Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received on behalf of Councillors Allan Bailey, Dexter Bullock, Paul Cooper, Tricia Clough, Mary Dooley, Donna Hales, Natalie Hoy, Tom Kirkham, Evonne Parkin and Graham Parkin.

Members should declare the existence and nature of any Disclosable Pecuniary Interest and Non Statutory Interest as defined by the Members’ Code of Conduct in respect of:

a)  any business on the agenda

b)  any urgent additional items to be considered

c)  any matters arising out of those items

and if appropriate, withdraw from the meeting at the relevant time.

There were no declarations made at the meeting.

To receive any announcements that the Chair of the Council may desire to lay before the meeting.

The Chair welcomed Councillor Mark Hinman to the Council, following his election on 17^th November 2022.

The Chair reported that Dan Salt was no longer a Member of the Authority as Section 85 of the Local Government Act 1972 had been automatically applied.  It was reported that given the timescales there was no requirement to hold a by-election and a vacancy would be held until May 2023.

The Chair permitted Councillor McGregor to ask a question of the Leader of the Council.   Councillor McGregor asked if the Leader of the Council wished to express the views of the Council to the local MP regarding the proposal for the East Midlands Combined County Authority, which was currently being consulted on.  Councillor Steve Fritchley, Leader of the Council, explained that North East Derbyshire District Council had recently debated the issue and he had been asked to write to the local MP to express an objection to the proposal and to ask the MP to vote against the proposals in parliament.  It was agreed that the Leader of the Council would write to the MP for Bolsover regarding the Council’s objections to the East Midlands Combined County Authority proposals.

To approve the Minutes of the Council meeting held on 5^th October 2022.

Moved by Councillor Ray Heffer and seconded by Councillor Chris Kane

RESOLVED that the minutes of a meeting of Council held on 5^th October 2022 be approved as a true and correct record.

To approve the Minutes of the Special Council meeting held on 2^nd November 2022.

Moved by Councillor Tom Munro and seconded by Councillor Nick Clarke           

RESOLVED that the minutes of a special meeting of Council held on 2^nd November 2022 be approved as a true and correct record.

Report of the Chairs of the Scrutiny Committees.

Council considered a report presented by Councillor Rose Bowler on behalf of Scrutiny Chairs which provided an update on the work of the Scrutiny Committees for 2021/22.  The Overview and Scrutiny Annual Report 2021/22 was appended to the report.

The annual report provided an overview of the core activity for each of the Committees and detailed some of the impact of work completed during the year.  It also detailed that it had been the first year that the Audit and Corporate Overview Scrutiny Committee had existed, following a combination of the former Audit Committee and Budget Scrutiny Committee.  As this Committee was new, feedback regarding the impact of this Committee could be made to the Scrutiny and Elections Officer.

Moved by Councillor Derek Adams and seconded by Councillor Rose Bowler

RESOLVED that (1) the Annual Scrutiny Report be noted;

(2)  any feedback regarding the conduct and impact of the Audit & Corporate Overview Scrutiny Committee, as part of the Council’s Improvement Plan, be made to the Scrutiny and Elections Officer.

To give consideration to requests for changes to Committee Seats for the remainder of the Municipal Year.

The Assistant Director & Monitoring Officer presented a report to make amendments to the appointment of Members to the Council’s Committees and Advisory Groups for the 2022/23 Municipal Year following a by-election and a change to the Council’s political groups affecting proportionality.

It was moved by Councillor Tom Munro and seconded by Councillor Duncan McGregor

RESOLVED that (1) Councillor Peter Roberts be removed from the membership of the Audit and Corporate Overview Scrutiny Committee

(2)          Councillors Nick Clarke and Mark Hinman to appointed to the Audit and Corporate Overview Scrutiny Committee

(Assistant Director & Monitoring Officer)

To move:- 

That the public be excluded from the meeting during the discussion of the following items of business to avoid the disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, (as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006).  [The category of exempt information is stated below each item].

Moved by Councillor Ray Heffer and seconded by Councillor Tom Munro

RESOLVED that under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended), the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the stated Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act and it is not in the public interest for that to be revealed.  [The category of exempt information is stated after each Minute].

Report of the Portfolio Holder for Environmental Health and Licensing.

(Exempt – Paragraphs 1, 2 and 3)

Council considered a report presented by the Portfolio Holder for Environmental Health and Licensing, Councillor Deborah Watson, which provided an update on the performance of the Council’s kerbside waste recycling service following changes made to bring the service in-house in February 2021.  The report provided an update on the performance progress of the service and details of future management and support arrangements.

Moved by Councillor Deborah Watson and seconded by Councillor Andrew Joesbury

RESOLVED that the performance of the kerbside recycling service since it was brought in-house along with the anticipated future growth, demands and changes to the service, be noted.

The Chair thanked Members for their attendance and closed the meeting.