Resolved: That the Minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 17 December 2013 be approved and signed as a correct record.

No further declarations of interest not already registered were received.

The Chairman mentioned the Winter Olympic Gold Champion, Lizzy Yarnold to a round of applause.  He reported that he had had the pleasure of meeting her in 2012 with the then Chairman Cllr Mrs Morris.  He had written to her before the Winter Olympics and had tweeted her good luck on the day on behalf of the Council and residents of the District.  With the Council’s support he wished to write a further letter of congratulations.  The Leader of the Council advised that he had been contacted by the editor of the Chronicle and was keen to show support for an open bus tour of primary schools within the District, as the legacy should be encouraged in the next generation.    The Chairman added that when Lizzy Yarnold had changed discipline in 2011 she had been grant funded by the Sevenoaks District Sports Council.

The Chairman reported that the Council was launching the District’s first ever In Bloom competition, which coincided with the 50^th year of Britain in Bloom. The Council had teamed up with Coolings Nurseries in Knockholt.  The competition gave residents, businesses and community groups the chance to demonstrate how their gardening skills had blossomed, making the District an even greener place to live. The competition was open to both novice and expert gardeners, large or small gardens, allotment or even a window box and was completely free to enter.  Entries must be made by Friday 20 June with judging taking place in July and August and the winners would be announced at an awards ceremony at Coolings in September.

On Monday 10 February the Chairman reported that he collected the Commonwealth flag from the Lord-Lieutenant of Kent at a special ceremony at County Hall on 10 February 2014.  At 10 a.m. on 10 March 2014 the Council would be joining community groups, charities and other local authorities throughout the United Kingdom, Channel Islands and the Isle of Man in raising 500 Commonwealth flags simultaneously to mark Commonwealth Day.  The new, unique event was a public expression of the Council’s commitment to the Commonwealth, the values it stood for, and the opportunities offered to its citizens around the world.  All Members of the Council were warmly invited to partake in the ceremony and an email invitation would be sent out shortly.

Finally, the Chairman took the opportunity to comment on the recent weather and flooding and record the Council’s condolences to all affected people within the District – and around the country.  He also extended thanks and appreciation on behalf of all Members of the Council, to all the Officers and volunteers who had been working tirelessly round the clock including weekends.

With the Council’s agreement consideration of agenda item 8 (a) was moved forward to be taken after agenda item 6 (c).

No questions were received.

No petitions were received.

Cllr Fleming proposed and Cllr Ramsay seconded that the Cabinet recommendations be approved. 

Resolved:  That

a)        the report of the Chief Finance Officer for the calculation of the Council’s tax base for the year 2014/15 be approved;

b)        pursuant to the report of the Chief Finance Officer and in accordance with the Local Authorities (Calculation of Council Tax Base) Regulations 1992 (as amended) the amount calculated by the Sevenoaks District Council as its council tax base for the whole area for the year 2014/15 shall be 47,629.02;

c)         pursuant to the report of the Chief Finance Officer and in accordance with the Local Authorities (Calculation of Council Tax Base) Regulations 1992 (as amended) the amount calculated by the Sevenoaks District Council as the council tax base for 2014/15 for the calculation of local precepts shall be:

d)        any expenses incurred by the Council in performing in part of its area a function performed elsewhere in its area by a parish or community council or the chairman of a parish meeting shall not be treated as special expenses for the purposes of section 35 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992.

Cllr Fleming proposed and Cllr Ramsay seconded that the Cabinet recommendations and amended Treasury Management Strategy for 2014/15 be approved.  A Member queried whether the report had been drawn up prior to the Bank of England’s recent announcement that interest rates would be held down, it was confirmed that it had.

Resolved:  That

a)        the following amended investment criteria be included in the Treasury Management Strategy for 2014/15:

i)          Maximum investment period of 2 years.

ii)        Investments in any single institution or institutions within a group of companies be limited to 25% of the total fund, at the time the investment is placed, except it be increased for Lloyds Banking Group plc and Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc to 30%.

iii)      Total investments in any one foreign country be limited to 15% of the total fund, but UK-based institutions to be used as first preference.

iv)      Investments in banks be limited to £6m per counterparty excluding call accounts and £7m including call accounts except for Lloyds Banking Group plc and Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc, where the limits would be £10m for each with no distinction between fixed deposits and call accounts.

v)        If the Council’s own banker, Barclays, falls below Capita Asset Services’ minimum credit rating requirements, it would nevertheless continue to be used, although balances would be minimised in both monetary size and duration.

vi)      Building Societies with assets in excess of £9bn be included in the lending list with a maximum investment limit of £2m each and a maximum duration of 100 days. If a Building Society meets Capita Asset Services’ minimum credit rating requirements, the investment limit be increased to £5m with a maximum duration of two years.

vii)    Enhanced Money Market Funds (EMMF) to be used as an alternative to the existing standard Money Market Funds (MMF) with a combined maximum limit of £5m per provider.

b)        Property Funds with a limit of £5m in each not be included at this time;

c)         investments in non-UK banks not be included at this time, but the matter be brought before a future meeting of the Finance and Resources Advisory Committee for further consideration; and

d)        the amended Treasury Management Strategy for 2014/15, be approved.

To be considered with Agenda Item 8 (a)

Cllr Fleming proposed and Cllr Ramsay seconded the Cabinet recommendations, drawing Members attention to the amended appendices A, C, D, E, and F.  Councillor Fleming addressed the Council, stating that as the Government took the country out of recession the largest hit was being taken at local authority level and a reduction in the Revenue Support Grant (RSG).  A year ago he had talked of self sufficiency and now it was clearly the path to follow and once again the District was at the top of the curve as other local authorities were now talking of the need for self sufficiency and how this would change the relationship with central government.  To illustrate this issue in the past year 18% had been lost from the RSG,  24% in 2014/15 and 31% in 2015/16.  The grant per head of population had gone from £55.95 in 2010/11 to £27.26 in 2014/15 reduction, a reduction of over 50% in four years.  The 10 year budget had set the Council on a good path and savings were continuing to be found especially through partnership working, renting office space, the new management structure and reduced workforce with changes in staff terms and conditions.  The Peer Review letter had commented that the ten year budgeting approach that the Council had adopted was a powerful tool for planning beyond the immediate 2-3 years and encouraged the political and managerial leadership of the Council to proactively project ahead.  This was coupled with a sensible year on year review so the plan had both aspiration and was grounded. It was an approach that had buy-in right across the Council and created stability.  The letter challenged the Council to be explicit about income generation forecast in the 10 year plan, separating it out from expenditure to help drive commercial focus and once the strategy for self-sufficiency was finalised, to set stretching net income targets; and mapping out how the net income could be delivered, encouraging non-traditional local government thinking.  Work on this had started and would come before Members.  The 10 year budget; savings; sharing of services; self sufficiency; Council Tax; none of these individually would see the Council through, only the combination of them with a balance between quality and value for money. 

A Member agreed with much of what was said and that the increase seemed reasonable in the circumstances.  However he was concerned at the extra burden for poorer working class families who were also being hit with council tax support reductions and thought that more mitigation should be done to help these families.  He was also concerned by the position at the end of the 10 year budget.  He was not happy with the idea of denying any council tax support funding to the Town and Parish Councils.  He congratulated staff for achieving savings, but warned that due diligence was needed to make sure there was no reduction in quality of frontline services.  With regards to the recent flooding he advised that he had received complaints  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35c

Cllr Fleming proposed and Cllr Bosley seconded that the the Kent Downs and High Weald AONB Management Plans be adopted and copies made available on the Sevenoaks District Council website.

Resolved:  That the Kent Downs and High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Management Plans be adopted and copies made available on the Sevenoaks District Council website.

Cllr Fleming proposed and Cllr Bosley seconded that

Resolved:  That

                 a)               the Community Infrastructure Levy Charging Schedule be adopted.

                 b)               the Community Infrastructure Levy rates be charged from 4 August 2014.

                  c)               the scheme be monitored to understand its impact on development across the District and held under review.

                 d)               all town or parish councils receive £18.75 per m² (15% of £125 per m²) of a CIL payment relating to a residential development that occurs in their area if they do not have an adopted Neighbourhood Plan at the time of development being permitted to spend on infrastructure or £31.25 per m² (25% of £125 per m²) if they do have an adopted Neighbourhood Plan, subject to caps set out in the CIL Regulations.

                 e)               the Portfolio Holder for Local Planning & Environment be authorised to agree minor presentational changes and detailed amendments to the Charging Schedule prior to publication to assist the clarity of the document.

                   f)               the document be published on the Council’s website and made available to purchase in hard copy at a price to be agreed by the Portfolio Holder.

Councillor Fleming proposed and Councillor Ball seconded that the Monitoring Officer’s report be noted. 

Resolved:  That the Monitoring Officer’s Annual report be noted.

Councillor Fleming moved and Councillor Ball seconded the recommendations from the Standards and Governance Committees.  The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) had published revised guidance on personal interests with respect to membership of trade unions which required a slight amendment to the Council’s Code of Conduct.  Also attached for information was additional guidance that had been published in relation to openness and transparency on personal interests,  which confirmed that the DCLG’s view was that a dispensation was not required to take part in the business of setting council tax or a precept, simply by virtue of being a homeowner or tenant within the Authority’s area. 

Resolved:  That

a)        the DCLG amendment underlined in red and highlighted in the Illustrative Text, as set out in Appendix A of the report be incorporated into  the Sevenoaks District Council’s Code of Conduct; and

b)        the amended Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) “guide for councillors” set out at Appendix B of the report regarding “Openness and transparency on personal interests”, be noted.

Councillor Fleming moved and Councillor Mrs Davison seconded the recommendations of the Governance Committee.

Resolved:  That from the date of the resolution,

a)     an allowance be paid to the Chairman of Standards Committee, half of that currently paid to the other committee chairmen; and

b)     the allowances for all Chairmen be ‘top-sliced’ by 20% and paid to the Vice Chairman as set out below:

Councillor Fleming moved and Councillor Mrs Morris seconded the recommendations of the Licensing Committee.

Resolved: That the appropriate fee levels

a)       for an initial application, a transfer or a renewal application for Sexual Entertainment Venues be £2,960; and

b)       under the Gambling Act 2005 for the Sevenoaks District, be as set out in Appendix A (as amended) to the report.

Cllr Fleming proposed and Cllr Ramsay seconded the recommendations as set out in appendices 2 and 3 of the report. 

Councillor Walshe moved the following amendment that recommendation (d) be deleted, which was duly seconded by Councillor Mrs Purves.  Of the amendment Councillor Walshe stated that the deletion of the recommendation would force Cabinet to reconsider the decision not to pass anything on to the Town and Parish Councils from the RSG.  Members debated the amendment and it was reiterated that full discussions had been had with the Town and Parish Councils concerning this issue over the past twelve months. 

The amendment was put to the vote and lost.

The original motion was then put to the vote and it was

Resolved:  That

a)        the Summary of Council Expenditure and Council Tax 2014/15 be approved;

b)        the 10 Year budget 2013/14 to 2023/24, the guiding framework for the detailed approval of future years’ budgets, including the growth and savings proposals set out, be approved; and that where possible any variations during and between years be met from the Budget Stabilisation Reserve;

c)         the changes to reserves and provisions, be approved;

d)        no Council Tax Support funding for Town and Parish Councils be issued as no money was ring-fenced for this purpose in the Government Grant Settlement, and this approach be agreed and adopted;

e)        the Capital Programme 2014/17, and Asset Maintenance 2014/15 budget of £469,000 be approved;

f)          it be noted that at the Cabinet meeting on 9 January 2014 the Council calculated as its council tax base for the year 2014/15:

(i)  for the whole Council area as 47,629.02 being Item T in the formula in Section 31B of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as amended, (the “Act”); and

(ii) for dwellings in those parts of its area to which a parish precept relates as in Appendix 1 to the report;

(g)      the council tax requirement for the Council’s own purpose for 2014/15 (excluding Town and Parish precepts) be calculated as £189.18;

(h)     the following amounts be calculated for the year 2014/15 in accordance with Sections 31 to 36 of the Act:

Councillor Fleming proposed and Councillor Ramsay seconded that the Pay Policy Statement be adopted by the Council and published on the Council’s website.  In order to fulfil the Council’s statutory requirements under the Localism Act 2011, the Council was required to agree a Pay Policy Statement for the forthcoming year and ensure it was accessible to the public.

Resolved:  That the Pay Policy Statement be adopted by the Council and published on the Council’s website.

Councillor Fittock read his question which he had submitted on notice, in accordance with paragraph 19.3 of part 2 of the Council’s Constitution:

On 6 January 2014 an executive decision 33(2013/14) was taken by the portfolio holder to serve notice on the Rural Age Concern Darenth Valley RACDV to vacate the premises at 27-37 High street Swanley by 31 March 2014.

When making that decision what consultation took place with RACDV and other stake holders throughout the northern parishes? What consideration was given to economic affects the closure will have on Swanley Town Centre and how does this decision comply with the establish policies of this council in caring for the elderly within the community?’

In response the Portfolio Holder for Finance & Resources, Councillor Ramsay replied that:

Negotiations with Age Concern had been on-going for a number of years. It was likely that the building would be refurbished or redeveloped following Age Concerns vacation which would positively contribute to the regeneration of the town centre. The policy lead on provision of the services provided at Age Concern was KCC who funded provision at the bungalow at Fawkham, the District Council's policies remained as per the 'Community Plan'. Age Concern was not limited to operating from just this location.

In his supplementary question Councillor Fittock advised that he did not feel that Council had been the appropriate forum to raise this query and that there should have been an opportunity for stakeholders to discuss the issue at committee level.

In response he was advised that the appropriate forum had been Finance & Resources Advisory Committee where Members had the opportunity to question him as Portfolio Holder.

None received

No motions were received.

The Leader of the Council reported on the work that he and the Cabinet had undertaken in the period 18 December 2013 and 31 January 2014, highlighting the Escalate event at West Kent College; the recruitment of the new Chief Constable, who would hopefully be attending the next meeting of Council along with the Police Crime Commissioner; and the LGA General Assembly.