Agenda item

To consider two Motions on Notice, in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 11, the first submitted by Councillor Jukes and the second submitted by Councillor Lidstone.

MOTION ONE

Councillor Jukes moved, and Councillor Hill seconded, the motion as set out in the agenda.

The following points were raised in Councillor Jukes’ moving of the motion:

·         The redistribution should be within the county boundary

·         The changes, were in his opinion, a fundamental error on behalf of the Boundary Commission

The discussion included consideration of the following additional matters:

·         Tunbridge Wells constituency was the only constituency in Kent that has been carved up in this fashion.

·         Dealing with three MP's would make the work of the council more difficult and the administration of elections more complicated and costly.

·         Parliamentary boundaries which go across county boundaries were ill thought out and complex.

·         Need to send a message to local MP's to reject the results of this review.

Members who voted in favour of the motion: The Mayor Councillor Horwood, The Deputy Mayor Councillor Scholes, Councillors Backhouse, Dr Basu, Chapelard, Mrs Cobbold, Dawlings, Elliott, Ellis, Gooda,  Hamilton, Heasman, Hill, Huggett, Jukes, Lewis, Lewis-Grey, Lidstone, Mackonochie, March, Moore, Neve, Nuttall, Ms Palmer, Podbury, Pope, Reilly,  Simmons, Soyke, Stanyer, Mrs Thomas, Thomson, Uddin, Weatherly, and Woodward. (35)

Members who voted against the motion: None.

Members who abstained from voting: Councillors Barrington-King, Bland, Bulman, Hastie, Oakford, Scott, Stewart and Williams. (8)

RESOLVED – That whilst recognising the motivation driving the boundary review, this Council regrets that the final proposals have failed to take account of the views of this Council and local people. The proposals fail to recognise natural and historic communities of place, are administratively burdensome and would impact adversely on democratic representation. We urge our local MPs to reject these proposals and to seek revisions that better reflect the views of local people.

MOTION TWO

Councillor Lidstone moved, and Councillor Chapelard seconded, the motion as set out in the agenda.

The following points were raised in Councillor Lidstone’s moving of the motion:

·         The motion was submitted after being contacted by a number of residents asking for Tunbridge Wells Borough Council to support a peoples vote on the final EU deal, including the option to reject it and rescind Article 50.

·         A No-Deal Brexit would be disastrous for Tunbridge Wells and Council services.

·         Brexit was the defining issue of our generation. Everything would be affected by this; national, local government, businesses and residents in Tunbridge Wells.

·         Public funding problems at local government level would get worse.

·         As the deadline for leaving drew nearer the public mood had changed and a majority of Britain's now say they would have voted to remain.

·         72% percent of the public believed a No-Deal Brexit would be bad for the country.

·         80% of local businesses were pessimistic about their prospects after Brexit and 60% of whom think it would be harder to recruit staff after Brexit. Not one of them believed it would be easier.

Councillor Jukes moved, and Councillor March seconded, an amendment to the motion.

The following points were raised in Councillor Jukes’ moving of the amendment:

·         It had been an established tradition within the Council that it would only debate issues that related to the Council or Borough over which we had some control.

·         The Constitution stated that motions must be about matters which the Council had a responsibility.

·         Whilst it was arguable that Brexit would  have an impact on the Council it was not for the Council to take a position on what was clearly a matter for central government. 

The discussion included consideration of the following additional matters:

·         This was a matter of  government policy.

·         This was not Tunbridge Wells Borough Council policy.

Councillor Chapelard requested a recorded vote on the amendment.

Members who voted in favour of the amendment: The Deputy Mayor Councillor Scholes, Councillors Backhouse, Barrington-King, Dr Basu, Bland, Bulman, Mrs Cobbold, Dawlings, Elliott, Gooda, Hamilton, Hastie, Heasman, Huggett, Jukes, Lewis-Grey, Mackonochie, March, Nuttall, Oakford, Ms Palmer, Podbury, Reilly,  Scott, Simmons, Mrs Soyke, Stanyer, Stewart, Mrs Thomas, Thomson, Uddin, Williams and Woodward. (32)

Members who voted against the amendment: Councillors Chapelard, Hill, Lewis, Lidstone and Neve. (5)

Members who abstained from voting: The Mayor Councillor Horwood, Councillors Ellis, Moore, Pope and  Weatherly. (5)

AMENDMENT CARRIED

The debate continued on the amended motion which became the substantive motion:

·         Other council’s across the country had passed similar motions.

·         Brexit would affect us more than the boundary review.

·         Tunbridge Wells as a Borough voted to remain by quite a significant margin and in some Town Wards four-fifths of people voted remain. Part of debate tonight was to voice those concerns.

·         The suggestion of a peoples’ vote was not a rerun of the referendum. It was about answering the fundamental question; what flavour of Brexit the country wanted.

Councillor Chapelard requested a recorded vote on the motion.

Members who voted in favour of the motion: The Deputy Mayor Councillor Scholes, Councillors Backhouse, Dr Basu, Bland, Bulman, Mrs Cobbold, Dawlings, Elliott, Gooda, Hamilton, Hastie, Heasman, Huggett, Jukes, Lewis-Grey, Mackonochie, March, Nuttall, Oakford, Ms Palmer, Podbury, Reilly, Scott, Simmons, Mrs Soyke, Stanyer, Stewart, Mrs Thomas, Thomson, Uddin, Williams and Woodward. (32)

Members who voted against the motion: Councillors Chapelard, Hill, Lewis and Lidstone. (4)

Members who abstained: The Mayor Councillor Horwood, Councillors Ellis, Moore, Neve Pope and Weatherly. (6)

RESOLVED – That Tunbridge Wells Borough Council recognises the potential impact of Brexit on local government in general and the Borough of Tunbridge Wells in particular but notes that, following the referendum, negotiations on and decisions relating to Brexit are a matter for central rather than local government.