Agenda and minutes

The Chair will draw attention to the emergency evacuation procedure as set out under Note 5.

The Chair drew attention to the emergency evacuation procedure, as set out on the agenda.

At this point in the meeting declarations of interest are received from Members in any of the agenda items under consideration at the meeting. Members are asked to complete the green interest forms circulated to groups in their pre-meetings (which will be announced at the Council Meeting) to indicate:

(a)  The agenda item number in which they have an interest to declare.

(b)  The nature of their interest.

(c)  Whether their interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest or an other interest, (as defined in Part 4.4 Appendix B of the Code of Conduct and Rules for Registration of Interests)

Any Member who needs to clarify any matters relating to the declaration of interests is recommended to seek advice from the Council’s Monitoring Officeror a member of his staff before the meeting to expedite dealing with the item during the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest made.

To be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair

On a motion from Councillor Eleanor Jackson, and seconded by Councillor Liz Hardman, it was

RESOLVED that the minutes of 20^th July 2023 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

At the request of the Chair, Council stood for a minute’s silence in recognition of the recent death of Jane Tapper, former B&NES Councillor for Weston from 1999 – 2003 and Bill Carruthers, former Labour Council for Westfield, for the same period.

If there is any urgent business arising since the formal agenda was published, the Chair will announce this and give reasons why it has been agreed for consideration at this meeting. In making this decision, the Chair will, where practicable, have consulted with the Leaders of the Political Groups. Any documentation on urgent business will be circulated at the meeting, if not made available previously.

There were no items of urgent business.

The Democratic Services Manager will announce any submissions received. The Council will be invited to decide what action it wishes to take, if any, on the matters raised in these submissions. As the questions received and the answers given will be circulated in written form there is no requirement for them to be read out at the meeting. The questions and answers will be published with the draft minutes.

Statements were made by the following people;

Chad Allen made a statement about English ivy.  He explained how it takes over buildings, trees, walls, telegraph/lighting poles and can cause significant damage.  He called on the Council to acknowledge that action was needed to remove this hazard. The statement was referred to the relevant Cabinet Member.

Jeff Manning made a statement, supporting a petition from the residents of Foxhill, which called on the Council to take a radical fresh look at its working relationship with Curo.  He cited various examples of recent problems and called for closer engagement to resolve issues. A copy of the statement is linked to the online minutes and placed on the Minute book.  In response to an offer from Councillor Kevin Guy to meet him and the ward member, Mr Manning replied that he would welcome that.  Councillor Joanna Wright asked Mr Manning for his view of the mental health implications on residents if there were poor quality services, to which he replied that the effect was significant on the individuals and the community. The statement was referred to the relevant Cabinet Member.

Gavin Hambrey spoke on behalf of the Bath Riverside Residents’ Association gull action group, and in his own capacity, about urban gulls.  He outlined the problems they caused, the steps they had taken to improve the situation and called for further measures to reduce the negative impact gulls have on local residents.  Councillor Kevin Guy asked if Mr Hambrey considered that Local Authorities need more power to deal with this issue; to which he responded that what was key was getting Natural England to understand the impact gulls are having on people.  Councillor Grant Johnson asked what else might be done, taking into consideration that their protected status prevents the use of greater control measures.  Mr Hambrey replied that the regulatory approach from Natural England needed looking at, and called for a collective voice about potential law changes.  Councillor June Player asked if Mr Hambrey agreed that the Council should be engaging more robustly at a senior level to address the residents’ concerns, to which he replied that he did agree.  Councillor Tim Warren asked if egg removal was taking place, to which Mr Hambrey replied that targeted removal was taking place but the numbers were very limited, required a separate regulatory process each time and were funded privately by the management company.  Councillor Joanna Wright asked if it would be helpful for the Council to host a portal where residents could register gull activity; Mr Hambrey replied that he believed there was already an arrangement such as this but anything that could be done to make that more widely known and used would be helpful.  A full copy of the statement is linked to the online minutes and placed on the Minute book.  The statement was referred to the relevant Cabinet Member.

Matt Cooper made a statement about the merits of switching to a plant-based diet and urged the Council to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 40.

The Local Authority has a statutory duty, in partnership with Health, Police and Probation, to produce an annual Youth Justice Plan. The Plan sets out how services will be organised and funded and what functions they will carry out to prevent youth offending and re-offending across Bath and North East Somerset. The Plan was agreed at Cabinet on 7^th September and will be submitted to the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales.

Council considered the Youth Justice Plan for 2023-24 which had been previously considered by the Children, Adults, Health & Wellbeing Policy Development and Scrutiny Panel and supported by Cabinet.

On a motion from Councillor Paul May, seconded by Councillor Liz Hardman, it was unanimously

RESOLVED to

1.  Agree that the Youth Justice Plan fulfils the requirements of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and can be submitted to the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales.

2.  Adopt the Youth Justice Plan as part of the Council’s Policy and Budget Framework that can be accommodated within the Council budget; and

3.  Note that the Youth Offending Service Partnership Board is responsible for ensuring delivery of the Plan.

The Corporate Audit Committee has specific delegated powers given to it from Full Council and as such is required to report back annually on its work to Council under its Terms of Reference. The Corporate Audit Committee 2022/2023 Annual Report (Appendix 1) details the work carried out by the Committee for the period April 2022 to March 2023.

The Council considered the annual report of the Corporate Audit Committee for its activity in 2023 - 2023, and a small amendment to the Committee Terms of Reference.

On a motion from Councillor Mark Elliott, seconded by Councillor Lucy Hodge, it was unanimously

RESOLVED that

1.  The Annual Report of the Corporate Audit Committee is noted; and

2.  The revised Corporate Audit Committee Terms of Reference are approved.

To consider the Policy Development & Scrutiny Annual Report for 2022-2023.

The Council considered the annual report of the work of the Policy Development & Scrutiny Panels for 2022-2023.

On a motion from Councillor Michelle O’Doherty, seconded by Councillor Lucy Hodge, it was

RESOLVED to note the contents of the Policy Development and Scrutiny Annual Report 2022-2023.

[Notes:

1.  The above resolution was carried with two Councillors abstaining.]

This item had been withdrawn.

This item had been withdrawn.

The Council considered a motion concerning staff safety.

On a motion from Councillor Sam Kelly, and seconded by Councillor Sarah Evans, it was

RESOLVED that

Council backs the new Violence, Aggression, Threatening and Challenging Behaviour (Staff Safety) Policy, which is being rolled out by Bath and North East Somerset Council, and the associated campaign to tackle unacceptable, violent, and aggressive behaviour towards Council workers.

Council noted the questions and responses that had been circulated.

Councillor Dave Harding made a statement about rural buses in the Chew Valley.  He explained that the Demand Responsive Transport arrangement was not reliable or regular and people were becoming isolated, missing appointments, concerned about losing jobs etc.  A recent WECA Mayor event had been disappointing for all the residents that had attended.  Councillor Fiona Gourley, as Member Advocate for Rural Communities, has now drafted a petition calling for reliable public transport to be restored in North East Somerset and he urged all Councillors to support this.  Councillor Joanna Wright asked if Councillor Harding would be signing the ‘Take the West of England buses back into public control’ petition which 2360 people have signed so far, to which he replied that he had not yet seen the petition.  Councillor Fiona Gourley asked if Councillor Harding considered it appropriate that the WECA Mayor has spent £8 million pounds on free birthday buses for areas where services already exist and £4 million pounds on branding, when there are entire areas of B&NES who have lost their bus service.  Councillor Harding responded by referring councillors to a National Centre for Public Research paper published in 2020 prepared for the Department of Transport entitled “Impact of interventions encouraging a switch from cars to more sustainable modes of transport” in which it says that interventions that used temporary financial or other rewards do little to encourage change once the reward has ended.

On closing the meeting, the Chair permitted Councillor Eleanor Jackson to check if Councillor Harding was aware of the statement she had made at the May 2023 meeting on this subject and the petition from Mrs Harrington, to which he confirmed that he had been present at that meeting, but would be happy to receive any relevant information from Councillor Jackson.