Agenda and minutes
PDF 108 KBVenue: Council Chamber - South Kesteven House, St. Peter's Hill, Grantham. NG31 6PZ. View directions
| No. | Item |
|---|---|
|
Apologies for absence
Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Adam Stokes. Late apologies for absence were also given by Councillor Selby at the meeting held on 21 February 2022. |
|
|
Disclosure of Interests
Minutes: None disclosed. |
|
|
Notes from the meeting held on 17 January 2022
Minutes: The notes from the meeting held on 17 January 2022 were proposed, seconded and agreed.
The Chairman asked if Officers had been notified of any further groups for inclusion in the consultation.
The Head of Democratic Services and Deputy Monitoring Officer stated that none had been received to date. Members had between now and when the consultation went live, 25 February 2022, to notify Officers of contact details for any individuals, groups or organisations to be included in the consultation.
The Chairman asked for the action to be rolled over.
ACTION
Members to let Officers know of any further groups for inclusion in the consultation together with their contact details |
|
|
Community Governance Review Draft Consultation Document
Additional documents: Minutes: Following the meeting held on 17 January 2022, Members had been circulated with a formatted version of the consultation survey and supporting information document. The documents had been amended following the comments made at the last meeting.
The supporting document identified that there would be a cost implication, but at present that was unknown and couldn’t be quantified at the present time. A key element of the consultation survey would be in relation to boundaries and Members’ attention was drawn to the two maps at the back of the supporting information. One map showed the unparished area of Grantham and the second one the Ward boundaries and housing developments for the area.
A paper copy of the consultation document and supporting information would be sent to all households in the Grantham area and the surrounding parishes and this would include a QR code to enable the survey to be completed on-line.
A quick turnaround was required as the documents needed to be finalised before 11 February 2022, when the information had to be sent to the printers for the consultation to be ready for posting on 25 February 2022 following the by-elections.
The Chairman asked at what stage would there be the opportunity for Members of the Working Group to give their opinions on whether or not to have a Parish/Town Council for Grantham.
The Head of Democratic Services and Deputy Monitoring Officer advised that the Working Group were there to facilitate the consultation process to ensure that the process was fair and neutral. He advised caution with Members stating their opinions within the Working Group as this could be seen as pre-determination of the decision before Full Council made the final decision, taking in to account the comments received from the public during the consultation period. He stressed that Members needed to keep an open mind before the final decision was made.
A comment was made in relation to the Sunningdale area and including this as part of Grantham. It was stated that proposals like this would be looked at following the consultation and whether there was a clear steer from the consultation responses that specific boundaries needed looking at.
The documents were then looked at and the following points made:
· The reference on page 2 to Members, the public were more likely to recognise the word Councillor than Member. · Paragraph 4 page 4 stray “also” first line. · More context in relation to what the actual cost would be.
The Head of Democratic Services and Deputy Monitoring Officer stated that it was difficult to include costs as the precept was unknown and what responsibility for services the Town Council would have, if one was in place, were also unknown. Care needed to be taken that information contained within the supporting information could not be seen to mislead people or be challenged.
Further comments included:
· The inclusion of a table showing the precepts for the other Town Councils in the district and the services that they were responsible for. · Was ... view the full minutes text for item 15. |