Accessibility settings

In order to remember your preferences as you navigate through the site, a cookie will be set.

Color preference

Text size

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Tewkesbury Borough Council Offices, Severn Room

Contact: Democratic Services Tel: 01684 272021  Email:  democraticservices@tewkesbury.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

Announcements

When the continuous alarm sounds you must evacuate the building by the nearest available fire exit. Members and visitors should proceed to the visitors’ car park at the front of the building and await further instructions (during office hours staff should proceed to their usual assembly point; outside of office hours proceed to the visitors’ car park). Please do not re-enter the building unless instructed to do so.

 

In the event of a fire any person with a disability should be assisted in leaving the building.  

Minutes:

1.1            The evacuation procedure, as noted on the Agenda, was advised to those present.

1.2            The Chair advised of his intention to change the order of the Agenda so Item 9 – Response to the Technical Consultation on the Infrastructure Levy 2023 would be taken after Agenda Item 6 – Executive Committee Forward Plan.

2.

Declarations of Interest

Pursuant to the adoption by the Council on 24 January 2023 of the Tewkesbury Borough Council Code of Conduct, effective from 1 February 2023, as set out in Minute No. CL.72, Members are invited to declare any interest they may have in the business set out on the Agenda to which the approved Code applies.

Minutes:

2.1            The Committee’s attention was drawn to the Tewkesbury Borough Code of Conduct which was adopted by the Council on 24 January 2023 and took effect on 1 February 2023

2.2            The following declarations were made:

Councillor

Application No./Item

Nature of Interest (where disclosed)

Declared Action in respect of Disclosure

D W Gray

Item 11 – Future of Winchcombe Tourist Information Centre

Is a Member of Winchcombe Town Council and attended meetings of the Winchcombe Museum Trust Board as an observer.

Would speak and vote.

J R Mason

Item 11 – Future of Winchcombe Tourist Information Centre

Is Chair of Winchcombe Town Council.

Would speak and vote.

2.3            There were no further declarations made on this occasion.

3.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 237 KB

To approve the Minutes of the meeting held on 1 March 2023.

Minutes:

3.1            The Minutes of the meeting held on 1 March 2023, copies of which had been circulated, were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair. 

4.

Items from Members of the Public

To receive any questions, deputations or petitions submitted under Rule of Procedure 12.

 

(The deadline for public participation submissions for this meeting is 1 June 2023).

Minutes:

4.1            There were no items from members of the public. 

5.

Executive Committee Forward Plan pdf icon PDF 271 KB

To consider the Committee’s Forward Plan.  

Subject To Call In:: No - Item to Note.

Minutes:

5.1            Attention was drawn to the Executive Committee Forward Plan, circulated at Pages No. 11-18, which Members were asked to consider.

5.2            A Member raised concern that the Forward Plan made no reference to the Garden Town; he was surprised it was not included, given its importance, and he asked what the timeframe would be in terms of bringing an update to Members.  In response, the Chief Executive explained that the Garden Town programme had been paused whilst a review was undertaken.  The review had been commissioned and a draft report was expected later this week.  Depending on its findings, he anticipated that he would share this with the Leader and Deputy Leader before bringing it to Executive Committee and the wider Council.  It was noted that a Garden Communities Development Briefing was being held the following evening as part of the Member Induction Programme to bring Members up to speed.

5.3            A Member noted that the Forward Plan was a standing item on every Agenda and suggested it might be more appropriate to move it to the end of the Agenda so that any issues arising from the meeting could be discussed.  In terms of the Taxi and Private Hire Licensing Policy, due to be considered at the meeting on 29 November 2023, he noted this was being taken to the Licensing Committee meeting on 15 June 2023 so he asked why it could not be brought to the Executive Committee sooner.  He went on to question whether something should have been included on the Forward Plan to deal with the issues that had been raised at the last meeting in relation to the potential large scale changes to waste and recycling.  The Member also pointed out that the Forward Plan made no reference to the climate change motion which had been approved at the annual Council meeting.  As a new Member, he was still getting to grips with work in progress and understanding the position of Lead Members as individuals and as Members of the Committee so he felt it would be beneficial to discuss this further in order to identify opportunities to influence the direction of the authority.  With regard to the Taxi and Private Hire Licensing Policy, the Director: Communities explained that the Licensing Committee was being asked to approve the draft revised policy for public consultation and it would need to go back to the Licensing Committee following consultation before being brought to the Executive Committee for ratification.  He advised that the Lead Member for Clean and Green Environment had been briefed in relation to the government proposals regarding waste but he would be happy to bring something to a future meeting to explore the impacts of that.  The Chief Executive confirmed the Forward Plan would be reviewed in light of the Council motion and updated accordingly in terms of the work of the Executive Committee; he explained that the Forward Plan was a living document and policy was being developed in areas aligned to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.

Response to the Technical Consultation on the Infrastructure Levy 2023 pdf icon PDF 412 KB

To consider and agree the Council’s response to the Technical Consultation on the Infrastructure Levy.

Subject To Call In:: No - Decision taken as urgent as defined in Scrutiny Rule of Procedure 15.1 because there would be insufficient time for the completion of the call-in process before implementation of the decision.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

6.1            The report of the CIL Manager and Planning Policy Manager, circulated at Pages No. 49-67, asked Members to approve the proposed responses to the Technical Consultation on the Infrastructure Levy, as set out at Paragraph 3.3 and Appendix 1 to the report, and to delegate authority to the Head of Development Services, in consultation with the Lead Member for Built Environment, to make any necessary minor amendments to the response prior to submission.

6.2            In proposing the recommendation on the report, the Lead Member for Built Environment explained that consultation on the introduction of a National Infrastructure Levy was part of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill and followed the Ministerial Statement on a new National Planning Policy Framework.   The objective was to make the system more streamlined to provide greater clarity and transparency.  The technical consultation invited local authorities to respond to 45 specific questions and a policy research report was provided alongside it which was based on work with six local authorities using hypothetical models to inform how the changes might work in practice.  It was hoped to speed up the process by doing away with negotiations and Page No. 52, Paragraph 2.2. of the report stated clearly that it was difficult to gain an understanding of how it would work in practice without further information as it was presented as a set of ideas for comment rather than a detailed proposal for imminent reform.  Officers had worked on the Council’s response and highlighted that it raised serious concerns about the authority’s financial position due to changes to the way infrastructure levy could be claimed.  The recommendation was to approve the proposals, as set out at Paragraph 3.3, and Appendix 1, of the report, in order to comply with the deadline for response which was Thursday 8 June 2023.

6.3            The proposal was duly seconded and it was

Action By: HoDS

7.

Health, Safety & Welfare Policy Review pdf icon PDF 129 KB

To approve the revised Health, Safety and Welfare Policy and delegate authority to the Director: Communities, in consultation with the Lead Member, to make minor changes to the Policy including changes to the management structure, minor typographical changes etc.  

Subject To Call In:: Yes - No action to be taken prior to the expiry of the call-in period.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

7.1            The report of the Environmental Services Officer, circulated at Pages No. 19-33, attached, at Appendix 1, a revised Health, Safety and Welfare Policy.  Members were asked to approve the policy and to delegate authority to the Director: Communities, in consultation with the Lead Member for Organisational Development, to make minor changes to the policy including changes to management structure and minor typographical changes etc.

7.2            The Director: Communities explained that all employers of the Council’s size had a legal duty to have a written Health and Safety policy in place which needed to be kept up to date.  The policy required revision to reflect the new management structure which was implemented on 1 April 2023; the rest of the policy remained unchanged. 

7.3            A Member drew attention to Page No. 28 of the report and asked whether people who were not employees but were in the office were covered by the policy and the Director: Communities confirmed they were covered but possibly to a slightly different degree.  Another Member indicated that Page No. 32, Paragraph 3.5 of the report stated that the Executive Committee comprised 11 Members and the Chairman and Vice-Chairman were Leader and Deputy Leader of the Council respectively; this was inaccurate as there were now 12 Members of the Committee and she asked that it be reworded in recognition of that and to use ‘Chair’ and ‘Vice-Chair’.

7.4            Upon being proposed and seconded, it was

Action By: DC

8.

Data Protection Policy Review pdf icon PDF 239 KB

To approve the revised Data Protection Policy following consideration by Audit & Governance Committee in March 2023. 

Subject To Call In:: Yes - No action to be taken prior to the expiry of the call-in period.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

8.1            Attention was drawn to the report of the Director: Corporate Resources, circulated at Pages No. 34-47, which asked Members to approve the revised Data Protection Policy.

8.2            The Director: Corporate Resources advised that the Council regularly reviewed its key policies and, having been adopted in 2018, the Data Protection Policy required revision to ensure it remained consistent with legal requirements, reflected best practice and continued to be fit for purpose.  It was noted that only minor amendments were required, as set out at Page No. 36, Paragraph 3.1 of the report.  The revised policy was attached at Appendix 1 to the report and had been endorsed by the Audit and Governance Committee at its meeting on 23 March 2023.  Members were advised it was a living document and work around data protection was ongoing.

8.3            A Member drew attention to Page No. 44, Paragraph 6.15 of the report which stated that electronic records must be removed permanently and she asked for clarification in terms of whether deleted documents could be recovered.  With regard to Page No. 45, Paragraph 6.19 of the report which stated that, in certain circumstances, the Council may charge a reasonable fee or refuse a data subject request where it was manifestly unfounded, excessive or repetitive, she asked how this was defined.  In response, the Director: Corporate Resources advised that Members would have an opportunity to raise questions about how the policy was practically applied at the Member Induction session in relation to the General Data Protection Regulation which was taking place on Monday 3 July and he stressed there would be ongoing training regarding data protection going forward.  The Head of Service: Audit and Governance advised that it was very rare to charge a fee to respond to a data request but the Council followed guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office on what was considered reasonable.  The Member suggested that a sentence be added to the end of the paragraph to reflect that the fee would be in line with what was recommended by the Information Commissioner’s Office.  With regard to Page No. 47 of the report, the Member expressed the view that there was an urgent need for a casework system for Councillors and asked if that was something being considered.  She had contact with residents in numerous ways including various email accounts, WhatsApp, Facebook, answerphone messages and telephone calls as well as conversations in the street, and she was concerned about how to ensure data was secure.  The Director: Corporate Services indicated this could be a project for the Business Transformation Team but stressed it would need to be weighed against other priorities in terms of when it could be delivered.  Another Member felt it would be beneficial to have an annex to the policy which provided guidance for Members where things could be put more simply and kept updated without the need for whole policy change.  The Director: Corporate Services indicated that he would look to add a Frequently Asked Questions section,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

Action By: DCorS

9.

Separate Business

The Chairman will move the adoption of the following resolution:

 

That under Section 100(A)(4) Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded for the following items on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

Minutes:

9.1            The Chair proposed, and it was

RESOLVED           That, under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items on the grounds that they involve the likely discussion of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act. 

10.

Separate Minutes

To approve the separate Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 1 March 2023.

Minutes:

10.1          The separate Minutes of the meeting held on 1 March 2023, copies of which had been circulated, were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair. 

11.

Future of Winchcombe Tourist Information Centre

(Exempt –Paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 – Information relating to any individual) 

 

To consider and agree the future of Winchcombe Tourist Information Centre.

Minutes:

(Exempt – Paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 – Information relating to any individual) 

11.1          The Committee agreed a way forward regarding the future of Winchcombe Tourist Information Centre.