MAIDSTONE BOROUGH COUNCIL
DEMOCRACY COMMITTEE
Minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 10 January 2018
Present: |
Councillor Newton (Chairman), and Councillors English, Fermor, Fissenden, Garten, Newton, Perry, Mrs Ring and Vizzard |
|
|
|
|
57. Apologies for Absence
Apologies for absence were received from Councillors
Boughton, Mrs Hinder and Lewins.
58. Notification of Substitute Members
The following Substitute Members were noted:-
Councillor English was substituting for Councillor Lewins
Councillor Garten was substituting for Councillor Boughton
59. Urgent Items
There were no urgent items.
60. Notification of Visiting Members
There were no Visiting Members.
61. Disclosures by Members and Officers
There were no disclosures by Members and Officers.
62. Disclosures of Lobbying
Councillor English stated that he had been lobbied on Agenda Item 13 – Review of Outside Bodies and Agenda Item 14 – Nominations to Outside Body – Upper Medway Internal Drainage Board.
63. Exempt Items
RESOLVED: That the items on the agenda should be taken in public as proposed.
64. Minutes of the Meeting Held on 14 December 2017
RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on 14 December 2017 be approved as a correct record and signed.
65. Presentation of Petitions
There were no petitions.
66. Questions and answer session for members of the public
There were no questions from members of the public.
67. Committee Work Programme
The Committee considered the Committee Work Programme.
RESOLVED: That the Committee Work Programme
be noted.
68. Community Governance Reviews
The Committee considered the report of Mrs Angela Woodhouse, the Head of Policy, Communications and Governance, which followed a request by Members to provide further information on conducting a community governance review.
Mrs Woodhouse confirmed that there had been no requests from Parishes or Councillors for the Council to undertake a review.
Following a question from a Member, Mrs Woodhouse advised that should a community governance review be undertaken there would be significant cost implications as a consultation would need to be undertaken with every household affected.
Members made the following comments:-
·
If there was a mood for change then it should come from the
bottom up.
·
The cost implications were significant.
·
There was not an appetite for any changes to be made at this
time.
RESOLVED: That no further action be taken to undertake a review.
Voting: For: 7 Against: 1 Abstentions: 0
69. Review of Outside Bodies - Update
The Committee considered the report of Mrs Angela Woodhouse, the Head of Policy, Communications and Governance which provided further information on a number of outside bodies that Members had asked to reconsider.
Councillor Vizzard declared that he was a Parish Council representative on the Medway Valley Line Steering Group which was one of the outside bodies to be considered at the meeting.
In response to Members’ comments, Mrs Woodhouse advised that the same criteria as before could be used to consider whether to retain or delete the outside bodies listed.
Mrs Patricia Narebor, the Head of Legal Partnership advised Members that if they were to reconsider the decisions already made by the Committee at its previous meetings on outside bodies, then this could compromise the process of the Committee and should be avoided. She concluded that it was for the Committee to make a decision on the four outside bodies listed in the report only.
Councillor Mrs Ring asked for her dissent to be noted in regard to this.
RESOLVED: That it be Recommended to Council that the following outside bodies be retained:-
1.
Collis Millennium Green Trust
Voting: For: 5 Against: 0 Abstentions: 3
2.
Medway Valley Line Steering Group
Voting: For: 4 Against: 0 Abstentions: 3
3.
Kent Community Rail Partnership
Voting: For: 5 Against: 0 Abstentions: 3
4.
Quality Bus Partnership
Voting: For: 5 Against: 0 Abstentions: 3
70. Nominations to Outside Body - Upper Medway Internal Drainage Board
The Committee considered the report of Mrs Caroline Matthews, the Democratic Services Officer which requested that the nominations received for the two vacant positions on the Upper Medway Internal Drainage Board be considered.
Mrs Matthews advised that two nominations had been received which were from Councillors Harper and Round.
RESOLVED: That the following appointments be made to the Upper Medway Internal Drainage Board:-
1.
Councillor Round
Voting: For: unanimous
2.
Councillor Harper
Voting: For: 7 Against: 0 Abstentions: 1
71. Duration of Meeting
6.30 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.