Minutes of a meeting of Earley Town Council held in the Council Chamber, Council Offices, Radstock Lane, Earley, Berkshire on Wednesday, 6th February 2008 which commenced at 7.45 pm.
Present
Chairman – Mayor, Councillor N Jorgensen
Councillors A Bradley, Mrs L Chambers, T Chambers, D Chopping, M Deegan, Ms P Dunn, M Firmager, W Gothard, T Holton, Mrs P Jorgensen, S Khan, Mrs J Lissaman, T Maher, K Miall (from 8.50), Mrs C Mitchell, P Willis (from 8.55) and G Woods.
Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Mrs A Ames (ill health), J Armstrong (holiday), Ms T Christidis, C Edmunds (work commitments), G Hughes, and N Preston.
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68. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING
The minutes of the meeting of the Town Council held on 28th November 2007 were confirmed as a true record and signed by the Mayor.
69. TOWN MAYOR'S COMMUNICATIONS
The Mayor reported that he had not received any communications since the last meeting. He had, however, attended the following:-
Woodley & Earley Lions Festival of Light, St Nicolas Church Exhibition about Slavery, opening of the new Maths and Science Block at Maiden Erlegh School and he had been in correspondence with Colin Weedon, Chairman of the Wokingham Fair Trade Campaign.
70. TOWN COUNCIL COMMITTEES
70.1 Planning Committee
70.1.1 Meeting of 11th December
The minutes of the meeting of the Planning Committee of 11th December 2007 were presented by the Committee Chairman, Councillor Mrs P Jorgensen.
On the proposition of Councillor Mrs P Jorgensen, seconded by Councillor G Woods it was
RESOLVED that the minutes of the Planning Committee held on 11th December 2007 (Minutes 101-114) be approved.
70.1.2 Meeting of 15th January 2008
In presenting the minutes of the Planning Committee held on 15th January 2008, Councillor Mrs P Jorgensen drew attention to the very positive discussions which had taken place between the Committee and Mr James Freeman, the Chief Executive of Reading Buses.
Attention was also drawn to Minute 124 which detailed the Earley Environmental Group’s proposal to hold an annual litter pick on Sunday 16th March, in which all Members of the Town Council would be welcome to participate.
On the proposition of Mrs P Jorgensen, seconded by Councillor G Woods it was
RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Planning Committee held on 15th January 2008 (Minutes 115-131) be approved.
70.2 Amenities & Leisure Committee
The minutes of the meeting of the Amenities & Leisure Committee held on 9th January 2008 were presented by the Committee Chairman, Councillor D Chopping. A Member present queried why the Committee had resolved to take the item recorded at Minute 67 as a confidential item. The Amenities & Leisure Committee Chairman responded by stating that it was normal practice in such situations to consider such items in confidential session, and it was felt appropriate in this case.
On the proposition of Councillor D Chopping, seconded by Councillor A Bradley it was
RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Amenities & Leisure Committee meeting held on 9th January 2008 (Minutes 58 - 70) be approved.
70.3 Policy & Resources Committee
The minutes of the meeting of the Policy & Resources Committee held on 23rd January 2008 were presented by the Committee Chairman, Councillor M Deegan.
Councillor Deegan drew Councillors’ attention to the recommendation at Minute 43.2.1 concerning the Committee’s proposal to make a contribution of £800 to Our Lady of Peace Parish Community Centre.
Councillor Deegan then drew Councillors’ attention to the recommendations at Minutes 46.1 and 46.2 concerning the setting of the Town Council’s budget and precept for 2008/09.
Councillor Deegan reported that, following the Policy & Resources Committee meeting, the majority group were of the view that the Precept level of just over 14% for 2008/09 was inappropriate. He had, therefore, in consultation with Town Council officers, carried out a thorough review of the budget, and announced a number of further reductions to it. Furthermore, he reported that, following consultation with the Borough Council, he had received an assurance that the first instalment of the 08/09 Precept would be paid in the first week of April, as opposed to the end of April which had been the practice in the past. This had, therefore, allowed him to consider a reduction in the working balance.
At this point the leader of the Liberal Democrats group asked for a suspension of the meeting.
Upon resumption of the meeting, the leader of the Liberal Democrat group said that the group was extremely concerned, since it would appear that the budget had been “cut to the bone” and that the proposed expenditure in the 09/10 would have to be extremely substantial, to accommodate all the items deferred from 08/09, and to possibly compensate for the reduction in the working balance if the Borough Council was not prepared to give a similar assurance about payment of the first instalment of the Precept in future years.
The leader of the Liberal Democrat group continued by querying whether the brought forward payment for the first instalment of the 08/09 Precept was available to all Town and Parish Councils within the Borough, or was a concession for Earley only.
After further discussions on the proposed budget and the Precept level, on the proposition of Councillor M Deegan, seconded by Councillor M Firmager, it was
RESOLVED that
1. the recommendation at Minute 43.2.1 be adopted
2. the Town Council’s Precept for 08/09 be set at £656,288.79
3. the Town Clerk be requested to arrange for the printing of the appropriate number of Council Tax leaflets
4. in view of the fact that Minute 51 dealt with a confidential matter relating to a former member of the Town Council staff, this item should be considered in “closed session”
5. the minutes of the Policy & Resources Committee meeting held on 23rd January 2008 (Minutes 41-51) be approved and the recommendations at Minutes 46.1 and 46.2, as amended, be adopted
A copy of the budget statements and Precept working papers, reflecting the changes detailed above, are appended to these Minutes.
71. REPRESENTATIVES TO OUTSIDE BODIES
71.1 Reports of Representatives
71.1.1 Wokingham Waterside Centre
Councillor D Chopping reported that he had attended a recent meeting at the Waterside Centre. He was pleased to be able to report that more regular meetings were now proposed, that the finances of the Waterside Centre were stable, and that the management of the Centre had been “tightened up”.
71.1.2 Voluntary Care Bureau
Councillor P Willis announced that he had attended a recent meeting at the Voluntary Care Bureau, and had been asked to inform Councillors of the Bureau’s intention to hold events the first week in March to celebrate its 25th birthday. He advised that the Bureau’s finances were sound, and that it was pleasing to be able to report that the number of people assisted by the Bureau had doubled in the last year.
72. COUNCILLOR AUTHORISATION OF ABSENCE
72.1 Approval of Reason for Failure to Attend Council Meetings
Members were reminded that, under the Local Government Act 1972, Section 85, if a Member fails throughout six consecutive months to attend any meetings of the Council or its Committees or Sub-Committees of which they were a Member or of a Joint Committee, Joint Board or other body to which any of the Council's powers had been transferred or delegated, they ceased automatically to be a member of the Council. This was unless the Member had a "statutory excuse" or the failure was due to a reason approved by the Council or the Member had attended as a representative of the Council at a meeting of any Body.
72.2 Motion
Members were, therefore, requested to consider the following Motion:
Proposed that the absence of Councillor Mrs A Ames from any of the above mentioned meetings, both in the past and for the foreseeable future, be approved by the Council, due to illness.
RESOLVED that the Motion be approved.
73. CONDUCT OF LOCAL AUTHORITY MEMBERS IN ENGLAND: CONSULTATION
Councillors were advised that the Government had published a Consultation Paper which sought views on the detailed arrangements for putting into effect the Orders and Regulations to provide a revised more locally based ethical regime for the conduct of Local Councillors in England. The arrangements needed to cover a number of areas, as outlined in a letter from the Department for Communities and Local Government, which had been appended to the Agenda for their consideration.
Members were further advised that responses to the Consultation were required by Friday, 15th February. This item had been discussed at the Policy & Resources Committee meeting on the 23rd January, where Minute 44 recorded the resolution that the item be placed on the Agenda for this Council meeting, and for Members to submit any comments to the Town Clerk in advance of the meeting.
The Town Clerk advised that no comments had been received since the Policy & Resources Committee meeting. It was
RESOLVED that no comment be made on the Consultation.
74. APPOINTMENT OF EXTERNAL AUDITOR
Councillors were advised that since compilation of the main Agenda, the Audit Commission had written to the Town Council to advise that it proposed to appoint Mazars LLP as Auditor to Earley Town Council for a 5 year period commencing with the 07/08 accounts. The letter further advised that the Commission proposed to appoint a panel of its own officers that would act in the event that Mazars were not able to continue with the appointment. A copy of the letter received from the Audit Commission had been circulated with the supplementary agenda for Councillors’ consideration. It was
RESOLVED that the Audit Commission be advised that the Town Council had no objection to Mazars LLP being appointed as the Town Council’s Auditor for a 5 year period commencing 07/08.
75. WOKINGHAM BOROUGH COUNCIL’S STANDARDS COMMITTEE
Councillors were advised that the system for assessment and consideration of complaints against Councillors was changing from 1st April 2008, with the transfer of responsibility for the initial assessment of Code of Conduct complaints from the Standards Board for England to 2 Local Standards Committees. A letter had been received from the Principle Democratic Services Officer at Wokingham Borough Council informing the Town Council of proposals to increase the size of the Standards Committee to include Town/Parish Members. It was decided by the Borough Council that one of the three Parish Members appointed to the Committee should be from Earley, Woodley or Wokingham Town Councils. Councillors were further advised that enquiries made to officers at Wokingham Borough Council had indicated that they were looking for a voluntary Member from one of the three Towns, and the person appointed would not be representing the Council that they came from. Councillors were further advised that, should a Code of Conduct matter be discussed which emanated from their parent Council, then that person would not be asked to sit on the Committee for that particular case. Councillors T Chambers, Ms C Mitchell, K Miall and P Willis all indicated that they would have no objection to their name being put forward.
76. ORDERS FOR PAYMENT
RESOLVED that the various accounts as set out in the list attached to these minutes (Vouchers 481-491) be paid in the sums as stated.
77. PUBLICATIONS
It was noted that the following publications had been received and were available for perusal in the Council Offices:
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Wokingham Borough Council: |
Minutes of Committee Meetings for the period 13th November 2007 to 14th January 2008. Agenda for Meeting of the Executive to be held on 31st January 2008. The Town & Parish News, January 2008.
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Wokingham District Sports Council: |
Agenda for Annual General Meeting held on 28th January 2008.
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Wokingham Job Support Centre: |
Minutes of 82nd Management Committee Meeting held 9th January 2008.
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78. PRESS RELEASES
It was
RESOLVED that the following items should receive special press attention:-
· The increase in grants payable to local organisations which had been provided for in the 08/09 budget.
· The Town Council’s proposals to fund the building of a new equipment storage garage at Mays Lane compound, to improve the quality of services to the community.
· The proposal to fund a partial refurbishment of the Maiden Place kitchen, and particularly an improvement in the cooking facilities.
· The Town Council’s proposals to fund an upgrade of office facilities to improve communication.
· The Town Council’s commitment to continue the work of the litter picker and the Police Community Support Officers.
· Details of the Town Council’s Precept for 08/09, and fact that this had been achieved without the cutting of services.
79. TERMINATION OF MEETING
The meeting was declared closed at 9.32 pm.