Agenda
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Contact: Democratic Services
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Apologies To receive any apologies for absence. The quorum for Council is 9 members.
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Declarations of Interest To receive any declarations of interest from Members relating to items to be considered at the meeting. Additional documents: |
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Purpose To confirm the minutes for the following two Council meetings: 1. 18 March 2026 2. 20 May 2026 (Annual Meeting)
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Announcements from the Chair, Leader or Chief Executive To receive any announcements from the Chair of the Council, the Leader of the Council and the Chief Executive. Additional documents: |
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Unsung Heroes Awards The Chair to declare the winners of the Unsung Heroes awards for July 2026. Additional documents: |
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Public Questions To deal with questions from the public within the open forum question and answer session of fifteen minutes in total. Questions from each member of the public should be no longer than one minute each and relate to issues under the Council’s remit. At any one meeting no person may submit more than two questions and no more than two such questions may be asked on behalf of one organisation.
The Chair will ask whether any members of the public present at the meeting wish to ask a question and will decide on the order of questioners.
The response may take the form of: a) a direct oral answer; b) where the desired information is in a publication of the Council or other published work, a reference to that publication; or c) where the reply cannot conveniently be given orally, a written answer circulated later to the questioner. Additional documents: |
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A Member of the Council may ask the Chair, the Leader, a Cabinet Member or the Chair of any Committee a question on any matter in relation to which the Council has powers or duties or which affects the Cotswold District. A maximum period of 15 minutes shall be allowed at any such meeting for Member questions.
A Member may only ask a question if: a) the question has been delivered in writing or by electronic mail to the Chief Executive no later than 5.00pm on the working day before the day of the meeting; or b) the question relates to an urgent matter, they have the consent of the Chair to whom the question is to be put and the content of the question is given to the Chief Executive by 9.30am on the day of the meeting.
An answer may take the form of: a) a direct oral answer; b) where the desired information is in a publication of the Council or other published work, a reference to that publication; or c) where the reply cannot conveniently be given orally, a written answer circulated later to the questioner.
The following Member questions have been submitted for response:
Question from Cllr Daryl Corps to Cllr Juliet Layton, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning Please confirm how much money is currently held in the Council’s Planning Appeals Reserve, often described as the planning 'fighting fund'? How much of that sum is ring fenced specifically for defending planning appeals, and how much, if any, has been spent or committed since the fund was established?
Question from Cllr Gina Blomefield to Cllr Juliet Layton, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning The Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) provides important additional funding for Town and Parish Councils and arises from statutory levies on new build housing and extensions to existing properties. If a Town or Parish has an existing Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP) they receive 25% of the CIL amount with the rest going to the District Council funds and without a NDP they receive 15%.
With the prospect of a huge increase in new developments across Cotswold District this could provide a useful additional revenue stream for local infrastructure projects.
I understand that the criteria for CIL applications is being reviewed.
It would be helpful if Town and Parish Councils could be briefed on this so that they can make plans in an organised way to spend their CIL money to best benefit their communities.
Can you give me an update on when the new CIL criteria will be published?
Question from Cllr Laura Hall-Wilson to Cllr Andrea Pellegram, Cabinet Member for Environment and Regulatory Services While persuading residents to recycle more is a noble ambition, the overall waste a household produces is unlikely to go down.
With smaller black bins what increased provision will there be to hold recycling (i.e. replacing the white and blue bags).
Additionally in my ward almost fortnightly recycling is left because the ... view the full agenda text for item 7. Additional documents: |
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Committee membership change The Leader of Council to report that Cllr Naomi Bloomer will replace Cllr Ian Watson on the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
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Making the Cotswold District Dementia Friendly Purpose To update Council on progress and proposed actions to contribute towards the Council ambition to make the Cotswold District Dementia Friendly.
Recommendation That Council resolves to: 1. Note the progress made since the Council motion in January 2026 and the evidence gathered through engagement with town and parish councils and officers. 2. Approve the proposed programme of dementia-friendly workstreams set out in this report. 3. Endorse continued partnership working with town and parish councils, health partners, the voluntary and community sector, and local dementia support organisations to take this work forward. 4. Request that progress report be shared with Overview and Scrutiny in approximately 12 months. Additional documents: |
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Motion report - Food and Farming Purpose This report responds to the motion approved at Full Council on 18 March 2026 which requested an update on how food and farming would be incorporated into the development of the future operating model under Local Government Reorganisation (LGR).
Recommendation That Council resolves to: 1. Note the opportunities for embedding food and farming as part of LGR in Gloucestershire. 2. Request the Gloucestershire LGR Joint Scrutiny Panel to consider how food and farming could be included as an active element within climate planning work for the new shadow authority or authorities. Additional documents: |
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Overview and Scrutiny Committee Annual Report 2025/26 Purpose To receive the annual report from Overview and Scrutiny for 2025/2026. Recommendation That Council notes the report from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee for 2025/26. Additional documents: |
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Notice of Motion In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 12, the following Motion has been received:
Motion 2026/004 Improving Maternity Services across Gloucestershire Proposed by Cllr Laura Hall-Wilson Seconded by Cllr Dilys Neil Two reports have recently been published highlighting failures in maternity care in the UK, the Ockenden maternity review and the independent report led by Baroness Amos. The latter included findings and recommendations that specifically relate to Gloucestershire, highlighting the importance of sustained leadership and collaborative action to improve services and restore public confidence. Safe, accessible and high-quality maternity services are essential for the health and wellbeing of women, babies and families across Gloucestershire. Residents of the Cotswold District have experienced concern regarding the availability and resilience of maternity services within the county. The continued limitations on services at Stroud Maternity Unit and for Home Births have reduced the range of birth choices available to families in the Cotswold District and increased pressure on other maternity units across Gloucestershire. While responsibility for commissioning and delivering maternity services rests primarily with the NHS, local authorities have an important leadership, convening and scrutiny role in championing the interests of residents and supporting improvements to public health. That Full Council resolves to: 1 Agree that every family should have access to safe, high-quality maternity care and genuine choice over where and how they give birth to improve outcomes for mothers and babies both during labour and postpartum. Restoring confidence in maternity services requires strong partnership working between local government, the NHS and other stakeholders therefore Cotswold District Council should use its influence to ensure that the concerns of residents are clearly communicated to those responsible for planning and delivering maternity services.
2 Request that the Leader meet with the Cabinet Member who leads on Health at Gloucestershire County Council at the earliest opportunity to discuss the current challenges facing maternity services across Gloucestershire and to seek agreement on how both councils can work together to advocate for improvements to maternity provision, including: o the restoration and development of services at Stroud Maternity Unit; o action to address workforce shortages, particularly the recruitment and retention of midwives needed to provide safe and reliable home birth services; and o implementation of the recommendations relevant to Gloucestershire arising from the recent report led by Baroness Amos.
3 Write jointly, where appropriate, to NHS Gloucestershire, Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, the Integrated Care Board and the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, setting out the concerns of local authorities and seeking clear plans and timescales for improving maternity services.
4 Report back to Full Council on the outcome of these discussions and any actions agreed to support improvements in maternity services for the residents of Gloucestershire. Additional documents: |
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Next meeting An Extraordinary Meeting of the Council will be held on 12 August 2026 at 6pm to consider the Local Plan.
The next Ordinary Meeting of the Council will be held on 23 September 2026 at 6pm.
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