Agenda and draft minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillors Atkins, Britcher-Allan, Fairweather, Pope, Warne, White, Willis and Wormington.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 27 April 2022 as a correct record. The only issue relating to the minutes that can be discussed is their accuracy.

No amendments were proposed.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting dated 27 April 2022 be approved as a correct record.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 25 May 2022 as a correct record. The only issue relating to the minutes that can be discussed is their accuracy.

No amendments were proposed.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting dated 25 May 2022 be approved as a correct record.

To receive any declarations of interest by members in items on the agenda. For any advice on declarations of interest; please contact the Monitoring Officer before the meeting.

No declarations of pecuniary or other significant interest were made.

To receive announcements from the Mayor, the Leader of the Council, members of the Cabinet and the Chief Executive.

The Leader of the Council:

-       Thanks were given to local organisations, volunteers, council staff and all who made the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations such a success.

-       Members attended a number of events across the Borough which were unique and reflected the spirit of the individual communities.

-       Residents and Businesses were to be congratulated in bringing communities together after what had been a very difficult two years.

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning:

-       In answer to a supplementary question made by a resident at Full Council on 22 February 2022 regarding the number of new social housing units that had been delivered by the Council in the last five years, the previous Portfolio Holder for housing had inadvertently provided an inaccurate reply at the subsequent Full Council meeting held on 27 April 2022. The correct answer was that a total of 36 new social housing units had been built in the last 5 years, not 634.

-       The number given by the previous Portfolio Holder had given the total number of all forms of affordable housing, rather than the specific term of those houses built for social rent. These were defined as properties for rent at up to but not more than 60% of market rent.

The Cabinet Member for Environment, Sustainability and Carbon Reduction:

-       The Council had, on two occasions (2015 and 2021) made clear its opposition to the expansion of Gatwick Airport. In 2021 the reaffirmation was strengthened and aligned with the recognition of climate emergency.

-       An expansion would lead to a huge increase of greenhouse emissions in the South East.

-       In addition, current proposals to relax night time flight restrictions would add to resident’s concerns about noise pollution. As such any proposals to take this forward would be opposed.

To receive any questions from members of the public, of which due notice has been given in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 8, to be submitted and answered.

The Mayor advised that five questions from members of the public had been received under Council Procedure Rule 8.

1.    Question from Terry Cload

Mr Cload was not present at the meeting, therefore the question was asked and answered separately in writing outside the meeting.

“I was informed by the Council in February, in answer to a question, that it was hoped that public toilets at the Pantiles Pump Room would be opened 'immediately'. These facilities are still not available despite the development being completed many months ago.

The height of the tourist season is nearly here. When will these much-needed lavatories be opened?”

Answer from Councillor Rutland

“Dandara, developers of 1887 the Pantiles, have confirmed that the toilets have been completed and are accessible to the public via either the Pump Room managed by Trinity Theatre or via the concierge. A Pump Room Management Plan has been agreed and this states that the toilets will be available to the public between 9.00am – 5.30pm (7 days a week) and also later in the evening to coincide with any specific events held on The Pantiles.

Unfortunately, access to these public toilets is not straightforward. First, I would like to mention the concierge access. Yesterday, one of the council’s Enforcement Officers visited the site, asked at the concierge desk and was shown to the toilets and confirmed that they were open and operational.

Unfortunately, that was not my experience on Monday when I asked the concierge and was told that a key was required to access the public toilets, and that the key was not available.

I am not convinced that ‘public toilets’ is compatible with having to ask a concierge for access or knowing that one had to go into a residential building and ask the concierge. Moreover, there is not yet any signage to indicate the presence of any toilets in the vicinity.

 
Second, I would like to explain access via the Pump Room. I am very grateful to the management of Trinity Theatre who have updated me today regarding the Pump Room. The theatre is not yet in possession of the space. Their statement reads:

“We are excited to take on occupation of the Pump Room and to use it to further our artistic aims and to support the community of Tunbridge Wells. We hope to complete acquisition of the site shortly and once opened would naturally wish to make it open to the community like our existing site on Church Road; this would extend to providing access to the toilets adjacent to the site. However, as we will not be open at all hours and sometimes the events taking place will be private (whether our own or external groups hiring the space) we would not be able to guarantee access to the facilities at all times and therefore other arrangements would need to be made in order to ensure continued public access to the facilities.”

To conclude, the toilets now appear to technically be open and  ...  view the full minutes text for item FC17/22

To receive any questions from members of the Council, of which due notice has been given in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 10, to be submitted and answered.

The Mayor advised that 1 question from a Member of the Council had been received under Council Procedure Rule 10.

1.    Question from Councillor Rands

“Given the controversies over the TWBC finances could the portfolio holder give us an overview in plain English of where we stand ideally highlighting the publicly available documents where the facts and figures can be confirmed”

Answer from Councillor Hickey

“Thank you, Councillor Rands, for your question. A forecast deficit for the year to 31 March 2022, was narrowly avoided by the skills of our Section 151 Officer and his team. They secured, at no small effort, additional un-forecast one-off pandemic funding; they also released budgeted contingency which would have otherwise gone to reserves, including funding for essential, but unhired, council staff. £35,000 was transferred to reserves. Not much of a saving plan when we have a total income of around £60m on an annualised basis.

You can find this in the Quarter 4 revenue report as reviewed at the 8 June 2022 Finance and Governance Cabinet Advisory Board and approved at the Cabinet meeting held in Cranbrook on 23 June 2022. Appendix C shows the key variances to the full year budget. I will ask the Comms team to tweet a link to the document for easy access.

The problem with this financial tap dancing is that one-off funding and contingency releases do not fix the longer-term structural problem this council has. This year, without action, we will spend £944,000 more that we earn. This gap rises to over £2m next year and keep rising in subsequent years based on current estimates. We can keep dipping into reserves to fill the gap, not hire the staff we need, or hope that the government’s promised long-term settlement fixes our problem; long term equals 2 years in Michael Gove’s mind by the way. This does not seem sensible to me.

Our auditors, very sensible people usually, in December 2021 told us that we need to stop using reserves to plug holes in the budget and that we need to carefully and transparently demonstrate the discretionary and non-discretionary services we budget for so that we can all be a bit more realistic about what the council can afford to do and what it cannot afford to do. I’ll have that report link tweeted as well in due course.

Be assured that the Borough Partnership will act to stop the growing deficit becoming unmanageable. We have this week published an in-year budget review report and a sales fees and charges report which demonstrates our commitment to safeguarding the council’s finances.

Councillor Rands, you mentioned some controversy. Here’s some controversy for you: the Tunbridge Wells cultural hub budget in 2015 was £13.48m, the Amelia Scott as it is now called will in fact have cost north of £20m, a 60% plus overrun. The planning and design documents for an office block and theatre cost over £10m. The fiscal incontinence of these projects is the real controversy. I  ...  view the full minutes text for item FC18/22

To consider and, if thought fit, to approve the recommendations set out in the report.

Councillor Holden moved and Councillor Ellis seconded, the recommendation set out in the report on the agenda.

The report was taken as read.

The Mayor took a vote on the motion by affirmation.

RESOLVED – That the Overview and Scrutiny Committee Annual Report 2021/22 be noted.

To consider and, if thought fit, to approve the recommendations set out in the report.

Councillor Chapelard moved, and Councillor Holden seconded, the recommendation set out in the report on the agenda.

Debate included consideration of the following points:

-       It was questioned as to whether any women had been considered for the post. It was noted that Councillor Morton had originally been appointed as Vice Chair of Overview and Scrutiny but had subsequently resigned.

The Mayor took a vote on the motion by affirmation.

RESOLVED – That Councillor Ellis be appointed as Vice Chair of Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

To consider and, if thought fit, to approve the recommendations set out in the report.

Councillor Everitt moved, and Councill Hall seconded, the recommendation set out in the report on the agenda.

The report was taken as read.

The Mayor took a vote by affirmation.

RESOLVED – That Mr Edward Elliott be appointed to the Audit and Governance Committee as an Independent Member for the term of four years.

To consider and, if thought fit, to approve the Motion set out in the associated notice.

Councillor Bailey moved, and Councillor Rands seconded, the motion set out in the associated notice.

In moving the motion, comments included:

-       Two speakers from Local and Live had hoped to be at the meeting but unfortunately had been unable to attend.

-       Local and Live showcased local music and took place in Tunbridge Wells each year. Roughly 15- 20,000 people attended each year.

-       It ran for four days over the August Bank Holiday weekend at a number of venues across the town.

-       In addition to promoting local music talent, the event helped promote Tunbridge Wells as a place to visit – which was good for the town and for local businesses.

-       The Council already support cultural events because of the wider benefits they bring.

-       The Council provided support to the Assembly Hall Theatre and Trinity Theatre. The Council had also invested a large sum of money to develop the Amelia Scott.

-       The Council already supported Local and Live with a grant of £1,650 being awarded for the next three years.

-       There was doubt as to whether Local and Live would go ahead this year due to a lack of funding. The potential loss of the event would have a detrimental effect on the town and on local businesses.

-       The motion sought to request that Cabinet consider the possibility of providing additional funding that would help ensure the event would go ahead.

Debate included:

-       Given the current state of the Council’s finances, it was suggested that there were other priorities that should be given precedence.

-       The Community Grants Panel awarded £1,650 each to three musical events for three years. There were other events that also brought people into the town that the Council no longer supported and they had found other sources of funding. As such, the Council should not be the place of last resort and organisations should be encouraged to find other funding sources.

-       Local and Live had been well supported over the years and there were now more deserving causes.

-       The motion was clear that it was inviting the Council to consider additional funding. There was no commitment requested to award any funding.

-       It was suggested that this was more the type of scheme that the Council should consider supporting. The spend would be relatively low but would result in revenue being brought into the area.

-       A discussion between Local and Live and the Council that would help put their finances on a firmer footing could be an option.

-       Local and Live was an important event for the town. Such events helped put Tunbridge Wells on the map and encouraged more people to visit, the overall effect of which helped the town to prosper.

-       Tunbridge Wells wanted to be considered a destination town, events like Local and Live, that would help the town get ‘Music City Status’ therefore played an important role.

-       There were two issues, consideration of the provision of  ...  view the full minutes text for item FC22/22

To consider any other items which the Mayor decides are urgent, for the reasons to be stated, in accordance with Section 100B(4) of the Local Government Act 1972.

There was no urgent business. 

To authorise the Common Seal of the Council to be affixed to any contract, minute, notice or other document arising out of the minutes, or pursuant to any delegation, authority or power conferred by the Council.

RESOLVED – That the Common Seal of the Council be affixed to any contract, minute, notice or other document arising out of the minutes or pursuant to any delegation, authority or power conferred by the Council.

To note that the date of the next scheduled meeting is Wednesday 5 October 2022.

The next scheduled meeting was Wednesday 5 October 2022.