Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Duckett and Topping.

A copy of the Register of Interest for each Selby District Councillor is available for inspection at www.selby.gov.uk.

Councillors should declare to the meeting any disclosable pecuniary interest in any item of business on this agenda which is not already entered in their Register of Interests.

Councillors should leave the meeting and take no part in the consideration, discussion or vote on any matter in which they have a disclosable pecuniary interest.

Councillors should also declare any other interests. Having made the declaration, provided the other interest is not a disclosable pecuniary interest, the Councillor may stay in the meeting, speak and vote on that item of business.

If in doubt, Councillors are advised to seek advice from the Monitoring Officer.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 22 September 2020 and the Extraordinary meeting on 5 November 2020.

The Council considered the minutes of the meeting held on 22 September 2020 and the Extraordinary meeting held on 5 November 2020.

RESOLVED:

To approve the minutes of the Council meeting held on 22 September 2020 and the Extraordinary meeting held on 5 November 2020 for signing by the Chairman.

The Chairman, Leader of the Council or the Chief Executive will deal with any communications which need to be reported to the Council.

There were no communications.

To receive any announcements from the Chairman, Leader or Members of the Executive.

The Chairman thanked everyone for their work in the past year and wished everyone a merry Christmas.

To receive any petitions.

There were no petitions received.

To receive and answer questions, notice of which has been given in accordance with rule 10.1 of the Constitution.

There were no questions received from members of the public.

To receive and answer questions submitted by councillors in accordance with rule 11.2 of the Constitution. Two questions have been submitted for consideration.

Councillor Questions Process:

·        Councillors can ask questions in accordance with rule 11.2 of the Constitution.

·        An answer to a question submitted 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 all members of the Council.

·        A councillor asking a question may ask one supplementary question, without notice, of the councillor to whom the first question was asked. The supplementary question must arise directly out of the original question or the reply.

It was noted that two questions had been submitted for consideration.

Question One

Councillor J McCartney asked question one which related to fly tipping and the Council’s approach in tackling it.

The Lead Executive Member for Housing, Health and Culture explained that 45 fixed penalty notices had been issued for offences such as fly tipping and littering and that there had been a case from 2019 which had been recently heard in court  where the individual had been fined £1,182 under householder duty of care.

With regard to tyres, the Lead Executive Member for Housing, Health and Culture informed Council that tyres were coming from outside of the district and that the problem of fly tipping with tyres was a constant problem across many areas and the figures of the offence occurring had been constant over the last two years.

The Lead Executive Member for Housing, Health and Culture explained that fly tipping was taken very seriously by the authority and that new infrared cctv cameras had been ordered however if incidents didn’t occur in the same location then it was difficult to catch culprits.

Question Two

Councillor J McCartney asked question two which related to a row of trees overshadowing properties on Northfield Close, Womersley.

The Leader of the Council stated that discussions had taken place with the Chief Executive and Solicitor to the Council and a course of action would be agreed. The Leader of the Council added that Councillor McCartney would then be informed of the action agreed.

The Leader of the Council, and other members of the Executive, will report on their work since the last meeting of the Council and will respond to questions from Councillors on that work.

Councillor Mark Crane, Leader of the Council

The Leader of the Council presented his update on the work he had recently undertaken, as outlined in his report and added that he had attended a meeting with Luke Hall MP, Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government) regarding the East West proposal of Local Government Reorganisation (LGR). Council was informed that if there was unitary authority agreed, then it would most likely not occur until 2023 which meant that the North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) elections scheduled to take place next year would likely go ahead. With regard to the consultation process, the Leader of the Council explained that he had been informed by the Minister that both bids submitted would be consulted on with an aim to make a decision before the summer recess of Parliament which was June/July 2021.

A query was raised regarding the figures in the East West proposal and whether the District Councils would expand on their proposals. The Leader of the Council stated that further information was available on the Get Change Right website however full details would be sent to all Members.

In response to a query concerning City of York Council’s latest position on LGR, the Leader of the Council stated that it wished to remain as it was currently, as a single unitary authority and for this reason, they supported the NYCC proposal which would allow that to happen.

Queries were raised regarding whether the Government would intervene as a result of LGR to put limits on spending on Councils involved in the reorganisation and around the consultation process of LGR. The Leader of the Council explained that with regard to the reserves, after being in touch with local authorities who had undertaken LGR in their area, that it was possible that the Government could put a stop on spending for Councils going through LGR. It was noted however that the ceasing of spending could be dependent on where Councils were in relation to their projects. With regard to consultation, the Leader of the Council informed Council that following a request for further information concerning the consultation process, it had been stated that local residents views would be taken into account however the majority of the consultation was likely to be with partner organisations such as businesses and Parish Councils.

Councillor Richard Musgrave, Deputy Leader of the Council and Executive Member for Place Shaping

Councillor Musgrave provided an update on the work he had recently undertaken, as outlined in his report and informed Council that with regard to the unauthorised traveller site at Hillam, the Council had been given an initial court date of 6^th January 2021 which was known as a directions hearing and that Council would be updated on the issue following this.

The Lead Executive Member for Place Shaping expressed his thanks to the Local Plan Programme Board and officers for their work in bringing the Preferred Options Local Plan document to the consultation stage.

A query  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.

To receive reports from the Council’s committees which need to be brought to the attention of Council. To receive questions and provide answers on any of those reports.

Councillor Steve Shaw-Wright, Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee

Councillor Shaw-Wright, Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, provided an update on the work of the Committee as outlined in his report.

There were no questions for Councillor Shaw-Wright.

Councillor Andrew Lee, Chairman of the Policy Review Committee

Councillor Lee, Chairman of the Policy Review Committee, provided an update on the work of the Committee as outlined in his report.

A query was raised regarding the cancelled meeting of the Committee in December. The Chairman of the Policy Review Committee stated that he had informed officers whilst he appreciated there was a lot of work currently taking place, in the absence of a report for the agenda he had cancelled the meeting and that this was unacceptable and should not occur again.

Councillor Karl Arthur, Chair of the Audit and Governance Committee 

Councillor Arthur, Chairman of the Audit and Governance Committee, provided an update on the work of the Committee as outlined in his report.

A query was raised as to whether the approval of Council accounts was going to be moved from July to December. The Chairman of the Audit and Governance Committee explained that the Council was waiting for clarification from the Government on this issue.

To consider any motions.

There were no motions.

To consider the report of the Monitoring Officer for 2020.

Alison Hartley, Monitoring Officer presented the annual report of the Monitoring Officer for 2020 regarding the standards arrangements of the Council.

The Monitoring Officer informed Council that there had been no complaints which had gone to the full investigation stage in the year and the aim to was to speed up the complaints process for next year.

A suggestion was made that training on completing register of interest forms should be provided to Parish Councillors so that they had full knowledge of how to complete the forms correctly.

A query was made regarding how Independent Members for standards issues were appointed. It was agreed this would be clarified.

RESOLVED:

                        To note the content of the report.

REASON FOR DECISION:

To ensure that high standards of conduct by Councillors and co-optees are promoted and maintained.

To consider a presentation reflecting on the work in 2020.

Council was taken through a presentation outlining the key pieces of work that the authority had undertaken in 2020.

The Chief Executive will report on any instances where she has acted in urgent or emergency situations under the functions delegated to her in the Constitution.

There was no urgent action to report.