Apologies had been received from Cllrs Barrell, McCheyne, Morrissey, Parker and Poppy.

No declarations of interest were declared at this stage. 

The Mayor had undertaken a large number of engagements since the last Ordinary Council meeting and shared some of the highlights with Members.

The minutes of the Ordinary Council held on 18 October 2017 were approved as a true record. 

The minutes of the Extraordinary Council held on 15 November 2017 were approved as a true record. 

The minutes of the Extraordinary Council held on 13 December 2017 were approved as a true record. 

In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, a member of the public resident within the Borough may ask a maximum of two questions relating to the business of the Council providing notice had been received by 10.00am two clear working days before the relevant meeting.

Seven Public Questions had been received and these were put to and responded to by the Leader of the Council, Cllr Mrs McKinlay, as follows:

Mrs Gearon-Simm put two questions:

1.            ‘Newham Council in east London, who, in 2013, introduced a compulsory borough-wide licensing scheme for landlords, has shared their names and addresses with HM Revenue and customs.

Newham Council has estimated that unpaid tax by landlords is costing the public purse nearly £200m in London and far more nationally.

What happened to the ‘Essex Landlords Accreditation Scheme’ introduced into Brentwood a few years ago?’.

Response:  The ‘Essex Landlord Accreditation Scheme’ was a County-wide initiative to produce a voluntary registration scheme to support landlords and to encourage ‘good practice’. ELAS was administered by CFOA Blue Watch (Essex County Fire and Rescue). Unfortunately, due to lack of interest from landlords the scheme became financially unsustainable and CFOA Blue Watch gave formal notice of withdrawal in July 2015, citing exhaustion of their financial reserves.

As a result of the above, but principally due to the extremely poor response from landlords across the county, ELAS was terminated in 2015.

2.            The number of rough sleepers in England has risen for the sixth successive year. By using the 1824 Vagrancy Act Brentwood Borough Council would be able to clear Brentwood’s streets of the homeless destitute and desperate people who are loitering in them.

Does Brentwood Borough Council have other plans to deal with this issue?’

Homelessness is a real issue across the Country and is causing a huge challenge for councils and will not be solved by one single agency.  Councils are doing all they can to help homeless people in their communities and prevent homelessness happening in the first place.  Brentwood Borough Council remains committed to supporting the homeless in our borough.  However, we do not currently have any ‘street homeless’ in Brentwood.  Housing Officers respond to reports of alleged homeless persons usually within 24-48 hours of a report by visiting the person and offering advice.  The majority are either not homeless and have accommodation elsewhere or refuse any assistance for reasons unknown. 

It would appear from the structure of the question posed that the main focus is around the issue of begging.  There are various options available to assist local agencies to tackle this issue. 

It is an offence to beg in the street.  As you mentioned, the Vagrancy Act 1824 (section 3) enables the arrest of anybody who is begging, by police.  It is a recordable offence and carries a level 3 fine (currently £1,000).  It is not considered to be the most effective use of powers and is only used in more serious issues such as aggressive begging.   

The council and police are working together to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 237.

No memorials or petitions had been received. 

Report to follow.

In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, a brief written report by each committee Chair covering their area of responsibility was included in the agenda.

Any Member was entitled to ask a Chair a written or oral question on

(a) Any matter included in a Chair’s written report

(b) Any matter in relation to which the Council has powers or duties or which affected the Council’s area and which fell within the area of responsibility of the Chair’s committee.

No written questions had been received before the prescribed deadline and the Chairs responded to oral questions put to them by Members.

Report to follow.

Members were requested to agree the Pay Policy 2018/19 as attached at Appendix A of the report in accordance with Section 38(1) of the Localism Act 2011.

Cllr Mrs McKinlay MOVED and Cllr Kerslake SECONDED the recommendation in the report and following a discussion a vote was taken on a show of hands and it was

RESOLVED

That the 2018/19 Pay Policy Statement as set out in Appendix A is agreed.

Reasons for Recommendation

To comply with the statutory requirement to annually approve the Council’s Pay Policy.

Report to follow.

The Council was required to produce a new Local Plan for the Borough.  In November 2017 the Council approved preparation of work to commence further Regulation 18 Local Plan consultation.  The proposed document which was set out in Appendix A was required to be subject to a six-week period of public consultation.

A revised Local Plan timetable had been prepared considering this further Regulation 18 consultation and the need to move ahead swiftly with future stages of the plan-making process.

Progress on joint working across South Essex boundaries had been made with the agreement to establish the Association of South Essex Local Authorities (ASELA) and the signing of a memorandum of understanding.

Cllr Mrs McKinlay MOVED and Cllr Kerslake SECONDED the recommendations in the report with recommendation 2.2 expanded to ‘Approve that a letter be sent to all households in the borough and an email sent to all borough businesses in the Council’s business directory, to notify local residents and businesses about the consultation’. 

Following a full debate a recorded vote was requested in accordance with Rule 9.5 of the Council’s Procedure Rules. Cllr Hossack left the meeting before the recorded vote was taken.

Members voted as follows:

FOR:  Cllrs Bridge, Cloke, Mrs Coe, Faragher, Hirst, Mrs Hones, Kerslake, Mrs McKinlay, Mrs Middlehurst, Mrs Murphy, Mrs Pound, Reed, Ms Rowlands, Ms Sanders, Mrs Slade, Trump, Tumbridge and Wiles (18)

AGAINST:  Cllrs Aspinell, Chilvers, Clarke, Mrs Davies, Mrs Fulcher, Kendall, Mynott and Newberry (8)

ABSTAIN:  Cllr Barrett, Mrs Hubbard, Keeble and Russell (4)

The MOTION was CARRIED and it was

RESOLVEDto:

1.    Approve the Draft Local Plan document set out in Appendix A, to commence further Regulation 18 consultation for a six-week period, subject to any non-material change approved by the Leader of the Council in consultation with the LDP Member Working Group.

2.    Approve that a letter be sent to all households in the borough and an email sent to all borough businesses in the Council’s business directory, to notify local residents and businesses about the consultation.

3.    Approve the revised Local Plan timetable as set out in Appendix B, to be added to the Local Development Scheme (LDS) and published on the Council’s website.

Reasons for Recommendation

It is necessary to undertake further public consultation as part of the plan-making process to thoroughly consider the views of stakeholders and members of the public.  Consultation and consideration of comments will enable the Council to move forward and submit the Plan for examination in public by an independent planning inspector, in line with the revised Local Development Scheme timetable.

No Notices of Motion had been received before the deadline for submission in accordance with the Council’s Constitution.

No notices of motion had been received.

An item of business may only be considered where the Mayor is of the opinion that, by reason of special circumstances which shall be specified in the Minutes, the item should be considered as a matter of urgency.

There were no items of urgent business.

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The meeting ended at 8.45 pm