Contact your Parish Council

Agenda

Council - Wednesday 27th September, 2023 7.30 pm

Venue: Town Hall, High Street, Maidstone

Contact: Debbie Snook 01622 602030

Items
No.	Item
1.	Apologies for Absence
2.	Dispensations (if any)
3.	Disclosures by Members and Officers
4.	Disclosures of Lobbying
5.	To consider whether any items should be taken in private because of the possible disclosure of exempt information
6.	Minutes of the extraordinary meeting of the Borough Council held on 19 July 2023 PDF 71 KB
7.	Minutes of the meeting of the Borough Council held on 19 July 2023 PDF 158 KB
8.	Mayor's Announcements
9.	Petitions
10.	Question and Answer Session for Local Residents
11.	Questions from Members of the Council to the (a) Leader of the Council (b) Cabinet Members (c) Chairmen of Decision-Making Committees
12.	Current Issues - Report of the Leader of the Council, Response of the Group Leaders and Questions from Council Members
13.	Report of the Democracy and General Purposes Committee held on 13 September 2023 - Annual Meeting Arrangements PDF 84 KB View item 13. as HTML 18 KB
14.	Report of the Democracy and General Purposes Committee held on 13 September 2023 - Community Governance Review (Parishes) - Review Outcome PDF 91 KB View item 14. as HTML 24 KB View the background to item 14. Additional documents: Appendix_1_230927_CGR_Review_Outcome , item 14. PDF 308 KB View as HTML (14./2) 124 KB Appendix 1 Appendix A Community Governance Review (Parishes) - Terms of Reference, 13/09/2023 Democracy and General Purposes Committee , item 14. PDF 133 KB Appendix B Map1a, 13/09/2023 Democracy and General Purposes Committee , item 14. PDF 10 MB Appendix B Map2a, 13/09/2023 Democracy and General Purposes Committee , item 14. PDF 19 MB Appendix B Map2b, 13/09/2023 Democracy and General Purposes Committee , item 14. PDF 2 MB There are a further 16 documents.View the full list of documents for item 14.
15.	Notice of Motion - Freedom of the Borough - Alessia Russo Notice of the following motion has been given by Councillor Forecast, seconded by Councillor Hastie: Alessia Russo was born and raised in Maidstone, having started her football career at Bearsted FC, and has since gone on to represent some of the biggest football clubs in the world, inspiring millions of young girls on the way. Bringing home and winning the nation’s first ever football European Championship and being part of the team to qualify for the country’s first World Cup final since 1966 is an astonishing achievement. Alessia has provided Maidstone and its people with enduring pride, and it is right we recognise her achievement and demonstrate our commitment to women’s sport by granting the lioness the Freedom of the Borough. I therefore move the following motion: 1. That Maidstone Borough Council agrees in principle pursuant to Section 249 of the Local Government Act 1972 to admit Alessia Russo, as a person of distinction, to be an Honorary Freeman of the Borough of Maidstone. 2. That an extraordinary meeting of the Council be convened to resolve the same accordingly.
16.	Notice of Motion - Replacement Refuse Bins Notice of the following motion has been given by Councillor Jeffery, seconded by Councillor Harper: The Council’s website has a published policy stating that replacement bins will be paid for by residents no matter who is responsible for the damage or loss: "Residents are responsible for looking after these bins and replacing them if they become damaged, lost or are stolen.” and "You are required to pay for replacement bins." The only time this proposal went to any Committee was Communities, Housing and Environment Policy Advisory Committee on 17th January and one short paragraph of a proposal was included in the budget paper. Within the paragraph these sentences are shown: "This proposal is to recover the costs for the provision of these bins by charging the relevant party for their replacement. A flowchart will be published setting out liability in each scenario where a replacement is required.” The statement at Communities, Housing and Environment Policy Advisory Committee is quite different to the published policy and no flow chart was presented to a Committee for discussion or agreement. The decision to implement this policy has not been discussed or published by the Executive / Cabinet and has not had the opportunity to be called in by Overview and Scrutiny. There are increasing numbers of complaints including where CCTV evidence of damage by contractors has been refused by officers as grounds for the Council replacing bins. Officers have also clearly stated that bins degrade over time and need replacing through no fault of either resident or contractor. This suggests that all residents will be required to purchase new bins at some point, but this has not been communicated to residents. Officers have stated that the policy was agreed by Council yet there is no evidence in Council papers that this is the case. I therefore move the following motion: This Council requires: That the policy of charging for replacement bins be suspended immediately. That the ownership of and responsibilities for the bins be carefully considered by Councillors. That the consideration of a policy of charging for replacement bins be recommenced using the appropriate constitutional process via Housing, Health and Environment Policy Advisory Committee, Cabinet and potentially Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
17.	Report of the Independent Remuneration Panel - Members' Allowance Scheme PDF 144 KB View item 17. as HTML 53 KB View the background to item 17. Additional documents: Maidstone Borough Council IRP Report June 2023 (2) (002) , item 17. PDF 452 KB View as HTML (17./2) 148 KB Appendix A Appendix 2 A IRP Report Basic Allowance , item 17. PDF 451 KB Appendix A Appendix 2 B IRP Report SRA , item 17. PDF 459 KB Appendix A Appendix 2 C Other Allowances , item 17. PDF 496 KB Appendix A Appendix 2 D Additional Information , item 17. PDF 438 KB
	Information for the Public In order to ask a question at this meeting, please call 01622 602899 or email committee@maidstone.gov.uk by 5 p.m. one clear working day before the meeting (i.e. by 5 p.m. on Monday 25 September 2023). You will need to provide the full text in writing. If your question is accepted, you will be provided with instructions as to how you can access the meeting. In order to make a statement in relation to an item on the agenda, please call 01622 602899 or email committee@maidstone.gov.uk by 4 p.m. one clear working day before the meeting (i.e. by 4 p.m. on Monday 25 September 2023). You will need to tell us which agenda item you wish to speak on. If you require this information in an alternative format please contact us, call 01622 602899 or email committee@maidstone.gov.uk. To find out more about the work of the Council, please visit the Council’s Website.