Agenda and minutes

Venue: The Town Hall, The Parade, Epsom

Contact: Democratic Services, tel: 01372 732122  Email: democraticservices@epsom-ewell.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

19.

Declarations of Interest

To receive declarations of the existence and nature of any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests from Members in respect of any item to be considered at the meeting.

Minutes:

No declarations of interest were made by Councillors regarding items on the

Agenda.

20.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 127 KB

To confirm the Minutes of the Meeting of the Council held on 23 July 2019.


Minutes:

The Minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 23 July 2019 were agreed as a true record and signed by the Mayor.

21.

Mayoral Communications/Business

To receive such communications or deal with such business as the Mayor may decide to lay before the Council.

Minutes:

The Mayor announced the sad passing of Jimmy Upton who was a former Mayor and Cuddington RA Councillor for over 20 years. The Council observed a minute’s silence.

The Mayor made a number of announcements relating to noteworthy events over the past four months and to forthcoming charity events.

An apology was received from Councillor Muir regarding comments made at the Annual Meeting.  The Mayor accepted the apology.

22.

Chairmen's Statements pdf icon PDF 64 KB

To receive statements from the Chairmen of the Council’s policy committees, briefing Members on current events and issues relating to the relevant Committee’s area of work.

 

A period of 15 minutes will be set aside for Members to ask questions on the statement of any policy committee Chairman.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Council received written statements from the Chairmen of Strategy & Resources, Community and Wellbeing Committee and the Environment & Safe Communities Committee.

Four questions were asked relating to the statement from the Community and Wellbeing Committee and responded to by the Committee Chairman.

23.

Petition for Council debate pdf icon PDF 59 KB

Following the trigger for a full Council debate being reached, this report sets out the details of the Petition and the procedure for its debate.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Council received a petition, entitled “Planning strategy in light of the governments housing building targets” which had met the threshold for Council debate (receiving a total of 1,815 valid signatures) and had been accepted under the requirements of the Council’s Petition Scheme.  Details of the Petition were set out at Annex 1 to the report.

In line with the Council’s general rules of debate and the Petition Scheme, the petition organiser was given 5 minutes to present the petition and Chairman of Licensing & Planning Policy Committee responded to the Petition.

The meeting was then opened to debate and concluded with a final reply from the Chairman of Licensing & Planning Policy Committee.

24.

Questions from Members pdf icon PDF 77 KB

This report sets out the questions submitted which have been accepted under FCR 12, Part 4 Rules of Procedure, of the Constitution.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Four questions had been addressed to Committee Chairmen to which written answers had been provided and published.

Four supplementary questions were asked at the meeting and answers given by the relevant Committee Chairmen.

 

25.

Epsom & Ewell Borough Council Pensions Discretions Policy pdf icon PDF 86 KB

This report provides background information on the proposed draft Pension Discretions Policy.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Council received a report from the Head of HR and Organisational Development requesting approval for the Pension Discretions Policy required under the Local Government Pensions Regulations.  The draft Pensions Discretion Policy had been considered by the Strategy & Resources Committee in November 2019.

Councillor Eber Kington MOVED the recommendation in the report.

Upon being put the recommendation was CARRIED, 30 being in favour and 2 against.

Accordingly it was resolved that:

(1)            Council approved the Pension Discretions Policy at Annex 1

26.

Constitution Update -Revisions to Parts 1, 2 and 4 pdf icon PDF 90 KB

This report sets out the recommendations of the Standards Committee regarding proposed changes to Parts 1, 2 and 4 of the Council’s Constitution.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Council received a report from the Chief Legal Officer setting out the recommendations of the Standards Committee regarding proposed changes to Parts 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the Council’s Constitution.

Councillor Liz Frost MOVED the recommendation in the report.

Upon being put the recommendation was CARRIED, 31 being in favour and 1 against.

Accordingly it was resolved that:

Council approved:

(1)            Revisions to Parts 1, 2 and 4 of the Constitution as set out in Annex 1;

(2)            Delegated the authority to the Monitoring Officer to make any further changes as may be necessary arising out of the report in consultation with the Chair of the Standards Committee

27.

Polling Stations Review 2019 pdf icon PDF 108 KB

This report sets out the recommendations from Strategy and Resources Committee for proposed changes following the conclusion of Polling Places and Districts Review 2019.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Council received a report from the Chief Legal Officer setting out the recommendations from Strategy and Resources Committee for proposed changes following the conclusion of the Polling Places and Districts Review.

Councillor Eber Kington MOVED the recommendation in the report.

Upon being put the recommendation was CARRIED unanimously

Accordingly it was resolved that:

Council:

(1)            Approved the changes to location of the polling places and districts as set out at para 3.1 of the report for a five year period from 1 January 2020, or until it is superseded by any subsequent review of any polling place or district;

(2)            Delegated the Chief Executive any ongoing review or change of polling places during this period, to ensure that polling arrangements in the Borough remain fit for purpose for each election called.

28.

Calendar of Meetings 2020-2021 pdf icon PDF 70 KB

Approval of the extended Municipal Calendar from May 2020 to July 2021.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Council received a report setting out the proposed extended Municipal Calendar for 2020-2021. 

Councillor Eber Kington MOVED the recommendation in the report.

Councillor Clive Smitheram SECONDED the recommendation in the report.

Upon being put the recommendation was CARRIED, 29being in favour and 3 abstentions, subject to a further report being brought to Council in April 2020 setting out the reasons for a 7pm start time for Planning Committee and Licensing & Planning Policy Committee.

Accordingly it was resolved that:

(1)            Council approved the Municipal Calendar for 2020-2021.

29.

Motions pdf icon PDF 78 KB

This report sets out notices of motions ruled in order by the Mayor in consultation with the Chief Legal Officer.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Motion 1: “Local Electricity Bill”

This motion with withdrawn prior to the meeting by proposer Councillor Julie Morris

Motion 2:  “Contribution to Emily Davison Memorial Statue”

In pursuance of the Council’s Rules of Procedure, Councillor Kate Chinn MOVED and Councillor Debbie Monksfield SECONDED the following Motion:

“I am sure we all know Epsom saw one of the most significant events of women’s suffrage take place when on the 4 June 1913 Emily Davison was fatally injured at the Epsom Derby under the hooves o the king’s horse.

I propose this Council notes the importance of commemorating that event, the significance of the suffragette movement and the role play by Emily Davison.  In recognition of this the Council approves a further contribution of £20,000 to enable the statue to be erected in the newly refurbished market square.”

An amendment to the motion was MOVED by Councillor Eber Kington and SECONDED by Councillor Barry Nash:

To amend the motions as follows:

I am sure we all know. Epsom saw one of the most significant events of women’s suffrage take place when on the 4th June 1913 Emily Davison was fatally injured at the Epsom Derby under the hooves of the king’s horse. I propose This Council notes the importance of commemorating that event, the significance of the suffragette movement and the role played by Emily Davison.  In recognition of this the council approves a further  contribution  has set aside up to £20,000 to support the project and has continued to encourage local and national funding support to enable the statue to be erected in the newly refurbished market square.  The Council therefore calls upon all those with an interest in promoting the heritage and economy of our borough and of the town centre to add their funding support so as to ensure that the funding target is reached in early 2020.

Upon being put the amendment was CARRIED and became the substantive motion.

Following resolution of the amendment the substantive motion was debated and put to a vote.

Upon being put, the motion was CARRIED with 32 being in favour, 3 against, 1 abstention, and the Mayor not voting

According, the Council resolved:

Epsom saw one of the most significant events of women’s suffrage take place when on the 4th June 1913 Emily Davison was fatally injured at the Epsom Derby under the hooves of the king’s horse. This Council notes the importance of commemorating that event, the significance of the suffragette movement and the role played by Emily Davison.  In recognition of this the council has set aside up to £20,000 to support the project and has continued to encourage local and national funding support to enable the statue to be erected in the newly refurbished market square.  The Council therefore calls upon all those with an interest in promoting the heritage and economy of our borough and of the town centre to add their funding support so as to ensure that the funding target is reached in early 2020.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29.