Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor J Geary.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 28 June 2017.

Consideration was given to the minutes of the meeting held on 28 June 2017.

Councillor N Clarke asked for his comments made during the Section 106 Contributions to Health Update Report be entered into the minutes.

It was moved by Councillor V Richichi, seconded by Councillor N Smith          and

RESOLVED THAT:

Subject to the above amendment, the minutes of the meeting held on 28 June 2017 be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

Under the Code of Conduct members are reminded that in declaring disclosable interests you should make clear the nature of that interest and whether it is pecuniary or non-pecuniary.

There were no declarations of interest.

To receive questions from members of the public under rule no.10 of the Council Procedure Rules. The procedure rule provides that members of the public may ask any question on any matter in relation to which the Council has powers or duties which affect the District, provided that three clear days’ notice in writing has been given to the Head of Legal and Support Services.

No questions were received.

Report of the Chief Executive.

The Chief Executive gave a presentation to update the committee on the project and the plans moving forward.

The Chairman referred to comments once made by the previous Chief Executive relating to making difficult decisions for the District.  He welcomed the Chief Executive to lean times for the District which would no doubt involve many difficult decisions.

Councillor N Smith referred to a comment made by the Chief Executive regarding the development of the Hermitage Leisure Centre site once it was closed, he asked for clarity on which parts of the site could be developed.  The Chief Executive clarified that she was referring to the building and the carpark only, not the pitches or surrounding fields.  She added that there would need to be consultation with the Parish Council and that options regarding the development of the site would be considered by Members at a later stage.

Councillor N Smith commented that he was familiar with the current problems with traffic and air pollution surrounding the Hermitage Leisure Centre and the proposed new centre would resolve this.  It would also provide a state of the art facility which would encourage people to stay in the District rather than travelling to access these facilities.  He also asked that parking spaces be considered for local residents on Thornborough Road as they currently struggled to park.  He believed that this would be the most important decision the Council has made for many years and urged Members to visit other similar facilities such as at Hinckley to see the benefits.

The Chairman agreed with Councillor N Smith’s suggestion to visit Hinckley’s new leisure centre and also felt that it would benefit Whitwick Parish Council and the Whitwick Action Group to visit too.  The Chief Executive commented that she would be happy to arrange a visit.

The Chairman referred to comments made by the Chief Executive regarding a County Council covenant on the proposed site.  He asked for confirmation as to who actually owned the land.  The Chief Executive confirmed that the land was owned by the District Council and that Legal Services were currently looking into the covenant further.

The Chairman suggested that an indoor bowls facility be included in the proposals.

At this point, Councillor S Sheahan raised a number of questions and the following answers were received from the Chief Executive:

-      Referring to paragraph 1.9 of the Cabinet report attached at appendix 1, Councillor S Sheahan asked for the number of people that would rather see the Hermitage leisure centre upgraded in its current location and asked what work had been undertaken to investigate that option.  The Chief Executive explained that she would provide the figures outside of the meeting as she did not have the information to hand.  She explained that the consultant who was brought in to assess the Hermitage Leisure Centre had advised against that option for a number of reasons.  At the request of Councillor S Sheahan, the Chief Executive agreed to circulate the advice given by  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

The officers consider that the press and public should be excluded during consideration of the following items in accordance with Section 100(a) of the Local Government Act 1972 as publicity would be likely to result in disclosure of exempt or confidential information.

It was moved by Councillor D Harrison, seconded by Councillor N Smith and

RESOLVED THAT:

In pursuance of Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the remainder of the meeting on the grounds that the business to be transacted involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act and that the public interest in maintaining this exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Report of the Director of Resources.

The Interim Director of Resources presented the report to Members, highlighting the decision taken by Cabinet on 25 July 2017 and addressing each of the reasons put forward for the call-in as attached.  He reminded Members that a call-in was not about the merits of the decisions themselves, but whether the decisions had been made properly in accordance with the Council’s Constitution.

Members discussed the report before them and expressed concerns over the decisions that had been made.

The Deputy Monitoring Officer advised Members that if they were to agree on option B then something in writing would be required detailing the concerns regarding the decision making process.  He suggested that the Committee agree on a Member to supply this by delegation and recommended the Chairman.

The Chairman moved option B with the addition that written comments from the Policy Development Group be delegated to the Chairman.  It was seconded by Councillor D Harrison.

RESOLVED THAT:

a)    Cabinet be asked to reconsider its decision in the light of comments from the Policy Development Group.

b)    Delegation be given to the Chairman to provide the written comments for consideration by Cabinet on behalf of the Policy Development Group.

To consider any items to be included in the work programme. The plan of forthcoming Cabinet decisions and the current work programme are attached for information.

Councillor T Eynon commented that the Medium Term Financial Strategy would not be seen by the Committee prior to Cabinet due to the scheduling of the meetings.  She also asked who would be attending the next meeting regarding the gas supply in rural areas item.  The Interim Director of Resources confirmed that the Committee would see the Medium Term Financial Strategy as part of the budget report as the two items had been realigned.  He also confirmed that the gas supplier attending the meeting would be a representative from British Gas and they were due to come to the next meeting.  Unfortunately, they had let him down before as they were due to come to previous meetings.

The Chief Executive stated that the performance reports would be brought to future meetings.

The Deputy Monitoring Officer stated that the item regarding the planning committee scheme of delegation would not be brought to the next meeting as work was still ongoing but there would be a constitutional update regarding scrutiny arrangements and contract procedure rules.

RESOVLED THAT:

a)   The quarterly performance reports be added to the work plan.

b)   A constitutional update report be added to the work plan.

c)   The ‘Review of Planning Committee Scheme of Delegation’ item be deferred to the meeting on 10 January 2018.

Councillor V Richichi left the meeting at 5.55pm.