the report and confirmed that the Constitution Working Group had met on 21 September 2023 to consider a number of proposed changes. Following discussions at the working group it was agreed to recommend the following to Council:

·         Include an additional article at 2.7 to provide some clarity around Member Attendance and the 6 month rule as set out in section 85 of the Local Government Act 1972.

·         Amend the way political balance and seats were allocated for Committees to allow seats to be offered to independent councillors.

·         To increase the number of seats on the Audit and Standards Committee to help ensure quorum.

·         To agree that Audit and Standards Committee should not be subject to the rules of political proportionality so that seats were available to Councillors who had an interest in the work of the Committee. This amendment would need to be subject to a nem con vote.

The Corporate Director, in response to a question from Councillor Turner, confirmed that the nem con vote would be required at the AGM meeting if they wished to allocate seats for Audit and Standards Committee not based on political balance. She also confirmed that this was the case at a number of other Councils.

Councillor Green asked why the increase in membership on the Audit and Standards Committee was proposed to take place from May 2024 and not immediately. The Corporate Director advised that they were struggling to get enough people and that it was therefore considered to be the most sensible option with the elections being held in May.

Councillor Studdert-Kennedy asked whether it would be better to increase the number of seats for Audit and Standards Committee to 11 immediately.

Councillor Turner asked for clarification as to how the seats would be allocated. The Corporate Director confirmed that they would calculate the political balance and have discussions with Group Leaders to see if they were able to fill their allocation of seats and would be able to move things around if they were unable to fill them.

Proposed by Councillor Studdert-Kennedy and seconded by Councillor Green.

Councillor Studdert-Kennedy proposed an amendment to the decision box, he proposed a change to point 3 from ‘May 2024’ to ‘with immediate effect’ and added an additional point 5 to state ‘agree that quorum for the Audit and Standards Committee remains at 5’.

The proposer and seconder confirmed they were happy to accept the amendment.

Councillor Robinson requested that, due to the issues with quorum that the council had faced recently, that the Constitution Working Group be tasked with considering deputies so that if Councillors were not able to attend meetings their deputies could attend instead.

Councillor Green encouraged Members to support the changes.

Councillor Studdert-Kennedy provided reassurance that the reason he suggested the amendment was because 2 meetings had been cancelled in quick succession and he could not guarantee that they would have the necessary attendance at the next 2 meetings.

It was agreed to take  ...  view the full minutes text for item CL.052