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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Remote Meeting via Microsoft Teams

Contact: Claire Mayhew (01277 312741) 

Items
No. Item

Live broadcast

715.

To appoint a Member to preside at the meeting if the Mayor nor the Deputy Mayor are present and able to preside

Minutes:

A minute silence was observed by the Officers and Members for Richard Day an employee of Brentwood Borough Council for over 40 years, who passed away recently.

 

In accordance with Procedure Rule 4, 16.2, the Deputy Mayor - Cllr Miss Sanders - MOVED, Cllr Hossack SECONDED and it was RESOLVED that Cllr Reed should act as Vice-chair for the duration of the meeting.

716.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Cllrs Tumbridge, Morrissey and Hirst.

 

717.

Variation in the Order of the Agenda

Minutes:

The Deputy Mayor informed members that Item 12 has been withdrawn and a report will be bought to a future meeting of the Council, therefore item 11 will not apply.

 

Following the last Ordinary Council meeting on the 20th January 2021, there has not been a full range of committee meetings for all of the executive committees.

 

It is determined that any questions for Chairs can be considered as part of Item No.8 – Corporate Strategy 2020-2025 Annual Review.  There have been no written questions submitted by Members.

 

Motion 5 from Cllr Hossack has been withdrawn, this matter will be addressed under Item No 8, Chair’s Questions

 

718.

Declarations of Interest

Minutes:

No declarations of interest were made at this stage.

 

719.

Mayors Announcements

Minutes:

Since the last Mayors Announcements, in January the Deputy Mayor raised the flag here at the Town Hall for Holocaust Memorial Day.  This was an important day to take time to remember those who lost their lives during the Second World War. 

 

The Deputy Mayor had the opportunity to volunteer at the Vaccination Hub at the Brentwood Centre which has had such well deserved praise in how successful the vaccine roll out has been in Brentwood.  21,400 for vaccination have been administered since the 28th Feb. She thanked all the volunteers within the Borough who are making a big difference to fight the battle with Coronavirus.  This included all the residents and businesses who are taking the advice to stay safe and looks forward to better times ahead. 

 

Just this week, she raised the flag to celebrate Commonwealth Day where the theme this year is: 'Delivering A Common Future: Connecting, Innovating, Transforming'.  On Commonwealth Day we come together to acknowledge publicly and collectively the continuing aspiration of the Commonwealth to build on common traditions and uphold our shared values of democracy, inclusive development and respect for diversity.

 

Lastly, the Deputy Mayor reminded everyone that the Civic Awards nominations are open until the end of April so please do nominate those people or organisations within the Borough who you believe have had a great impact in Brentwood. 

720.

Minutes of the previous Ordinary Council meeting held on 20 Jan 2021 & Extra Ordinary Council meeting held on 16th February 2021 pdf icon PDF 518 KB

Minutes of the Extra Ordinary Council meeting held on the 16th February 2021 – To follow

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The minutes of the Ordinary Council meeting held on 20th January 2021 and the Extra Ordinary Council on 16th February 2021 were APPROVED as true record.

 

721.

Public Questions pdf icon PDF 109 KB

Minutes:

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 has been received by 10.00am two working days before the relevant meeting.

 

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

 

Mr Gary MacDonnell submitted two questions as follows:

 

1.         Following the recent case of Ella Kissi Debrah which found, for the first time, that air pollution was a cause of death, what plans does the Council have to deal with air pollution in the Borough? Are there any plans to start providing real time information on air quality in Brentwood?

 

Cllr Hossack responded as follows:

 

Brentwood Council are already making strides to tackle environmental pollution and decarbonise the borough.  The Council are working to ensure the environment that people work, reside in and travel through in Brentwood is as environmentally friendly as possible.

 

In order to achieve this the Council have begun to implement projects that decarbonise or reduce the carbon in our environment, these include:-

 

·           the provision of a pilot scheme to introduce Electric Vehicle Charging          points completed earlier this year.

 

·           further the Council are presently going out to procurement for more Electric Vehicle Charging Points which will see a roll out programme in the next two years (2021/22) creating over 20 more Electric Vehicle Charging Points in Council owned car parks

 

 

 

·           the Council are also working with Essex County Council to introduce on-street EV Charges in the future 

 

·           the Council are also working with Essex Forestry Commission and Thames Chase with our Arboriculturist to deliver tree planting on five different schemes.  This will deliver over 20,000 high carbon capture tree species

 

·           the Council are reviewing its vehicle fleet and developing a long term plan to manage these over to a decarbonised provision 

 

o            The Council have already committed to decarbonising its fleet and are in the process of leasing two electric vehicles for use rather than the traditional petrol vehicles usually purchased.

o            These two new EV’s will add to the two EV’s the Council are presently utilising.

 

·           the Council have also amended its procurement processes so that those projects or services that are more environmentally friendly, reduce the use of carbon output and or identify environmental improvements are considered more favourably

 

·           the next phase of work will be the investment in an officer who will bring together an Environmental Plan that will identify decarbonisation and sustainability schemes and projects.  We will set targets and enable the Council to monitor its success not just visually but in terms of CO2 reduction

 

With regards air quality I can confirm that at present with our partners in Essex we provide data to the Essex Air website which has an active air quality forecast for three days.

 

Currently in Brentwood we monitor over 30 sites continuously for air quality by diffusion tubes which are  ...  view the full minutes text for item 721.

722.

Memorials or Petitions

Minutes:

No notices of Memorials or Petitions have been received.

 

723.

Corporate Strategy 2020-2025 Annual Review pdf icon PDF 135 KB

To follow.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The report updated members on progress of the Corporate Strategy 2020–2025 and presents an annual review document for approval. The report summarises 2020/21 achievements and seeks the approval of the Corporate Strategy 2021/22 key objectives.

 

No written questions had been received from Members and the questions that were put to the Chairs at the meeting were responded to accordingly.

 

Cllr Hossack responded to a question put by Cllr Pearson and asked for the clerk to minute his response.  He informed Members that Basildon have gone to press saying they would like to progress a project to form a unitary with Thurrock. He confirmed for absolute clarity, that Brentwood will not be entering in a unitary authority with Basildon and Thurrock now or at any point in the future.

 

Brentwood is bordered by 5 local authorities one of which is Havering, a London Borough. Chelmsford, Epping, Basildon and Thurrock are all neighbouring Essex based authorities and we will continue to have good working relationships with them.

 

Cllr Hossack MOVED and Cllr Parker SECONDED that the recommendation within the report.

 

A vote was taken, it was RESOLVED.

 

1.    To note the Corporate Strategy 2020/21 Annual Review and agree the Corporate Strategy 2021/22 objectives as set out in Appendix A

attached.

 

Reason for Recommendation

 

The Council is required to have and publish a Corporate Strategy.

The Council requires sound strategic direction to deliver its objectives.

 

724.

Committee Chairs Reports and Members Questions pdf icon PDF 241 KB

To follow

Minutes:

This item was not required and was covered during the previous item, Corporate Strategy 2020-2025 Annual Review.

725.

Notice of Motion pdf icon PDF 187 KB

Minutes:

Five Notices of Motion had been received, as detailed in the report.  Four motions were deferred from Ordinary Council on 20th January 2021.  Motion 5 was withdrawn by Cllr Hossack as this had been dealt with by way of a question.

 

Motion 1:   Deferred from 20th January Ordinary Council meeting.

 

Proposer Cllr Laplain                                                   Seconder Cllr S Cloke

This council resolves to immediately suspend, pending removal at the next update, item 8.3.11(c) of the constitution allowing members to call for agenda items, motions and amendments to be immediately put to a vote, requiring a vote upon that motion, and then completion of the subsequent substantive vote. This practice inhibits proper democratic debate whilst being counter productive and actually slowing proceedings.

 

Following a debate this motion was withdrawn by the mover and will be brought to a future Constitution Working Group for discussion via the Lib Dem CWG representative.

 

 

 

 

 

Motion 2:   Deferred from 20th January Ordinary Council meeting.

 

Proposer Cllr Naylor                                                   Seconder Cllr S Cloke

 

Brentwood Borough Council recognises that the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, although better than No-Deal, puts Brentwood's People and its Businesses at a disadvantage compared to the arrangements we had under the Transition Agreement, and with European Union membership immediately prior.

Following a debate a vote was taken and the MOTION was LOST

 

Motion 3:   Deferred from 20th January Ordinary Council meeting.

 

Proposer Cllr Naylor                                                   Seconder Cllr S Cloke

 

Brentwood Borough Council received from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (Central Government) two payments of approximately £53,000 of EU Exit funding, which is included in an earmarked reserve of the Council’s accounts that totals £153,000. This council resolves to specifically apply the grant funding to address local issues arising from the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement by March 2021, and to bring a report to PRED for agreement of where these funds will be spent.

 

Following a debate, a vote was taken and the MOTION was LOST

In accordance with the Constitution Paragraph 8.3.11 the Deputy Mayor proposed to extent to meeting for a further 15mins.

 

Motion 4:   Deferred from 20th January Ordinary Council meeting.

 

Proposer Cllr Aspinell                                                 Seconder Cllr Mynott

 

The LGA's recent briefing on the Government's Provisional Finance Settlement states 'It is vital that the Government guarantees the financial challenge facing councils as a result of COVID-19 will be met in full, including funding for cost pressures and full compensation for lost income and local tax losses.'

This council resolves to send an official letter to Government requesting that Brentwood Borough Council receives full reimbursement for all costs over and above normal expenditure incurred due to the Covid crisis.

Following a debate a vote was taken and the MOTION was LOST.

726.

Income Proposal - Exempt

To follow.

Minutes:

This item was not required at this time. 

727.

Urgent Business

An item of business may only be considered where the Chair 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.

 

Minutes:

There were no items of urgent business.

 

Cllr Sanders wished all the Members well in the upcoming Borough Elections and thanked the Members that are not re-standing for all the hard work they had undertaken for the Borough during their time in office.

 

 

The meeting ended at 22:40hrs