Agenda and minutes

The minutes of the meeting held on 28 June 2023 were confirmed and signed as a correct record.

No declarations of interest were received.

Please see the briefing note, which does not accompany this agenda but will be circulated prior to the meeting.

4.1      Tour of Britain

The Chair reflected on his experience watching the Tour of Britain stage seven route come to Gloucestershire on 9 September 2023. He shared what a fantastic event it was and welcomed the very large turnout. He urged members to watch the highlights footage as he felt it showed the very best of the county.

4.2      Steve Mawson

As members were aware, Steve Mawson was due to leave the Council to take up the role of Chief Executive at Kirklees Council. This was his last council meeting, and the Chair took this opportunity to thank him on behalf of all members for the commitment and dedication he had shown since being appointed as our Deputy Chief Executive back in 2019.

Steve’s vast knowledge and experience had greatly benefitted GCC during his time with us. As well as keeping the Council’s finances in good order, he played a significant role in chairing the partnership board that oversaw our recovery from COVID, introducing Agile working across GCC and in overseeing the redevelopment of this Council Chamber.

The Chair wished Steve well for the future on behalf of all members.

4.3      Keith Rippington

Members were invited to pay tribute to former County Councillor Keith Rippington who sadly passed away on the 3 September 2023. Keith served on the Council from 2017-2021 and sat on Audit and Governance Committee, Environment Committee and Planning Committee. The Chair shared that he knew Keith and he was a lovely man. The Chair offered his condolences to Keith’s family.

The following Councillors paid their respects:

Cllr Stephen Davies: Keith was elected to Council at the same time as me and like me represented a Stroud division. We worked closely together, and he was a friend. He was also a very competent councillor and was actually recently still talked about during the district by-election in Painswick with great affection. He was also a man of very strong convictions, particularly on Brexit which did alter the course of his political career and I feel isolated him from some of his colleagues, although I know he was a strong supporter of Siobhan Ballie MP and that they remained in contact, it was actually Siobhan who told me the sad news. But sadly, not long after his election, he had a number of health issues which set him back and he was not able to continue as actively as he would have hoped. I think in some ways if that hadn’t happened, he would have had a career in local politics that would have been very different. Personally, I will always remember bumping into him in the Falcon Inn one Sunday surrounded by his family in happier times, I will remember him in that way.

Cllr Steve Robinson: Like Stephen, both Keith and I were elected at the same time, and I can remember Keith very fondly, he was a lovely guy and he always had time to chat. We were both on Planning and in the minibus  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Up to 30 minutes is allowed for this item.

To answer any written public questions about matters which are within the powers

and duties of the County Council.

The closing date for receipt of questions was 10am on Monday, 4 September 2023.

However, questions that relate to reports on the agenda may be submitted up to

10am on Wednesday, 6 September 2023.

Please send questions to the Chief Executive marked for the attention of Stephen

Bace (email stephen.bace@gloucestershire.gov.uk)

Questions received and proposed responses do not accompany this agenda but will

be circulated prior to the meeting.

Thirty-one public questions had been submitted prior to the meeting. The following supplementary questions were asked:

Question 5 – Mary Leonard stressed concerns that members of rural communities had around road safety and asked that the Cabinet Member reconsider highways policies, viewing rural areas differently to urban areas.

Cllr Dave Norman responded that GCC dealt with road safety for the whole of the county, not just urban or high collision areas. He offered to discuss these concerns in further detail with the member of public.

Question 6 – Mary Leonard asked whether the Council would support a request for the Traffic Commissioner to re-evaluate the Applegates school bus service.

Cllr Philip Robinson said that he would be happy to write to the Traffic Commissioner now that a review had been complete on the route. He did stress that his understanding was that it was inconsiderate parking that was the primary cause of problems and that solutions to that were being worked on.

Question 14 – Sharon Phelps raised concern around the wellbeing of pupils and staff at the Heart of the Forest School and asked for a meeting with the Cabinet Member.

Cllr Philip Robinson explained that when a community special school received a delegated budget, all employment powers were conferred on the governing body. That was the legislative landscape of the way different schools were governed. He agreed to meet with Ms Phelps and the Director of Education but stressed that the Council’s response would not change from that given to this question.

Question 16 – Sharon Phelps asked what responsibility the County Council had to staff at local authority schools in cases where there was evidence of bullying and intimidation of staff and the governors were not fulfilling their responsibilities of all staff.

Cllr Philip Robinson explained that the County Council’s duty of care had to operate within the defined areas of the Council’s legislative responsibilities. He stressed that those responsibilities had been fulfilled.

Question 18 – Katya Laug asked the Cabinet Member where he would advise staff members turn when they and trade unions had voiced concerns about the governing body’s ability to deal with complaints.

Cllr Philip Robinson explained that those concerns had to be addressed to the governing body. He also highlighted that in May 2023, the Heart of the Forest Special School had an Ofsted inspection in which inspectors found the governing body were fulfilling their responsibilities to staff and students.

Question 19 – Michael Bloxham raised concerns around Cheltenham Zone 15 parking surveys and whether or not they were fit for purpose. He questioned claims that one of the surveys had been carried out post lockdown.

Cllr Dom Morris explained that he was content with the methodology used to inform the decisions behind the scheme. The team at GCC had done an extensive amount of work on initial analysis, producing a plan and putting in place mitigations.

Question 20 – Stella Hobley asked what concerns had initiated the need for the Zone 15  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.1      Cllr Stephen Davies, Cabinet Member for Children’s Safeguarding and Early Years, gave a summary of the report. He highlighted the recent Joint Targeted Area Inspection and the Holiday Activity Fund) as recent successes in Children’s Services.

6.2      In response to a question about the completion of corporate parenting training by members, the Cabinet Member offered to come back with specifics.

7.1      A petition from Cllr Chloe Turner was presented to Cllr Dave Norman on a ’20 is plenty’ scheme in Minchinhampton.

7.2      A petition from Cllr Linda Cohen on the need for urgent action to protect school children in Kingswood was presented to Cllr Dave Norman.

7.3      A petition from Cllr Colin Hay on Zone 15 parking scheme was presented to Cllr Dom Morris.

The Council’s Constitution provides for a maximum of two hours for debate on

motions. The time limit for member speeches is three minutes and the time limit for proposing a motion is five minutes.

In accordance with Procedural Rule 10.2 in Part 4 of the Council Constitution, the Chief Executive has prepared a short accompanying note for each motion in respect of any implications for climate change, resources, human rights and any other pertinent factors they may wish to include in accordance with the Council’s Policy Framework.

Motion 925: Flooding

Proposed: Cllr David Drew

Seconded: Cllr Graham Morgan

Council notes its role as the Lead Local Flood Authority and its responsibilities and powers to manage flooding, identify communities at highest risk and install flood alleviation measures to protect those properties in partnership with the district councils.

Gloucestershire has been impacted by increasingly frequent flooding in recent years including the torrential downpours experienced on the night of 12 June 2023. We note that the County Highways Adverse Weather Plan states that its action plans have been tested after the events in 2007, 2012, 2014, 2019 and 2020.

These events are set to increase as a consequence of climate change. Council resolves to convene an urgent summit of all those agencies responsible for flood prevention and resilience to discuss how adequate plans can be put in place and tested to reduce the ongoing threat of flooding and the responses to it, including the Council’s own Adverse WeatherPlan and other action plans.

Motion 926:Hunting with dogs on Council land

Proposed: Cllr Wendy Thomas

Seconded: Cllr Steve Robinson

Council is alarmed at the evidence that hundreds of foxes up and down the country, and here in Gloucestershire, are being illegally killed as a result of hunting with dogs. 

We welcome the Council decision of 27 October 1993 to prohibit access to any Council land or property over which it has legal control by persons and/or organisations engaged in using hounds for the purpose of hunting animals.

We further welcome that, subsequently, fox hunting, deer hunting and hare hunting with dogs has been made illegal under the terms of the Hunting Act 2004, except where an exemption applies.

We are, however, alarmed that Gloucestershire has recently been identified as the top county in England and Wales for suspected illegal hunting with reports that illegal hunting with dogs by organised hunts is common, while there are few prosecutions.

We note that most registered hunts claim to be ‘trail’ hunting, which has proven to be a loophole in the Hunting Act 2002, growing after the ban, which has allowed hunts to claim that any chase of a wild animal is an accident rather than intentional.

We note that there have been distressing local incidents reported in the media which have caused widespread public concern. We are ashamed that Gloucestershire has been identified nationally as having the largest number of suspected illegal hunts and incidents of ‘hunt havoc’ in the recent hunting season.

Council therefore  ...  view the full agenda text for item 8.

Motion 925: Flooding

8.1       Cllr David Drew proposed, and Cllr Graham Morgan seconded the following motion:

Council notes its role as the Lead Local Flood Authority and its responsibilities andpowers to manage flooding, identify communities at highest risk and install flood alleviation measures to protect those properties in partnership with the district councils.

Gloucestershire has been impacted by increasingly frequent flooding in recent years including the torrential downpours experienced on the night of 12 June 2023. We note that the County Highways Adverse Weather Plan states that its action plans have been tested after the events in 2007, 2012, 2014, 2019 and 2020.

These events are set to increase as a consequence of climate change. Councilresolves to convene an urgent summit of all those agencies responsible for flood prevention and resilience to discuss how adequate plans can be put in place and tested to reduce the ongoing threat of flooding and the responses to it, including the Council’s own Adverse Weather Plan and other action plans.

8.2       Cllr Drew referenced this motion as a ‘cry for help’ which he was sure would manifest itself across the chamber today. He stressed that many areas of the county were now flooding quite regularly, and with climate change likely to ensure these extreme weather events increased in both frequency and intensity, it was very important that members and communities were aware of where responsibility lay during a flood event, and crucially how to access that support when needed. He made reference to the fact that all district authorities had flood reliance plans, but these were not in the public domain and some had no member involvement in their drafting.

8.3       It was understood that members of the public were sometimes reluctant to report flooding to their homes due to home insurance and future sale of the property, but it was therefore very difficult for those responsible to have a full understanding of the county’s flood problems and therefore put the right defences in place. Cllr Drew hoped this motion was viewed by members as the right way forward to work together and to better protect the county from future events.

8.4       In seconding the motion, Cllr Morgan made reference to the various initiatives/strategies such as the Local Flood Risk Management Strategy that was produced by GCC in June 2013 and the Surface Water Forum in the Forest of Dean, both of which had started out very productively, but had recently slowed in progress. These forums and strategies were vital in bringing together joint working and conversations across all organisations who had different roles to play to address flooding. These roles ranged from keeping waterways clear to the installation of Natural Flood Management schemes. The Member summarised that this motion was a plea for joint working to be brought to the forefront in tackling this issue.

8.5       A member raised the need to consider Natural Flood Management (NFM) schemes before concrete solutions, and for communities to feel encouraged to be involved and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

Up to 45 minutes is allowed for this item.

To answer any written member questions about matters which are within the powers

and duties of the County Council.

The closing date for receipt of questions was 10am on Monday, 4 September 2023.

However, questions that relate to reports on the agenda may be submitted up to

10am on Wednesday, 6 September 2023.

Please send questions to the Chief Executive marked for the attention of Stephen

Bace (email stephen.bace@gloucestershire.gov.uk)

Questions received and proposed responses do not accompany this agenda but will

be circulated prior to the meeting.

Cabinet Member Decision statements for the period 20 June 2023 to 4 September 2023 can be found at:

https://glostext.gloucestershire.gov.uk/mgDelegatedDecisions.aspx?XXR=0&&DR=20%2f06%2f2023-04%2f09%2f2023&ACT=Find&RP=0&K=0&V=0&DM=3&HD=0&DS=2&Next=true&NOW=25072023103806&META=mgdelegateddecisions

Fifty-five Member questions had been submitted prior to the meeting. The following

supplementary questions were asked:

Question 1 – Cllr David Drew raised a concern around a fatality on the A46 and asked why he was not allowed to show interested parties the evidence around the TRO (Traffic Regulation Order) that had been launched.

Cllr Dom Morris explained that in his discussions with officers he had insisted that transparency was critical around TROs. He offered to look into this incident in more detail.

Question 4 – Cllr David Drew asked how much money was tied up between the County Council and the Shaw Trust and what impact there would be if the Shaw Trust got into difficulties.

Cllr Lynden Stowe explained that that was always a risk with any supplier and that they would continue to monitor with ongoing due diligence.

Question 5 – Cllr David Drew asked if the Cabinet Member could chase delivering him evidence he had been offered from the Stroud Parking Review.

Cllr Dom Morris explained that he had already nudged officers and Atkins and would nudge them again.

Question 6 – Cllr Andrew Miller asked whether the Cabinet Member was aware of the potential dangerous or illegal implications of the planned changes to St Barnabus Roundabout and asked for a meeting with residents to discuss in more detail.

Cllr David Gray said that the intention was not to do any dangerous or illegal work. He committed to meet with the Member and officers to discuss any concerns around this project.

Question 7 – Cllr Jeremy Hilton asked whether the Cabinet Member thought the permit scheme in his division was working as planned.

Cllr Dom Morris was pleased the Member was happy with progress so far but explained it was important to wait and see how developments progressed.

Question 8 – Cllr Jeremy Hilton estimated that the Kingsholm Parking Review had cost around £176,000 and asked whether the Cabinet Member agreed that that was substantial.

Cllr Dom Morris accepted that the team had set out significant resources for this project.

Question 9 – Cllr Jeremy Hilton raised a concern around resolving snags from the work.

Cllr Dom Morris agreed that it was important to resolve any remaining work quickly.

Question 11 – Cllr Cate Cody asked for an email with estimated dates for remaining Community Speed Watch Vehicle Activate Signs and cameras to be in place and to have electrical connection.

Cllr Dave Norman agree to speak with relevant officers shortly and send that email.

Question 12 – Cllr Cate Cody asked for assurance that the Oldfield footway project would be delivered properly.

Cllr Dom Morris apologised that the work had not been completed and assured the Member that the work would be completed properly.

Question 13 -  Cllr Cate Cody asked if it would be possible to explore making the problem area in Tewkesbury referenced in her question a problem traffic area.

Cllr Dom Morris explained that his team were considering that as an option.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

The report was noted.