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 provided the Full Council with a brief update of the Mayoral events he had attended since the last meeting, including an invitation received to visit Madeira by its President, representing Crawley’s large Madeiran community. The visit helped to provide a greater understanding of the links between Crawley and Madeira.  Other events included the popular Dragon boat festival, meeting the Mayor of Dorsten and continuing to offer support to Ebonies journey.

The Mayor will present Councillor Brian Quinn with a badge commemorating his 20 year service as a Councillor of Crawley Borough Council.

The Mayor presented Councillor Quinn with a 20 year commemorative badge to mark his long service as a Member of Crawley Borough Council. In doing so, thanked him for his long and dedicated service to the Authority. Councillor Quinn also said a few words over how proud he had been in serving the Community including having been a Cabinet Member and the Mayor twice.

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 10 were as follows:

1)         To approve as a correct recordthe minutesofthe meetingof the Full Council held on 18 July 2018

2)         To approve as a correct recordthe minutesofthe meetingof the Extraordinary Full Council held on 1 August 2018

1)            The minutes of the meeting of the Full Council held on 18 July 2018 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Mayor.

2)            The minutes of the meeting of the Extraordinary Full Council held on 1 August 2018 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 27, 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 27, and set out in the appendices to this item.

1)            Moved by Councillor Portal-Castro (as the Mayor):-

RESOLVED

That the following reportsbe received:

·           Audit Committee – Wednesday 25 July 2018

·           Planning Committee – Monday, 30 July 2018

·           Overview and Scrutiny Commission – Monday 3 September 2018

·           Cabinet – Wednesday 5 September 2018

·           Governance – Tuesday 18 September 2018

·           Planning Committee – Tuesday 25 September 2018

·           Audit Committee – Tuesday 2 October 2018

2)            Thatthe recommendationscontained inthe reportson thefollowing matters,which had not been reserved for debate, be adopted:-

Review of Outside Bodies and Organisations: Scrutiny Panel Final – Governance Committee 18 September 2018 (Recommendation 2)

The Full Council considered reportOSC/272 of the Chair of the Review of Outside Bodies and Organisations Scrutiny Panel

RESOLVED

That Full Council approves that:

1.         Nominations for Conservation Area Committees be defaulted to ‘Ward Councillor(s)’.

2.         ‘Friends Groups’ be removed from the official list of Outside Bodies as there should be no formal Councillor representation.

3.         Where a response was not received to the evaluation, an appointment would not usually be made by the Council (this is in line with other authorities undertaking a similar review). 

4.         There should be a mutual understanding between Councillors and organisations to maintain communication and effective liaison.

5.         Where an outside organisation with more than one Council representative expresses a desire for political diversity, we should honour this request.

6.         Councillor M G Jones and Councillor J Tarrant be appointed to represent the Council on Crawley Community and Voluntary Service. (Paragraph 8.1 of the report OSC/272 refers).

7.         The Head of Legal, Democracy and HR be instructed to amend the Council’s Constitution to reflect any relevant changes in relation to any outcomes of this review.

Councillor Burrett, on behalf of the Conservative Group, explained the rationale for bringing forward this item.  Following the Audit Committee meeting on 25 July 2018, there was concern that the Data Centre Migration Project had only been given limited assurance as a result of issues relating to delays in delivery of the project, apparent weaknesses in budget control and lack of governance for such an important project.  The Audit Committee had requested a review and report be undertaken but there was a question of the amount of Cabinet oversight that had taken place together with the insufficient communications surrounding the project.

Councillors McCarthy, Irvine, Lamb, Sudan and Skudder also spoke on the item.

The Full Council considered report CEx/48 of the Chief Executive, which had been previously considered at the meeting of the Cabinet on 5 September 2018.

Councillor Lamb moved and presented the report which related to the Council’s Corporate Priorities and set the strategic direction of the Council until 2022. He commented that he would accept the proposed Conservative Amendment, namely that the third bullet point of Section 2. Delivering affordable homes for Crawley and reducing homelessness, would now read:

We will:

·         Continue working with neighbouring councils in the spirit of partnership to collectively deliver housing to meet Crawley's needs through the 'duty to     co-operate arrangements".

Councillor P. Smith seconded the recommendation, as amended.

Councillor Lanzer then spoke on the Conservative amendment, in doing so acknowledged his appreciation for the acceptance of comments from the Overview and Scrutiny Commission and raised the importance of working in partnership with neighbouring Councils. He thanked the Leader for accepting the amendment. 

Councillor Crow who also spoke on the item

The Mayor called for a vote on the substantive Recommendation as amendment, which was carried unanimously.

RESOLVED

That Full Council approves the Corporate Priorities 2018 – 2022 (As set out below)

Corporate Priorities 2018 – 2022

1.    Delivering value for money and modernising the way we work

We will:

• Continue to balance the budget (over a three year period), by improving our efficiency, increasing income and investing ethically and wisely.
• Work to keep council tax low without compromising local services and put money back into local reserves where possible, to finance future investments.
• Deliver the Transformation Plan.
• Develop digital service delivery enabling customers to engage with council services at their convenience, via an updated website and a new online self-service application.
• Develop a New Town Hall with lower running costs and high grade office space for residents, staff and commercial tenants.

2.    Delivering affordable homes for Crawley and reducing homelessness

We will:

·         Continue to deliver as much affordable housing as possible, particularly Council housing, through our own-build and enabling programmes for people with a local connection to Crawley.

·         Drive down homelessness across the borough and support partner agencies to help those most in need.

·         Continue working with neighbouring councils in the spirit of partnership to collectively deliver housing to meet Crawley's needs through the 'duty to co-operate arrangements’.

3.    Improving job opportunities and developing the local Economy

We will:

• Develop an Economic Development vision and plan.
• Deliver the Crawley Growth Programme to provide major improvements to the town’s infrastructure, including more sustainable transport and better community facilities.
• Deliver pathways to better job opportunities for local residents, through the ongoing development and delivery of Crawley’s Employment and Skills Plan.
• Continue to work closely with our Local Economic Partnerships to deliver economic growth and jobs in the town.
• Utilise our place making responsibilities and powers to drive business growth and create new employment opportunities.

4.    Creating stronger communities

We will:

• Support local groups in delivering a range of events and activities  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

Councillor Pendlington, on behalf of the Conservative Group, explained the rationale for bringing forward this item for debate. Councillor Pendlington took the opportunity to thank the officers involved with the two Coronet Close applications from their infancy, the work on the TPO, through to the full planning applications. A vast amount of residents had objected to these applications and it was good to see so many in attendance at the Planning Committee meeting along with fellow Ward Members. Burleys Wood is a much-loved area, with significant value in ecological and biodiversity terms and the previous tree damage was unacceptable.  However nature is resilient and some areas are starting to recover. The Council has retained this community asset, hopefully for years to come.

Councillor Irvine also spoke on the subject, thanking Councillor Pendlington for her comments and would pass on her thanks onto the Planning Officers.

Councillor Jaggard, on behalf of the Conservative Party, explained the rationale for bringing forward this item for debate. The reason was over the increasing number of concerns over Forge Wood development. Repeatedly there were significant concerns raised by Councillors over the density and number of dwellings per hectare had significantly increased.  Added to this was the issues over the garden sizes of a substantial amount of properties on the Forge Wood development. She commented now further issues were coming to light that some of the bedroom windows of the new developments cannot be opened due to noise restrictions. During Planning committee discussions it was noted that advice on the garden sizes contained within the Planning reports were only for guidance purposes and not the Council’s policy.  Reference was also made on the reduction of the useable land as a result of the unexpected extensive flooding problems, meaning that further dwellings were having to be built in a greatly reduced area.

Councillors Burrett, Irvine and P Smith also spoke on the subject.

Councillor Crow, on behalf of the Conservative Party, explained the rationale for bringing forward this item for debate. Concerns were raised over the non-compliance with the Procurement Code that the Audit had identified over recruitment of two ICT Consultants.  The report had noted that the Audit only related to the ICT Department, and that the Audit and Risk Manager felt confident that the issue of non-compliance with the Procurement Code when recruiting consultants was not a Council-wide issue.  With regards to the Data Centre Migration Project, the Audit Committee had strongly agreed that a review and further report to the Committee were necessary to understand how the overspend occurred, so that systems and practices could be put in place to avoid such a significant overspend in the future. 

Councillors Lamb, Burrett, Skudder and Irvine also spoke on the subject.

Councillor Sudan responded on the item adding that whilst there was confidence that the Head of Service was aware of the issues and had taken steps to address these, it was the job of the Audit Committee to uncover the truth and receive the review report to apportion accountability. 

To consider, in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 13, the following Notice of Motion to be moved by Councillor Lamb and seconded by Councillor Jones.

The Council considered the Notice of Motion 1 ‘Motion on Tackling Homelessness and Supporting those at Risk’ as set out in the Full Council’s agenda. The Motion was moved and presented by Councillor Lamb and seconded and supported by Councillor Jones.

Councillor Crow moved and presented the Conservative amendment, (as shown in Appendix B to these minutes) in doing so highlighted that the alternative proposal would maximise support to all those affected by the proposals to cut the housing support grant. The amendment was seconded and supported by Councillor Guidera.

During the debate both on the original Notice of Motion and on the proposed amendment Councillors, Mullins, Lanzer, Ayling, McCarthy, Sudan, T Belben, Lunnon, Jones, Pendlington, Cheshire, B J Burgess and Thomas all spoke during the debate on the merit on the two options before the Full Council. Councillor Lamb used his right to reply to speak at the end of the debate.

Recorded votes were requested for both the votes on the proposed Conservative’s Amendment and the substantive Notice of Motion. The Mayor then called for the vote on the amendment:

Voting in Favour: A Belben, T G Belben, B J Burgess, R G Burgess, D Crow, C R Eade, F Guidera, K L Jaggard, R A Lanzer, K McCarthy, D M Peck, A Pendlington,

M A Stone, J Tarrant and L Vitler. (15)

Voting Against: M L Ayling, C A Cheshire, R S Fiveash, I T Irvine, M G Jones,

P K Lamb, T Lunnon, S Malik, C J Mullins, M W Pickett, C Portal Castro, B J Quinn, A C Skudder, B A Smith, P C Smith, K Sudan, G Thomas, and L Willcock. (18)

Abstentions: None. (0)

The Mayor declared the proposed amendment to the Notice of Motion had as fallen – votes in favour 15, and 18 votes against with no abstentions.

The Mayor then called for the recorded vote on the substantive Notice of Motion:

Voting in Favour: M L Ayling, B J Burgess, C A Cheshire, R S Fiveash, I T Irvine,

M G Jones, P K Lamb, T Lunnon, S Malik, C J Mullins, M W Pickett, C Portal Castro,

B J Quinn, A C Skudder, B A Smith, P C Smith, K Sudan, G Thomas, and

L Willcock. (19)

Voting Against: None. (0)

Abstentions: A Belben, T G Belben, R G Burgess, D Crow, C R Eade, F Guidera, K L Jaggard, R A Lanzer, K McCarthy, D M Peck, A Pendlington, M A Stone, J Tarrant and L Vitler. (14)

The Mayor declared the Notice of Motion as carried – votes in favour 19, and no votes against with 14 votes of abstentions.

RESOLVED

This Council is extremely concerned about, and wishes to express the strongest opposition possible to, the proposals coming from West Sussex County Council (“WSCC”) to cut the housing support grant, which will have a harmful impact on our communities, as well as placing additional financial pressures on this Council as the local housing authority,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

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 Housing

Subject(s)                     The recently published Rough Sleeping Strategy and how Council would be addressing rough sleeping and preventing homelessness within the Borough

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.

APPENDIX B

Conservative Amendment To Notice Of Motion 1 - Motion On Tackling Homelessness And Supporting Those At Risk  

Mover Councillor Crow and Seconder Councillor Guidera

(Those words struck through it is proposed be deleted)

This Council is extremely concerned about, and wishes to express the strongest opposition possible to, the proposals coming from West Sussex County Council (“WSCC”) to cut the housing support grant, which will have a harmful impact on our communities, as well as placing additional financial pressures on this Council as the local housing authority, that it would struggle to meet given the financial pressures and funding cuts already imposed on it by national government.

This Council notes that 2018 has seen the number of people sleeping rough in West Sussex reach its highest level since modern records began.  Furthermore, it recognises and values the work of charities and voluntary sector organisations across the Borough and beyond, such as Crawley Open House, YMCA Downslink, Southdown Independent Living Scheme and Safe In Sussex, who support some of our most vulnerable residents who are either homeless, or at risk of becoming homeless.

Without this support, the Council expects to see a rise in homelessness across the Borough, including families, with associated social and health costs.  Crucially, it will also deny local councils like ours the opportunity to secure government funding in tackling these major social problems.

The Council believes the end of such services is likely to result in a sharp increase in rough sleeping in the town centre, public places and open spaces, with an associated increase in anti-social behaviour that can accompany it, including street begging and street drinking.  In addition, the “floating support” services at threat are a key tool for promoting social inclusion and stable communities through tenancy sustainment, community engagement and a reduction in anti-social behaviour.  This council believes the negative impact on community safety will inevitably place severe pressures on our already stretched local Police resources, and the council’s own community wardens.

The termination of housing support for young people over 18, through such initiatives as the YMCA Downslink Foyer in West Green, will move vulnerable young people from a relatively stable and secure environment which they can use as a stepping stone into living independently, to being immediately forced into temporary accommodation or sharing in the private rented sector.

If funding is withdrawn and refuge accommodation for women and their children subjected to domestic abuse is no longer available in the county, this will put Crawley women’s lives and their children’s lives directly at risk, as well as taking away specialist support for their recovery and helping to rebuild their confidence and self-esteem.

If WSCC funding is removed from our Older Persons Services the opportunity for preventative work in ensuring adequate support is available will simply mean that budgets elsewhere will rise.  This will include WSCC’s own duty of care as well as NHS budgets. Other extra care preventative service models in Crawley for vulnerable older people whose disabilities, frailty or mental health make ordinary housing unsuitable, will be at risk of losing that opportunity to live independently for longer, and may be forced to move into elderly residential care, causing stress and upset for those people affected and their families.

This council further notes the proposals coming from the council’s opposition group to maintain Open House’s finances from the annual £260,000 WSCC funding with a replacement contribution from this Council.  It also notes that the annual funding that it provides Crawley Open House currently comes from the annual grant programme.

The Council expresses its deep concern that given the £1.3 million budget gap being projected for its finances over the next three years, together with the annual additional costs to the Borough in temporary accommodation costs currently estimated at £103,000, means such a replacement contribution would almost certainly be unaffordable, and that the only realistic way to find the money would be to force this Council to cut funding from the grants budget to at least some of the other worthy charities and voluntary societies that rely on this Council for support.  This Council rejects outright any proposals which puts it in a position where it is forced to cut grant funding it provides other vital public services such as Citizens Advice, or going to other good causes.

Neither does the proposal take into account the impact of significant additional pressure on Open House’s services from those in need outside the Borough who would be coming to use it, if and when other District councils in West Sussex decide not to support their own local facilities, nor would that replacement contribution mitigate the impact on the other local organisations already referred to in this motion, whose services will also end without replacement funding.

For eight years West Sussex County Council happily took tens of millions of pounds of Government money to fund these services via a dedicated grant, awarded to the county due to the services for vulnerable people fell within the county’s adult social care remit. While the ring-fencing ended in 2011, with the county council now free to spend the money on whatever they choose, they retain the same duty to provide for these residents as when there was dedicated funding. The current proposal amounts to a choice to no longer meet this duty to residents across West Sussex, including here in Crawley. That is the wrong choice.

Therefore this Council stands with thousands of residents across West Sussex and demands that West Sussex County Council rejects the proposed cuts to Housing Related support, which will cause misery for the most vulnerable members of our society, and instead maintains this vital support for our local homeless.

Proposed Amendment Motion would now read:

This Council is extremely concerned about, and wishes to express the strongest opposition possible to, the proposals coming from West Sussex County Council (“WSCC”) to cut the housing support grant.

Therefore this Council stands with thousands of residents across West Sussex and demands that West Sussex County Council rejects the proposed cuts to Housing Related support.