Agenda item

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 23 February 2022 as a correct record. The only issue relating to the minutes that can be discussed is their accuracy.

Councillor Woodward moved, and Councillor Bland seconded, acceptance of the minutes subject to a series of corrections to the minutes which had been circulated under separate cover.

Councillor Everitt moved, and Councillor Pound seconded, an amendment to add a further correction.

Debate on the amendment included:

·         The corrections moved by Councillor Woodward had been checked by Democratic Services against the recording.

·         The correction moved by Councillor Everitt had not been checked by Democratic Services but accuracy was assured by the mover.

·         The correction reflected the meaning of what had been said which had been lost in the minute.

Councillor Hamilton requested a recorded vote on the amendment.

Members who voted for the amendment: Councillors Allen, Atwood, Backhouse, Bailey, Barrington-King, Bland, Britcher-Allan, Chapelard, Dawlings, Ellis, Everitt, Fairweather, Fitzsimmons, Funnell, Goodship, C. Hall, Dr L. Hall, Hamilton, Hayward, Hickey, Hill, Holden, Knight, Lewis, Lidstone, March, McDermott, Morton, Poile, Pound, Roberts, Rutland, Sankey, Scholes, Scott, Simmons, Thomson, Warne, White, Willis, Woodward and Wormington. (42)

Members who voted against the amendment: None.

Members who abstained from voting: None.

AMENDMENT CARRIED

The motion as amended became the substantive motion.

The Mayor took a vote on the motion by affirmation.

RESOLVED –

1.    That minute FC75/21, Questions from members of the public, supplementary question to question 9 from James Tansley, be amended to replace the wording with: “In Financial Year 2021, according to the Council’s Coronavirus dashboard, the Council was only delivering half of its services. It was rated worst in the country for delivering grants to small business. Your Chief Exec was quoted as saying he found it “appalling”. Tunbridge Wells also had the seventh worst bin collection record in the country. Meanwhile, delivery of both the Amelia Scott centre and the Local Plan are significantly behind schedule is running over building costs. And the Council was only able to balance its books with money provided by central government. In light of this, why is the council rewarding failure, or has the council lost control and allowing officers to pay themselves whatever they want?”;

2.    That minute FC76/21, Questions from members of the Council, answer to supplementary question to question 2 from Councillor Everitt, be amended to replace the wording with: “I think we have to recognise what the Council is focused on and what it isn’t focused on. I suggest that maybe, maybe you’re right but our Housing team have plenty of things to deal with.”;

3.    That minute FC77/21, bullet point 37, be amended to replace the wording with: “6 of the 8 big projects in the Five Year Plan had not been delivered.”;

4.    That minute FC77/21, bullet point 42, be amended to replace the wording with: “Tunbridge Wells was found to be one of the lowest scoring councils in Kent in a study of the Council’s climate change action plan.”;

5.    That minute FC77/21, bullet point 43, be amended to replace the wording with: “The Real Living Wage from April would be £9.90; the increase over the course of year was £780 for the average worker. The Council should require its contractors to pay the Real Living Wage, as many central government departments already did.”;

6.    That minute FC77/21, bullet point 44, be amended to replace the wording with: “Residents across the borough were saying what was important to them: bin collections; a clean environment; a healthy, safe place to live; cheaper, accessible transport; more for young families and children; more housing for those in need; a more equitable, fair society in which we can all flourish. The Budget failed to address all these issues.”; and

7.    That, subject to the above corrections, the minutes of the meeting dated 23 February 2022 be approved as a correct record.