Agenda and minutes

To sign as true records the minutes of the Extraordinary Meeting and of the Annual Meeting of the Council, both held on 23 May 2012 (attached)

The Minutes of the Extraordinary and Annual Meetings held on 23 May 2012 were before the Council for approval.

Procedural motion on behalf of the Independent Residents’ Group

Amend the minutes of the Annual Council meeting to provide a true and accurate record and to encourage orderly conduct by Members.

In Minute 7 (Appointment of the Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen of Committees) (Supplementary Agenda page 10), Amendlast paragraph to read:

The Administration, Independent Residents' Group and Residents' Group nominations for Chairmen of the following Committees were then debated. During the debate Madam Mayor only had to raise her voice once to rebuke the Council Leader and some Conservative Members for lowering the tone of the Annual Council meeting. Following the debate the nominations were put to the vote, as follows:

In accordance with Council Procedural Rule 12.1(a), the procedural motion was put to the vote without debate and was LOST by 4 votes to 46 (see division 1).

The minutes as submitted were then AGREED without division and it was RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the Extraordinary Meeting and of the Annual Meeting of the Council, both held on 23 May 2012, be signed as a true record.

Members are invited to declare any interests in any of the items on the agenda at this point of the meeting.

Members may still declare an interest in an item at any time prior to the consideration of the matter.

There were no declarations of interest.

To receive announcements (if any)

The Mayor’s Announcements are attached as Appendix 1 to these minutes.

See attached notice of petition.

The Mayor had agreed that the following petition should be presented, notwithstanding that there had not been proper notice of it.

A petition with some 40 signatories was presented by Councillor David Durant, from residents of Warwick Road, Rainham concerning a planning application relating to premises in that road.

It was NOTED that the petition would be passed to Committee Administration for attention in accordance with the Petitions Procedure.

The text of the statement is set out in Appendix 2 of the minutes of the Annual Meeting on 23 May 2012.

In accordance with the Council’s previous decision that there should be opportunity to debate the Statement by the Leader of the Council at the Annual Meeting, the Leader of the Council, the Group Leaders and a number of Members spoke about aspects of that Statement.

At the conclusion of the debate, the Council NOTED the Statement.

To consider   a report of the Governance Committee (the Mayor has agreed to the late submission of this report as the Committee will not meet until after the publication of this agenda)(attached)

Note: amendments to this report may be submitted at any time prior to debate at the meeting

The Mayor had agreed pursuant to s.100B(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 that the report referred to in this minute should be considered as a late item. The Governance Committee meeting at which it was considered had taken place after the publication of the final agenda for this meeting but a decision on the matter was required before 1 July.

The Governance Committee reported that, in accordance with the Localism Act 2011, the Council was obliged to adopt a new Members’ Code of Conduct, to be effective from 1 July 2012. The Committee now recommended the adoption of a new Code, based on model codes suggested by the Department of Communities & Local Government and by the Local Government Association, together with a procedure for dealing with allegations of breaches of the Code.

The Code and Procedure are set out as Appendices 2A and 2B to these minutes respectively.

Amendment by the Independent Residents’ Group

Both the Members Code of Conduct and the Procedure for dealing with allegations need to be withdrawn and re-written, because:

·                    The Members Code of Conduct reads like an Employee Code of conduct. For example: the sentence 'Members will be expected to comply with the Council’s policies on Equality in Employment, Equality in Service Provision and Harassment and Bullying at Work’ should not be in a Members Code of Conduct. This is because Members are elected Representatives of the People, not employees of the Council and should not be expected to comply with the Council's policies.

·                    The Procedure for dealing with allegations should include an appeals procedure.

Following debate, the amendment by Independent Residents’ Group was LOST by 38 votes to 4 (see division 2). The Governance Committee’s recommendations were then AGREED as the substantive motion by 40 votes to 4 (see division 2) and it was RESOLVED:

That the Council adopt the draft Code of Conduct set out in Appendix 2A and the procedure for dealing with complaints set out in Appendix 2B, noting that the Monitoring Officer will amend the section of the Code that deals with interests if necessary to comply with any subsequent secondary legislation on interests.

To consider a report of the Governance Committee (the Mayor has agreed to the late submission of this report as the Committee will not meet until after the publication of this agenda)(attached)

Note: amendments to this report may be submitted at any time prior to debate at the meeting

The Mayor had agreed pursuant to s.100B(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 that the report referred to in this minute should be considered as a late item. The Governance Committee meeting at which it was considered had taken place after the publication of the final agenda for this meeting but a decision on the matter was required in order to implement the proposed changes at the earliest opportunity.

Continued review of the Council’s schemes for the delegation of responsibility for its various functions had identified the need for a number of comparatively minor changes in the Constitution, to reflect changes of circumstance and in ways of working.

The Governance Committee now invited the Council to approve a number of changes to the Council’s Constitution, as se out in Appendix 3 to these minutes.

The Committee’s recommendations were ADOPTED without debate or division and it was RESOLVED:

That the Council approve the proposed delegations as set out in Appendix 3.

To consider the Chief Executive’s report (attached)

The Council was reminded that, under paragraph 18e of the Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules, the Leader of the Council was required to submit quarterly reports to Council on decisions taken by himself, Cabinet or individual Cabinet members, or key decisions made by a member of staff where, in the previous three months, the Chairman of the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee had agreed that the decision be excepted from call-in and, as the case may be, also from entry in the Forward Plan.

It was now reported that there had recently been three such decisions, relating to:

1)         The disposal of Pages Barn, Pages Lane, Harold Wood, Romford;

2)         Revision to the agreed Executive Decision of 9 August 2011 for the disposal of the existing Rainham Library and the acquisition of land for a new library at the junction of Ferry Lane and the Broadway, Rainham; and

3)         Use of Section 106 commuted sums for provision of affordable housing

The Council NOTED the report without debate or division.

See attached paper

As the time remaining was insufficient for questions to be dealt with at the meeting, the Council NOTED that the questions that were to have been asked would be treated as having been put for written answer. The questions and answers are accordingly set out in Appendix 4 to these minutes.

See attached paper

With the agreement of the Council, the following motions were withdrawn:

Item 12A – The Council’s constitutional arrangements – by the Labour Group

Item 12B – The Right to Buy: Review – by the Independent Residents’ Group

The record of voting divisions is attached as Appendix 5 to these minutes.