Agenda and minutes

The Chairman of Council welcomed Members, and Officers to the 49^th Annual Meeting of West Lindsey District Council, the start of the 2022/23 Civic Year and the first AGM held in person since 2019. 

Members may make any declarations of interest at this point and may also make them at any point during the meeting.

Declarations of interest were sought before moving to the civic proceedings for the evening, but none were declared at this point in the meeting.

Following which, the Chairman elected will take the Chair and make the Declaration of Acceptance of Office.

Before commencing the process of electing a new Chairman, the outgoing Chairman addressed Council for the final time, speaking of his honour and privilege at having served in the role since 2019. There were too many highlights to share from his time in office but he wished to pay personal thanks to the Officers who had supported him, Trudi Hayes, Sue Norman, Ele Snow and Katie Storr.  Referencing his recent ill-health, he paid thanks again to Officers and Councillor Mrs Diana Rodgers for the support they had shown his wife Kathryn during worrying times and finally, to his wife, for her unwavering support and understanding.

Presiding over his final item, Councillor England sought nominations for the position of Chairman of Council.

It was proposed and seconded that Councillor Angela Lawrence be appointed the Chairman of Council for the civic year 2022/23.

No further nominations were made, however a Member did request a recorded vote, with the request duly seconded.

On being put to the vote, votes were cast in the following manner: -

For:- Councillors Bierley, Coulson, Darcel, Davies, Devine, Ellis, England,  Fleetwood, Grimble, Hill, Lawrence, McCartney, J McNeill, Milne, Morris, Patterson, Regis,  Rodgers, Summers, Waller and Welburn (21)

Against:- Councillors Bunney and Dobbie (2)

Abstain: - Councillors Boles, Clews, Cotton, Oliver, Panter, Rainsforth, Rollings, M Snee, J Snee, White and Young (11)

With a total of 21 votes in favour, 2 votes against and 11 abstentions, the motion was carried and it was therefore: - 

RESOLVED that Councillor Angela Lawrence be elected Chairman of the Council for the 2022/23 civic year.

The outgoing Chairman presented the Chain of Office to Councillor Mrs Lawrence and congratulated her on her appointment.

Councillor Mrs Lawrence made and signed the statutory declaration of acceptance of office, in the presence of the Head of Paid Service and took the Chair for the remainder of the meeting.

Councillor Mrs Lawrence thanked Council for her appointment and advised it was an honour to have been elected Chairman for the coming year. She looked forward to meeting many people from the District, from throughout Lincolnshire and beyond, indicating she would do all she could to uphold the good name of West Lindsey in all the duties she carried out.

The Chairman moved a vote of thanks to the outgoing Chairman for his  services to the Council, the only Chairman to have served three consecutive terms of office, and on a personal level for the support and guidance he had provided, presenting him with a Past Chairman’s Badge, and flowers for his Lady. 

Tributes were paid to both the outgoing and incoming Chairman with several Members extending their good wishes to both, with applause heard across the Chamber.

Following which, the Vice-Chairman elected will make the Declaration of Acceptance of Office.

Nominations were sought for the position of Vice-Chairman of Council, with Councillor Roger Patterson being proposed and seconded.

No further nominations were made, however a Member did request a recorded vote, with the request duly seconded.

On being put to the vote, votes were cast in the following manner: -

For:- Councillors Bierley, Coulson, Davies, Devine, Ellis, England, Fleetwood, Grimble, Lawrence, McCartney, J McNeill, Milne, Morris, Patterson, Regis,  Rodgers, Summers, Waller and Welburn (19)

Against:- Councillors Bunney and Dobbie (2)

Abstain: - Councillors Boles, Clews, Cotton, Darcel, Hill, Oliver, Panter,  Rainsforth, Rollings M Snee, J Snee, White and Young (13)

With a total of 19 votes in favour, 2 votes against and 13 abstentions, the motion was carried and it was therefore: - 

RESOLVED that Councillor Roger Patterson be elected Vice-Chairman of the Council for the 2022/23 civic year.

The Chairman of the Council congratulated Councillor Patterson on his appointment before presenting him with the Vice Chairman’s Chain and Badge of Office.

Councillor Patterson made and signed the statutory declaration of acceptance of office, in the presence of the Head of Paid Service.

Councillor Patterson addressed Council and spoke of the honour and privilege of having being elected. He looked forward to supporting the Chairman in every way possible during the coming year and would strive at all times to promote and uphold the good name of West Lindsey.

Members expressed their good wishes to the incoming Vice-Chairman which was followed by applause.

(a)        to move a vote of thanks to the previous Chairman’s Chaplain for their services during the past year; and

(b)        to receive the appointment of Chairman’s Chaplain for the ensuing year.

The former Chairman of Council moved a vote of thanks to his Chaplain, the Reverend Jane Foster-Smith, for her services, unwavering support and guidance during the past year, particularly at Flag Raising Events, Services and most recently during his ill-health, gifting her with flowers.

The former Chairman then removed the Chaplain’s stole from Reverend Foster Smith.

The Chairman of Council advised that she was undecided regarding her Chaplain arrangements for her year of office, and indicated she would update Council in due course.  In the interim she would receive the Chaplain’s stole which was formally presented to her.

The following nominations have been received in accordance with Article 6 of the Constitution: -

Nominee:      Councillor Owen Bierley

Proposer:      Councillor Anne Welburn

Seconder      Councillor Angela Lawrence

Nominations for the position of Leader had been sought in accordance with Article 6 of the Constitution, with only one nomination having been received.

Councillor Owen Bierley had been proposed and seconded.

A Member requested a recorded vote, with the request duly seconded.

On being put to the vote, votes were cast in the following manner: -

For:- Councillors Bierley, Coulson, Darcel, Davies, Devine, Ellis, England, Fleetwood, Grimble, Hill, Lawrence, McCartney, J McNeill, Milne, Morris, Patterson, Regis,  Rodgers, Summers, Waller and Welburn (21)

Against:- Councillors Boles, Bunney, Clews, Dobbie, Rainsforth, Rollings, J Snee, M Snee and Young (9)

Abstain: - Councillors Cotton, Oliver, Panter and White (4)

With a total of 21 votes in favour, 9 votes against and 4 abstentions, the motion was carried and it was therefore: - 

RESOLVED that Councillor Owen Bierley be elected Leader of the Council for the 2022/23 civic year.

Councillor Bierley addressed Council and expressed his thanks at having being appointed.

Nominations were sought for the position of Deputy Leader, with Councillor Mrs Anne Welburn being proposed and seconded.

No further nominations were made.   Opposition Members expressed disappointment that the Administration had chosen not to afford positions to non-Conservative Members, with two Members making a request for a recorded vote.

On being put to the vote, votes were cast in the following manner: -

For:- Councillors Bierley, Coulson, Darcel, Davies, Devine, Ellis, England, Fleetwood, Grimble, Hill, Lawrence, McCartney, J McNeill, Milne, Morris, Patterson, Regis,  Rodgers, Summers, Waller and Welburn (21)

Against:- Councillors Boles, Bunney, Clews, Dobbie, Panter,  Rainsforth, Rollings, M Snee, J Snee, and Young (10)

Abstain: - Councillors Cotton, Oliver, and White (3)

With a total of 21 votes in favour, 10 votes against and 3 abstentions, the motion was carried and it was therefore: - 

RESOLVED that Councillor Mrs Anne Welburn be elected Deputy Leader of the Council for the 2022/23 civic year.

Note:  Councillor Steve England left the meeting following consideration of the above item and did not return.

To confirm and sign as a correct record the Minutes of the previous meeting held on 7 March 2022.

(a)     Minutes of the Meeting of Full Council held on 7 March 2022

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Meeting of Full Council held on 7 March 2022 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

Note:Technical issues were being experienced in the Chamber and therefore a short adjournment was sought at 7.50 pm to allow Officers the opportunity to resolve these.

          The meeting re-convened at 8.00 pm, with the Chairman advising that some Members may continue to experience issues with their microphones, offering apologies to those watching on-line.

To note the number of Members to be appointed to serve on each Committee in accordance with the provisions of Section 15 of the Local Government Act. 

The Chairman presented the report, which set out details of the political groups on the Council, the number of Members to be appointed to serve on each Committee, and the allocation of seats on each of the Committees based on political groupings.

There had been no changes in the political balance since Council last considered the matter in January 2022, and as such the allocations remained unchanged.

This was a matter, which had been determined by the Head of Paid Service under his delegated authority, in Consultation with the Group Leaders, all of which had indicated their agreement, as such, there was no requirement for a vote.

With no questions posed, the following was DULY NOTED: -

(a)    the details of the political groups, as set out in Appendix A of the report,

(b)    the number of Members to be appointed to serve on each committee and sub-committee; and

(c)    the allocation to different political groups of seats on committees/sub-committees, as set out in Appendix B of the report.

In accordance with the provisions of Section 16 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989, to appoint Members to Committees for the Civic Year, in accordance with the wishes expressed by the Political Groups.

The Chairman of the Council presented the report which set out the wishes expressed by the political groups in respect of the appointment of Members to serve on each of the Council’s formal Committees for the 2022/23 Civic Year.

The report also sought to suspend the rules relating to proportionality in respect of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, as had been the case since Annual Council in May 2019.  Members were reminded the suspension of political balance required all Members to vote in favour, as opposed to a “majority” decision.

The Leader of the Opposition indicated immediately that he would not be supporting the suspension of political balance, nor would he be making nominations to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, outlining the reasons for his position, namely the Administration’s decision to seek a reduction in the number of Vice-Chairmen on the Scrutiny-Committee, and in his view the Leader having reneged on his commitment to make no changes to the make-up of committees.

Advice was sought from the Monitoring Officer, given the position expressed by the Leader of the Opposition.  Members were advised the previous report noted by Council had set out the number of seats afforded in the event that balance was not suspended.  As such the Administration Group were afforded three more seats, the allocations afforded to the other Groups remained unchanged.  The Monitoring Officer further advised that the nomination of Councillor Mrs Lawrence to the Scrutiny Committee was not constitutionally acceptable.  As such three further nominations were made by the Leader, Councillor Mrs T Coulson, Mrs C McCartney and R Waller.  Councillor P Morris would replace Councillor Mrs A Lawrence.

The report when published had not included the nominations of the Liberal Democrat Group, these had been received by the Monitoring Officer, earlier in the day and were read aloud to the meeting.

RESOLVED that

(a)     the rules relating to proportionality in relation to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee be not suspended;

(b)     In accordance with the provisions of section 16 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 and the wishes expressed by political groups, Members be appointed to serve to the Council’s Committees for the 2022/23 civic year as follows: -

Chief Officer Employment Committee (9 Members)

Councillor Owen Bierley

Councillor Jackie Brockway                      

Councillor Stephen Bunney

Councillor Mick Devine                                         

Councillor Diana Rodgers

Councillor Lesley Rollings

Councillor Anne Welburn

Councillor Angela White

Councillor Trevor Young

Corporate Policy and Resources Committee(14 Members)

Councillor Owen Bierley

Councillor Matt Boles

Councillor Stephen Bunney

Councillor Liz Clews

Councillor Mick Devine

Councillor Ian Fleetwood

Councillor Paul Howitt-Cowan

Councillor John McNeill

Councillor Tom Regis

Councillor Mandy Snee

Councillor Jeff Summers               

Councillor Bob Waller

Councillor Anne Welburn                          

Councillor Trevor Young

Governance and Audit Committee (7 Members)

            Councillor Jackie Brockway                      

Councillor Stephen Bunney

Councillor Tracey Coulson                                    

Councillor Chris Darcel

Councillor Caralyne Grimble

Councillor John McNeill                                         

Councillor Angela White

Licensing Committee (14 Members)

Councillor Liz Clews

Councillor David Cotton

Councillor Tim Davies

Councillor Caralyne Grimble

Councillor Paul Howitt-Cowan

Councillor Angela Lawrence         

Councillor Cordelia McCartney

Councillor  ...  view the full minutes text for item 86.

Having re-appointed the Committees the report under consideration sought to appoint Chairman and Vice-Chairmen to each of the Committees and for Council to agree the normal commencement time for each.

No nominations for the position of Vice-Chairman of Overview and Scrutiny had been received in advance, and on seeking nominations none were forthcoming.  However, the Leader of the Opposition indicated he had submitted counter proposals, to those written in the report, for each of the other positions named and these were shared with the Meeting.

At the request of the Chairman, the Monitoring Officer outlined the process to be taken, given the multiple nominations individual votes would need to be taken for each of the positions.   The stance was challenged by Point of Order with Members suggesting the verbal nominations should be treated as amendments and taken first.   The meeting was directed to Procedure Rule 14.6 - Voting on appointments which outlined the process, the Chairman indicated her agreement.

Noting the advice provided by the Monitoring Officer, but also the way in which votes had been cast up until this point in the meeting, for efficiency, it was proposed and seconded that nominations for positions detailed in recommendation (2) of the paper be taken en-bloc.  Those voting “for” being in support of the names in the report, those voting “against”, preferring the names provided verbally.

A Member requested that, in the first instance, the decision to take nominations en-bloc be a recorded vote, with the request duly seconded.

On being put to the vote, votes were cast in the following manner: -

For:- Councillors Bierley, Coulson, Davies, Devine, Ellis, Fleetwood, Grimble, Hill, Lawrence, McCartney, J McNeill, Milne, Morris, Patterson, Regis,  Rodgers, Summers, Waller and Welburn (19)

Against:- Councillors Boles, Bunney, Clews, Cotton, Darcel, Dobbie, Oliver, Panter Rainsforth, Rollings, J Snee, M Snee and Young (13)

Abstain: - Councillor White (1)

With a total of 19 votes in favour, 13 votes against and 1 abstention, the motion was carried and it was therefore: - 

RESOLVED that nominations for the positions detailed in recommendation 2 (a) – (i) of the report be taken en-bloc.

The Monitoring Officer again read aloud the nominations received verbally, for each position as follows:

Members were advised that those voting “for” would be voting for the nominations as in the printed report, those against for the names provided verbally and detailed above.

Again a Member requested that the decision be subject to a recorded vote, with the request duly seconded.

On being put to the vote, votes were cast in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 87.

Consideration was given to report which sought to appoint Members to Sub-Committees, Working Groups, Panels, Boards and Outside Bodies which were due to expire or where notification has been received from the main Group Leaders.

Whilst there was no constitutional requirement to appoint to these on annual basis, the two main Group’s Leaders were, at least annually, provided with a full list of such internal bodies and provided with an opportunity to amend membership where they considered it necessary.

Council noted that Group Leaders had not given prior indication that they wished to amend memberships on these internal groups at the current time, and no verbal nominations were made.

There were however five outside body appointments due to expire at Annual Council May 2022, detailed in the report, and the Charities concerned had requested a continuation of membership wherever feasible.

Having been proposed and seconded on being put to the vote, it was

RESOLVED that Councillors Jessie Milne and Paul Howitt Cowan be re-appointed, for a further four-year term, expiring Annual Council 2026 (subject to re-election in May 2023) to the following positions:

(a)     Trustees of Charles Cooper Trust – 2 places - Councillor Milne and Howitt-Cowan;

(b)     Trustees of Francis Barker Trust – 1 place - Councillor Milne;

(c)     Trustees of WG Rose Memorial - 1 place - Councillor Milne; and 

(d)     Trustees of Gainsborough Education Charity – 1 place – Councillor Milne.

Council gave consideration to a report which presented the 21/22 Annual Review of the Constitution and arising recommendations, as considered by the Governance and Audit Committee on 12 April and recommended for approval.

The report also included an Annual Report from the Monitoring Officer for the period 21/22. The report aimed to provide an holistic view of all governance associated matters.

The Governance and Audit Committee Chairman in presenting the report advised Members Article 14 of the Constitution stipulated how such a review should be conducted, detailed at Section 1.2

Comprehensive Reviews had been undertaken in 2011, 14, 17 and large sections of the document had also been amended in 2018, as such a number of relatively minor amendments, as detailed in Section 3 of the report were being proposed.  Reviewing the Public Participation at Planning Committee Scheme, Virtual first meetings, and Review of Working Groups had also resulted in some proposed amendments, also contained in Section 3 of the report. All changes included a rationale for doing so.   The comparative appendices, informing some of the work and recommendations, were highlighted to Members.

As part of the last Annual Review considered by Council in June 2021, Members had agreed a list of associated work to be undertaken during 21/22 civic year summarised at Section 1.5 . Section 2 of the report provided a brief update on progress achieved against each work stream over the period and the arising outcomes.

Whilst undertaking the annual review of the Constitution a number of other associated actions for further work, development or “a watching brief” had been identified, detailed at Section 7 of the report. Members noted that progress and any arising recommendations from this work would form part of the 22/23 review reportable to Governance and Audit Committee by no later than April 2023.

No changes had been made to the Financial Regulations or Contract Procedure Rules within the year.  As these remained unchanged they had not been included in the report to Council.  The S151 Officer had advised that housekeeping amendments (job titles) would be required as the new management structure was implemented but that these could be dealt with under already approved delegation.

The remaining sections of the report 8 -13  made up the Monitoring Officer’s Annual Report which aimed to provide an holistic overview of all governance associated matters and included information on such matters as, data analysis of the number, nature and outcome of complaints received under the Code of Conduct and details of the support the Monitoring Officer had provided to a number of Parish Councils to ensure their continued functioning. 

Section 10 of the report sought Council approval to a number of lay vacancies.

The Chairman of the Governance and Audit Committee drew Members’ attention to the decision made by Mr Peter Walton, after over 70 years involvement with Local Government, to not seek re-appoint to the Governance and Audit Committee.  He considered Mr Walton’s services to Local Government were something to be in awe of, as  ...  view the full minutes text for item 89.

The outgoing Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee presented her Committee’s Annual Report to Full Council. 

The report summarised the visits from outside agencies, the Committee had received, such as Lincolnshire Police and the NHS, and also highlighted internal review work that has been undertaken for example with disabled facilities grants.

The Committee had benefitted from the return to face-to-face meetings, with it being more natural to work with outside agencies in the Chamber setting rather than via Teams.

A major piece of work, carried forward from previous years, was the focus on flood risk management and how the Council could better support residents at risk of flood. The Member working group had worked closely with Officers and external agencies, leading to a co-ordinated approach for flood risk management as well as how to reduce the risk of flooding in the first place.  Recommendations were expected to be presented to the Prosperous Communities Committee in the early part of the civic year 22/23.

The first meeting of the civic year 22/23 would see the Committee agree its initial work plan, as well as review its Operating Methodology, the guidelines for how work could be chosen by, or allocated to, the Committee.

In concluding the introduction, the outgoing Chairman thanked Officers and Members alike for their support, including, Ady Selby, Ele Snow, Clerk of the Committee and the Clerk of Scotter Parish Council.

Having been proposed and seconded it was: -

RESOLVED that the Annual Report from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee be received and noted.

Council considered a report which sought approval for the appointment to one of the Council’s Statutory Roles, the Section 151 Officer.

The Chairman of the Governance and Audit Committee, paid tribute to the outgoing Section 151 who was present in the Chamber, speaking of her excellent service to the Council, and the leadership she had shown through her work with Committees.   Members expressed sincere appreciation and good wishes to Mrs Bircumshaw on her retirement.

Mrs Bircumshaw, in return, addressed Council reflecting on her years in Local Government, wishing West Lindsey and all who served it well for the future.

Following a round of applause it was: -

RESOLVED that Emma Foy be formally appointed as Section 151 Officer with effect from 1 June 2022.