The Council stood in silence for one minute in memory of Baroness Thatcher who died on 8 April 2013.

Prayers were said by the Reverend Canon Chris Morgan-Jones.

It was noted that apologies for absence had been received from Councillors Ash, English, Harwood, D Mortimer, Sams and Mrs Watson.

There were no applications for dispensations.

There were no disclosures by Members or Officers.

There were no disclosures of lobbying.

RESOLVED:  That the items on the agenda be taken in public as proposed.

RESOLVED:  That the Minutes of the meeting of the Borough Council held on 27 February 2013 be approved as a correct record and signed.

There were no announcements.

There were no petitions.

Question to the Leader of the Council

Mr Fergus Wilson asked the following question of the Leader of the Council:-

“Is Maidstone Borough Council intending to erect a statue to Baroness Thatcher in the town centre?

If not I would propose to Maidstone Borough Council that it does so”.

The Leader of the Council responded to the question.

Councillor Mrs Wilson, the Leader of the Opposition, and Councillor Mrs Gooch, the Leader of the Independent Group, then responded to the question.

Mr Wilson asked the following supplementary question of the Leader of the Council:-

“To ascertain whether members of the public in the Borough of Maidstone would be in favour of the erection of a statue to Baroness Thatcher in the town centre, would it be possible to run a referendum in tandem with the local elections in May next year?”

The Leader of the Council responded to the question.

Councillor Mrs Wilson, the Leader of the Opposition, and Councillor Mrs Gooch, the Leader of the Independent Group, then responded to the question.

To listen to the responses to these questions, please follow this link:-

http://webcasts.umcdn.com/mbc036/interface

There were no questions from Members of the Council.

The Leader of the Council submitted his report on current issues.

After the Leader of the Council had submitted his report, Councillor Mrs Wilson, the Leader of the Opposition, and Councillor Mrs Gooch, the Leader of the Independent Group, responded to the issues raised.

A number of Members asked questions of the Leader of the Council on the issues raised in his speech.

It was moved by Councillor Garland, seconded by Councillor Paine, that the recommendation of the Cabinet relating to the revocation of the moratorium on the release of greenfield housing sites allocated in the Maidstone Borough-Wide Local Plan 2000 be approved.

RESOLVED:  That the moratorium on the release of greenfield housing sites allocated in the Maidstone Borough-Wide Local Plan 2000 be revoked because the reasons for the moratorium no longer apply.

It was moved by Councillor Mrs Blackmore, seconded by Councillor Mrs Gooch, that the recommendations of the Scrutiny Co-ordinating Committee relating to the implementation of the Cabinet with Enhanced Scrutiny model of governance be approved subject to the following amendments:-

Recommendation a)

Add the words “As of the Annual Council Meeting 2013”, before the word “Option” to read:-

“As of the Annual Council Meeting 2013, Option B be agreed with four Overview and Scrutiny Committees with nine Members each, meeting on a calendar monthly cycle for the 2013/14 Municipal Year.  Scrutiny Co-ordinating Committee to monitor and review this.”

Recommendation b)

Delete the word “Cabinet” and insert the words “The Leader” to read:-

“The Leader should revisit the Cabinet portfolios to avoid overlap, for example Cobtree and Maidstone Leisure Centre between the Economic and Commercial Development and Community and Leisure Services portfolios.”

Recommendation w)

Add the words “The Chief Executive, as part of the review of structure, be recommended to agree that” before the word “Scrutiny” to read:-

“The Chief Executive, as part of the review of structure, be recommended to agree that Scrutiny remain with Policy because there is a natural synergy between the two services and closer matching of skills than in Democratic Services.”

Recommendation x)

Add the words “if appropriate” after the word “and” to read:-

“Any amendments to the Constitution necessitated by the approval of recommendations a-w are drafted by the appropriate Officers and, if appropriate, reported back to the next meeting of Council for approval.”

With the agreement of the mover and the seconder and the remainder of the Council, recommendation s) relating to pre-meetings was deleted from the motion and the remaining recommendations were reordered alphabetically.

RESOLVED:  That:-

a)  As of the Annual Council Meeting 2013, Option B be agreed with four Overview and Scrutiny Committees with nine Members each, meeting on a calendar monthly cycle for the 2013/14 Municipal Year.  Scrutiny Co-ordinating Committee to monitor and review this.

b)  The Leader should revisit the Cabinet portfolios to avoid overlap, for example Cobtree and Maidstone Leisure Centre between the Economic and Commercial Development and Community and Leisure Services portfolios.

c)  The Spatial Planning Strategy Advisory Group and the Housing Consultative Board be subsumed into Scrutiny to avoid duplication and strengthen the scrutiny process.

d)  A phased approach be taken to the induction for new Members.

e)  Information supplied to new Members should be accessible including contact details for key staff and information on the services provided by the Council and who to contact regarding those services and alignment to Cabinet Portfolios.

f)  A glossary of acronyms and terminology and a Frequently Asked Questions list be made available to all Members using the expertise of current Members to identify common areas.

g)  The development needs for Scrutiny and an appropriate programme be developed by the Overview and Scrutiny Chairmen and the Scrutiny Team.  This could include an annual event with other Councils and use of Parliamentary Outreach support.

h)  All new Members should attend a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 133.

6.30 p.m. to 7.45 p.m.