Agenda for Council on Monday 21st November 2016, 7.30 pm

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Campus East, Welwyn Garden City, Herts, AL8 6AE. View directions

Contact: Graham Seal 

Items
No. Item

24.

APOLOGIES

To receive apologies for absence, if any.

 

Minutes:

An apology for absence was received from Councillor J.Beckerman.

25.

MINUTES

To confirm as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 3 October 2016 (previously circulated).

 

Minutes:

The Minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 3 October 2016 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

26.

QUESTIONS FROM THE PUBLIC

Minutes:

The following questions had been received:-

26a

Question from Cathy Roe

Minutes:

“Have the Members of Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council, in particular those responsible for sending out the current survey about non-collection or charged collection of garden waste, understood the negative effects of stopping collection or charging for collection of garden waste?  In particular, have they understood that non-collection or charged collection of garden waste without separate collection of food waste would force residents to put food waste into their black bins, contrary to good practice in collection of food waste?”

 

The Leader of the Council, Councillor J.Dean answered the question as follow:-

 

“I would like to thank Cathy Roe for her very important question about our proposals for charging for garden waste.

 

Can I start by assuring all Members of the Council, and members of the public that this was not an easy decision for Councillors to give consideration to. Everyone will be very aware of the massive cuts we have had to our Government grants due to the austerity measures which were made necessary by years of profligate spending and waste by the previous Government.

 

I have always said that my aim, even during the toughest of reductions in central finances we have ever had to endure, is to keep front line services going. I do not want to cut any service unless I absolutely have to, and of course one way of avoiding losing a service is to bring in a modest charge for it.

 

This is exactly what we are considering. Many Councils around the Country have made a similar change, with varying charges.

 

I absolutely acknowledge that the proposals as they stand will mean food waste being placed in the black bin for the time being. Also, I know that  the separation of the garden waste from the food waste will ultimately allow for a lower cost and improved end treatment process, so it is important to emphasise that we are commencing a review of the refuse collection and recycling services as a whole, in good time for  the renewal of the contract with Serco, and we will of course give serious consideration as to how we deal with food waste for the long term as part of this review.”

 

26b

Question from Will Davis

Minutes:

“This new Council Chamber, built at great and somewhat controversial cost, is equipped with cameras on the ceiling, microphones and a large screen.  Our neighbouring Councils have been routinely recording and streaming Council meetings like this for years now, we lag far behind.  Back in May when this Chamber opened a Council press release quoted Mr Dean as saying  "...improving access, openness and participation at council meetings, the new Chamber has wifi, viewing screens and facilities to live stream meetings online."

 

Six months on and to my knowledge not a single meeting has ever been streamed online, or properly recorded (an amateur camcorder covering only half the room doesn't count), why is this not happening,  everything we need is here?   Why does this Council keep on dragging its feet on this, if it was serious about improving participation and openness it would have been doing this years ago.   When will it finally happen, what is the due date?

 

The Leader gave the following answer:-

 

“Thank you Mr Davis, for your question.

 

I am sure you will know that the main reason why these Offices were extended was to save the Council hundreds of thousands of pounds each year in rental and maintenance costs for the Bridge Road Offices where a couple of hundred staff had been located for the past 25 years.  This has been a major success, with all staff now relocated and the savings are now being made on an annual basis.  The Council Chamber was built at the same time and in the same footprint as the Offices because it was a lot cheaper and more effective to do both at the same time. 

 

The relocating of the Chamber from Campus West has enabled us to free up the valuable commercial space there and to establish what is now a first class leisure venue.  This also helps with the Council’s budget.

 

So there were many good reasons to carry out this redevelopment.

 

It was always a priority for the Council Chamber project, led by a cross-party Members group, to make it easier for residents to get involved in Council business.  We also wanted to ensure that we “future-proofed” the new Chamber as far as possible; that is why we have ensured that live streaming facilities were considered at the time of construction, rather than at a later stage.  To implement this feature will require subscription to a suitable streaming service.  We’re in the process of obtaining quotes for that service and, once a preferred supplier is chosen, we will set out a more detailed timeline for implementation.”

 

27.

DECLARATIONS OF INTERESTS BY MEMBERS

To note declarations of Members’ disclosable pecuniary interests, non-disclosable pecuniary interests and non-pecuniary interests in respect of items on the Agenda.

 

Minutes:

Councillors L.Chesterman, M.Cook, M.Cowan, S.Johnston and P.Zukowskyj declared non–pecuniary interests in items on the Agenda as appropriate as Members of Hertfordshire County Council. 

 

Councillors D.Bell and N.Taylor declared  non–pecuniary interests in Agenda item 8(a) – Finesse Leisure – Management Fee as Council appointed representatives on the Finesse Leisure Board and took no part in the discussion of the item. 

 

Councillors J.Broach and H.Morgan declared non-pecuniary interests in items on the Agenda as appropriate as Members of Hatfield Town Council.

 

Members had been granted dispensations for the setting of Councillor Remuneration, but  Councillor M.Cowan declared that he would not take part in the discussion or voting on the Motion on this subject at Agenda item 11. 

 

Councillor M.Larkins declared a non-pecuniary interest in Agenda item 8(b) – Proposed Increase to Communal Facilities Charges for Residents and Life-line Charges for Council Tenants as a user of the service and would withdraw from the meeting for this item.

 

28.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

To receive any announcements from the Mayor, Leader of the Council, Member of the Cabinet or the Head of Paid Service.

 

28a

New Councillor

Minutes:

The Mayor congratulated new Member N.Chapman on his election to the Council in the Haldens Ward on 17 November 2016 and welcomed him to his first Council meeting.

 

28b

Councillor Rachel Basch

Minutes:

The Council congratulated Councillor R.Basch on her award of a doctorate in history.

29.

QUESTIONS BY MEMBERS pdf icon PDF 167 KB

For a period of up to thirty minutes, a Member of the Council who has given prior notice in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 45, may ask (a) the Mayor, (b) the Leader of the Council or (c) a Member of the Cabinet a question on any matter in relation to which the Council has powers or duties or which affects the Borough.

 

Details of questions received in accordance with Procedure Rule 45 will be tabled at the meeting.  A Member asking a question under Rule 44 may ask, without giving notice, one supplementary question of the Member to whom the first question was asked.  The supplementary question must arise directly out of the reply.

 

Minutes:

Seven questions by Members had been received.

29a

Question to the Leader by Councillor B.Fitzsimon

Minutes:

“There has been a lot in Social media and in the press about the proposal to charge for green waste collections.  Can the Leader please explain to us why this is being looked into?”

 

The Leader asked Councillor H.Bromley, Executive Member (Environment) to reply:-

 

“As already stated in the response to the public question on this subject, this is not going to be an easy decision for councillors to make.  The proposal comes as part of our budget deliberations where each year we have to find more and more efficiencies to make up for the loss of central grants.  We have to keep finding more efficient ways of working and of increasing our income to enable us to fund all the essential services that we provide for our communities. 

 

Our overriding aim is to try our level best to keep our excellent services going with as few reductions as possible.  Quite frankly Madam Mayor, my view is that it is always better to introduce a modest charge for some services, especially those that are not used by all our residents, than to close any service down.

 

For me, this is a much better option, but I must emphasise that it would not be my first option if I felt I had a choice.  Councillors across the Country are having to make more and more difficult decisions about service provision, and this is not going to get any easier over the years.

 

Some people may even say that this proposal is a fairer charging system Madam Mayor.  The reason I say this is because at present everybody pays towards this service through their Council tax, even if they cannot or choose not to use the service. Under the proposals, only those who use the service will be paying for it and the rest of the residents will not be subsidising the garden waste service, used by some people only.

 

And, Madam Mayor, it is not just about funding cuts, we are also being given responsibility for more and more essential services that are valued and needed by our communities and we need to find new ways of financing these as well.

 

So, I reiterate that it is with regret that we are having to make some of these difficult choices, but that is what we are here to do.  To try our utmost to keep providing essential services to our communities with ever declining resources.  This is a major challenge for us, but I am confident that we will get through it and emerge at the other end, more efficient and the better for it.”

 

29b

Question to the Leader by Councillor P.Zukowskyj

Minutes:

“Will the Council leader sleep well on Christmas night knowing a resident of the area will be spending her second Christmas sleeping rough, and she may well be joined by many others in not having a roof over their head of any sort.”

 

The Leader replied:-

 

“I would like to thank Councillor Zukowskyj for his important question.  Having said that, I do not think it is at all appropriate to speak about an individual’s case at a full meeting of the Council, so I will respond to the question in general terms.

 

I acknowledge that there has been an increase in reports of rough sleeping locally over the last twelve months and Officers from the Council and Housing Trust are responding to this via the joint work they carry out with partners and by following the agreed Multi Agency Rough Sleeper protocol. 

 

The Rough Sleeper Protocol was approved by the Welwyn Hatfield Homeless Prevention Forum in 2014 and formalises the roles and responsibilities of all partner organisations involved in delivering services to, or responding to reports of rough sleepers in the Borough.

 

Officers from the Trust’s housing needs team will seek to engage with anyone who is reported as sleeping rough.  They provide information about the services that are available and we have arrangements with local providers such as the YMCA and Resolve, who can often provide accommodation and/or support.

 

There are occasions where a person’s complex needs cannot be met by local services and in these exceptional circumstances the team will refer people to more specialised solutions outside the local area.

 

There are some individuals who won’t engage with either Trust/Council staff or local service providers and/or who don’t want to accept help outside the local area.  In such cases the teams and partners will continue to try and engage and offer support.

 

The Government has very recently announced a new funding stream that Councils can bid for to develop services to help entrenched rough sleepers.  I am pleased to report that we are working in partnership with a number of Hertfordshire Councils to prepare a joint bid to facilitate specialist support and reconnection services.”

 

In a supplementary question Councillor P.Zukowskyj asked if the Leader would look again to make sure systems were fit for purpose and not letting people through the net.

 

The Leader replied that everything possible had been done to help this individual who had many complex problems and that the Council would continue to try to find a solution to these and for rough sleepers and the homeless.

 

29c

Question to the Executive Member, Policy and Culture, Councillor T.Kingsbury from Councillor J.Fitzpatrick

Minutes:

"Now that the terrible events at the high-ropes course have been dealt with by the courts, in which a woman was severely injured, please would the Cabinet Member responsible make a detailed statement to Members regarding the overall events, including the court's decision?"

 

Councillor T.Kingsbury answered:-

 

“Madam Mayor, all our thoughts remain with the injured person who is still on the long road to recovery.  This has been a long, complex and technical investigation by our environmental health team which ended with two guilty pleas in the Crown Court meaning the injured person avoided the added stress of a three week trial.  Now that the case has concluded the Council’s Lead Investigating Officer will be able to work with the Council’s risk and resilience team and contract managers to share learning arising from the investigation.  For the avoidance of doubt both Finesse and their contractor Closer to the Edge pleaded guilty to breaching section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and were fined £33,000 and £30,000 respectively.  In his sentencing remarks the Judge indicated his starting point for a fine was £100,000 but he had taken account of the negative impact such a fine would have on leisure provision in the Borough so reduced the fine to Finesse by two thirds.  Full costs were also awarded to the Council.

 

I am pleased there have been several senior management changes at Finesse, indicating how seriously they have taken this matter.  The safety of everyone using our sport and leisure services across Welwyn Hatfield remains our top priority. We continue to conduct regular site visits as part of our contract management of Finesse Leisure, which includes detailed health and safety audits. They are also required to present a quarterly monitoring report to a public Committee meeting for scrutiny purposes and take questions from Members.  Taken collectively this gives me reassurance about their current operations.”

 

Councillor J.Fitzpatrick then asked, with reference to the significant management changes in Finesse Leisure about the Executive Member in the Cabinet.

 

The Leader stated that he had every confidence in the Executive Member.

 

29d

Question to the Deputy Leader, Councillor Mandy Perkins from Councillor Sara Johnston

Minutes:

“Following the report to Cabinet in April this year setting out how the Council intended to support the resettlement of Syrian refugees into the Borough, please can you provide an update on what the Council has done since and what progress has been made in resettling Syrian refugees as agreed?”

 

The Deputy Leader responded:-

 

“I am pleased to report that the Council has made excellent progress.  As members may be aware, one of the biggest barriers Councils face in successfully participating in this programme, particularly in the South East, is finding suitable and affordable housing.  Some Councils have had difficulty in securing suitable property from the private rented sector at all, whilst others have found that the rents charged are often in excess of the local housing allowance available.

 

The Council was determined to ensure that it found a suitable, affordable and sustainable housing offer for families it has offered to support and I am delighted to say that we have entered into an innovative partnership with a local charitable foundation in order to provide this.

 

The charitable foundation had expressed an interest in helping and supporting Syrian refugees and Officers have been working in partnership to establish a protocol involving the foundation.

 

As a result the following arrangement has been agreed in principle. 

 

The foundation aims to purchase and refurbish (to the Council’s specification) two family sized properties within the Borough.  These will be identified and sourced collaboratively by the Council and the foundation.

 

As part of the council’s Affordable Housing Programme, we will provide grant funding to help support the acquisitions and refurbishments (up to 30% of the costs).

 

The properties will then be leased back to and managed by the Council and rented to the Syrian families.  The lease income earned by this locally-based foundation will be used in support of its charitable aims.

 

The initial lease term will be ten years, but the foundation has agreed that the properties will be available for letting to families in housing need locally for at least twenty years beyond that or if that becomes impractical, the foundation will pay back an agreed proportion of the grant funding.

 

We are in the process of working with the foundation to identify the properties and hope that the arrangements will be finalised so that families can be resettled in the earlier part of next year.”

 

29e

Question to the Deputy Leader, Councillor M.Perkins from Councillor R.Basch

Minutes:

“Since the recent report from the Council’s planning department that compared to neighbouring councils, our staff are underpaid, and that compared to Royal Town Planning Institute recommendations, their workload is excessive, what steps have you taken to remedy this situation, which was leading to excessive turnover and shortage of staff?”

 

The Deputy Leader gave the following answer:-

 

“The Council is constantly reviewing staffing levels and pay in the light of the changing markets.  It is never advisable to do this in isolation because this can cause major anomalies for the whole organisation.  The Council’s Chief Executive and Board of Directors have overall responsibility for all staffing matters and I am liaising with the Director and Head of Service to see what we can do to address this position, both in respect of pay and workloads.

 

Many Members will be well aware that this is a situation that a lot of Councils have found themselves in over the years and various methods of addressing the issue have been adopted, from recruiting overseas staff to temporarily adding a pay supplement for certain categories of staff. However, this cannot be taken lightly because of the serious “knock-on” implications it can have for other members of staff in unrelated positions.

 

It is for this reason that the Executive Board will be addressing this matter holistically over the coming months acknowledging that difficulties in recruitment and retention of planning staff is cyclical and Councils in the Eastern Region were all to a greater or lesser extent experiencing problems and seeking possible ways to solve these issues.”

 

29f

Question to the Leader, Councillor John Dean from Councillor Helen Quenet

Minutes:

“Does the Council recognise the critical importance of good research methodology in questionnaire design and if so, will they acknowledge the data generated from such a flawed brown bin questionnaire is therefore useless?”

 

The Leader answered:-

 

“The Council does of course recognise the importance of good methodology in designing research questionnaires.  But we also recognise that it is critically important for consultations to be completely open and honest with those who you consult.  I do not think it is sensible or advisable to give people choices which the Council clearly cannot sustain, this merely gives everyone false hopes and raises expectations.  My view is that it is better to be open and transparent about the Council’s proposals and to ask questions which are pertinent to the issues at hand.  And this is what we have tried to do with this consultation questionnaire about the future of garden waste collection.

 

I do acknowledge that we could have said more about what residents should do  with food waste, and this was an error for which I apologise.  I have hopefully rectified this position by a note that has been sent to all households indicating exactly what they can do with food waste for the time being, which is to wrap it and put it in the black bin with other residual waste.  However, it is important to emphasise that this is only a temporary measure whilst we review the service provision as a whole and decide how best to collect food waste into the future on a permanent basis.  It is vital that we make changes to the current garden waste collection service in order to keep it sustainable within the Council’s ever decreasing budgets.  This is the reason why we want to implement the changes as soon as possible, and certainly in time for the next financial year.

 

I do not agree that the data received from this questionnaire is useless at all.  The fact is that over four thousand people have taken the trouble to respond to the consultation, and to call this information useless is very condescending and downright insulting to all of those people in my view.

 

On the contrary I thank everyone who has responded and I will ensure that all responses are given due consideration before we make the decision on how to proceed.”

 

Councillor H.Quenet then asked if there could be a group with experience in research questionnaires to inform questions and the Leader said this would be considered.

 

29g

Question to the Deputy Leader, Councillor M.Perkins from Councillor M.Cowan

Minutes:

“According to a recent survey Welwyn Garden City is amongst the bottom ten of towns for the proportion of independent shops.  Are you concerned about this, and if so, what steps will the Council be taking to raise our proportion significantly?”

 

The Deputy Leader asked Councillor B.Sarson, Executive Member (Business. Partnerships and Public Health) to reply:-

 

“I thank Councillor Cowan for his important question.

 

As I am sure the Councillor knows, the Council has no powers to tell retail operators who they can and cannot lease their premises to.  I wonder if he has spoken to the Welwyn Garden City Society on this matter.

 

The Council is a proud member of the Welwyn Garden City Town Centre Partnership and is delighted to have supported and to be part of the development group which has led to a very positive YES vote for the formation of a Business Improvement District in Welwyn Garden City from April 2017.

 

This will see businesses investing £1.5M in the area over the next five years.

 

The vote gives the go-ahead for the BID business plan to drive investment in the town centre, whilst giving local businesses a stronger influence on how the town centre is marketed, maintained and managed.  

 

The vision that the BID team have is:

 

“To create a town centre which is innovative and modern, which builds on the unique Garden City principles and characteristics to make it a great place to visit, work and live.”

 

The current partnership has a good cross section of business representation, small, medium and large including many independent businesses, who have been integral in developing the BID Business Plan and achieving a positive vote in the town.

 

This representation will continue going forward, ensuring that independent businesses have a say on the future of the town centre.”

 

To sum up, Councillor M.Cowan said that the Council was not taking any steps about this or was he being unfair?

 

Councillor B.Sarson responded that the Council had no powers to do so.

 

30.

MATTERS ARISING FROM THE CABINET

To consider recommendations from the meetings of the Cabinet on 4 October and 1 November 2016 (to be circulated separately):-

 

Minutes:

The Council considered the following recommendations from the Cabinet meetings on 4 October and 1 November 2016:- 

 

30a

4 October 2016 - Finesse Leisure - Management Fee pdf icon PDF 80 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Cabinet’s agreement had been sought to increase the level of the annual management fee paid to Finesse Leisure by £44,000 from 2016/17 onwards.

 

Some years ago the Council agreed £100,000 of year on year savings with Finesse funded through a combination of efficiency savings, service and staffing reorganisation and payments from their operating surplus or their balances.

 

A shortfall of £44,000 remained to be found on an ongoing basis.  However the proposals forwarded by Finesse required service reductions and changes and/or additional investment from the Council to be made.  Increasing the management fee payment by £44,000 resolved this shortfall and it would be added to the budget for future years.

 

RESOLVED:

(25 Voting For and 20 Against)

 

That the Council approve an increase of £44,000 in the management fee payable to Finesse Leisure from 2016/17 to be met from balances with the ongoing impact to be included as part of the budget process.

 

30b

Proposed Increase in Charges for Communal Facilities and Services pdf icon PDF 89 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Cabinet had considered proposed changes to the current charges for the communal facilities and services provided to tenants living in sheltered housing schemes.

 

The recommended increase of 5% equated to 45-50p per week and had not been increased since Hertfordshire County Council withdrew supporting people funding.

 

This included beginning to charge tenants (on a three year phased introduction) living on sheltered schemes before 2003 and therefore, due to changes in the County’s funding regime, had never paid any charges towards the communal facilities at their scheme.  This would result in the introduction of a charge amounting  to just over £3 per week each year for the next three years.  After three years these tenants would be subject to an agreed annual price increase to achieve parity with other Council sheltered housing residents.  This currently applied to 212 tenants.

 

Tenants who received housing benefits would have this charge paid by housing benefits.

 

It was also proposed to increase the cost of the Lifeline service (alarms) to Council tenants living in general needs properties by 12p per week to begin the process of bringing their charges in line with private residents who used the same service.  Currently private tenants paid 33% more than Council tenants for this service.  Private tenants currently paid £3.07 per week and Council tenants paid £2.08 per week.

 

As part of this service residents were visited every six weeks.

 

RESOLVED:

(25 Voting For and 19 Against)

 

That the proposals to increase the communal facilities charges and the charges for the “Lifeline” alarm service be approved.

 

(Note:  Councillor M.Larkins withdrew from the meeting for this item – Minute 27 refers).

30c

Local Land Charges - Proposed Transfer of the Function pdf icon PDF 78 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Cabinet had been updated on the latest position with regards to the proposed transfer and a request had been made for additional funds to appoint further staff either through the temp desk or directly on a fixed term contract to enable the Council to meet its statutory obligations.

 

RESOLVED:

 

That a budget growth of a maximum of £60,298 to be funded from the strategic reserve to appoint additional staff to the local land charges service be approved.

 

31.

APPOINTMENT OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE pdf icon PDF 112 KB

Report of the Chief Executive setting out the process for appointing a new Chief Executive for the Council and the Community Housing Trust.

Minutes:

Report of the Chief Executive setting out the process for appointing a new Chief Executive for the Council and the Community Housing Trust.

 

RESOLVED:

 

(1)          That the Council agrees to establish an Appointments Committee to comprise The Leader, Deputy Leader, all Cabinet Members, Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group to undertake the task of appointing the new Chief Executive.

 

(2)          That to enable the Committee to undertake its task, the Council delegate full authority to the Appointments Committee to conduct the recruitment process and report the appointment back to the Council in accordance with appropriate legislation.

 

(3)          That the Council agrees to co-opt onto this Appointments Committee, Mr Alan Goodrum, an independent consultant.

 

32.

APPOINTMENT TO COMMITTEE AND OUTSIDE BODIES

To make Member appointments to the Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Haldens Residents and Community Association and Homerswood JMI School, Welwyn Garden City School Governing Body to fill vacancies following the resignation of former Councillor M.Spinks.

 

Minutes:

The Leader nominated Councillor N.Chapman to membership of the Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee and Appeals Committee and to serve as the Council’s representative on the Haldens Residents and Community Association and Homerswood JMI School, Welwyn Garden City School Governing Body to fill vacancies following the resignation of former Councillor M.Spinks.

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the appointments be approved.

 

33.

NOTICES OF MOTIONS UNDER PROCEDURE RULE 49 pdf icon PDF 101 KB

To consider notices of motions submitted under Procedure Rule 49 in such order as the Mayor shall direct.  Details of motions received by the deadline of 12noon on 14 November 2016 will be circulated separately.

 

33a

The following motion was submitted by Councillor K.Thorpe and seconded by Councillor M.Holloway:-

Minutes:

"This Council has launched an online survey for residents in Welwyn Hatfield to survey their views on the potential to introduce charges for bin collections.

 

      This Council accepts that this survey is deeply flawed in that it does not offer a chance for residents to choose the status quo option, that things carry on as they are.

 

      This Council accepts that this survey is further flawed in not collecting data to identify respondents as Welwyn Hatfield residents and prevent repeated responses to the survey. 

 

      This Council accepts this has caused deep concern among residents.

 

This Council resolves to halt this process and cease efforts to further the introduction of changes for residents to have their bins collected".

 

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 92(a) five Members present demanded by standing up that the vote be recorded.  The vote was recorded as follows:-

 

VOTING FOR

21 -   T.Bailey, R.Basch. H.Beckett, M.Birleson, L.Brandon, J.Broach, A.Chesterman, L.Chesterman. M.Cook, M.Cowan, J.Fitzpatrick, G.Hayes, M.Holloway, K.Holman, M.Larkins, H.Quenet, S.Roberts, P.Shah, K.Thorpe, J.Weston, P.Zukowskyj

 

VOTING AGAINST

24 -   D.Bell, D.Bennett, J.Boulton, S.Boulton, H.Bower, H.Bromley, N.Chapman, J.Cragg, I.Dean, J.Dean, B.Fitzsimon, S.Johnston, T.Kingsbury, P.Mabbott, S.Markiewicz, G.Michaelides, H.Morgan, N.Pace, M.Perkins, B.Sarson, L.Sparks, N.Taylor, F.Thomson, R.Trigg

 

AND THE MOTION WAS DECLARED LOST.

 

33b

The following motion was submitted by Councillor M.Cowan and seconded by Councillor H.Quenet:-

Minutes:

"This Council declines to support the proposal to charge for or abandon collection of brown bins and deplores the failure of the so-called consultation to allow the public to adequately reflect their views and the pressure applied to withdraw a more comprehensive consultation drawn up by concerned members of our Borough."

 

On being put to the vote, there voted 20 FOR AND 25 AGAINST

 

AND THE MOTION WAS DECLARED LOST.

 

33c

The following motion was submitted by Councillor J.Fitzpatrick and seconded by Councillor J.Broach:-

Minutes:

"Given the additional financial pressures that this Council is facing, leading to cuts in support for the most vulnerable and fee increases for residents and businesses alike, Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council acknowledges that this is not the time for increases to Member allowances.

 

Therefore, this Council reverses the recent allowance changes with immediate effect."

 

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 92(a) five Members present demanded by standing up that the vote be recorded.  The vote was recorded as follows:-

 

VOTING FOR

19 -      T.Bailey, R.Basch. H.Beckett, M.Birleson, L.Brandon, J.Broach, A.Chesterman, L.Chesterman. M.Cook, J.Fitzpatrick, G.Hayes, M.Holloway, M.Larkins, H.Quenet, S.Roberts, P.Shah, K.Thorpe, J.Weston, P.Zukowskyj

 

VOTING AGAINST

24 -      D.Bell, D.Bennett, J.Boulton, S.Boulton, H.Bower, H.Bromley, N.Chapman, J.Cragg, I.Dean, J.Dean, B.Fitzsimon, K.Holman, S.Johnston, T.Kingsbury, P.Mabbott, S.Markiewicz, G.Michaelides, H.Morgan, N.Pace, M.Perkins, B.Sarson, L.Sparks, F.Thomson, R.Trigg

 

ABSTENTIONS – 2

 

AND THE MOTION WAS DECLARED LOST.