Agenda and minutes

In accordance with the Council's Code of Conduct, Councillors of the Council are reminded that it is a requirement to declare interests where appropriate.

The disclosures of interests made by Councillors were set out in Appendix A to the minutes.

To receive and consider any announcementsor communications.

The Mayor on behalf of the Council asked that their condolences be conveyed to Councillor Mullins and his family at this sad time.

The Mayor then provided the Full Council with abrief update of the Mayoral events. The Mayor thankedthoseCouncillors and guests that attended his recentMayor’s Ball.

To answerpublicquestionsunder Council Procedure Rule10.The questionsmust be on matterswhich are relevanttothe functionsofthe Council, andshould not includestatements.

One supplementaryquestionfrom thequestioner will be allowed.

Up to 30 minutesisallocatedto PublicQuestionTime.

Questions asked in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 9 were as follows:

1)            To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Full Council held on 12 December 2018

2)            To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Extraordinary Full Council held on 23 January 2019

(Appendix A)

a)            The minutes of the meeting of the Full Council held on 12 December 2018 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Mayor subject to the following two changes.

i)        that the words “on behalf of the Conservative Group” be deleted from the first line of the first paragraph of Minute 10 (Public Space Protection Order – Cabinet – 21 November 2018) on Page 24, and

ii)       that the words “on behave of the Conservative Group” be deleted from the first line of the second paragraph of Minute 21 (District Heat Network (Recommendation 3) – Cabinet – 31 October 2018) on Page 31.

b)            The minutes of the meeting of the Extraordinary Full Council held on 23 January 2019 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Mayor.

Prior to the introduction ofthe Minutesofthe Cabinet, Overviewand Scrutiny CommissionandCommittees (ascontained in the BookofMinutes), Memberswill be given the opportunity to indicate on which items they wish tospeak.

TheseReservedItemswill then bethe onlymattersto bethe subject ofa debate.

Councillors indicated that they wished to speak on a number of items as set out in the following table:

1)            Toreceive theminutes ofthe meetings ofthe Cabinet,Overviewand Scrutiny Commission and Committees, as listed on page 53, and set out in the appendices to this item.

2)            Toadopt any of therecommendationsto Full Council,which have notbeenreservedfor debate and as listed on page 53, and set out in the appendices to this item.

1)         Moved by Councillor Rana (as the Deputy Mayor):-

RESOLVED

That the following reportsbe received:

·                Planning Committee – 17 December 2018

·                Overview and Scrutiny Commission – 7 January 2019

·                Planning Committee – 21 January 2019

·                Overview and Scrutiny Commission –  4 February 2019

·                Cabinet – 6 February 2019

·                Notice of Precept 2019-2020

·                Planning Committee – 11 February 2019

2)         That the recommendations containedin the reportson the following matters,which had not been reserved for debate, be adopted:-

Treasury Management Strategy 2019/2020 – Cabinet – 6 February 2019 (Recommendation 3)

The Full Council consideredreport FIN/464; of the Head of Corporate Finance, which had previously considered by the Cabinet on 6 February 2019 and at the Overview and Scrutiny Commission on 4 6 February 2019.

RESOLVED

That Full Council approves:

a)           the Treasury Prudential Indicators and the Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) Statement contained within Section 5 of report FIN/464;

b)           the Treasury Management Strategy contained within Section 6 of report FIN/464;

c)           the Investment Strategy contained within Section 7, and the detailed criteria included in Appendix 3 of report FIN/464

Review of Statement of Licensing Policy made under the Licensing Act 2003 – Cabinet – 6 February 2019 (Recommendation 5)

The Full Council consideredreport HCS/08 of the Head of Community Services which had previously considered by the Cabinet on 6 February 2019 and at the Overview and Scrutiny Commission on 4 6 February 2019.

RESOLVED

That Full Council approves the adoption of the proposed revised Statement of Licensing Policy 2019-2024 made under the Licensing Act 2003 (Appendix B to report HCS/08).

Councillor Guidera explained his rationale for bringing forward this item. He commented he felt the Commission’s decision was slightly different to what was stated within the minute being discussed. He felt that it was agreed to ask for a representative from WHSmith to attend the Commission along with a representative from the Post Office.

Councillors Irvine, Crow and Burrett also spoke on this item.

Councillor Cheshire as the Chair of the Commission, spoke last on the item and she stated she felt the minute was a fair reflection of the Commission’ decision. However if there was a correction needed to the Commission’s minutes it should be raised at the next Commission’s meeting, as Full Council does not have the right to amend any minutes of a committee. She commented she would be happy to have a further discussion at the next Commission on the 11 March over inviting a WHSmith employee to attend the Commission, when the representative from Royal Mail was attending in June.

The Leader of the Council presented the reportFIN/462 of the Head of Corporate Finance, which set out the Budget and level of Council Tax for the year 2019/20. It was noted that the report detailed each of the Revenue, Capital and Housing Revenue Accounts that combine together to formulate ‘The Budget’. In proposing the level of Council Tax for the Financial Year 2019/20, each of those accounts identified had been considered. The combined proposal ensured that the Council had a balanced Budget. It was noted that the report had been considered by the Cabinet on 6 February 2019 and by the Overview and Scrutiny Commission at its meeting on 4 February 2019. In presenting The Budget to the Council Councillor Lamb also moved the Labour Amendment to the proposal (Recommendation 1), which was detailed in item 16 of Supplemental Agenda for the meeting. Councillor Jones seconded that report and the Labour Amendment.

The Full Council was reminded that regulations required all Councils at their annual budget meetings to adopt the practice of recorded votes - that is, recording in the minutes of the meeting how each member present voted on any decision relating to the Annual Budget and Council Tax. This applied not only to substantive budget motions to agree the budget and setting council taxes, including precepts, but also on any amendments proposed.

The Leader of the Opposition, Councillor Duncan Crow addressed the meeting and made his budget speech which included presenting the Conservative Amendment to the Budget (Recommendation 1) which was detailed in item 17 of Supplemental Agenda for the meeting.  Councillor Lanzer seconded that Conservative Amendment. The Mayor then opened up the general debate on the proposed Budget report and both amendments to the Council with Councillor T. Belben, Burrett, Sudan, Jones, Lunnon, Lanzer, Irvine and Lamb, using his right to reply all spoke during debate.

At the conclusion of the discussion, Councillors expressed their thanks and appreciation for the work carried out by Karen Hayes (Head of Corporate Finance), the Finance Division generally and the Budget Advisory Group (BAG).

Following the conclusion of the debate, the Mayor invited the Head of Legal, Democracy and HR to commence the recorded voting process on the 2019/20 Budget and Council Tax and the related Amendments.

A recorded vote was then called on the Labour Amendment to Recommendation 1.

Votingin Favour:Councillors: Ayling, A Belben, T Belben, B Burgess, R Burgess, Burrett, Cheshire, Crow, Eade, Fiveash, Guidera, Irvine, Jaggard, Jones, Lamb, Lanzer, Lunnon, Malik, McCarthy, Pendlington, Pickett, Portal Castro, Quinn, Rana, Sharma, Skudder, B Smith, P Smith, Stone, Sudan, Tarrant, Thomas, Vitler and Willcock. (34)

VotingAgainst:Councillors: None (0)

Abstentions:Councillors: None (0)

The Mayor declared the Amendment was carried– votes in favour34, and votes against 0 with 0 abstention.

A recorded vote was then called on the Conservative Amendment to Recommendation 1. (Attached as Appendix B to these Minutes)

Votingin Favour:Councillors: A Belben, T Belben, B Burgess, R Burgess, Burrett,  Crow, Eade,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

Councillor Lamb presented the report that set out the Notice of Preceptfrom the Police andCrimeCommissionerforSussexand West Sussex County Council, which combined with the previously agreed Crawley Borough Council precept to formulated the 2019/20 Council Tax Resolution for 2019/20.

Councillors Crow, Lunnon, Lanzer, Guidera and Jones also spoke on the Precept.

Moved by Councillor Lamb, seconded by Councillor P. Smith.

Followingapproval of the Council’s Budget and Council Tax 2019/20 in Recommendation 1, and in accordance with the Local Authorities(Standing Orders)(England) (Amendment) Regulations2014, the names of the Councillorsvoting for and against Recommendation 2 wererecorded as setout below:-

Votingin Favour:Councillors: Ayling, A Belben, T Belben, Boxall, B Burgess, R Burgess, Burrett, Cheshire, Crow, Eade, Fiveash, Guidera, Irvine, Jaggard, Jones, Lamb, Lanzer, Lunnon, Malik, McCarthy, Pendlington, Pickett, Portal Castro, Quinn, Rana, Sharma, Skudder, B Smith, P Smith, Stone, Sudan, Tarrant, Thomas, Vitler and Willcock. (35)

VotingAgainst:Councillors: None (0)

Abstentions:Councillors: None (0)

The Mayor declared the recommendation was carried –votes in favour 35, and votesagainst 0 with 0 abstention.

RESOLVED

1.            That it be noted that on 19 December 2018 the Leader of the Council under delegated powers calculated the Council Tax Base 2019/20 for the whole Council area as 35,216.3 [Item T in the formula in Section 31B of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as amended (the "Act")] ; and

2.            That the Council Tax requirement for the Council’s own purposes for 2019/20 is calculated at £7,182,012.

3.            That the following amounts be calculated for the year 2019/20 in accordance with Sections 31 to 36 of the Act:

The Full Council considered report FIN/467 of the Head of Corporate Finance, which had been previously considered at the Cabinet on 6 February 2019 and by the Overview and Scrutiny Commission at its meeting on 4 February 2019.

Councillor Lamb presented the report, which was seconded by Councillor P Smith.

Councillor Guidera spoke on the item and its recommendation.

RESOLVED

That the Full Council approves the Capital Strategy 2019/20

Toconsider,in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 13, thefollowing Notice ofMotion tobemoved by Councillor Thomasand seconded byCouncillor P. Smith

The Council considered the Notice of Motion 1 ‘Motion on Reducing Plastic Waste’ as set out in the Full Council’s agenda. The Motion was moved and presented by Councillor Thomas and seconded and supported by Councillor P. Smith.

During the debate on the Motion Councillors, McCarthy, B Burgess, Sharma, Irvine, P. Smith, R Burgess all spoke in support. Councillor Thomas also used his right to reply to speak at the end of the debate.

RESOLVED

Crawley Borough Council notes that:

·         The European Parliament voted by a huge majority (571 to 53) in 2018 for a complete ban on a range of single use plastics (such as plastic cutlery and plates, cotton buds and straws) by 2021 and a 25% reduction in plastic use where no current alternative exists such as burger boxes and sandwich wrappers.

And notes with concern that:

·         Hundreds of millions of tons of new plastic is made every year, much of which is for single use such as plastic bags, straws and food packaging. In many cases there are practicable alternatives available that area either re-useable or compostable.

·         The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, which promotes the transition to a ‘Circular Economy’ has estimated that by weight there could be more plastic in the oceans than fish by 2050.

·         ‘Almost 80 per cent of the 8.3 billion metric tonnes of plastic produced over the past 70 years has been discarded into landfill or the environment, including the ocean.’ Sir David Attenborough

·         Plastic in the rivers and seas leads to rubbish on beaches and riverbanks, as well as entanglement, death through ingestion, toxic transfer and, once degraded into microplastics, contamination of the animal and human food chains with negative effects on health.

Crawley Borough Council welcomes:

·         The European Parliament ban in 2018

·         The current consultation on Deposit Return Schemes and the significant reduction in plastic waste that such schemes have achieved in Germany, Sweden and Denmark.

·         The success of the ‘plastic bag levy’ introduced which has led to an 85% reduction in disposable bag usage in England and 9 billion fewer bags per year going into landfill or waste treatment.

·         The introduction of a ban on products containing microbeads as a way of reducing the likelihood of such products getting into the oceans and harming marine life.

Crawley Borough Council agrees that the Borough will make every effort to reduce plastic waste specifically by:

·         Undertaking an audit of single use plastics used by this Local Authority and all CBC commissioned services, replacing them with sustainable or re-useable alternatives wherever possible.

·         Ensuring, where possible, that all future council commissioning exercises eliminate the use of single use plastics, replacing them with sustainable or re-useable alternatives where practicable.

·         Informing members of the public in its online and written communications of the importance of reducing plastic waste.

·         Using its membership of the West Sussex Waste Partnership to improve opportunities to recycle materials wherever possible.

·         Calling on all supermarkets in the borough to reduce the use of plastic food wrappings.

·         Calling on local  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

Toconsider,in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 13, thefollowing Notice ofMotion tobemoved by Councillor Crowand seconded byCouncillor Jaggard

The Council considered the Notice of Motion 2 ‘Motion on Supporting the Government’s Resources and Waste Strategy’ as set out in the Full Council’s agenda. The Motion was moved and presented by Councillor Crow and seconded and supported by Councillor Jaggard. Councillor Crow in presenting the Motion commented on the Labour Amendment that he would accept the amendment and as such it became the substantive Motion.

During the debate on the Substantive Motion Councillors, Lamb, B Burgess, Burrett, Thomas, Cheshire, P. Smith, and Jaggard all spoke. Councillor Crow used his right to reply to speak at the end of the debate.

RESOLVED

In December 2018 the government launched their Resources and Waste Strategy, which sets out how government will:

·         ensure producers pay the full net costs of disposal or recycling of packaging they place on the market by extending producer responsibility – up from just 10% now

·         review producer responsibility schemes for items that can be harder or costly to recycle including cars, electrical goods, batteries and explore extending it to textiles, fishing gear, vehicle tyres, certain materials from construction and demolition, and bulky waste such as mattresses, furniture and carpets

·         introduce a consistent set of recyclable materials collected from all households and businesses, and consistent labelling on packaging so consumers know what they can recycle, to drive-up recycling rates

·         ensure weekly collections of food waste, which is often smelly and unpleasant, for every household – restoring weekly collections in some local authorities. This will be subject to consultation which will also consider free garden waste collections for households with gardens, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from landfill

·         introduce a deposit return scheme, subject to consultation, to increase the recycling of single-use drinks containers including bottles, cans, and disposable cups filled at the point of sale

·         explore mandatory guarantees and extended warranties on products, to encourage manufacturers to design products that last longer and drive up the levels of repair and re-use

·         introduce annual reporting of food surplus and waste by food businesses. Should progress be insufficient, consult on introducing mandatory targets for food waste prevention

·         clamp-down on illegal movements of waste at home and abroad by introducing compulsory electronic tracking of waste, and tougher penalties for rogue waste crime operators if they mislabel their waste to dodge tax rules.

This Council welcomes the strategy which focusses on the environmentally friendly waste principles of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, and resolves to:

1.            Continue to work constructively with central government, West Sussex County Council and other District and Borough Councils to implement the government’s waste strategy. 

2.            Continue to support the three principles to reduce waste in order of priority: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.

3.            Continue to work to improve the amount of household waste that is recycled rather than going to landfill.

4.            Set up a cross-party member working group at an appropriate time, to look at options to improve household waste collections and to reduce waste going to landfill, with consideration given to a dedicated food waste collection.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

As the business had not been completed within the scheduled 2 hours 30 minutes a vote on continuation, and in line with Council Procedure Rule 2.2, was held. The Mayor required the Full Council to consider if it wished to continue with the meeting.

Having put it to the vote, the Council agreed that the meeting be continued for an additional period not exceeding 30 minutes.

To answer Councillors’ writtenquestionsunder Council Procedure Rule 11.3.

Councillors’ written questions, together with the answers, were published in advance of the start of the Meeting. The questions were as follows:-

Questioner                    Councillor Crow

Addressed to                 Cabinet Member for Planning and Economic Development

Subject(s)                     Number of New Homes built in Crawley including the number of permitted development builds and the number that were social rented housing

Questioner                    Councillor Crow

Addressed to                 Leader of the Council

Subject(s)                     Estimated cost for each polling station for the scheduled 2019 Borough Council elections

Anopportunityfor CabinetMembersto report verbally (ifnecessary)on issuesrelating totheirPortfolio not covered elsewhere on the agenda.

To answer questionsto CabinetMembersunder Council Procedure Rule 11.2.

Up to 15 minutesisallocatedfor questionsto CabinetMember

To answer questionsto Committee Chairs.

Up to 15 minutesisallocatedfor questionsto CommitteeChairs.

Full Council

27 February 2019

CONSERVATIVE AMENDMENT TO RECOMMENDATION 1

2019/20 BUDGET AND COUNCIL TAX

(Minute 5 Page 78, Cabinet, 6 February 2019)

Mover Councillor Crow and Seconder Councillor Lanzer.

The Conservative Group is proposing the following amendment that will not affect the General Fund Budget for 2019/2020 as set out in the February 2019 Cabinet Report.

-       To setup an additional reserve of £150,000 for Homelessness Support using part of the £905,361 that is proposed for the transfer to the Business rates Equalisation Reserve. (The £905,631 was to replenish the use of the reserve in 2017/18).  This will reduce the transfer to reserve to £755,631.

The projected retained rates as shown in the second table in paragraph 5.2 of the report.

If some or all of the Homelessness Support reserve is not required then the balance will be transferred to the business rates equalisation reserve.