Agenda and minutes
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Contact: Democratic Services
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Apologies Additional documents: Minutes: Apologies were received from Councillors Nick Maunder, Richard Keeling, Clive Webster, and Richard Morgan.
Council noted the sad passing of Cllr Ray Theodoulou, and offered condolences to his family and friends who were in attendance on behalf of all the Members and Officers.
The Leader of the Council offered his condolences on behalf of the administration and the Liberal Democrat Group to Ray Theodoulou’s family and friends. It was highlighted how Cllr Theodoulou was a very knowledgeable and diligent councillor.
The Leader of the Conservative Group noted Ray Theodoulou’s long service since 2003 and his service with Gloucestershire County Council. It was also highlighted how Cllr Theodoulou had brought his experience from working in financial services to his role as a Councillor. A communication received from Tim Guest as Chair of Southrop Parish Council was also read out by Cllr Berry.
The Chief Executive provided his condolences on behalf of the officers to the family, friends and colleagues of Ray Theodoulou.
A number of Members spoke and provided tributes to Cllr Theodoulou and his work during his time as a Councillor at Cotswold District Council.
The Chair then invited everyone in the room to stand for a 1 minute silence in remembrance of Cllr Ray Theodoulou.
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Declarations of Interest To receive any declarations of interest from Members and Officers, relating to items to be considered at the meeting. Additional documents: Minutes: Cllr Berry stated a non-pecuniary interest that he was a member of Friends of the Corinium Museum. |
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To confirm the minutes of the meeting of Council held on 15th February 2023. Additional documents:
Minutes: Council noted the correction to be made on Page 12 section 2 of the minutes to change the word ‘her’ to ‘his’ in relation to the delegation of the Deputy Chief Executive.
RESOLVED: That Council agreed to the minutes of the meeting on 15th February 2023 subject to any corrections being made.
Voting Record - For 24, 4 abstentions, 0 against, 4 absent
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Announcements from the Chair, Leader of Chief Executive Additional documents: Minutes: The Chair informed Members that, with the agreement of Council, the Motion by Cllr Judd on the agenda would be taken before the Award of the Leisure and Culture Contracts.
The Leader of the Council noted that Councillors Clive Webster, Nick Maunder, Rachel Coxcoon, Jenny Forde and Andrew Doherty were not standing at the next election and thanked them for their hard work for their residents.
The Leader of the Conservative Group was invited to speak regarding any tributes he wished to make on Members standing down on his side. Cllr Berry paid a general tribute to all of the Members who were standing down from all groups and the work that had been done.
The Chief Executive as part of his announcements wished to thank all departing Members on behalf of the officers of the Council. He also wished all Members standing the very best of luck for the election.
It was noted for the record that Cllr David Cunningham thanked Cllr Andrew Doherty for his work during the floods that had taken place in the north of the district.
At the discretion of the Chair, Councillor Robin Hughes addressed Council regarding sewage in rivers and representations to the water companies. |
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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: Minutes: The Chief Executive made an announcement regarding responses to public questions after the meeting. It was highlighted that responses would be provided where possible within 5 working days, and if not, a holding response would be sent. These responses would also be captured in the minutes of the meeting.
Mr Fowles addressed Council and on behalf of the Cotswold Conservative Association wished to thank Council for their condolences on the death of Ray Theodoulou.
Answers to the questions can be found at Annex A.
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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 fifteen 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 5.00 p.m. 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 9.30 a.m. 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 questions have been submitted:
Question 1 Question from Councillor Stephen Andrews to Councillor Jenny Forde, Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing and Armed Forces Champion
In January of this year, you will recall that you undertook to provide a short briefing note for Members so that we are all aware of the support that this Council will now provide, or act to encourage those that it can influence to provide as part of this new Armed Forces Covenant Duty. I have not yet seen this briefing note. This should not be complicated as the Council should already have the measures in place with guidance available to Staff.
When will this briefing note be produced and made available to Members?
Question 2 Question from Councillor Stephen Andrews to Councillor Juliet Layton, Cabinet Member for Development Management and Licensing
As of the 3rd March 2023, the version of the Scheme of Delegation posted on the Planning Committee page of the CDC website (https://www.cotswold.gov.uk/planning-and-building/planning-permission/planning-committee/) is clear at 4 i under Development Management (DM) that Planning Applications should be referred to the Planning Committee unless the Scheme of Delegation applies:
“… with the following exceptions:- i. Applications where the views of the Town Council or Parish Council are clearly contrary to the proposed recommendation and cannot be resolved by condition or negotiation (with the exception of householder development or advertisement consent, which may continue to be delegated)”
In this and other areas, the published Scheme of Delegation differs significantly from the current practice of this Council.
Would she agree with me that the Scheme of Delegation followed by the Council should, in the interest of openness, transparency and good governance, be that made available to the public on the website of the Council?
Question 3 Question from Councillor Tom Stowe to Councillor Joe Harris, Leader of the Council
Additional documents:
Minutes: Annex C Supplementary Responses and Written Responses
Cllr Brassington commented following the reply to the supplementary question to Cllr Joe Harris from Cllr Tom Stowe that he found the tone of Cllr Stowe’s remarks offensive. It was noted that the Code of Conduct for Councillors says that Councillors should treat other Councillors with respect. This was noted that ‘respect means politeness in behaviour and speech'.
The Chair highlighted that the Monitoring Officer would take the matter away outside of the meeting. |
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Gloucestershire-Wide Code of Conduct for Elected Members Purpose This report sets out the proposed Member Code of Conduct.
Recommendations The Council resolves to: • adopts the Gloucestershire-wide Code of Conduct with effect from the 9th May 2023 • Council notes that the Monitoring Officer will carry out training prior to it coming into effect. Additional documents:
Minutes: The Leader of the Council introduced the item as an item from the Constitution Working Group and the Audit Committee.
It was noted that a unified code would help to share resources between the different local authority tiers, and that Members of multiple local authority tiers would be clear on the standards that applied to their conduct in their roles on different councils.
The Leader of the Conservative Group seconded the item and felt that this was a much clearer code of conduct for all Members and that it was hoped that Town and Parish Councils would also adopt this.
Council noted that the code of conduct was based on the Local Government Association’s recommendations and put more responsibility on the Councillor to abide by the Code of Conduct.
It was noted that any member of the public who chaired a sub-group operated by a town or parish council would need to be aware of their responsibilities under the code of conduct. This was noted by the Director of Governance.
Council commented that the Code of Conduct should be adopted by town and parish councils in the district and that chairs of parish councils should be informed of its adoption by the Cotswold District Council. The Director of Governance commented that this was a good proposal and would take this away. It was also noted that the GATPC had been involved with this and considerations around making this training mandatory. It would also be added to the next Audit Committee agenda.
Council noted that this Code of Conduct would be part of members’ training following the election on 4 May 2023.
There was a query to the Monitoring Officer about requests to make the training mandatory and how this might be possible to enforce. It was noted that the Audit Committee had responsibility for standards and this would be discussed at the next Audit Committee meeting on 27 April 2023.
RESOLVED: The Council AGREED to: ADOPT the Gloucestershire-wide Code of Conduct with effect from 9 May 2023 NOTE that the Monitoring Officer will carry out training prior to it coming into effect.
Voting Record – For 29 , Against 0 , Abstention 0 , Absent 4
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Amendments to the Constitution - Report of the Constitution Working Group Purpose To consider proposals from the Constitution Working Group for amendments to the Constitution to – · commence the recruitment process and agree remuneration for up to two independent members on the Audit Committee, and associated amendments to the Constitution; · Implement a Monitoring Officer Protocol change the meeting duration for Overview and Scrutiny Committee and Audit Committees to a maximum duration of three hours.
Recommendations That Council resolves to: a) approve the recruitment of up to two Independent Members of Audit Committee on the basis of the recruitment pack at annex A; b) delegate authority to the Director of Governance & Development (Monitoring Officer, and Deputy Chief Executive & S151 Officer, in consultation with the Chair of Audit Committee, to agree three members of Audit Committee to be on the interview panel; c) approve an annual payment of £1,000.00 to be paid to independent members of Audit Committee; d) authorises the Director of Governance & Development (Monitoring Officer) to update Part C3: Committee Functions to make the consequential amendments to the Audit Committee’s membership. d) approve the Monitoring Officer Protocol for inclusion in the Constitution. f) update Procedure Rule 9 in Part D of the Constitution to read as follows:
“The maximum duration of one sitting of a meeting (excluding any comfort breaks) will be as shown below. When the time limit is reached the current agenda item will be completed in the normal way. Any subsequent business will fall or may be reschedule to a later meeting or the meeting may be adjourned (to conclude on a different date).
Council – four hours* Cabinet – four hours* Audit Committee – three hours Overview and Scrutiny Committee – three hours Planning and Licensing Committee – no maximum duration
*For Council and Cabinet, at the conclusion of an item of business, after three hours have elapsed, a vote will be taken by a simple majority to continue for the final hour”. Additional documents:
Minutes: The purpose of this report was to consider proposals from the Constitution Working Group for amendments to the Constitution to: commence the recruitment process and agree remuneration for up to two independent members on the Audit Committee, and associated amendments to the Constitution; implement a Monitoring Officer Protocol change the meeting duration for Overview and Scrutiny Committee and Audit Committees to a maximum duration of three hours.
The Leader of the Council introduced the item and outlined the context for these proposals. The Seconder of the item Councillor Nikki Ind added that as a member of the Constitution Working Group she was satisfied with the proposals going to Council.
Council noted the minor spelling corrections within the report to the recommendations where there were two letter d’s that would be made to the final documents. It was also noted on Page 57 that there was a reference to a ‘borough’ where this should read ‘district’.
Council noted that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and Audit Committee would need officer support to ensure Members were briefed to complete business within the proposed timings.
Council also noted that some of the meetings may clash with town and parish council meetings which were recognised as being very important for hearing the view of residents. However, it was recognised that the vote that Council was being asked to approve the time limits and that the meeting start times had already been agreed by Council.
RESOLVED: That Council AGREED to a) APPROVE the recruitment of up to two Independent Members of Audit Committee on the basis of the recruitment pack at annex A; b) DELEGATE AUTHORITY to the Director of Governance & Development (Monitoring Officer, and Deputy Chief Executive & S151 Officer, in consultation with the Chair of Audit Committee, to agree three members of Audit Committee to be on the interview panel; c) APPROVE an annual payment of £1,000.00 to be paid to independent members of Audit Committee; d) AUTHORISE the Director of Governance & Development (Monitoring Officer) to update Part C3: Committee Functions to make the consequential amendments to the Audit Committee’s membership. e) APPROVE the Monitoring Officer Protocol for inclusion in the Constitution. f) update Procedure Rule 9 in Part D of the Constitution to read as follows:
“The maximum duration of one sitting of a meeting (excluding any comfort breaks) will be as shown below. When the time limit is reached the current agenda item will be completed in the normal way. Any subsequent business will fall or may be reschedule to a later meeting or the meeting may be adjourned (to conclude on a different date).
Council – four hours* Cabinet – four hours* Audit Committee – three hours Overview and Scrutiny Committee – three hours Planning and Licensing Committee – no maximum duration
*For Council and Cabinet, at the conclusion of an item of business, after three hours have elapsed, a vote will be taken by a simple majority to continue for the final hour”.
Voting Record For 29, 0 Against, 0 ... view the full minutes text for item 19. |
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Notice of Motions In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 12, the following Motions have been received:-
Motion proposed by Councillor Julia Judd and seconded by Councillor Tony Berry
Motion to consider the provenance and supply chain for approval of bricks for building developments in the Cotswolds.
I congratulate the member of the public for lobbying me about this ethical proposal.
Through Building Regulation powers, Cotswold District Council prohibits the use of unethical and unsustainable bricks from being used in the Cotswolds. Some bricks on the open market derive from dubious supply sources particularly on the Asian subcontinent, where poor working conditions and the use of bonded and child labour is used to produce them. Furthermore, it cannot be sustainable to transport bricks, heavy freight for thousands of miles to the UK. This issue has recently been highlighted in the national press.
A report produced in February 2022, written evidence submission from Department of Geography, Royal Holloway, titled: The Environmental Footprint of UK Trade: Three Case Studies and Recommendations states:
The first case examined here concerns the rapidly growing phenomenon of brick importation from outside the UK. Once self-sufficient in terms of brick production, the UK has since the recession of 2008 seen production fall behind demand. As a result, the UK has now risen to become the world’s largest importer of bricks, importing more than 400,000 in 2019 (HMRC, 2020). Moreover, these bricks are coming from further and further afield. Bricks imported from outside the EU increased more than tenfold in the five years between 2015 and 2019, from 3,088,902 to 32,942,280: a low value, high weight trade that generates carbon on an enormous scale. Produced in largely unregulated kilns and shipped thousands of miles by boat, a three-kilogram house brick imported from outside the EU has a carbon cost three times higher than one produced domestically. Worse still, they carry with them a legacy of local environmental destruction and human exploitation on a scale that the UK has long since eliminated domestically, yet on which the goods we consume continue to depend.
The Brick Development Association has produced a Charter which states: ‘Through our everyday monitoring of brick statistics and UK market throughput, we have noticed and have evidenced through work with our partners, at University College London and others, a significant increase in the importation of clay bricks from outside of the EU into the UK. Most notably from Asia. There is a large defined area across Pakistan, India, Nepal and Bangladesh as well as Sub-Saharan Africa and the Far East, which is causing concern where bricks are manufactured seasonally, in large numbers, and more often than not using bonded or child labour. Those individuals making these bricks work under extreme conditions with little or no regard to health and safety, poor sanitation, often with little or no pay. This is unacceptable in today’s business world.’
Developers and merchants are becoming aware of this ethical provenance issue, however our policies can specifically exclude unethical bricks from approval so that they cannot ... view the full agenda text for item 20. Additional documents: Minutes: Cllr Judd proposed the motion which requested that the Council actively encourage the use of ethical bricks for current and future developments within the district.
Council noted the appalling working conditions for brickmaking and the suffering caused from the unethical conditions.
Council noted the proposals that bricks used in the Cotswolds for developments should be ethical bricks.
There were comments made by Councillors on cost and how any mandatory requirements for bricks could add costs to developments.
The Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Forward Planning noted that many policies within the planning system were set at a national level. However, there were requirements around sustainable sourcing and building policies within current planning policies.
Council noted that motions can help to start the practical implementation of policies and this motion would help to encourage locally sourced materials.
It was noted that the Council had a net-zero carbon toolkit being used for developments that would also take into account ethical concerns.
Cllr Judd, in summing up the debate on the motion thanked the Senior Democratic Services Officer for assisting in ensuring that the wording of the motion was acceptable for inclusion on the agenda.
RESOLVED: That the Council AGREE the request to actively encourage the use of ethical bricks for current and future developments within the district.
Voting Record – 27 For, 0 Against, 2 Abstention, 4 absent
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Next meeting The next meeting will be Wednesday 24th May 2023 for Annual Council. Additional documents: Minutes: The Chair of Council reminded the public that the next meeting of Council was on 24th May 2023. |
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Approval of contract awards for Leisure and Culture Purpose To seek authority to award a contract for; a. the management of the Council’s leisure facilities b. the management of the Council’s culture facilities
Recommendations That, subject to the decision of Cabinet on 13 March 2023, Council resolves to: 1. Agree to award the Leisure Management Contract to the preferred bidder set out in EXEMPT Annex C (i). 2. Agree to award the Culture Management Contract to the preferred bidder set out in EXEMPT Annex C (ii). 3. Delegate authority to the interim Head of Legal Services for Contract finalisation. 4. Delegate authority to Deputy Chief Executive and s151 Officer, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing and Leadership and Management Team (Chief Executive, Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Governance and Development), to accept capital investment proposals set out in preferred bidder’s Leisure tender submission. 5. Notes the position set out in paragraph 5.6 for the mobilisation period and in the early process of embedding the new contracts. Additional documents: Minutes: The purpose of the report was to seek authority to award a contract for the management of the Council’s leisure facilities and the management of the Council’s culture facilities as set out in the report and the annexes.
The officers responsible for the procurement process introduced themselves as Rachel Biles - Strategic Projects Lead, and Scott Williams - Business Manager - Contracts, Environmental Services. They were supported by Scott Dorling, Partner from Trowers & Hamlins LLP.
It was noted that Leisure and Cultural Centres had been facing difficult circumstances following the coronavirus pandemic.
It was noted that this procurement strictly covered the leisure centres in Cirencester, Bourton-on-the-Water and Chipping Campden.
A minor addition to Recommendation 4 to include the Leader of the Council in the consultation was put to Council as the Cabinet positions may change after the election on 4 May 2023.
Council noted the work with Members as part of the Leisure and Culture Working Group to examine the assessment criteria.
Council noted the hard work of officers to complete the process in a very short timeframe and thanked officers for their work.
There were comments made by Members regarding the leisure facilities within Chipping Campden and the lack of consultation that had been had with the school through this procurement process. The Business Manager for Contracts stated that the specifications of the contract required the preferred bidder to have a good partnership with the schools to deliver services. It was also noted that meetings would be set up with the schools running leisure centres in the district to discuss this.
Council noted that whilst there were rights to terminate the contract such as poor performance, there was also a voluntary right to terminate the contract in the event that this was deemed as necessary. However this would have financial implications for the Council which was highlighted by the officers present.
Council noted the reporting requirements and performance standards to ensure the contract requirements were met by the preferred bidder.
Council noted the work in partnership with Max Associates who had experience in leisure management contract procurement and had assisted the Council in determining the specifications of the contracts.
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Matters exempt from publication If Council wishes to exclude the press and the public from the meeting during consideration of any of the items on the exempt from publication part of the agenda, it will be necessary for Council to pass a resolution in accordance with the provisions of section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 on the grounds that their presence could involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as described in specific paragraphs of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.
Council may maintain the exemption if and so long as, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.
Additional documents: Minutes: Following the questions that Members had asked in public session, the Chair then opened the vote to move into private session for the remainder of this item.
RESOLVED: That Council exclude the public and press for the remainder of the meeting under section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 on the grounds that their presence could involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as described in Paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.
Voting Record - For 29, 0 against, 0 abstention, 4 absent
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Exempt annexes of for the award of contracts for the management of the Council's leisure and culture facilities Minutes: There was discussion regarding a number of points within the exempt annexes of Agenda Item 9.
Following requests from a number of Members, a recorded vote on the recommendations was then taken.
RESOLVED: That Council: 1. AGREED to award the Leisure Management Contract to the preferred bidder set out in EXEMPT Annex C (i). 2. AGREED to award the Culture Management Contract to the preferred bidder set out in EXEMPT Annex C (ii). 3. DELEGATED AUTHORITY to the interim Head of Legal Services for Contract finalisation. 4. DELEGATED AUTHORITY to Deputy Chief Executive and s151 Officer, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing and Leadership and Management Team (Chief Executive, Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Governance and Development), to accept capital investment proposals set out in preferred bidder’s Leisure tender submission. 5. NOTED the position set out in paragraph 5.6 for the mobilisation period and in the early process of embedding the new contracts.
Voting Record – 17 for, 2 against, 7 abstention, 6 absent
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