Agenda and minutes

Notification of substitute members were recorded as set out below:

Councillor D King - substitute for Councillor D Cooper

In accordance with Council Procedure Rules 17.5 to 17.9 these Councillors had the same rights as the ordinary member of the committee for whom they were substituting.

Members in any doubt about such declarations are advised to contact Legal or Democratic Services in advance of the meeting

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

Any other items which the Chair decides are urgent due to special circumstances and of which notice has been given to the Chief Executive.

In accordance with the Local Government Act 1972 S100B, the Chair was of the opinion that the following item (GP 22/27) should be considered as a matter of urgency due to special circumstances and could not be deferred until the next meeting for the reasons set out in the report.

This report asks Members to consider a request to amend a dispensation granted to Cllr Mark Davis under section 33 of the Localism Act 2011 to allow him to participate in meetings of Overview and Scrutiny Committee/ the Scrutiny Select Committees where the Local Plan is under consideration

The Committee considered a request to amend a dispensation granted to Councillor Mark Davies under section 33 of the Localism Act 2011 to allow participation in meetings of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and the Scrutiny Select Committees where the Local Plan was under discussion.

A dispensation granted on 19 June 2019, effective until the next local elections in May 2023, required amendment to reflect the revised governance changes implemented in May 2022.  In particular, the newly established Scrutiny Select Committees were not covered by this dispensation. 

As the proposed amendment sought only to update the existing dispensation in response to recent changes to the governance structure, the Monitoring Officer had no objections.  This view was supported by the General Purposes Committee.

RESOLVED:  That

(1)             the request to amend the dispensation granted to Councillor Mark Davis be approved to read as follows:

‘a dispensation be granted to allow Councillor Mark Davis to remain in the meetings of the Area Planning Committees, the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, any of the Scrutiny Select Committees, Cabinet and Full Council where the Local Plan is discussed (in circumstances where he would otherwise be required to declare an Other Significant Interest) to listen to, but not participate in, the debate or vote on the matter in hand.  In addition, Councillor Mark Davis will have the right to address the meeting but will not be permitted to take part further in the discussions’

(2)            the amended dispensation should remain in effect until the next local elections in May 2023.

The Chairman to move that the press and public be excluded from the remainder of the meeting during consideration of any items the publication of which would disclose exempt information.

The Chairman moved, it was seconded and

RESOLVED:  That as public discussion would disclose exempt information, the following matters be considered in private.

This report proposes a set of structure changes in teams within the Planning service, seeking approval to implement the changes from 1 September 2022 in order to progress service changes needed to meet current and future service delivery challenges.

(LGA 1972 – Sch 12A Paragraph 1 – Information relating to an individual)

The report set out proposals for a number of establishment and structure changes within the Planning Service.  The changes were recommended to meet current and future service delivery challenges. 

RESOLVED:  That the following changes be implemented with effect from 1 September 2022

(1)             3 Principal Planning Officers – Development Management (DJ0160, DJ0161 and DJ0163) deleted from the establishment;

(2)             2 Development Management Team Leader posts (Grade M) be created;

(3)             Senior Planning Officer (DJ0164) deleted from the establishment;

(4)             a Major Projects Team Leader (Grade M7) be created;

(5)             a Principal Planning Officer – Major Projects (Grade M8) be created;

(6)             a Senior Planning Officer – Major Projects (Grade M9) be created;

(7)             reduction in establishment hours for Technical Officer (DJ0156) from 37 to 30 hours;

(8)             reduction in establishment hours for Technical Officer (DJ0151) from 37 to 22.5 hours;

(9)             Conservation Officer (DJ0171) deleted from the establishment;  and  

(10)         the associated £15,400 funding transferred to the Supplies and Services budget line with immediate effect.