Agenda and draft minutes

The meeting of the Council will be called to order to receive Her Worship The Mayor and Deputy Mayor.

The meeting of the Council was called to order to receive Her Worship The Mayor and Deputy Mayor.

To receive apologies for absence from Members to determine the quorum of the meeting in accordance with Rule 7 of Part 4 of the Constitution.

An apology for absence was received from Councillors J K Ford, C S Gore, G G Hunt and P Joshi.

Members are reminded that any declaration of interest should be made having regard to the Members’ Code of Conduct. In particular, Members must make clear the nature of the interest and whether it is 'pecuniary' or ‘non-pecuniary'.

None.

Report of the Head of Law & Democracy / Monitoring Officer

The Council gave consideration to the report (as set out at pages 4 – 6 of the agenda reports pack), which advised Members of the content of the Government’s recent Devolution White Paper and to seek approval to commence such work as is considered necessary in response.

Councillors L M Broadley and F S Broadley entered the Civic Suite at 6:42 pm.

Councillor S S Athwal entered the Civic Suite at 6:47 pm.

It was moved by the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, seconded by R V Joshi and

DEFEATED THAT:

(i)       The Council authorises, the Leader of the council, in liaison with the Chief Executive and "Opposition Leaders", to undertake work as is considered necessary "agreed by members" in response to White Paper and subsequent approach from government.

(ii)      The Council authorises the Section 151 officer to set aside £50,000 from reserves to fund any necessary legal and governance advice on framing any specific proposals once "agreed by members".

For                  3

Against          13

Abstentions2

It was moved by Councillor I K Ridley, seconded by the Deputy Leader of the Council and

RESOLVED THAT:

(i)       The Council authorises the Leader of the Council, in liaison with the Chief Executive, to undertake such work as is considered necessary in response to the White Paper and subsequent approach from government; and

(ii)      The Council authorises the Section 151 Officer to set aside £50.000.00 from the reserves to fund any necessary legal and governance advice on framing any specific proposals.

For                  13

Against          3

Abstentions2

Councillors F S Broadley, L M Broadley and SS Athwal did not vote on the motion(s) above as they were not present in the Civic Suite during the entire debate.

The press and public are likely to be excluded from the remainder of the meeting in accordance with Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 (Exempt Information) during consideration of the item below on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information, as defined in paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act and, in all the circumstances, the public interest in maintaining the exempt item outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

By affirmation of the meeting, it was

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED THAT:

The press and public were excluded from the remainder of the meeting in accordance with Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 (Exempt Information) during consideration of the items below on the grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information, as defined in the respective paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act and, in all the circumstances, the public interest in maintaining the exempt items outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information.

Exempt Report of the Head of Law & Democracy / Monitoring Officer

The Council gave consideration to the exempt report (as set out at pages 7 – 9 of the agenda reports pack), to obtain a resolution to extend the six-month meeting attendance rule in respect of Councillor Gary G Hunt.

It was moved by the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, seconded by and H E Darling and

DEFEATED THAT:

That Council resolves, in accordance with Section 85(1) of the Local Government Act 1972, to approve the non-attendance of Councillor Gary Hunt at meetings initially until Thursday 14 August 2025 “without allowances” and that the Council’s best wishes be conveyed to him.

For                  3

Against          18

Abstentions0

It was moved by the Deputy Leader of the Council, seconded by Councillor G A Boulter and

RESOLVED THAT:

The Council resolves, in accordance with Section 85(1) of the LG Act 1972, to approve the non-attendance of Councillor Gary G Hunt at meeting initially until Thursday 14th August 2025 and that the Council's best wishes are conveyed to him.

For                  18

Against          3

Abstentions0