Agenda and minutes

To declare any interests in respect of recommended items

There were no declarations of interest made in accordance with the Code of Conduct.

To confirm as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of Council held on 31 October 2017

RESOLVED:  That the Minutes of the proceedings of the meeting of the Council held on 31 October 2017 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Mayor.

The Mayor was presented with a copy of the Bible by Mr Michael Lee of Gideons International.

The Mayor reported that since May, he and the Deputy Mayor had attended 174 engagements including charity dinners, Christmas events and services, school services and award presentations.  He mentioned a range of events and highlighted recent visits to a High Hilden resident’s 100^th Birthday Celebration, the success of the local schools debates held in November 2017 and February 2018, the Remembrance Sunday Services and the Mayor’s Quiz held on 4 November 2017.  He advised that his Mayor’s Gala Event would be held at Kings Hill Golf Club on 28 April 2018. 

No questions were received from members of the public pursuant to Council Procedure Rule No 5.6.

No questions were received from Members pursuant to Council Procedure Rule No 5.5.

The Leader advised that Councillor Martin Coffin would shortly present the Cabinet’s recommendations on the budget to Council and, while not wishing to pre-empt consideration of the budget proposals, he drew attention to the Council’s potential business rates income with particular reference to business rates retention.  He reminded Members that, last November, the Government had invited bids for the piloting of 100% business growth retention in the financial year 2018/19, particularly encouraging two tier authorities to work together.  He was delighted to advise that the bid put forward by the Kent Council Leaders and Medway Council, in totality a financial bid of circa £25 million, was one of ten to be approved. He advised that the bid had the potential, linked to growth, of achieving £560K as a windfall sum for the Borough Council to assist with financial stability.  Additionally, he reported that the Kent and Medway bid had a second allocation of funding for each of the three cluster areas and he advised that for the West Kent cluster (Tunbridge Wells, Sevenoaks and Tonbridge and Malling) there was a potential further £1.055 million to support future housing and commercial growth in the region. He indicated that he would be meeting the Leaders of Kent County Council, and the neighbouring west Kent districts to discuss how best to invest that second pot of funding. 

The Leader said that Members would be aware that this Authority was one of the first fifteen councils to no longer receive revenue support grant and that, as part of the move towards full business rate retention (part of a four year settlement), the Treasury was clawing back £1 million from the current business rate income.  The Government had announced its intention to consult on these funding arrangements and the Leader assured Members that a robust response would be made to this consultation. The Leader reminded Members that the closure of Aylesford Newsprint (formerly the Council’s largest business ratepayer) had taken the Council below the baseline for business rate retention purposes and, consequently, the Council’s share of the safety net under the risk/reward model, had been paid from its own resources.  On a positive note, the Leader stated that the Director of Finance and Transformation had advised that current projections suggested that the Council was closer to the baseline set and could find itself above baseline at the year-end 2017/18. 

The Leader stated that supporting and working closely with business leaders was a key priority and advised that, since the last meeting of Council, he had arranged two business engagement meetings for small businesses from across the Borough.  He thanked Councillor Vivian Branson for her support at both meetings and Jeremy Whittaker, the Economic Regeneration Officer.  The last meeting provided an opportunity to explain the ever-increasing complexities of the Business Rate system. 

The Leader stated that another key priority was maintaining the cleanliness of the Borough.  He advised that the Borough Council was responsible for sweeping over 1,750 roads totalling a length of more than  ...  view the full minutes text for item C 18/6

Item GP 17/20 referred from General Purposes Committee minutes of 20 November 2017

Item GP 17/20 referred from General Purposes Committee minutes of 20 November 2017

RESOLVED:  That the recommendations at Minute GP 17/20 be approved.

Item GP 18/3 referred from General Purposes Committee minutes of 29 January 2018

Item GP 18/3 referred from General Purposes Committee minutes of 29 January 2018

RESOLVED:  That the recommendations at Minute GP 18/3 be approved.

Item CB 18/13 referred from Cabinet minutes of 8 February 2018

Item CB 18/3 referred from Cabinet minutes of 8 February 2018

RESOLVED:  That the recommendations at Minute CB 18/3 be approved.

Item CB 18/4 referred from Cabinet minutes of 8 February 2018

Item CB 18/4 referred from Cabinet minutes of 8 February 2018

RESOLVED:  That the recommendations at Minute CB 18/4 be approved.

Item CB 18/5 referred from Cabinet minutes of 8 February 2018

Item CB 18/5 referred from Cabinet minutes of 8 February 2018

It was proposed by Councillor Coffin and seconded by Councillor N Heslop that the recommendations at Minute CB 18/5 be adopted.  In accordance with Council Procedure Rule No 8.5 voting was recorded as follows:

Members voting for the motion:

Cllr Mrs J A Anderson, Cllr O C Baldock, Cllr M A C Balfour, Cllr M C Base, Cllr Mrs P A Bates, Cllr Mrs S Bell, Cllr R P Betts, Cllr T Bishop, Cllr P F Bolt, Cllr J L Botten, Cllr V M C Branson, Cllr Mrs B A Brown, Cllr M A Coffin, Cllr D J Cure, Cllr R W Dalton, Cllr D A S Davis, Cllr Mrs T Dean, Cllr S M Hammond, Cllr Mrs M F Heslop, Cllr N J Heslop, Cllr S R J Jessel, Cllr D Keeley, Cllr Mrs F A Kemp, Cllr S M King, Cllr R D Lancaster, Cllr D Lettington, Cllr Mrs S L Luck, Cllr B J Luker, Cllr D Markham, Cllr P J Montague, Cllr Mrs A S Oakley, Cllr L J O'Toole, Cllr M Parry-Waller, Cllr S C Perry, Cllr M R Rhodes, Cllr H S Rogers, Cllr R V Roud, Cllr Miss J L Sergison, Cllr T B Shaw, Cllr Miss S O Shrubsole, Cllr C P Smith, Cllr A K Sullivan, Cllr M Taylor, Cllr F G Tombolis, and Cllr T C Walker

Total 45

Members voting against the motion:

Cllr T I B Cannon and Cllr B W Walker

Total 2

Members abstaining:

None

RESOLVED:  That the recommendations at Minute CB 18/5 be approved. 

Item CB 18/6 referred from Cabinet minutes of 8 February 2018

Item CB 18/6 referred from Cabinet minutes of 8 February 2018

It was proposed by Councillor Coffin and seconded by Councillor N Heslop that the recommendations at Minute CB 18/5 be adopted.  In accordance with Council Procedure Rule No 8.5 voting was recorded as follows:

Members voting for the motion:

Cllr Mrs J A Anderson, Cllr O C Baldock, Cllr M A C Balfour, Cllr M C Base, Cllr Mrs P A Bates, Cllr Mrs S Bell, Cllr R P Betts, Cllr T Bishop, Cllr P F Bolt, Cllr J L Botten, Cllr V M C Branson, Cllr Mrs B A Brown, Cllr M A Coffin, Cllr D J Cure, Cllr R W Dalton, Cllr D A S Davis, Cllr Mrs T Dean, Cllr S M Hammond, Cllr Mrs M F Heslop, Cllr N J Heslop, Cllr S R J Jessel, Cllr D Keeley, Cllr Mrs F A Kemp, Cllr S M King, Cllr R D Lancaster, Cllr D Lettington, Cllr Mrs S L Luck, Cllr B J Luker, Cllr D Markham, Cllr P J Montague, Cllr Mrs A S Oakley, Cllr L J O'Toole, Cllr M Parry-Waller, Cllr S C Perry, Cllr M R Rhodes, Cllr H S Rogers, Cllr R V Roud, Cllr Miss J L Sergison, Cllr T B Shaw, Cllr Miss S O Shrubsole, Cllr C P Smith, Cllr A K Sullivan, Cllr M Taylor, Cllr F G Tombolis, and Cllr T C Walker

Total 45

Members voting against the motion:

Cllr T I B Cannon and Cllr B W Walker

Total 2

Members abstaining:

None

RESOLVED:  That the recommendations at Minute CB 18/6 be approved and the Council Tax Resolution 2018/19, as set out as an Annex to these Minutes, be adopted.

Item CB 18/7 referred from Cabinet minutes of 8 February 2018

Item CB 18/7 referred from Cabinet minutes of 8 February 2018

RESOLVED:  That the recommendations at Minute CB 18/7 be approved.

To authorise the Common Seal of the Council to be affixed to any Contract, Minute, Notice or other document requiring the same.

RESOLVED:  That authority be given for the Common Seal of the Council to be affixed to any instrument to give effect to a decision of the Council incorporated into these Minutes and proceedings.