a)                 Amendments to the Constitution relating to the Council’s Licensing Function

Cllr Fleming proposed and Cllr Ms Lowe seconded that the amendments to Part 8 and Part 13 of the Council’s constitution attached at Appendix A and Appendix B to the report be approved as recommended by the Licensing Committee and Governance Committee. It had been necessary to update the Council’s constitution to reflect changes that had been made to legislation and new legislation that had been implemented.  There was also a minor amendment to the Terms of Reference for the Licensing Sub-Committees to enable referral of  some reports on either an application by a Private Hire Driver or a Hackney Carriage Driver.

Resolved: That the amendments to Part 8 and Part 13 of the Council’s Constitution attached as Appendices A and B to the report, be approved.

b)                 Christmas Parking 2013

Cllr Fleming proposed and Cllr Hogarth seconded thatthe recommendation from Cabinet to fund the cost in terms of lost income, from the provision of free parking in all car parks and on-street parking areas throughout the district for two Saturdays before Christmas 2013 on the preferred dates expressed by the Town Councils, from Supplementary Estimates.  As in previous years, to encourage people to shop locally and to help support local businesses in the face of competition from other shopping areas in the region, the Council had provided free parking in all car parks and on-street parking areas on two Saturdays before Christmas.

It was clarified that only the funding of this proposal was for consideration at Council.  The substantive part of the report concerning the review of parking charges had already been agreed by Cabinet and was out for consultation and would be subject to a further report to Cabinet in the new year.

Resolved: That the cost in terms of lost income, from the provision of free parking in all car parks and on-street parking areas throughout the district for two Saturdays before Christmas 2013 on the preferred dates expressed by the Town Councils (7 and 14 December in respect to Westerham and 14th and 21st December in respect to Sevenoaks), be funded from Supplementary Estimates.

c)                  Climate Local Sevenoaks

Cllr Fleming proposed and Cllr Bosley seconded that Climate Local Sevenoaks be adopted as District Council policy as recommended by Cabinet. Climate Local was a Local Government Association initiative to drive, inspire and support local authority action on a changing climate. The initiative supported ‘mitigation’ measures (address the root causes by reducing greenhouse gas emissions) and ‘adaptation’ measures (lower the risks posed by the consequences of climatic changes). Climate Local superseded the Nottingham Declaration on Climate Change, which had been previously adopted by the District Council. In response to this, Kent County Council and its public sector partners, which included all Kent district/borough councils, Kent Police, Kent Fire and Rescue, and Kent and Medway NHS Trust, had jointly developed Climate Local Kent which was subsequently supported by the Kent Forum. Having agreed with the broad principles of Climate Local Kent, Districts were open to adopt targets in line with Climate Local. Option A as detailed within the report took County targets which had been scaled-down to district level by assuming an equal proportion for each respective authority. Consideration was then given to the local population, housing stock types/numbers and condition, major infrastructure and business, planning restrictions and deprivation.  A reduction was subsequently applied to some targets to reflect limited scope for savings in the Sevenoaks District, which provided a more realistic set of commitments and targets to work towards at District level, whilst still demonstrating a local commitment to wider Kent outcomes.

A Member was in support in principle but was concerned about the impact on poorer more vulnerable residents and felt that certain aspects needed to be looked at in more depth.  For example the reduction in domestic gas consumption versus the rise in commercial consumption.  The Chairman of Local Planning & Environment Advisory Committee responded that this item had been well debated at Committee, and the same concern had been highlighted and was being investigated.  Members’ attention was also drawn to the report  and the commitment to protect those most vulnerable to climate impacts.

Resolved: That Members adopt Climate Local Sevenoaks (Option A) as District Council policy.