Shrewsbury & Atcham
Borough Council

PRESENT: The Mayor (Councillor Kenny)

Councillors Adams, Mrs. Allaway, Armstrong, Bebb, Bushell, Mrs. Chaplin, Mrs. Chebsey, Cooke, Evans, Farmer, Freestone, Mrs. Holyoak, Jetson, Mrs. Jones, J.P. Jones, Lord, Moore, Nutting, Mrs. Owen, Owen, Parkhurst, Mrs Parsons, Price, Rees, Richey, Roberts, Sambrook, Mrs Sandford, Tandy, Thurston, Townsend, Wagner, Ms Wild, Mrs. Williams, J.M. Williams and S. Williams.

59/05 PRAYERS

Prayers were said by the Chaplain.

60/05 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Clarke and R Jones.

Councillor J P Jones declared a personal interest in Minute 73/05 – Representatives on Outside Bodies as a member of the Council for the Protection of Rural England.

It was moved by Councillor J P Jones, seconded by Councillor Rees and

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY:

That Councillor David Stanley Farmer be elected Mayor of the Borough of Shrewsbury and Atcham for the period expiring with the Annual Meeting of the Council in May 2006.

Having made the Declaration of Acceptance of Office and having taken and subscribed the usual and proper oaths which were attested by two Justices of the Peace, Councillor Farmer was invested with the Chain of Office. He then took the Chair as Mayor of the Borough and addressed the Council, acknowledging the honour conferred upon him.

It was moved by Councillor J P Jones, seconded by Councillor Mrs Chebsey and

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY:

"That the sincere thanks of this Council are justly due and hereby tendered to Councillor Jonathan Miles Whitthorn Kenny for the efficient, zealous and impartial manner in which he has discharged all the duties of the Mayor of this Borough during his term of office and that the Council also desires to record its appreciation of the manner in which Aurona Kenny as Mayoress contributed to the success of her husband’s Term of Office."

Councillor Kenny replied suitably and thanked the Council for its support during his term of office.

It was moved by Councillor Roberts, seconded by Councillor Ms Wild and

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY:

That Councillor Roger Arthur Evans be elected Deputy Mayor of Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough for the period expiring with the Annual meeting of the Council in May 2006.

Councillor Kenny was invested with the Deputy Mayor's Badge.

The Mayor put the question "that the Minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 25^th April 2005 be approved as a correct record?" and, no motion as to their accuracy having been raised, the Mayor signed the Minutes as a correct record.

It was moved by Councillor Nutting and seconded by Councillor Roberts and

RESOLVED:

That the following members be appointed to serve on the Cabinet:

It was moved by Councillor Armstrong and seconded by Councillor Mrs Williams and

RESOLVED:

(a) That Councillor Nutting be appointed Leader until the Annual Meeting of Council in May 2006.

(b)  That Councillor Roberts be appointed Deputy Leader until the Annual Meeting of Council in May 2006.

It was moved by Councillor Moore and seconded by Councillor Mrs Chebsey and

(a)  That the procedures set out in Appendix A of the report by the Assistant Chief Executive (Monitoring Officer) be approved.

(b)  That the changes to the Constitution set out in Appendix B of the report by the Assistant Chief Executive (Monitoring Officer) be approved.

It was moved by Councillor Moore and seconded by Councillor Mrs Chebsey and

RESOLVED:

That the members of Committees be appointed in accordance with the rules of political balance and the nominations submitted by the respective groups as set out in the Annex submitted to the Council.

It was moved by Councillor Nutting and seconded by Councillor Roberts and

RESOLVED:

That, in accordance with the Constitution, the Council notes and agrees the scheme of delegation of non-executive functions to the officers and notes the scheme of delegation of executive functions to the officers, as approved previously by the Council and Cabinet and as set out in detail on Pages 223 to 244 of Part 8 of the Constitution.

It was moved by Councillor Nutting and seconded by Councillor Roberts and

RESOLVED:

That the dates and times of meetings of the Council, Cabinet and Committees as set out in the Annex submitted to the Council be confirmed.

It was moved by Councillor Nutting and seconded by Councillor Nutting and

RESOLVED:

That, excluding the Council for the Protection of Rural England and Roy Fletcher Centre and noting that the nomination of Councillor Mrs Jones had been withdrawn for the Shrewsbury in Bloom Action Committee, members/representatives be appointed to serve on the various outside bodies in accordance with the nomination of the respective Groups as set out in the Annex submitted to the Council.

It was proposed, seconded and

RESOLVED:

That Councillor Mrs Chaplin be appointed to serve as the Council’s representative on the Council for the Protection of Rural England.

It was proposed, seconded and

RESOLVED:

That Councillor Richey be appointed to serve as the Council’s representative on the Roy Fletcher Centre.

75/05 STANDARDS COMMITTEE – APPOINTMENT OF INDEPENDENT MEMBERS

It was moved by Councillor J P Jones, seconded by Councillor Armstrong and

RESOLVED:

That the recommendations of the Interview Panel on the appointment of two independent members to serve on the Standards Committee be accepted, namely:

(a)  That following the selection and interview process in accordance with the regulations, the following two persons be appointed as independent members of the Standards Committee to serve for a period up to the Annual Meeting of the Council in 2009:

Mr V J Hughes; and 

  Ms J Buckley.

(b)  That the Chairman of the Standards Committee send a letter of thanks to Mr Stuart Pickard for his contribution to the Committee over the past 4 years.

Due notice having been given in accordance with the Council’s procedural rules, the following motion signed by Councillors Bushell, Evans, Freestone, Mrs Holyoak, Jetson, R Jones, Price, Rees, Wagner and Mrs Williams was proposed by Councillor Freestone and seconded by Councillor Mrs Williams:

"That paragraph 17 of the Procedure Rules for the Licensing and Safety Committee be amended to provide that the deliberations be made in private and that the decision will be announced at the hearing where possible. In the event that the Committee indicates that the decision will not be announced at the hearing, the determination will be made within five working days beginning with the day, or the last day on which the hearing was held unless a shorter time is specified by regulation."

In accordance with Council procedural rule 14.7 (a) Councillor Freestone indicated that she wished to alter the motion to incorporate recommendations (a), (b), (d), (e) and (f) set out in the report of the Chief Executive and Monitoring Officer but excluding recommendation (c) at the present time in order that the issue referred to therein could be discussed by the Chief Executive, Monitoring Officer and Group Leaders. The meeting signified their consent to the alteration without discussion.

The motion, as altered, was then put to the Council and it was:

RESOLVED:

(a)  That paragraph 17 of the Procedure Rules for the Licensing and Safety Committee be amended to provide that the deliberations be made in private and that the decision will be announced at the hearing where possible. In the event that the Committee indicates that the decision will not be announced at the hearing, the determination will be made within five working days beginning with the day, or the last day on which the hearing was held unless a shorter time is specified by regulation.

(b)  That the Procedure Rules for the Licensing and Safety Committee be amended by the inclusion of provision for the Committee to consider whether to allow witnesses of the parties to be heard, of which notification must have been given in accordance with the regulations, at the start of the hearing.

(c)  That the Procedure Rules for the Licensing and Safety Committee be amended in order that it is made clear in the cross examination provisions that all parties and members of the Committee are entitled to cross examine all other parties.

(d)  That paragraph 11 of the Procedure Rules for the Licensing and Safety Committee be further amended to enable other interested persons to call witnesses.

(e)  That the Procedure Rules for the Licensing and Safety Committee be amended by the inclusion of provision to allow all parties the opportunity to sum up prior to the decision being taken.

(f)  That the Procedure Rules for the Licensing and Safety Committee be amended by the inclusion of a statement that the hearing will take the form of a discussion, led by the authority and that all representations and questions will be put through the Chairman.

(g) That the following recommendation set out in the report of the Chief Executive and Monitoring Officer not be accepted at the present time but be referred for discussion by the Chief Executive, Monitoring Officer and Group Leaders:

"The regulations do not permit other members of the Council to speak at the hearing unless they are an interested party and have submitted their observations within the consultation period. Paragraph 11 should be amended appropriately."

10.30 a.m. – 11.50 p.m.