Agenda and minutes

Full Council - Thursday 9th May 2024 6.00 pm

Venue: Council Chamber, Arun Civic Centre, Maltravers Road, Littlehampton, BN17 5LF. View directions

Contact: Jane Fulton 

Media

Items
No. Item

796.

Welcome

Minutes:

            The Chair welcomed Councillors, representatives of the public, press and officers to the meeting. 

 

797.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

            Apologies for absence had been received from Councillors Ayling, Edwards, Greenway, Harty, Jones, Northeast, Oppler, Patel and Pendleton.

 

            Apologies for Absence had also been received from the Council’s Honorary Aldermen Mr Dingemans and Mr English.

 

798.

Declarations of interest

Members and Officers are invited to make any declarations of pecuniary, personal and/or prejudicial interests that they may have in relation to items on this agenda, and are reminded that they should re-declare their interest before consideration of the item or as soon as the interest becomes apparent.

 

Members and Officers should make their declaration by stating:

 

a)  the item they have the interest in

b)  whether it is a pecuniary, personal and/or prejudicial interest

c)  the nature of the interest

d) if it is a pecuniary or prejudicial interest, whether they will be exercising their right to speak under Question Time

Minutes:

The Declaration of Interest Sheet set out below confirms those Members who had made a declaration of their personal interest as a Member of a Town or Parish Councillor or a West Sussex County Councillor, as confirmed in their Register of Interest as these declarations could apply to any of the issues to be discussed at the meeting. 

 

Name

Town or Parish Council or West Sussex County Council [WSCC]

Councillor Kenton Batley

Bognor Regis

Councillor Trevor Bence

Aldwick and WSCC

Councillor Paul Bicknell

Angmering

Councillor Billy Blanchard-Cooper

Littlehampton

Councillor Jim Brooks

Bognor Regis

Councillor Alan Butcher

Littlehampton

Councillor Andy Cooper

Rustington

Councillor Alison Cooper

Rustington and WSCC

Councillor Roger Elkins

Ferring and WSCC

Councillor Steve Goodheart

Bognor Regis

Councillor Keir Greenway

Bersted and WSCC

Councillor Thomas Harty

Felpham

Councillor Shirley Haywood

Middleton-on-Sea

Councillor David Huntley

Pagham

Councillor Lesley-Anne Lloyd

Rustington

Councillor Jill Long

Littlehampton

Councillor Martin Lury

Bersted

Councillor Stephen McAuliffe

Arundel

Councillor George O’Neill

Littlehampton

Councillor Roger Nash

Bognor Regis

Councillor Claire Needs

Bognor Regis

Councillor Mike Northeast

Littlehampton

Councillor Peggy Partridge

Rustington

Councillor Jacky Pendleton

Middleton-on-Sea and WSCC

Councillor Guy Purser

Aldwick

Councillor Matt Stanley

Bognor Regis

Councillor Freddie Tandy

Littlehampton

Councillor Sue Wallsgrove

Barnham and Eastergate

Councillor James Walsh

Littlehampton and WSCC

Councillor Jeanette Warr

Bognor Regis

Councillor Christine Wiltshire

Littlehampton

Councillor Bob Woodman

Littlehampton

Councillor Amanda Worne

Ford and Yapton

Councillor Amelia Worne

Littlehampton

Councillor Gillian Yeates

Bersted and Bognor Regis

       

There were no Declarations of Interest made.

 

799.

Public Question Time pdf icon PDF 107 KB

To receive questions from the public (for a period of up to 15 minutes)

Minutes:

The Chair confirmed that three questions had been submitted for this meeting.  The questions have been very briefly summarised below:

 

1)    From Mr and Mrs Smith to the Chair of the Corporate Support Committee, Councillor Oppler regarding a formal Stage Two Complaint.  In the absence of Councillor Oppler, Councillor Tandy as Vice-Chair of the Committee provided a response.

2)    From Mr and Mrs Smith to the Chair of the Corporate Support Committee, Councillor Oppler regarding the policy in place for confirming vexatious complainants.  In the absence of Councillor Oppler, Councillor Tandy, as Vice-Chair of the Committee provided a response.  

3)    From Mrs Godrey to the Chair of the Environment Committee, Councillor Wallsgrove regarding the installation of ticket machines at the free car park at Shrubbs Field in Middleton-on-Sea. 

 

 The Chair then drew Public Question to a close.

 

(A schedule of the full questions asked, and the responses provided can be found on the Public Question Web page at: Arun District Council)

 

800.

Questions from Members with Pecuniary/Prejudicial Interests

To receive questions from Members with pecuniary/prejudicial interests (for a period of up to 15 minutes)

Minutes:

            The Chair confirmed that there were no questions for this meeting.

801.

Petitions pdf icon PDF 130 KB

To consider any petitions received from the public.

 

A Petition has been submitted asking the Council to not install ticket machines and/or parking restrictions in the Shrubbs Field car park in Middleton-on-Sea.

 

As the Petition contains over 1,500 signatures it requires a debate by Full Council.

 

The procedure in place in the Council’s Constitution for such debates confirms:

 

·                The petition organiser will be given 5 minutes (maximum) to present the petition at the meeting.

·                The relevant Committee Chair will be given 5 minutes (maximum) for a right of reply.

·                Following the presentation of the Petition, Members are invited to debate the Petition for thirty minutes with each Councillor being allowed to speak for a maximum of 3 minutes.

 

Attached is a report from the Director of Growth and Joint Interim Chief Executive for the Council to consider in holding this debate.    

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair confirmed that a petition had been received containing over 1,500 signatures asking the Council “Not to install ticket machines and/or parking restrictions in the Shrubbs Field Car Park in Middleton-on-Sea”.

 

            An accompanying report had been provided by the Director of Growth and Joint Interim Chief Executive, as set out in the agenda pack at pages 1 to 32 which Members would consider in debating the petition.

 

            In line with the Council’s Petitions Scheme, set out in the Council’s Constitution at Part 8 – Codes and Protocols, Section 4 – Petitions Scheme – Paragraph 5.0 – Full Council debates, the Chair firstly invited the Petition Organiser, Councillor Haywood, to present the petition.

 

            Councillor Haywood then presented the petition. She referred to the following salient points. These were that Middleton-on-Sea and Elmer only had one car park which was centrally situated in the village with the access road to it being the main road through the village linking Middleton-on-Sea and Elmer. This was also the village’s only bus route and was an exceptionally busy area of the village. The road to the car park narrowed considerably near to the entrance of the car park to one side and had the pedestrian crossing to the shops on the opposite side.

 

A major issue was the amount of illegal parking along this road and the Parish Council had attempted to stop this over the years by encouraging drivers to use the car park. The installation of ticket machines would deter those who might who wish to use the shops and other facilities from using the car park. West Sussex County Council (WSCC) had expressed similar concerns in that the installation of the ticket machines would cause car parking to be displaced onto the surrounding roads, with a definite impact on the highway if installed. There were only two reasons for the installation and associated car parking limitations, one was the identification of abandoned vehicles, which was not a problem in Middleton-on-Sea as vehicles were easily and quickly identified by residents living in the surrounding flats. The other reason for the Council needing to obtain usage data was to enable it to better understand how its asset was performing. Councillor Haywood drew Members’ attention to the numerous changes that had been suggested to appease residents and the Parish Council that these machines should being installed. Councillor Haywood stated that any data would be compromised because residents would be able to come and go throughout the day without the need to produce a new ticket. Additionally, the data would be compromised further by the fact that the medical centre and disabled drivers could park whenever they needed to and outside of the scheme. The scheme would be compromised yet again by 23 residents at Buckingham Court being offered parking outside of the scheme. The adjoining flats at Kingfisher and Nightingale Courts were also looking to join Buckingham Court in the same regard. The concern was would they be offered the same number of permits,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 801.

802.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 183 KB

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the Meeting of the Council held on 13 March 2024, which are attached.

Minutes:

The minutes from the Meeting of the Council held on 13 March 2024 were approved by the Council as a correct record subject to Councillor Purser’s apologies being recorded and would be signed by the Chair at the end of the meeting. 

 

803.

Chair's Announcements

To receive such announcements as the Chair may desire to lay before the Council.

Minutes:

The Chair confirmed that she had attended the following events:

 

·         27 March 2024, the Vice-Chair had attended the Bognor Regis Annual Town Meeting and celebration of awards;

·         10 April 2024, she had represented the Council at the funeral of Mr Keith Croft [Mr Wick] who had passed away in April;

·         16 April 2024 attended Warmere Court Nursing Home’s long service awards in Yapton;

·         21 April 2024, the Arundel and Littlehampton District’s St George’s Day Service in Arundel with the theme of thanks being towards the RNLI;

·         This week, the Chair had formally opened the Rustington Changing Places Facility, which would be the first of many across the district; and then Arundel’s changing places facility.

 

804.

Urgent Matters - Local Government Act 1972, Section 85(1) - Approval of Absence pdf icon PDF 391 KB

To deal with business not otherwise specified in the Council summons which, in the opinion of the Chairman of the Council (in consultation with the Chief Executive), is business of such urgency as to require immediate attention by the Council.

Minutes:

The Chair confirmed that there was one urgent item for the meeting to consider which had been circulated to Members and published to the Full Council web page earlier in the afternoon. 

 

The Chair invited the Group Head of Law & Governance and Monitoring Officer to present the report. It was explained that the report sought Council approval to grant a leave of absence to Councillor Thomas Harty if he might not be able to attend next week’s Annual Meeting of the Council.

 

Councillors were reminded that under Section 85(1) of the Local Government Act 1972, if a Councillor did not attend any relevant meeting for a period of six consecutive months, they automatically ceased to be a member of the Council, unless before the expiry date of that period, the authority had approved the reason for that absence.

 

The Council was being asked to approve a reason for the non-attendance of Councillor Tom Harty and that if Councillor Harty was not able to attend the Annual Meeting of the Council on 15 May 2024, approval be given to the absence for reason of ill-health of a family member for a period until and including 6 November 2024. The report had been submitted as an urgent item as it was not known at this time if Councillor Harty would be able to attend the meeting next week.

 

Councillor Stanley formally proposed the recommendation which was then seconded by Councillor Nash.

 

In discussing the report, the Council’s support and best wishes were extended to Councillor Harty during this difficult time.

 

In considering this item, Councillor Turner confirmed that he wished to propose a slight amendment as he saw potential problems with the date for the Full Council meeting in November 2024. He proposed that the date of 6 November 2024, be changed to 26 September 2024 and in formally proposing this amendment he confirmed that this was being actioned with deep compassion but hoped that the Council would see this to be reasonable.

 

The amendment was seconded by Councillor Gunner.

 

Following short debate, Councillor Goodheart as Leader of the Arun Independent Group, thanked the Council for showing its sympathy and understanding.

 

On the amendment being put to the vote it was declared LOST.

 

The Chair then returned to the substantive recommendation and the Council,

 

            RESOLVED

 

That in the event that Councillor Tom Harty is unable to attend a meeting of the authority before the Full Council meeting on 15 May 2024, approval is given to the absence for reason of ill-health of a family member for a period until and including 6 November 2024.

 

805.

Appointment to the Post of Chief Executive Officer pdf icon PDF 331 KB

The report informs members of the process followed by the Chief Executive’s Recruitment and Selection Panel for the selection of a permanent Chief Executive and Head of Paid Service and recommends that Full Council confirms the appointment of the Panel’s preferred candidate and appoints them as the Council’s Returning Officer and its Electoral Registration Officer. 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Before inviting the Leader of the Council, Councillor Stanley, to present the report, the Chair drew Members’ attention to the supplement that had been emailed on 8 May 2024 providing two Exempt papers, which had been circulated to the meeting. The Exempt item provided an information paper about the candidate and the recommendations of the Chief Executive Recruitment and Selection Panel meeting held on 23 April 2024. Members were reminded that should there be the need to discuss or refer to these papers, it would be necessary to move into Exempt business.

 

Councillor Stanley then presented a report from the Group Head of Organisational Excellence which reminded Members that at Full Council in January 2024, the Council had resolved to proceed with external recruitment for a permanent Chief Executive.  The Chief Executive’s Recruitment and Selection Panel had delegated responsibility for this confidential process, which had been explained fully at Section 4 of the report.  The appointment of the Chief Executive was a decision of Full Council based on a recommendation from the CEO Recruitment and Selection Panel.

 

Councillor Stanley reassured Members that the process undertaken had been robust and had included several stages including consultation with members of the Recruitment and Selection Panel at each of those stages. This was longlisting, shortlisting and a formal interview with the Panel on 23 April 2024.  

 

The Chief Executive’s Recruitment and Selection Panel then met formally on 23 April 2024 and made recommendations at 2.1 (i) and (ii) that Full Council confirms the appointment of their preferred candidate and that they are also appointed as the Council’s Returning Officer and Electoral Registration Officer with effect from the start date of their employment with Arun District Council.

 

Due to the need to complete the final confidential stages of the recruitment process and be mindful of the candidate’s current employer, members had received the minutes of the Recruitment and Selection Panel, along with a career summary for the preferred candidate, circulated to them as exempt items in advance of the meeting.

 

Councillor Stanley outlined that the candidate had a wide range of skills and experience working across a range of different councils and services and had worked in no overall control and committee environments. They had demonstrated energy, drive and integrity and an understanding of the issues that faced the Council. Councillor Stanley therefore formally proposed that the Council support the recommendations set out in 2.1 (i) and (ii) of the report.  Councillor Birch then seconded the recommendations.

 

Finally, Councillor Stanley wished to have formally placed on record the Council’s thanks to the Joint Interim Chief Executives, Karl Roberts and Philippa Dart for their sterling work over the past year.

 

 

The Council

 

            RESOLVED – That

 

(1)  It confirms the appointment of the preferred candidate as recommended by the Chief Executive’s Recruitment and Selection Panel and set out in the Exempt appendices circulated separately to the agenda and at the meeting; and

 

(2)  Appoints the Chief Executive’s Recruitment and Selection Panel’s preferred  ...  view the full minutes text for item 805.

806.

Calendar of Meetings - 2024/2025 pdf icon PDF 136 KB

At the last meeting of Full Council, Members received the Calendar of Meetings for 2024/25 for approval.

 

In debating the calendar, a few concerns were raised regarding some of the dates proposed relating to the Environment and Corporate Support Committees. Subsequently, the dates for two meetings of the Environment Committee were changed from 12 to 19 September 2024 and 27 March to 2 April 2025.  Two date changes were requested for the Corporate Support Committee from 6 February to 22 January 2025 and moving 25 March 2024 to a date later in April 2025. 

 

The difficulties in moving these dates were summarised at the meeting and Officers were tasked to consider the requests made and re-present the meetings calendar to the next meeting of Full Council. The updated calendar is attached with changes highlighted.

 

Council is asked to approve that:

 

(1)  the dates for the Corporate Support Committee remain as 6 February and 25 March 2025.

(2)  three further changes as set out below are also approved:

 

·                Licensing Sub-Committee is changed from 8 July to 12 July 2024

·                Full Council is changed from 7 to 6 November 2024; and

·                Planning Committee is changed from 23 April to 8 May 2025

 

Minutes:

            The Group Head of Law & Governance and Monitoring Officer re-presented the Calendar of Meetings for 2024-2025 to Members for approval following the concerns raised at the last meeting of the Council held on 13 March 2024.

 

            Councillor Nash formally proposed that the calendar of meetings for 2024/25 as represented to the Council be approved and this was seconded by Councillor Stanley.

 

            The Council

 

                        RESOLVED – That

 

(1)  In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 3.1 in the Council’s Constitution, the Calendar of Meetings for 2024-25 be approved, as re-presented confirming:

 

·         The dates for the Corporate Support Committee remain as 6 February and 25 March 2025;

·         Licensing Sub-Committee is changed from 8 July to 12 July 2024;

·         Full Council is changed from 7 to 6 November 2024; and

·         Planning Committee is changed from 23 April to 8 May 2025.

807.

Constitution Working Party - 15 April 2024 pdf icon PDF 78 KB

The Chair of the Constitution Working Party, Councillor Yeates, will present recommendations from the meeting of the Constitution Working Party held on 15 April 2024.

 

The minutes from the meeting are attached. The recommendations for the Council to consider can be found at Minute 20 [Sundry Debtors – Debt Management and Write-Off Policy, Reporting Debt Write Offs and Delegation Limits].  The Officer’s report is also attached.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair, Councillor Yeates, presented recommendations following the meeting of the Constitution Working Party held on 15 April 2024.

 

Councillor Yeates referred Members to recommendations at Minute 20 [Sundry Debtors – Debt Management Write-Off Policy, Reporting Debt Write Offs and Delegation Limits] which she formally proposed.  In the absence of the Vice-Chair of the Constitution Working Party, Councillor Jones, Councillor Butcher then seconded the recommendations.

 

The Council

 

            REOLVED – That

 

(1)          The Debt Management and Write-Off Policy be submitted to the Corporate Support Committee for future adoption as set out in Paragraph 4.3.1;

 

(2)          The proposed changes to the delegation levels outlined in paragraph 4.3.2 to 4.3.4 and 4.3.6 be approved;

 

(3)          The proposed changes to the constitution to transfer the responsibility of approving writing off of irrecoverable council tax and business rates debts over the limits set out in paragraphs 4.3.5 and 4.3.7 transfer from the Housing and Wellbeing Committee to the Corporate Support Committee; and

 

(4)          Delegated authority be given to the Corporate Support Committee to review and reset write off delegation levels in respect of irrecoverable sundry debts, council tax and business rate debts if and when required.

 

808.

Corporate Support Committee - 30 April 2024 pdf icon PDF 92 KB

The Chair of the Corporate Support Committee, Councillor Oppler, will present recommendations from the meeting of the Corporate Support Committee held on 30 April 2024.

 

The minutes from this meeting confirming recommendations for Council to consider will be circulated separately to this agenda.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

(Prior to the commencement of this item, Councillor Elkins confirmed that he would not take part in the voting of this item as he was a Member of the West Sussex Pensions Board).

 

In the absence of the Chair of the Corporate Support Committee, Councillor Oppler, the Vice-Chair, Councillor Tandy presented the minutes from the meeting of the Corporate Support Committee held on 30 April 2024, which had been circulated separately to the agenda.

 

Councillor Tandy drew Members’ attention to the first set of recommendations at Minute 792 [Electoral Review] which he formally proposed.  The recommendation was then seconded by Councillor O’Neill.

 

            The Council

 

                        RESOLVED – That

 

That the Local Government Boundary Commission for England be invited to by the Council to carry out a review; and:

 

(a)  The number of Councillors needed within Arun District, but with a specific focus on reducing members; and

(b)  The warding arrangements within the Arun District.

 

            Councillor Tandy then alerted Members to the next recommendations at Minute 793 [Pensions Discretion Policy] which he formally proposed.  The recommendations were then seconded by Councillor O’Neill.

 

            The Council

 

                        RESOLVED – That

 

(1)          The updated policy on pensions discretions as shown as appendix A, be approved and formally updated; and

 

(2)          Delegated Authority be given to the Group Head of Organisational Excellence to make necessary changes to the pension discretions resulting from changes to employment legislation or Council policy.

 

809.

Motions

To consider any Motions submitted in accordance with Council Procedure 15.

Minutes:

The Chair confirmed that no Motions had been submitted for this meeting.

810.

Questions from Members pdf icon PDF 89 KB

To consider general questions from Members in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 14.3.

Minutes:

            The Chair referred Councillors to the Questions from Members that had been submitted in line with Council Procedure Rule 14.3 and the schedule of questions that had been circulated to the meeting. This confirmed that eight  questions had been received.  All the questions had been submitted by Councillor Gunner.

 

The Chair invited Councillor Gunner to read out his questions which would be responded to by the appropriate Committee Chair. It was explained that the schedule of questions would be updated to include the responses provided, supplementary questions and responses and would be uploaded to the Council’s web page within ten working days of the meeting, in line with the Council’s Constitution.

 

            The questions have been summarised below:

 

Question (1) To the Chair of the Planning Committee – Councillor Hamilton regarding “the price of democracy”.

Question (2) to the Chair of the Planning Committee – Councillor Hamilton regarding the number of approved applications since becoming Chair of the Planning Committee.

Question (3) to the Chair of the Economy Committee – Councillor Nash regarding the scrapping of community wardens.

Question (4) to the Chair of the Economy Committee – Councillor Nash regarding last year’s Council Budget and increases in rent.

Question (5) – to the Chair of the Economy Committee – Councillor Nash regarding the Labour Election manifesto of last year.

Question (6) to the Chair of the Policy & Finance Committee – Councillor Stanley – regarding promises made to reduce council tax.

Question (7) to the Chair of the Policy & Finance Committee –Councillor Stanley regarding car parking charges.

Question (8) - To the Chair of the Policy and Finance Committee: It seems as if so many Liberal Democrat promises, along with Labour and Independent ones, have been completely broken – why do you think that’s happened?

 

811.

Committee Memberships

Any changes to Committee Memberships that need noting by the Council will be reported at the meeting.

Minutes:

The Chair confirmed that there were no changes to Committee memberships to report to this meeting. 

 

812.

Representation on Outside Bodies

The Council is asked to approve any changes to its representation on Outside Bodies.

Minutes:

The Chair confirmed that there were no changes to representations on Outside Bodies to report to this meeting.