Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors D Drabble, P Wheelhouse, S Cornwell, B Hill, J Lilley, R Hall and A Hutchinson.

Members are requested to declare the existence and nature of any disclosable pecuniary interest and/or other interests, not already on their register of interests, in any items on the agenda and withdraw from the meeting at the appropriate time. 

Councillors A Dale, C Cupit, A Foster, M Foster, K Gillott, B Lewis and C Renwick declared interests in Item 7 on the Agenda, Devolution Deal Update, as Members of Derbyshire County Council.  They indicated that they would participate in Council’s discussion and determination on the Item.

Councillor A Dale declared an interest in Item 18, Northwood Update, as a Member of the Board of Northwood Group Ltd.He indicated that he would participate in Council’s discussion and determination on the Item.

Councillors M Foster, D Ruff, B Lewis and R Welton indicated their membership of the Stonebroom Community Governance Review Working Group. They indicated that they would participate in Council’s discussion and determination on the Item.

(a) To approve as a correct record and the Chair to sign the attached Minutes of the Council meeting held on Monday 12 September 2022

 (b) To approve as a correct record and the Chair to sign the attached Minutes of the Council meeting held on Monday 3 October 2022

The Minutes of the meetings held on Monday 12 September 2022 and on Monday 3 October 2022 were approved as a true record.

Councillor D Ruff, Chair of the Council

The Chair of the Council, Councillor D Ruff, updated Members on the recent civic events which she had attended. These included a tree planting ceremony as part of the Queen’s Green Canopy initiative. Members were reminded that this was originally a nation-wide initiative to mark the Platinum Jubilee of her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The initiative would now run until March 2023 in order to give people the opportunity to plant trees as a memorial to her Late Majesty.

The Chair explained that she intended to hold a Memorial Service for the Late Queen in February 2023, to commemorate what would have been the seventy-first anniversary of her accession to the throne. She also highlighted the Armed Forces Family Fun Day which she intended to hold in May 2023.

RESOLVED – That Council noted the announcements of the Chair of the Council, Councillor D Ruff (by acclamation).

Councillor A Dale, Leader of the Council

The Leader of the Council, Councillor A Dale, explained that the Group Leaders had worked together to respond locally to the Cost of Living Crisis by exploring new opportunities to assist the District’s residents and businesses. He informed Members that a supplement had been produced, offering practical advice on how to save energy and reduce bills, which had been included with the latest edition of the NEDDC News.

Members also heard that as part of the Council’s response to the cost of living crisis a Community Outreach Service would be developed. This would deliver individual support to residents on maximising income, making referrals for debt management, advising and assisting with fuel debt, general budgeting and accessing services. As part of this, external funding had now been secured for two new community outreach workers as part of the Environmental Health team who would be able to provide support to any residents who required it.

The Leader gave thanks to all members of staff for their work. He made clear that along with the Deputy Leader of the Council, Councillor C Cupit, he had recently spent time working a shift with the refuse team and that he had also shadowed staff at the Dronfield Leisure Centre. He reflected that the staff were friendly, versatile and were a real credit to the Council. He would be spending time with more teams in the coming weeks.

RESOLVED – That Council noted the announcements of the Leader of the Council, Councillor A Dale (by acclamation).

Presentation of the Employer Recognition Scheme, Gold Award, by Bruce Spencer, Ministry of Defence East Midlands Regional Employer Engagement Director

Bruce Spencer, Ministry of Defence East Midlands Regional Employer Engagement Director, informed Council that it had been awarded its Employer Recognition Scheme, Gold Award. Mr Spencer explained the purpose of the Employer Recognition Scheme and how important it was to the Armed Forces Community. He praised the Council for its work and made clear that it was one of only 638 employers to have received the Gold Award.

Mr Spencer then presented the Gold Award to the Council’s Armed Forces Champion, Councillor M E Thacker. Councillor M E Thacker thanked Mr Spencer on behalf of the Council and stressed the strong cross-party support for the Armed Forces Community. In particular, he highlighted the Council’s work to help veterans faced with homelessness.

Councillor M E Thacker highlighted the numerous events that he had attended over the course of the year as the Council’s Armed Forces Champion. These included the armed forces hub in Chesterfield, the Buxton Military Tattoo and various events for the poppy appeal.

Councillor A Dale thanked Mr Spencer for the award and for attending the meeting. He also thanked Councillor M E Thacker and the Assistant Director - Regeneration and Programmes, Steve Lee for their work as Member and Officer Armed Forces Champions.

Councillors N Barker and M Roe echoed these sentiments.

RESOLVED – That Council receives the the Employer Recognition Scheme, Gold Award in recognition of its continuing support for the Armed Forces Community in the District (by acclamation).

Councillor A Dale, Leader of the Council

The report to Council explained that the Derby City, Derbyshire County, Nottingham City and Nottinghamshire County (D2N2) ‘Upper Tier’ authorities had proposed that an East Midlands Mayoral County Combined Authority covering these areas be established. This Combined Authority would be comparable to those in other areas which had already established Directly Elected Mayors, such as South Yorkshire. The report made clear that these arrangements would also ensure that the greatest transfer of powers and resources from a national level to the region could now take place.

Members were informed that the Upper Tier Authorities had put these proposals out to public consultation, which was scheduled to run until 9 January 2023.  They would then decide whether or not to proceed with them.The report proposed that following Council’s discussion of the proposals, the minutes on this Item be submitted to the Upper-Tier authorities, as the Council’s response to the consultation. This would enable all those Members who wished to speak on the report to have their views taken into account by the Upper Tier Authorities, in deciding on whether to proceed.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor A Dale, supported this approach. He moved that the recommendations be approved. He then set out his own views on the proposals.

The Leader of the Council made clear his reservations about the inclusion of a directly Elected Mayor within the proposed governance arrangements and highlighted possible alternatives to this. However, Councillor Dale reminded Members that under the Government’s Devolution Framework the region could only receive the greatest transfer of powers and resources from a national level if the proposals included a Directly Elected Mayor. He also contended that the Mayoral County Combined Authority would put the region in a better position to potentially unlock access to further funding and devolution of powers in the future.

The Leader of the Council sought to address the concerns which had been raised about the proposed arrangements. In particular, he emphasised that the new Combined Authority would be directly elected from across the whole East Midlands region. This meant that it could be expected to use its powers and resources to benefit all of the region’s counties and communities, rather than to concentrate on the two large city areas. He also pointed out that under the proposals, power and responsibilities would be devolved downwards from national government. He stressed that no functions or resources would be taken away from the existing local authorities, including the District Councils.

Councillor Dale concluded by making clear that he would be prepared to support the proposals, including the creation of a Directly Elected Mayor for the Combined Authority, as a price worth paying to ensure that the East Midlands region could finally access the funding necessary to improve the Education, Transport and other Infrastructure, which had lagged behind that of other regions over many years and under different national governments.  He contended that the Council and the North East Derbyshire District had much to gain from the proposed Combined Authority  ...  view the full minutes text for item COU/51/22-23

Presentation by the Assistant Director – Regeneration and Programmes

The Assistant Director - Regeneration Programmes provided an update on the actions taken by the Council to help residents and businesses with the Cost of Living Crisis. He highlighted the collaborative approach taken by the Group Leaders, the support and advice to local businesses and communities and the introduction of Energy Champions across the Council, to help reduce its own costs.

Members also heard that the District’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund Investment Plan had been modified, in order to include additional measures such as double glazed windows for shop fronts.

Councillors A Dale, N Barker, D Hancock, T Reader, J Ridgway, A Dale and the Chair, Councillor D Ruff, thanked the Assistant Director for his presentation and their support for the work which had taken place to help respond to the Cost of Living Crisis. Cllr Dale gave particular thanks to the Portfolio Holder for Economy, transformation and Climate Change, Councillor J Kenyon, for his contribution.

RESOLVED

That Council noted the update (by acclamation)

Report of Councillor A Dale, Leader of the Council

Members were asked to consider a report setting out details of the Council’s Treasury Management activities for the period April to September 2022. This had been prepared in line with the Chartered Institute of Public Finance Accountants (CIPFA). Treasury Management Code of Practice.

The report explained that Treasury Management function covers the borrowing and investment of Council money, including the management of the Council’s day to day cash position. Members heard how Good Treasury Management played an important role in ensuring the sound financial management of the Council’s resources. The report illustrated how good Treasury Management had continued to be achieved during the period.

Councillor A Dale and Councillor C Cupit moved and seconded a Motion to approve the recommendations as set out in the report. The Motion was put to the vote and was approved.

RESOLVED

That Council noted the Treasury Management activities undertaken during the period April to September 2022 as outlined in Appendix 1 to the report.

Report of the Assistant Director of Governance and Monitoring Officer

The report to Council asked Member to review the appointments to Committee for the remainder of the 2022/23 Municipal Year, following recent changes to the composition of the Conservative and Independent Groups. The report proposed specific changes to the composition of the Council’s committees, which would be in compliance with Section 15 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 and the Local Government (Committees and Political Groups) Regulations 1990.

Members agreed to the proposed changes to the composition of the Council’s Committees. The relevant group Leaders agreed to inform the Assistant Director of Governance and Monitoring Officer of their specific named changes. The Monitoring Officer would then implement these changes as a Delegated Decision, as provided for under the Council’s Scheme of Delegation.

Subject to this, Councillor A Dale and Councillor C Cupit then moved and seconded a Motion to approve the recommendations as set out in the report. The Motion was put to a vote and was approved.

RESOLVED -

That:

1.    Council accepted the new allocation of places on Committees contained in the report.

2.    Following on from this new allocation of places:

a.    The Independent Group nominates two Members in total to serve on the Planning Committee for the remainder of the municipal year.

b.    The Independent Group nominates one Member in total to serve on the General Licensing and Licensing and Gambling Acts Committees for the remainder of the municipal year.

c.    The Conservative Group removes one member from the Standards Committee for the remainder of the municipal year.

d.    The Independent Group nominates one Member in total to serve on the Standards Committee for the remainder of the municipal year.

e.    The Conservative Group removes one Member from the Audit and Corporate Governance Scrutiny Committee for the remainder of the municipal year.

f.     The Independent Group nominates one Member in total to serve on the Audit and Corporate Governance Scrutiny Committee for the remainder of the municipal year.

g.    The Conservative Group removes one Member from the Communities Scrutiny Committee for the remainder of the municipal year.

h.    The Independent Group nominates one Member in total to serve on the Communities Scrutiny Committee for the remainder of the municipal year.

i.      The Conservative Group removes one Member from the Growth Scrutiny Committee for the remainder of the municipal year.

j.      The Liberal Democrat group nominates one Member in total to serve on the Growth Scrutiny Committee for the remainder of the municipal year.

k.    The Conservative Group removes one Member from the Organisation Scrutiny Committee for the remainder of the municipal year.

l.      The Liberal Democrat Group nominates one member in total to serve on the organisation Scrutiny Committee for the remainder of the municipal year.

3.      That the Conservative, Independent and Liberal Democrat Group Leaders inform the Assistant Director of Governance and Monitoring Officer of their specific named changes to the Committee Memberships. The Assistant Director of Governance and Monitoring Officer to then make these changes as a Delegated Decision, as provided for  ...  view the full minutes text for item COU/54/22-23

Report of the Stonebroom Working Group

Members were reminded that the Council had received a valid Petition requesting that a separate Parish Council for Stonebroom should be established. Under Section 83 of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, it was then required to carry out a Community Governance Review of the area. A Working Party had been established, which had put in place appropriate public consultation arrangements to find out the views of local people.

The report to Council set out the consultation arrangements These included leaflet drops, targeted social media posts and a public meeting. However, Members were informed that comparatively few people in the area had participated in the consultation. Based on this, the Working Group had concluded that although some people did support strongly a separate parish council for Stonebroom a significant proportion of the very limited proportion of local residents who had actually responded did not support change. 

The Chair of the Working Group, Councillor M Foster and the other Members of the Group, Councillors D Ruff, R Welton and B Lewis, all spoke about the review, the limited response to the public consultation and the Working Group’s conclusions that, given the low response to the consultation, the case for a separate Parish Council for Stonebroom had not yet been established. In this context, Councillor R Welton highlighted suggested that the existing Shirland and Higham Parish Council might call a referendum to determine whether Stonebroom residents wanted their own parish council.

The Chair of Council briefly recessed the meeting, so that two people could address Members on the issue. Councillor Lomax of Shirland & Higham Parish Council spoke in favour of a separate Parish Council for Stonebroom. A local resident suggested that there were mixed views within the community and that residents required more information on the proposal and its implications.

Members discussed the report. During the discussion Councillors C Cupit, T Reader, K Gillott, D Hancock, R Shipman, J Funnell, M E Thacker MBE and J Barry expressed their reservations about the Working Group’s recommendations. They felt that a separate Parish Council should be established, if there was significant community support for this.

At the conclusion of the discussion, Councillor C Cupit and Councillor D Ruff proposed and seconded a Motion that the Working Group be asked to carry out further public consultation to determine the views of local people on whether to establish a separate Parish Council for Stonebroom.

The Motion was put to the vote and was approved.

RESOLVED –

(1)          That based on the views of Council and the consultation responses received, the Council asks the Stonebroom Community Governance Working Group be asked to undertake further, more extensive, consultation into the possibility of a separate Stonebroom Parish Council.

That as part of this, the views expressed by Council be relayed to the consultant so that Council can re-consider the original petition.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule No 8 to allow members of the public to ask questions about the Council’s activities for a period up to fifteen minutes.  The replies to any such questions will be given by the appropriate Cabinet Member.  Questions must be received in writing or by email to the Monitoring Officer by 12 noon seven clear working days before the meeting.

No questions have been submitted under Procedure Rule No 8 for this meeting.

There were no questions from the public.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule No 9.2 to allow Members to ask questions about Council activities.  The replies to any such questions will be given by the Chair of the Council or relevant Committee or the appropriate Cabinet Member.  Questions must be received in writing or by email to the Monitoring Officer by 12 noon seven clear working days before the meeting. 

No questions have been submitted under Procedure Rule No 9.2 for this meeting.

No questions were submitted.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule No 10 to consider Motions on notice from Members.  Motions must be received in writing or by email to the Monitoring Officer by 12 noon seven clear working days before the meeting. 

Motion ‘A’ moved by Councillor A Dale

That Council

1.     Welcome the new Government's recent decision to reinstate the moratorium on hydraulic fracturing for shale gas extraction, honouring its 2019 manifesto commitment

2.     Reaffirm in the strongest possible terms its opposition to fracking and our commitment to opposing any application to allow hydraulic fracturing or exploratory drilling for fracking within the boundaries of North East Derbyshire District, should there be any future changes in national policy

3.     Notes that fracking will not produce enough gas to significantly affect the short term energy situation (price or quantity), it is not proven safe in a highly densely populated country such as England (with 12x the population density of the USA) and we have not got the road or pipeline infrastructure to support it without huge additional disruption.

4.     Notes that the long term use of fossil fuels must be reduced and that can be better achieved through improved insulation, energy savings and continuing the last 10 years of the rapid increase in renewable energy production. North East Derbyshire District Council will continue playing our part to reduce our energy usage as well as our carbon footprint, by continuing to follow our successful climate change strategy.

Motion ‘B’ moved by Councillor P Windley, seconded by Councillor R Shipman

Council notes:

Council budgets are used for a variety of grant schemes

A lottery scheme would be self-funding and provide additional resources to local community groups and charities on a voluntary participation basis unlike taxation.

Bolsover District Council and Mansfield District Council run lottery schemes, and could offer advice on setting one up.

The funding generated could be used to help organisations helping families get through the cost of living crisis.

Council resolves:

To start its own lottery scheme using the amounts generated to fund the scheme, and then splitting the remaining 50/50 between the winner(s) and funding local community groups and charities that apply.

Motion ‘C’ moved by Councillor R Shipman, seconded by Councillor D Hancock

Council notes;

-Fracking Is a technique for recovering gas and oil from shale rock.

-Fracking was halted in 2019 due to a moratorium put in place.

-In September 2022, the then Prime Minister Liz Truss announced she was lifting the moratorium on fracking

-in October 2022, the current Prime Minister announced the moratorium (temporary ban) on fracking would be reintroduced.

-Chris Cornelius , the geologist who founded Cuadrilla Resources which drilled the first modern fracking well in Lancashire, said that the decision to put fracking back on the table ‘is not going to have an impact’ on the UK energy supply, and that fracking ‘will never be at scale because the capital costs are a huge issue’.

Council believes;

Fracking will not bring down the price of energy bills.

Fracking  ...  view the full agenda text for item COU/58/22-23

MOTION ‘A’

Members considered a motion submitted by Councillor A Dale which called on the Council to reaffirm its opposition to the use of ‘Hydraulic Fracking’ technology to extract gas and to support the moratorium on this which is currently in place nationally. The full text of Councillor A Dale’s motion, set out as Motion ‘A’, was included on the Agenda for the meeting.

Councillor A Dale agreed to amend his Motion to include additional points contained within Motion ‘C’ proposed by Councillor R Shipman and in particular, that the Council should support a permanent end to the use of Hydraulic Fracking.

Councillor M E Thacker MBE spoke in favour of the Motion. He explained his opposition to Fracking. In particular, he felt that it would have no place in a zero carbon future, posed a threat to the environment and was not a solution to the energy crisis.

Councillor N Barker spoke on the Motion. He argued that Fracking should be banned throughout the whole country. He then moved an amendment to the motion, calling on all Group Leaders to write to the District’s Members of Parliament expressing their opposition to fracking throughout the entire United Kingdom (UK). The amendment to the substantive Motion was circulated to Members. Councillor S Pickering then seconded the Amended Motion. He also took the view that an outright ban on Hydraulic Fracking across the whole UK was needed.

Councillors A Dale, R Shipman, D Hancock and M E Thacker MBE called for the amendment to be withdrawn as the substantive Motion now called on the UK Government to ban fracking throughout the country.

At the end of the discussion the amendment to the substantive Motion was put to a vote and was rejected.

The substantive Motion was then moved by Councillor A Dale and seconded by Councillor R Shipman. The Motion was put to the vote and was approved.

RESOLVED –

That Council:

1.            Called upon the Government to make permanent the ban on the use of Hydraulic Fracking throughout the United Kingdom

2.            Reaffirmed in the strongest possible terms its opposition to Fracking and our commitment to opposing any application to allow hydraulic fracturing or exploratory drilling for fracking within the boundaries of North East Derbyshire District, should there be any future changes in national policy.

3.            Noted that Fracking will not produce enough gas to significantly affect the short term energy situation (price or quantity), it is not proven safe in a highly densely populated country such as England (with 12x the population density of the USA) and we have not got the road or pipeline infrastructure to support it without huge additional disruption.

4.            Noted that the long term use of fossil fuels must be reduced and that can be better achieved through improved insulation, energy savings and continuing the last ten years of the rapid increase in renewable energy production. North East Derbyshire District Council will continue playing our part to reduce our energy usage as well as our  ...  view the full minutes text for item COU/58/22-23

To consider any other matter which the Chair is of the opinion should be considered as a matter of urgency.

There was no urgent business.

The Chair to move:-

That the public be excluded from the meeting during the discussion of the following item of business to avoid the disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3, Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, (as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006).

RESOLVED – That the public be excluded from the meeting during the discussion of the following item of business to avoid the disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3, Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, (as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006).

Report Councillor A Dale, Leader of the Council

                                                                                       Paragraphs 1,2,3 and 4

Council received an Update in relation to previous approval to implement the proposed senior management changes as outlined in the report to Council in October 2022. 

Following the discussion, Councillor A Dale and Councillor C Cupit moved and seconded a Motion to approve officer recommendations. The Motion was put to the vote and was agreed                                 

RESOLVED – That:

1.            Following the implementation of the Council’s Policy and Procedure for Organisational Review, Council noted:

a.            That Mathew Broughton had been assimilated to the post of Director – Growth and Assets

b.            That Steven Lee had been assimilated to the post of Assistant Director – Regeneration and Programmes

c.             That following a successful internal recruitment process, Nicola Astle had been appointed to the post of Assistant Director – ICT

2.            Following the implementation of the Council’s Policy and Procedure for Organisational Review and a successful internal recruitment process, Jayne Dethick be appointed to the post of Director – Finance and Resources & S151 Officer.

Presentation by the Director of Growth and Assets

                                                                                                         Paragraph 3

With the agreement of the Chair, the Item was deferred

.

To consider any other matter which the Chair is of the opinion should be considered as a matter of urgency.

There was no urgent business.