Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received on behalf of the Mayor, Councillor Richard Billington, and from Councillors Paul Abbey, Christopher Barrass, Graham Eyre, Andrew Gomm, Ted Mayne, Julia McShane, Caroline Reeves, John Rigg, and Catherine Young.

To receive and note any disclosable pecuniary interests from councillors. In accordance with the local Code of Conduct, a councillor is required to disclose at the meeting any disclosable pecuniary interest (DPI) that they may have in respect of any matter for consideration on this agenda.  Any councillor with a DPI must not participate in any discussion or vote regarding that matter and they must also withdraw from the meeting immediately before consideration of the matter.

If that DPI has not been registered, the councillor must notify the Monitoring Officer of the details of the DPI within 28 days of the date of the meeting.

Councillors are further invited to disclose any non-pecuniary interest which may be relevant to any matter on this agenda, in the interests of transparency, and to confirm that it will not affect their objectivity in relation to that matter.

There were no disclosures of interest.

To receive any communications or announcements from the Mayor.

On behalf of the Mayor, the Deputy Mayor expressed her gratitude to the Vivace Chorus for putting on the Mayor’s Christmas Concert on Sunday 13 December, and to everyone who tuned in and donated.  The current total on the Mayor’s charity page was: £1,657.48 (of which £770 directly related to the concert).  The concert was available to watch on YouTube and Facebook until Sunday 20 December.

To receive any communications or announcements from the Leader of the Council.

The Leader gave an update on the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic locally and the recent announcement that much of the UK, including Guildford, would be moving to tier 3 at the weekend.  The Leader urged everyone to take care over the Christmas period particularly bearing in mind the proposed temporary relaxation in the restrictions.  

The Council had made plans for increased staff availability over the Christmas period should we have to deal with any emergency situations or should there be further changes to the restrictions.

The Leader announced a small update to the Executive portfolios, with responsibility for heritage moving from the Environment portfolio to the Economy portfolio.   

The Leader commented on two consultations running at the moment, with the online surveys to allow the public to comment on the emerging plans for the North Street development and to express their priorities for next year's budget.  Councillors were asked to ensure as many residents participate in these surveys as possible.  

In relation to the main business on the agenda for this extraordinary meeting, the Leader announced that a new cross party working group would be constituted at the 5 January meeting of the Executive to consider the next stages of the electoral review.

To receive questions or statements from the public in relation only to the business for which this extraordinary meeting has been called.

There were no questions or statements from the public.

To hear questions (if any) from councillors of which due notice has been given in relation only to the business for which this extraordinary meeting has been called.

There were no questions from councillors.

At its last meeting on 8 December 2020, the Council had considered a draft Council Size Submission to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE).  The Council agreed to refer the matter for further consideration by the Corporate Governance Task Group at its meeting held on 14 December 2020 for the purpose of:

(a)     giving further consideration to the requirements of the review generally and in particular to that referred to on pages 4-5, 13, and 21 of the LGBCE’s guidance to councillors;

(b)     reviewing the contents of the Council Size Submission; and

(c)     consideration of the forecast increase in electorate by 2026

and reference back to this extraordinary meeting of the Council for final approval of the Council Size Submission.

At its meeting on 14 December, the Task Group was provided with details of the Council’s CIPFA Nearest Neighbours and forecast increase in electorate by 2026 and had reviewed the contents of the draft Submission.  The proposed revised draft Submission, as recommended by the Task Group including tracked changes, was set out in Appendix 1 to the report submitted to the Council. This now stated a preference for maintaining the current Council Size of 48 Councillors, based on the retention of all out elections every four years.

The Chairman of the Corporate Governance Task Group, Councillor Deborah Seabrook proposed, and Councillor Liz Hogger seconded, the adoption of the following motion:

(1)       That the Council Size Submission, attached at Appendix 1 to the report submitted to the Council, and its stated preference for maintaining a Council size of 48 Councillors, be approved and presented to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England.

(2)    That the Democratic Services and Elections Manager, in consultation with the Chairman of the Corporate Governance Task Group, be authorised to make such minor alterations to improve the clarity of the revised draft Submission document as the Council may determine.

Under Council Procedure Rule 15 (o), Councillor Seabrook as the mover of the original motion, indicated that, with the consent of her seconder and of the meeting, she wished to alter her motion as follows:

Alter paragraph (1) of the motion so that it reads (changes shown in italics):

“(1) That, subject to the amendments below, the Council Size Submission, attached at Appendix 1 to the report submitted to the Council, and its stated preference for maintaining a Council size of 48 Councillors, be approved and presented to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England:

(a)    On page 17 of the revised draft Submission (page 30 of the Council agenda), after “There are no plans to introduce area planning committees.”, add the following paragraph:

“All councillors are involved in the planning process dealing with enquiries from residents regarding planning applications.  Planning Committee members will have a significantly greater involvement as they deal with those applications referred to the committee for determination, most of which are locally sensitive or controversial. Meetings of the Planning Committee often take three  ...  view the full minutes text for item CO62

The Council received the report of the proper officer (Democratic Services and Elections Manager) on the review of the allocation of seats on committees, following receipt on 11 December 2020 of notice in writing from Councillors David Bilbe, Richard Billington, Graham Eyre, and Paul Spooner that they wished to be treated as members of the Conservative group and, subsequently, written notice from the leader of the Conservative group, Councillor Nigel Manning, that he would be happy to treat those four councillors as members of that group.

These notices also had the effect of simultaneously ceasing the membership of Councillors Bilbe, Billington, Eyre, and Spooner of the Conservative Independent Group on the Council.

The political balance on the Council was now:

Guildford Liberal Democrats: 17

Residents for Guildford and Villages: 16

Conservative Group: 8

Guildford Greenbelt Group: 3

Labour: 2 

Independent: 1

Vacancy: 1

Under Council Procedure Rule 23, whenever there was a change in the political constitution of the Council, the Council must, as soon as reasonably practicable, review the allocation of seats on committees to political groups.

The report included a suggested numerical allocation of seats on committees to political groups that would best meet, as far as reasonably practicable, the requirements for political balance for the remainder of the 2020-21 Municipal Year. 

Upon the motion of the Leader of the Council, Councillor Joss Bigmore, seconded by Councillor Nigel Manning, the Council

RESOLVED: That, in the light of the change in the political constitution of the Council described in the report submitted to the Council, the proposed revision to the calculation of the numerical allocation of seats on committees to political groups and the independent councillor for the remainder of the 2020-21 Municipal Year, as set out in the table below, be approved:

To order the Common Seal to be affixed to any document to give effect to any decision taken by the Council at this meeting.

The Council

RESOLVED: That the Common Seal of the Council be affixed to any documents to give effect to any decisions taken by the Council at this meeting.