(Public Pack)Agenda Document for Taunton Charter Trustees, 07/08
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Taunton Charter Trustees Wednesday, 7th August, 2019, 6.00 pm The John Meikle Room - The Deane House Members: Francesca Smith (Mayor), Sue Lees (Deputy Mayor), Lee Baker, Chris Booth, Simon Coles, Caroline Ellis, Marcia Hill, Richard Lees, Libby Lisgo, Martin Peters, Hazel Prior-Sankey, Federica Smith-Roberts, Alan Wedderkopp, Danny Wedderkopp and Brenda Weston Agenda 1. Apologies To receive any apologies for absence. 2. Minutes of the previous meeting of the Taunton Charter (Pages 5 - 18) Trustees To approve the minutes of the previous meeting of the Charter Trustees of Taunton held on 4th June 2019. 3. Declarations of Interest To receive and note any declarations of disclosable pecuniary or prejudicial or personal interests in respect of any matters included on the agenda for consideration at this meeting. (The personal interests of Councillors and Clerks of Somerset County Council, Town or Parish Councils and other Local Authorities will automatically be recorded in the minutes.) 4. Public Participation To receive any questions or statements from residents of Taunton in accordance with Standing Order 30. 5. Petitions To receive any petitions from residents of Taunton containing over 200 signatures in accordance with Standing Order 30. 6. Deputations To receive any deputations from residents of Taunton in accordance with Standing Order 30. 7. Communications The Mayor to report any communications which have been recently received. 8. Motions to the Charter Trustees To consider motions in the order in which notice has been received. 9. Budget for the Charter Trustees of Taunton for 2019/20 (Pages 19 - 22) To approve a Budget for the Charter Trustees of Taunton for the rest of 2019/20. 10. Confirmation of Special Responsibility Allowance for Mayor and Deputy Mayor for 2019/2020 Following the recommendation of the Joint Independent Remuneration Panel (JIRP) and the Shadow Council, to approve the Special Responsibility Allowance for the Mayor of Taunton and the Deputy Mayor. 11. Civic Protocol (Pages 23 - 26) To approve the draft Civic Protocol detailing the relationship between the Chair of Somerset West and Taunton Council and the Mayor of Taunton. 12. Functions and Responsibilities of the Charter Trustees (Pages 27 - 28) To approve an updated Functions and Responsibilities document. 13. Community Governance Review (Pages 29 - 96) To provide an update to the Charter Trustees of Taunton on the process and expected timeline of a Community Governance Review. 14. Appointment of Representative to Association of Charter Trustee Towns and Charter Town Councils For the Taunton Charter Trustees to appoint one of their number to be their Representative to the Association of Charter Trustee Towns and Charter Town Councils, whose AGM is on Thursday 26th September 2019. JAMES HASSETT CHIEF EXECUTIVE Please note that this meeting will be recorded. At the start of the meeting the Chair will confirm if all or part of the meeting is being recorded. You should be aware that the Council is a Data Controller under the Data Protection Act 2018. Data collected during the recording will be retained in accordance with the Council’s policy. Therefore unless you are advised otherwise, by entering the Council Chamber and speaking during Public Participation you are consenting to being recorded and to the possible use of the sound recording for access via the website or for training purposes. If you have any queries regarding this please contact the officer as detailed above. Members of the public are welcome to attend the meeting and listen to the discussions. There is time set aside at the beginning of most meetings to allow the public to ask questions. Speaking under “Public Question Time” is limited to 3 minutes per person in an overall period of 15 minutes. The Committee Administrator will keep a close watch on the time and the Chair will be responsible for ensuring the time permitted does not overrun. The speaker will be allowed to address the Committee once only and will not be allowed to participate further in any debate. Except at meetings of Full Council, where public participation will be restricted to Public Question Time only, if a member of the public wishes to address the Committee on any matter appearing on the agenda, the Chair will normally permit this to occur when that item is reached and before the Councillors begin to debate the item. If an item on the agenda is contentious, with a large number of people attending the meeting, a representative should be nominated to present the views of a group. These arrangements do not apply to exempt (confidential) items on the agenda where any members of the press or public present will be asked to leave the Committee Room. Full Council, Executive, and Committee agendas, reports and minutes are available on our website: www.somersetwestandtaunton.gov.uk The meeting room, including the Council Chamber at The Deane House are on the first floor and are fully accessible. Lift access to The John Meikle Room, is available from the main ground floor entrance at The Deane House. The Council Chamber at West Somerset House is on the ground floor and is fully accessible via a public entrance door. Toilet facilities, with wheelchair access, are available across both locations. An induction loop operates at both The Deane House and West Somerset House to enhance sound for anyone wearing a hearing aid or using a transmitter. For further information about the meeting, please contact the Governance and Democracy Team via email: [email protected] If you would like an agenda, a report or the minutes of a meeting translated into another language or into Braille, large print, audio tape or CD, please email: [email protected] Agenda Item 2 Taunton Charter Trustees - 4 June 2019 Present: Councillors Lee Baker, Chris Booth, Caroline Ellis, Catherine Herbert, Marcia Hill, Richard Lees, Sue Lees, Libby Lisgo, Martin Peters, Hazel Prior-Sankey, Federica Smith-Roberts, Francesca Smith, Alan Wedderkopp, Danny Wedderkopp and Brenda Weston Officers: Jo Comer, Paul Fitzgerald and Marcus Prouse Also Councillors Habib Farbahi and John Hunt Present: (The meeting commenced at 6.00 pm) 1. Election of Mayor of Taunton RESOLVED that Councillor Francesca Smith be elected Mayor of Taunton for the ensuing municipal year. Councillor Smith signed and made the declaration of acceptance of office, and thanked Councillors for their support. 2. Election of Deputy Mayor of Taunton RESOLVED that Councillor Sue Lees be elected Deputy Mayor of Taunton for the ensuing Municipal Year. Councillor S Lees signed and made the declaration of acceptance of office, and thanked Councillors for their support. 3. Appointment of Civic Marshal RESOLVED that Councillor Marcia Hill be appointed Civic Marshal for the Taunton Charter Trustees. 4. Apologies & Declarations of Interest Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Simon Coles. Members present at the meeting declared the following personal interests in their capacity as a Councillor or Clerk of a County, Town or Parish Council or any other Local Authority:- Name Minute No. Description of Reason Action Taken Interest Cllr L Baker All Items SWT & Cheddon Personal Spoke and Voted Fitzpaine Taunton Charter Trustees, 4 06 2019 Page 5 Cllr C Booth All Items SWT & Personal Spoke and Voted Wellington Cllr C Ellis All Items SWT Personal Spoke and Voted Cllr C Herbert All Items SWT Personal Spoke and Voted Cllr Mrs Hill All Items SWT Personal Spoke and Voted Cllr J Hunt All Items SCC & SWT Personal Spoke Cllr R Lees All Items SWT Personal Spoke and Voted Cllr S Lees All Items SWT Personal Spoke and Voted Cllr L Lisgo All Items SWT Personal Spoke and Voted Cllr H Prior- All Items SCC & SWT Personal Spoke and Voted Sankey Cllr F Smith All Items SWT Personal Spoke and Voted Cllr F Smith- All Items SWT Personal Spoke and Voted Roberts Cllr A All Items SCC & SWT Personal Spoke and Voted Wedderkopp Cllr D All Items SWT Personal Spoke and Voted Wedderkopp Cllr B Weston All Items SWT Personal Spoke and Voted 5. Notes of Meeting of the Taunton Unparished Area Committee (Notes of the meeting of the Taunton Unparished Area Committee held on 30th January 2019 were circulated with the Agenda). RESOLVED that the notes of the final meeting of the Taunton Unparished Area Committee held on 30th January 2019 were noted. 6. Petitions No petitions from residents of Taunton were received. 7. Public Questions (a) Councillor John Hunt asked the following questions:- After the meeting of the Unparished Area Committee meeting held in January, he had spoken to several different Councillors from all parties and had been left in no doubt that this group was to be set up to allow Taunton to continue its tradition of having a Mayor, and was only a temporary measure. The purpose of Charter Trustees was to maintain the continuity of a Town Charter, after the District with a status of Borough had been abolished, and until such time as a Parish or Town Council has been established. He understood that the City of Bath had continued with this model but that their system was different in that their Mayor covered the Taunton Charter Trustees, 4 06 2019 Page 6 whole of the City, which is not the case in Taunton. He was in favour of Taunton having a Mayor but that the Mayor should represent the whole of Taunton. (i) The minutes of the Unparished Area Committee on 30th January clarified that any invitations to events outside of the Unparished Area would need to first go to the Civic Head of the District Council (Chair of Somerset West and Taunton). Did this mean that the rest of the County Town was not represented by the Mayor of Taunton? Councillor Hunt stated that he represented 11,500 registered electors, however 6,800 of those would it seem not have access to Taunton’s Mayor, and this was just of those eligible to vote.