Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors L Lawman, K Harrison and M Tye.

The Chair invited those who wished to do so to declare an interest in respect of an item on the agenda.

Councillor Fedorowycz made reference to a previous planning committee, where she was not permitted to speak on an item.

Councillor Buckingham commented that she was on the Area Planning Committee at Corby.

No other declarations were made. 

The minutes of the meeting held on 16 November 2021 were approved.  

The chairman welcomed two members of the public to the meeting who had made requests to speak on this item.

Mr Dixon addressed the meeting, referring to the Procedures for speaking at planning committees.  He considered that the speaking rules for Planning should follow the same format as speaking at other committees. In his opinion, allowing only one third party speaker for, and one third party speaker against, a proposal wasinadequate and he felt that as most of the area meetings were not very long, there was scope to encourage further public participation as this would only add a short time to the meeting. He suggested that 15 minutes be allocated thus enabling up to five speakers. He had  analysed the area planning committees and found, that with the exception of meetings at Thrapston, that meetings only lasted for an hour and considered there was adequate scope for a longer period of public participation.

Ms O’Dowd also spoke and commented that it was only on the rare occasions that multiple speaking requests would be made. Her concern was particularly over the use of the Chair’s discretion in determining the numbers of public speakers when there was significant public demand to do so. She considered that public speaking for planning should be the same as at other committees and that if three minutes was allowed per speaker the maximum number should be increased to five per proposal.

The chair thanked the speakers for their comments.

The annexed circulated report of the Director of Governance and HR/Monitoring Officer was received to consider revisions to the administration and operation of the planning authority’s committees in relation to the Planning Committee Public Participation Policy, Officer Delegation Scheme and Area Committee Quora.

The committee welcomed the procedure and guidance for the Chairs of Area Planning Committees.

Committee members who were currently, or who had previously chaired planning committees, considered that it was important for the public to have their say and enabling the Chair to use their discretion when an application resulted in considerable public interest, was a good way forward.

It was noted that planning could be a very emotive subject and that the committee was only able to consider material planning issues when determining an application. It was enough for this to be provided by one speaker and repetition was not always helpful in the determination process. It was also considered extremely useful that the committee could ask questions of clarification of speakers.

Some Members of the committee considered that there was insufficient public speaking time. Often those opposing an application felt that their concerns were being overlooked and that they weren’t given a voice during the planning process and it was felt there needed to be greater democracy in the planning process.

Clarification was sought over the point at which the Chair’s discretion on the number of speakers permitted would be used, as the guidance was unclear.  It was also considered that this discretion bestowed too much power and responsibility  ...  view the full minutes text for item DSC/15

The annexed circulated report of the Director of Governance and HR/Monitoring Officer was received to inform the committee of the current consultation taking place in relation to the review of the Members’ Allowances Scheme.

The Interim Head of Democratic Services informed members of the review of the scheme for Members allowances, currently taking place. Members had been notified of the review and were able to submit comments or make individual representation to the Independent Remuneration Panel (IRP) which was meeting on Friday 4 March 2022.

The IRP’s remit is to review the level and application of allowances, taking into account quantitative data relating to the operation of the governance structure, qualitative information from any representations received, along with information contained within the Council’s Corporate Plan, adopted on 1 December 2021.

The committee welcomed the review and asked if Members could be reminded to make their representations either in writing or in person to the Panel.  Subjects that were raised included allowances for Vice-Chairs, allowances for the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, the timescale for the review of daytime meetings and concern that some working Members had to use holiday entitlement to attend, and how this could be recompensed.  The information provided in the quantitative data was also queried.

The Interim Head of Democratic Services clarified that the Deputy Leader of the largest opposition party was in receipt of an allowance. With regard to the quantitative data he would revisit this and update where relevant for the IRP. He would remind Members about responding to democratic services with comments, or to make a request to speak to the IRP.  He would also provide a link to the government website which gave advice on ‘Time off work for public duties’. 

Resolved that the Members’ Allowances Consultation process, currently being undertaken, be noted.

The annexed circulated report of the Director of Governance & HR/Monitoring Officer was received to note the Municipal timetable for 2022/2023 and to make any comments prior to this being submitted to Council for approval.

The Interim Democratic Services Manager explained how the timetable had been drawn up,  taking into account the reporting process and the need to keep meetings days as consistent as possible. Council meetings were shown as being in the daytime, but evenings had been kept free should this be reviewed. 

The committee welcomed the timetable and the logical way it had been produced.  A question was raised over when the review would take place of daytime Council meetings and the impact that it had on public participation and Member attendance. 

The Director clarified that Council had agreed the time change of the meetings and would therefore have to review the decision after an appropriate period when relevant data had been collected.  She explained that this would probably be after the Council meeting in July. It was hoped that live streaming of Council meetings would be in place later in the year.   

A Member mentioned that some meetings would potentially clash with parish council meetings.

The Interim Democratic Services Manager commented that the timetable would be available in good time for a parish council to check and possibly avoid a timetable clash, by rearranging its meeting.  It had been ascertained that parish council meetings were held on varying days across North Northamptonshire and it was inevitable that on some occasions this would happen.  

Resolved that the draft Municipal Timetable for 2022/2023 be noted