KINGSTEIGNTON TOWN COUNCIL FULL COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON WEDNESDAY 2 DECEMBER, 2015

Present: Mayor: Councillor D Rollason Deputy Mayor: Councillor R Peart Councillors: R Bovey, K Jones, C Meathrel, L Rose, M Stevenson, B Thorne, G Wickham County Councillor T Dempster PCSO V Pike Mr F Pate, Teignbridge District Council Mr S Niles, Devon County Council Ms Kate Cotton, Mid Devon Advertiser Town Clerk: Mrs C Lakin

Police Report

PCSO Pike said that not much had been going on during November and reported the following:

 Bonfire night went off very well with no problems at all  A drugs warrant was issued in Kingsteignton  A S59 has been issued in Tesco Car Park  The Police are continuing to monitor all car parks

Councillors raised the following:

 Dog fouling on Oakford Lawn is happening between 6-7am when dog owners are letting their dogs on the Lawn on their own.  Drug problems are being experienced on Oakford Lawn, Clifford Park and Kingsleigh Park, although Kingsleigh Park seems to have gone quiet  Cars travelling through Kingsteignton with large bore exhausts, are they legal? PCSO Pike said that it depends on the decibels  Litter problem in Matalan car park - PCSO Pike said that if they see litter they deal with it, but said that the Matalan car park will soon have number plate recognition on vehicles entering the site and will also register cars entering the site after the shops have closed.

Fergus Pate, Teignbridge District Council and Simon Niles, Devon County Council re: CIL funding for the new Free School at Newcross

Cllr Rollason welcomed Mr Pate and Mr Niles to the meeting to talk about the funding for the new primary school in the town. This is to do with the change from S106 funding to CIL and it leaves TDC/DCC with a deficit of about £1m. They are not asking the council for all of this, but for some of it. It is to do with the 15% of CIL that we are allowed; it is the Town Council’s money to decide how these funds are allocated, but we do have responsibility for the plans we have for our money, but also for the provision of schools and other important infrastructure.

1 Mr Pate said that fundamentally he was here to talk about what is ultimately a £5.5m new Free School for Kingsteignton. He provided the following information:

 Most of the funding has been secured through existing S106 agreements, through the Free School programme and through some County Council capital.  S106 agreement for phases 2 & 3 of the Newcross development would have provided the additional funding for the school, but what we have got is the Governments preferred mechanism for funding, like schools, through development contributions from the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL). On introducing CIL what you can use S106 for becomes limited and in effect you cannot use S106 for funding new school places. Meaning that at Newcross with phases 2 & 3 coming forward through the CIL regime the S106 falls away.  Over £100m of critical infrastructure is needed throughout the District over the next 20 years, and CIL is on only set at £35m, as there are various financial liability considerations at setting that rate. There is, therefore, more infrastructure needs than there is CIL funding alone.  Most of the funding for the new school was secured under the S106 regime, so what TDC is asking is that for the first £1m of CIL received in Kingsteignton, that the District Council put forward all of its share of that money that comes in and they are asking the Town Council to match, so that the first £1m of CIL goes to what is a shared key infrastructure priority. Of course, a lot of that CIL money would not have been there where Newcross to have proceeded along the S106 route  Mr Niles said that from his point of view he has worked with Kingsteignton Town Council for a while and the primary school has always been the highest priority.  We have all worked hard getting hold of the site, support from landowners and have an existing school provider coming in – Mr Martin Harding, St Michaels Primary School.  Hopefully, they will be on site and building in 2016.

Councillors asked questions:

 One of the concerns at seeing the figure £150,000 is that it is virtually all of our CIL that is projected for the next 10 years and it would only leave us approx. £4500 per year. It would seem extremely disproportionate given the approximate £1m we are about to give in our 85% to TDC, to have most of our 15% gone over such a long term would make it almost impossible for us to match the developments seen in neighboring towns and parishes within Kingsteignton. It does represent a problem for us. Mr Pate understands that it does mean a problem for the town, and it is a difficult decision. He said that CIL is about proportion being allocated to the town and for the town to have make difficult decisions and prioritisation. We have gone from a very restrictive S106 system, where contributions were secured and that was the end of it, but now the Government have given us greater freedom in receiving the monies, which are not ring fenced, but also given us greater responsibilities in delivering our key priorities.  Due to the change all of our money is going to go towards the new school and there will be nothing left over, so something has happened and there is a shortfall. Others have not been asked and have achieved projects for their communities, we have

2 been asked and it will completely compromise our ability to achieve a project for the community.  Who will own the site that the school will sit on? The freehold will essentially be owned by DCC. We have instructed Lawyers to secure the purchase of the land.  Does this mean that a Private Company will take over the management and running of the school? Mr Niles said that it is a state funded school delivering statutory education  Our understanding of CIL was that the only properties that may be delivering CIL for Kingsteignton were the ones at Abbrook, when eventually built.  The revised plans for Newcross has now put them in a generation of CIL where previously they were outside of the scope, as they existed in the Phase 2 & 3. Phase 2 should be beginning very shortly. We are talking about things that may never be built, as Sibelco have a land bank held in abeyance for many years, which could make a farce of the funding that would necessarily come from Kingsteignton.  It was thought that it would have been of benefit for Teignbridge to have formally contacted the town council and involved them as this scenario was developing This request could limit a lot of things for the Town and it is quite concerning.  Mr Pate said that there are several points there – the expectation was that there was a planning permission with a S106 agreement attached to it and it was reasonable to expect that that planning permission would be delivered and would, therefore, have not delivered any of the CIL we are talking about today. By implication you are also right that there would be no decision to be made about the use of CIL and prioritisation. In terms of the delivery point, it is up to the market to deliver at the pace it will. What we are proposing is not the £150,000 or a proportion of CIL receipts should be pushed up front or paid on a linear programme, the proposal is that where the first £1m of an estimated £1.7m over the whole period, where and when that first £1m comes in then the town council’s proportion of that first £1m should be contributed to the school. If it never does, then there is a challenge there with the District Council which is holding a wider CIL income from developments elsewhere.  This is something which has been sprung on the council and if the town council is going to take a full role in the decision process then we need time to consider this. We would like clarification as to how a Free School under the Governments Free School programme is different to the county type schools that have been built in the past. For instance are the council aware that Free Schools are often set up by independent groups of people with an interest in education, who retain control over the curriculum. Free Schools can for instance decide to pay their teachers what they wish; they can decide to teach what curriculum they wish and we are being asked to give CIL money towards building the Free School. As you say originally that land will belong to DCC, however, you did say that the land and the school and complete control of what goes on is run by the Consortium that are managing the setup of the new school. In many ways the setting up of a free school is quite different in terms of the people who are going to be going to the school.  Mr Niles said that all new schools will be Free Schools. DCC cannot open schools anymore they are the commissioners of school places not the proprietor. We would go out on a Free School competition, we would invite anyone in to bid and all the documentation would be sent to the Regional Commissioner, who is a person who

3 acts on behalf of the Secretary of State to make the decision about that Free School. That Free School would not have to teach the national curriculum, would not have to employ qualified teachers, would be able to set its own pay rate etc. That is the education system. What I will say is that behind the scenes they would have to meet targets and attract parents.  Why were we led to believe that Templar Academy had the option of actually bidding for the school? Two free schools went in and one was chosen. Templar are an Academy, they are able to put forward a Free School bid  If one of the other bidders for the Free School had been successful would the Town Council have been asked for this £150,000? It would have been standard. The school has to be built and it costs money  We have had no consultation with this process? We have not been asked for our input at all? Every Councillor and all of our District Councillors have strongly objected to all the house building in the town and we are now at capacity. Yes we need a new school but we also need a new medical centre, we are working on Parks and Open Spaces and we will not have any money to continue with our work, we will not be able to provide all of the things that the community needs if we give you £150,000. In the past we have probably lost a lot of S106 money which has gone into Teignbridge’s reserves.  Mr Pate said that S106 money is directly tied to a specific infrastructure project and there is no scope for S106 to go into any reserve account. This is the difference between CIL and S106. CIL can go into a wider pot as long as it is spent on accommodating the development growth. Mr Niles said that the Free School bid is between the Free School and the Secretary of State. They do need to do some consultation and ensure that there is a parental choice. Early year’s provision has been increased from 15 hours to 30 hours, but there is no infrastructure going in to support the doubling of entitlement. There is a need for early learning provision.  The Town Council asked for the financial history to say where the money we should have claimed and did not get bids in in time could be provided. Mr Pate said that he could provide this information.  The estimated cost of the new school is £5.5m in addition to the land cost. Why is it so expensive? A list of 70 Free Schools was presented at the meeting, it showed schools that had been built all over the country only 3 or 4 that are about that cost, the rest are nowhere near. Is it because it is bad land you are working on? Mr Niles said that the Government build the school and that £5.5m equates to if we are building a 420 place school. Figures have been released recently by the Department allocating £1300 per place for a new school. £5.5m is an estimate of what a new school will cost.  How come at this late stage, we are confronted with a shortfall? Teignbridge Infrastructure plan says they are going to build a new Primary School, it is going to cost x amount and this is going to come from development. The amount of money coming from development is now less than what is in the infrastructure plan and is coming through a different mechanism which the town council is now party to. If we were still working through S106 you would not be taking all of our money only that which was allocated to infrastructure. What is happening now is that you are taking all of our allocation towards the school which is not considered right.  What happens if the town council says no? It is the town council’s prerogative to say no. This proportion of the CIL funds is the town councils.

4 Cllr Rollason said he would like to invite Mr Pate and Mr Niles back to a future meeting, once the council has had time to take in the information and debate this. He thanked Mr Pate and Mr Niles for attending the meeting.

Public Participation

There were no members of the public in attendance at the meeting

County Councillor T Dempster’s Report

CDS There is no knowledge whether BT will take part in an open tender process for phase two of the contract. However early market engagement has taken place and fifteen companies which include BT. Procurement of phase two of the contract could begin once public consultation has taken place. However, nothing can take place until an agreement has been reached on state aid funding.

The CDS team were in contact with BDUK daily in order to reach a conclusion regarding state aid. However, the Commissions current position was that they were not minded to extend the notification that BDUK had originally secured. These negotiations are ongoing. Devon District Councils had not met some financial commitments to phase two of the project as Somerset District Councils had which resulted in Somerset being able to nominate a representative onto the CDS board.

School crossing Patrols The authority is looking for ways of saving £250,000 for this non-statutory service. The County Council currently employ 80 school crossing patrols covering a quarter of all schools in the County at a cost of £200,000 p.a. with a further £150,000 spent on support, training and administration. Feedback has shown that those school communities who pay for their crossing patrols would prefer to have a third party service provider than employing them directly. Devon would retain the legal duty to ensure adequate support and training is provide to the patrols to maintain appropriate standards. Ultimately the responsibility of getting children to school rests with the parents.

Libraries Following the placement of the Chair Lady Julie Dent, Ciara Eastell has been appointed the first Chief Executive of Libraries Unlimited and takes effect from 1st December 2015. She has a wealth of knowledge and experience in the world of libraries at local, national and international level. There are adverts for independent trustees and trustees from the Friends Groups and the Library staff.

Traffic Warden Scheme In its first year the new in house delivery model had reduced the overall operating deficit from £795,000 in 2011/2012 to approximately £60,000 in 2014/2015. Contraindications are the lack of back office facility to contact officers and notify them of vehicle obstruction and parking on pavements. Persistent evaders: Drivers who repeatedly avoided payment or sought to become untraceable is a national problem but was noted by the authority to be relatively negligible

5 District Councillors Reports

Councillor B Austen

As requested I contacted John Miller at Teignbridge regarding the provision of a cycle path to give access to the green space at the top of Penns Mount. He assured me that the matter is under consideration by the Cycling Group and is sympathetic to the proposal. There is an issue as to the steepness of the approach to the site but the matter is for consideration.

A Parishioner contacted me to ask if a mobile home placed in the garden of a residence has to have planning permission. Under the planning legislation the siting of a caravan / mobile home on land is not development but a use of the land. As such you are entitled to site a caravan / mobile home on land without requiring planning permission providing it is used ancillary to the permitted use of the land where it has been sited. Therefore, to site a caravan / mobile home on agricultural land to be used as a restroom / store in connection with the agricultural use would not require planning permission. Alternatively, you can site a caravan / mobile home within the residential curtilage of a property without requiring planning permission providing it is used ancillary to the main house. This means it could be used as additional living accommodation.

In the instance of a case brought to my attention a caravan / mobile home has been placed within the curtilage of a residential property, connected to main services and is to be used by family members of the owners of the main house. The issue is whether the occupiers of the caravan / mobile home are to have access to the main house and use the facilities inside. If they are then the proposed use of the caravan / mobile would be ancillary and not require planning permission. However, if it appears that the occupiers of the caravan / mobile home live independently from the main house then a separate unit of accommodation may have been created and would require planning permission. A question of payment of Council Tax could arise.

Councillor D Rollason

I attended the following meetings:

12/11/15 Teignbridge District Council Remuneration Cttee; Interestingly I was specifically asked to attend the Teignbridge District Council as part of the review of the allowance made to members given as compensation for the costs incurred carrying out Council Duties. Travel claims are separate to this and I made it known that I do not claim anything for my mileage and travel. Nor do I claim from the Town Council. I wanted to make the case that people with caring obligations need to be able to afford to make their democratic contribution, not to be able to do so means we may miss out on input from important sectors of the community and no doubt valuable skills and expertise. I remain concerned that Town Councils are not allowed to make carer’s allowances.

17/11/15 Teignbridge District Council Planning Cttee; There was considerable concern that a major developer was applying for permission to build before public consultation had been completed and also that the proposed development could put pressure on a section of road representing a risk to road safety. The committee decided to defer a decision until consultation is completed. It seems to be

6 such hard work to achieve common sense out comes. We need to continue to strive to get the message across - Infrastructure First. 23/11/15 Teignbridge District Council, Council Meeting; The new Licencing and Gambling policies were passed following important and detailed scrutiny from members. I pay tribute to the diligence of officers who worked hard to clear up important points after the meeting.

1/12/15 Teignbridge District Council, member’s workshop on the strategy for the next 10 years; I believe this has been a sound democratic process and full use was made of the input from the public. The idea to focus on 6 – 10 main projects, each of which would contribute to a significant number of 32 objectives identified by the public and Councillors is a sensible approach. In this way Teignbridge District Council will cover most of what we want. The members’ workshop voted on the priority order of the objectives, and I hope this is carried out by the administration. All information is available on the Teignbridge District Council website.

Councillor B Thorne

I have attended Overview and Scrutiny and a Full Council meeting.

The O &S was about:  Task and finish group report updating on a joint homelessness provision in conjunction with Exeter City Council. The report deals with both policy and delivery and shares assets between the two councils. Further consultations will take place in early 2016 leading to decisions in March.  The performance of the council against their targets. Largely on target along with financial targets except: affordable homes and workdays lost through sickness.  Review of the Council Plan from 2011 - 2015 where statements have been prepared to prove and report what has been done against each goal - superb piece of work which supports how hard the Council is working towards its current goals. Of course this will then soon start to inform the next round of goal setting and then measuring other performance indicators.

I believe my colleagues have already supplied a Full Council report.

Councillor M Walters

Primary School on the Newcross site. The EFA has passed on the final agreement on the development of the primary school to the lawyers at DCC and as ever the process is slowed down with the legal aspects being finalised. This will mean that the transfer of the site from Sibelco to DCC and then to the Dept of Education will be effected. I am informed that this should now speed up with the time scale and new solicitors in charge of the proceedings. All other aspects are progressing well with an initial intake to the Kingsteignton School being accommodated at St Michaels in the coming year. B 3193 – Clay Pit Way

7 The road is again becoming very muddy due to Lorries coming out of the quarry area and clearly not using the wheel washing facility to eliminate mud from their wheels. The road sweeper has been employed but cannot clear the road well enough. Cars are being caked in mud on wet days as has been demonstrated over the last week. The Old Exeter Road is also suffering from mud emanating from the Redrow site at Newcross. Not too bad when dry but in the wet could prove hazardous.

A380 Completion of works. It is anticipated that the A380 through Penn Inn Roundabout and leading to Torquay should be open by the end of the month. This hopefully, will mean a lessening of traffic through Kingsteignton and Newton Abbot in the future as the diversions will not be necessary. Penns Mount Codex variation on application 15/02266/VAR This application was refused on 12/11/2015. MINUTES OF THE FULL COUNCIL MEETING HELD IN THE COMMUNITY HALL, RYDON ROAD, KINGSTEIGNTON ON WEDNESDAY 2 DECEMBER, 2015 AT 7.55 PM 159/15 Apologies

Apologies were received from Cllr B Austen and M Walters

160/15 Declaration of Interest

Cllr Thorne declared an interest in item 167/15 as he is a Governor at Rydon Primary School.

161/15 Mayor’s Report

My wife and I attended the following as Mayor and Mayoress:

8/11/15 Royal British Legion Remembrance Parade and Service at St. Michaels Church. This was followed by a reception at the RBL. The whole ceremony was a credit to the Royal British Legion and the people of Kingsteignton who turned out in a wonderful show of support. I sincerely hope all those who witnessed the event share my belief that due recognition and respect was shown to those who suffered and lost their lives in the defense of our country.

10/11/15 I attended with Cllr Ron Peart the Society of Local Council Clerks Regional Conference.

8 The Town Clerk, Mrs Lakin, needed to prioritise a conference on Emergency and Resilience planning and we attended on her behalf.

The SLCC Conference highlighted the work underway to manage behaviour in councils. There is a pressing need for this as regrettably Staff and Members can suffer from unacceptable behaviour from colleagues and sometimes the public.

I will be fully supportive of Mrs Lakin, as I am sure you will be, in implementing any policy or measures needed to safeguard all of us, should we meet difficulties in the future.

15/11/15 Sue and I attended the Chudleigh Civic Service. This was their first and was an excellent event. In discussion with the Mayor of Chudleigh I learned of the major investment in parks and sporting facilities and a fantastic new scout HQ where the reception was held. This was an inspiration to me and a fine example of how a community can use CIL and other funds to create wonderful resources

20/11/15 Police Cadets Awards, held here in our own Community Hall. This event was yet another demonstration of the fantastic work done for our young people in the community by volunteers. In this case the Devon and Cornwall Constabulary and in particular our Community Police Officers. I learned with dismay that all of this is under threat from government cuts currently being implemented. I don’t think the spending review announcements will be in time to help.

162/15 Minutes

The Mayor presented the minutes of the meeting held on 4 November, 2015, which were adopted.

163/15 Clerk’s Report

Reminder to Councillors:  The Mayor’s Civic Carol Service is being held in the Community Hall at 7pm on Monday 7 December, 2015.  The Community Carol Service is being held on Friday 11 December, 2015 at The Fountain starting 7pm  The Christmas Councillor/Staff Get Together is being held on Wednesday 16 December, 2015 at the Old Rydon at 7pm. Anyone wishing to attend, partners also invited, please let the Clerk know by Monday 7 December, 2015 so that the Old Rydon can have numbers confirmed. Can payment please be paid to the Clerk as soon as possible for those wishing to attend?

 At the beginning of November during Rydon Primary Schools “Community Week” children swept up leaves around the Community Hall grounds, planted some daffodils and washed the Council van.  Following the recent frosts the remaining Summer Plants at The Fountain have died. Mr Turner and Mr Hedges have now planted some new winter bedding plants and tidied up the area in readiness for the Community Carol Service, being held at The Fountain on Friday 11 December, 2015

9  Over the Christmas period the Council Office will close at 12.30 pm on Wednesday 23 December, 2015 and will reopen on Monday 4 January, 2016 at 9.30 am  Bank signatories – I have chased NatWest again regarding the change of signatories on the bank account. They have received the form that was signed and posted back to them dated 19 November, 2015 and the change of signatories should be completed within 5 days. Although, change of signatories is dealt with in India and one of the Centres was hit by floods and therefore, they have a back log. I will phone again in a weeks’ time to chase the position.

Report from SLCC National Conference

This year’s National SLCC Conference was held at Hinckley, Leicestershire between 15-17 October, 2015.

The conference had first class keynote speakers – Lord Lamont, John Timpson together with varied and valuable workshops and extended networking opportunities. Presenters of the varied workshops were individually rated very highly including a Data Protection update from Patricia Marks of Perception Matters Ltd., and Kate Doodson of Cosmic who delivered a superb explanation of social media and digital engagement opportunities. I attended both of these workshops and found them both very interesting, with the Data Protection update eye opening. Following on from this workshop I feel it is something that would be very beneficial to councillors and would like to organise a training session in the New Year. I have already spoken to Cllr Rollason concerning this.

The Data Protection Workshop provided the following information and raised the following points:

 Dangers of non-compliance  Importance of training for staff and councillors  To think about how Data Protection affects you and awareness of the impact of Data Protection rules  When filling in forms, it is a way of obtaining information, think about what personal information you are giving out and whether it is relevant  Data Protection is about aspects of personal privacy that can identify a person. It sets out rules for handling “people information” i.e. to remove name badges when you leave your place of work, turn location settings off phone/ipad/tablet etc  Most information is obtained by the loss of tablet/phone  What is personal data? Personal data means information about a living individual that can be used on its own, or with other information, to identify them  Processing data means obtaining information, recording it, storing it, updating it, sharing it and disposing of it which is critical. Data is not a problem until it is a problem and it affects everyone  The Data Protection Act sets standards which must be satisfied when obtaining, recording, holding, using or disposing of personal data. DPA applies to all who handle or have access to information about individuals. All public and private organisations are legally obliged to protect any personal information they hold and everyone in the workplace has a legal duty to protect the privacy of information about individuals.

10  Data Protection can have an impact on organisations. It can cause lack of business, negative publicity for your organisation and loss of job. 39 jobs were lost in 2007 due to non-compliance. Fines are now up to £500,000 for non-compliance with possible further legal action  It is recommended that one session each year is held on Data Protection

The Data Protection Act has 8 principles:

 Information to be processed fairly and lawfully – do we have the right to ask for information and is it being processed correctly in a way no-one else can see  Processed for specified purposes and in an appropriate way.  Adequate, relevant and not excessive request, for purposes needed  Accurate and up-to-date.  Information not kept any longer than necessary. Pension details should be kept for 70 years  Information should be processed in accordance with the rights of data subjects  Information should be protected by appropriate security (practical and organizational)  Information should not be transferred outside the EEA without adequate data protection controls.

The workshop on Digital Communications covered all aspects of social media available – Snapchat, Google Alerts, Hootsuite, Blogs, Facebook, Podcasts, Survey Monkey, Utube etc.

I also attended sessions on Managing Behaviour through Good Governance; Transparency and Audit and the Value of England’s Heritage

Report from Trustees: Staying Safe on your Board Duties and Responsibilities of Trustees

I attended the above workshop on Tuesday 3 November, 2015 which was held at the Passmore Edwards Centre, Newton Abbot.

This workshop was run by Teign CVS and covered what Trustees are and Trustees liability.

The 6 key duties of Trustees are:

1. To ensure the charity is carrying out its purposes for the public benefit. Spending charity funds on the wrong purposes is a very serious matter and in some cases trustees may have to reimburse the charity personally 2. Comply with your charity’s governing document and the law. Trustees must ensure that the charity complies with its governing document and complies with charity law requirements as well as other laws that apply to your charity 3. You must act in your charity’s best interest 4. Manage your charity’s resources responsibly, reasonably and honestly 5. Act with reasonable care and skill, and: 6. Ensure your charity is accountable.

11 Trust Board meetings should be held regularly say every 6 months and all spending should be properly authorised.

164/15 Committee Reports

Community Hall/The Fountain Committee: Cllr Jones presented the minutes of the meeting held on 11 November, 2015. Cllr Jones proposed that the minutes be adopted, seconded by Cllr Peart and agreed.

Recreation/Footpaths Committee: Cllr Stevenson presented the minutes of the meeting held on 11 November, 2015. Cllr Stevenson proposed that the minutes be adopted, seconded by Cllr Jones and agreed.

Finance Committee: Cllr Stevenson presented the minutes of the meeting held on 18 November, 2015. Cllr Stevenson proposed that the minutes be adopted, seconded by Cllr Rose and agreed.

Works, Services and Planning Committee: Cllr Peart presented the minutes of the meetings held on 4 & 11 November, 2015. Cllr Peart proposed that the minutes be adopted, seconded by Cllr Meathrel and agreed.

Kingsteignton Garden, Craft and Hobby Fayre: Cllr Peart presented the minutes of the meeting held on 15 November, 2015. Cllr Peart proposed that the minutes be adopted, seconded by Cllr Jones and agreed.

General Purposes Committee: Cllr Rollason presented the minutes of the meeting held on 25 November, 2015. Cllr Rollason proposed that the minutes be adopted, seconded by Cllr Stevenson and agreed.

165/15 Kingsteignton Youth Centre – Up-date

Cllr Rollason said that the Youth Centre is going from strength to strength and seeing record attendances, sometimes up to 88 youths in attendance. Additional volunteers are still needed and the Management Committee are at present carrying out funding exercises. Safe Breaks have entered a further nine month contract with the Youth Centre.

Christmas trees have been donated to the Youth Centre from Asda and Tesco. Cllr Rollason thanked Mrs Whatty, Youth Leader for her hard work.

166/15 Kingsteignton Free School

Cllr Rollason said that some serious issues had been raised from the presentation given by Mr Pate, TDC and Mr Niles, DCC.

The following matters were raised:

 The Town Council do not have much money, but allocation of our CIL money to the new school would destroy the councils plans for the next 15 years  Looking at the population of Kingsteignton, how many of those will have children going through the system. You are limiting the wellbeing of most of Kingsteignton

12  If the sums are wrong for the school, what actual monies are we likely to have to pay,would this be through our Precept? This would be for a business not a state organisation.  It has been confirmed that the CIL money by law is ours and we do have a right to refuse to contribute. We have negotiating powers.  Mr Harding, St Michaels School understands that there will be a 120 year lease on the site of the new school. No one would be able to take any of the green space on that site.  There are three other schools in the town, but if these were not here a town this size could not afford three schools.  Do not understand this notion of the new way to fund schools  Somewhere Kingsteignton is going to miss out after contributing millions of pounds of S106 funds which went elsewhere  Need to negotiate how much the town council can afford  Understand if there is any other opportunity to raise money elsewhere  Whoever is going to build and run the school and make money out of that, what should they be contributing  The Town Council did agree the school was a high priority on the infrastructure plan, but in the local plan we are not referred to as strategic partners to develop and deliver that infrastructure., We are not funding partners  Think that they are talking about the CIL money from Abbrook and not the CIL money from the actual sites that they are talking about at the moment. Need to challenge skillfully what they are saying. Not happy with some of their statements  We now have a bargaining tool to negotiate with the Free the benefits it could bring to the community. The doors of the new school must be open to the community to allow the community to benefit.  When the school is built it is being run by a consortium, management group, which has interests outside of Kingsteignton. There is nothing in the instruments of Government of Free Schools that says that they have to give equitable public access to parts of their consortium which lie within a particular location. They could take what is government money and use it for funding for schools outside Kingsteignton. There is nothing in the instruments of government that says that they spend their money equitably and also that they have to offer local communities equitable access to their schools as a result.  Free Schools have to run as businesses, they will not be able to offer our community free of charge what our community could get free of charge through parks and open spaces for instance. We will never have any control over the rates they may charge local sports clubs for the use of their sports facilities, for the hire by local groups that may wish to hire their hall or classrooms. We have no control but are being asked as a Town Council to fund it, this is totally undemocratic and unequitable  Out of the CIL money 85% is going straight to TDC, and feel that £150,000 of our contribution is far too much to pay  This is a business what happens if something within that business causes it to fail. That then means that the assets the company i.e. the school, is used to overcome its financial obligations. What is to stop the organisation at some point in time looking at the asset it has at St Michaels and putting all the children into Newcross, it then means that they have a cost saving on two sites. If that asset then goes into its business purse, where do we stand as a community in this process?

13  There could be a difficulty in how the new school obtains funding from central government, which is through Ofsted inspections and a new school is not inspected for three years. Outside of DCC which is no longer inspecting schools the school has three years to get up and running before they could expect their earliest Ofsted inspection.  TDC would need to come up with an exact building cost

Cllr Thorne proposed that more information is needed and that Mr Martin Harding, of St Michaels School should be invited to talk to a council meeting to discuss these plans as soon as possible. Seconded by Cllr Meathrel and agreed. Councillors should take this time to look at the information available and do their own research. We are in a novel position, no one else in Devon is in this position and it is as new to TDC as it is to us.

After minute: An Extra-Ordinary Full Council meeting is being held on Tuesday 15 December, 2015 to discuss this matter further and Mr Martin has agreed to attend a meeting with the Town Council on Monday 1 February, 2016 at 7pm

167/15 Representative Reports

Schools Report from Cllr Rose

On 17th November I met with Andrew Goodwin, Deputy Head, to discuss the various projects we envisage Teign becoming involved with in the future. He was incredibly enthusiastic about developing a stronger link with KTC and gave us his full support in all of the projects, suggesting that we work with the student council in order to develop strategies and gain the support of the children. We are free to utilise their 'Parentmail' system to circulate information and conduct surveys. He is now going to 'pass me on' to the relevant staff members who would are best suited to discuss our individual projects.

Also on 17th November I met with Nick Banwell in order to gain the school's support on our proposed plans for the substation area of Oakford Lawn. He was enthusiastic about the project and confirmed that the school would utilise the community history garden for lessons and would like to be part of the design process. Rydon would be happy to have a bed in Clifford Park, and will work with us regarding the 'testing' of playground equipment (as discussed in Recreation and Footpaths, November 11th). Again, Mr Banwell offered the school's Parentmail system as a means to communicate with residents.

I met with Karen West, Principal of St Michael's School, on 18th November. We spent an hour together and I achieved similar outcomes to my meeting at Rydon. She was particularly keen to discuss how to progress our dog foul campaign and confirmed that, although they do still use Oakford Lawn on occasion, the main reason for its reduction in use is the dog waste. Again, the school support our plans for the substation area, would like to be involved in the various elements of the Clifford Park project, and have offered use of their Parentmail system. Unfortunately, they will not be attending the Mayor's Carol Service due to a previous engagement.

14 Kingsteignton School Open Day – Report from Cllr Rose

I attended a presentation by the Principal and Director of the new Kingsteignton School on Thursday 18th November. The presentation detailed the application process, temporary classrooms and use of the St Michael's facilities, the school curriculum and ethos, extra- curricular activities...what they could not tell us was the site of the school and any other planning details. After the initial presentation, we were allowed to ask questions. The main points raised were:

How much greenspace will be on site and will it be protected if numbers rise and more classroom accommodation is needed? They couldn't confirm the size of the plot but envisage that it will have a 120 year lease. The school will be designed for 420 children, to be filled slowly over a number of years, and should be sufficient. The selection process for pupils was brought up by several people, with the main concern that school places are not guaranteed by proximity and that parents have children at different primary schools. We were informed that the usual application process would be used, however as they were only beginning with Years 1 and 2, the aim was to add a year group each academic year. If there was a demand for school places in other year groups, they would consider changing these plans to accommodate other year groups. They couldn't confirm anything planning-wise other than that the building would be 2 storey, but anticipated a decision on the site the following week.

After the meeting, the Director of the federation came and sat with me so that we could discuss some of the points in more detail. I outlined the concerns many people have regarding traffic and drop-off points among other things and asked if we could work together to ensure that Kingsteignton's needs are met. He was very positive about working together and again, was happy to discuss the school's involvement in our ongoing projects.

Rydon Primary School - Cllr Thorne said that he had attended a Governors Meeting and spoke with Mr Banwell, Headteacher of Rydon Primary School. Mr Banwell would like to work with the council and would be happy to attend regular meetings with the Full Council to talk about progress at the school.

168/15 Neighbourhood Plan – Referred from November Full Council meeting

Cllr Rollason said that this item had been referred from the November Full Council meeting and said that he felt the town council were in a bizarre position following what the council had heard this evening concerning the proposed Free School for Kingsteignton.

Following discussion Cllr Rollason proposed that this item be deferred for a further two months until the council can understand what they are dealing with in connection with the Free School and CIL funding. Seconded by Cllr Peart and agreed.

15 169/15 Representatives on Viridor Waste Management Committee

A request had been received from Cllr Walters, Chair of the Viridor Waste Management Committee for the town council to only send one representative to these meetings. Following discussion Cllr Rollason proposed that Cllrs Wickham and Peart be the representatives from the Town Council to attend all future Viridor meetings, seconded by Cllr Meathrel and agreed. Cllr Peart proposed that Cllrs Bovey and Meathrel should be the substitute representatives to attend meetings in the absence of himself and Cllr Wickham. Seconded by Cllr Jones and agreed.

Discussion followed and it was agreed that the Clerk would contact Viridor to ask for all Agendas and Minutes to be made available to the Town Council in future. She will also check when the meetings are due to be held in 2016.

Following the General Purposes Committee when representatives to various organisations were looked at Cllr Rollason had put together the following information, which due to the length of the meeting had not been discussed. This will be passed to the January Full Council for discussion:

Representatives are required to give feedback to the Full Council on a regular and timely basis. In the past this has led to difficulties in managing the timing of the meeting. The proposed solution is:

Part One  Reports are submitted in writing one week before Council Meetings to be included in papers circulated in advance.  Reports should be a 200 word summary of the main issues and up to three bullet points for any recommended action if required.  If more detailed consideration is required the issue is placed on the Council Agenda for full and proper consideration at an appropriate time.  If necessary to ensure the Council is kept fully up to date the Clerk will organise systematic feedback to be given on a rota basis for example representatives give their feedback every two or three months even if it is to confirm there has been no activity for the period.  Part Two Reform the representation process to make it a more effective tool for the Council to make a contribution to partnership working opportunities as well as being informed of activities. This could be achieved by grouping representations into four portfolios to be managed by a nominated portfolio holder and deputy portfolio holder. Their role would be to proactively promote Kingsteignton Town Councils work, objectives and potential for partnership. They will seek opportunities to develop joint working and networking between the organisations and play an active part in delivering these.

They will make full use of their membership of Council committees and the Full Council to influence our work to achieve our objectives in playing our part in the community.

The groupings below are suggestions for example:

16 Heritage Ball Clay Heritage, Teignbridge Archaeology Society, Stover Canal Trust, Twinning Association, Oakford Lawn

Environment Viridor, Tree Wardens, Teign Estuary Focus Group Education and learning Friends of Kingsteignton Library, Teign Academy, St Michaels School, Rydon School, Youth Council, Youth Club

Recreation and wellbeing Cycling Forum, Swimming Pool Association, Outdoor Bowling Club, Ram Roasting Fair

Democratic Partnerships Devon Association of Local Councils, Teignbridge Association of Local Councils

170/15 Financial Regulations – to approve rewording of Regulation 2. Accounting & Audit (Internal and External) 2.2

Following Cllr Thorne highlighting the above regulation as being different to what happens, the Full Council were asked to consider and approve the amended wording for 2.2 to read as follows:

“Accounts are checked on a monthly basis by an External Accountant – Mr Andrew Clough of Calculus Financial Services, who approves the reconciliation with the original bank statements as evident of verification. This activity shall on conclusion be reported including any exceptions, to and noted, by the Finance Committee”.

Cllr Stevenson proposed that the amended wording be accepted, seconded by Cllr Meathrel and agreed.

171/15 Correspondence

There was no correspondence.

The meeting closed at 8.47 p.m.

Signed:………………………………………… Dated:………………………………………

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