Agenda and minutes

To confirm and sign the minutes of the meeting of the Council dated 15 July 2021.

Resolved – That the minutes of the meeting held on 15 July 2021 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

Apologies for absence had been received from Councillors Adeniji, Denis, S Lord, Manley, Meyer, Nicholson, Peterson, Rutland and Wallraven.

Disclosure by councillors of personal interests in matters on the agenda, the nature of any interest and whether the councillor regards the interest as prejudicial under the terms of the Code of Conduct.

Councillor O’Connor declared a personal interest in Item 8, Urgent decisions taken by the Cabinet or Cabinet Members in relation to ‘Wave Leisure Trust Ltd’, as he was a Council appointed trustee of Wave Leisure.  The interest was not prejudicial as the item was for information only. 

The Monitoring Officer and Head of Legal Services advised that it was not necessary for Newhaven Town Councillors present to declare interests in respect of Item 8 and the Leader’s decision on the Newhaven Town Deal.

To receive any announcements from the Chair of the Council, Leader of the Council, Members of the Cabinet or the Chief Executive. A list of the Chair of the Council's engagements since the previous meeting will be circulated ahead of the meeting.

The Chair advised that a list of her engagements as Chair of the Council since the last meeting was set out in the supplement to the agenda, and these were noted.

Items not on the agenda which the Chair of the meeting is of the opinion should be considered as a matter of urgency by reason of special circumstances as defined in Section 100B(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972.

There were no urgent items for consideration at the meeting.

To deal with questions which members of the public may wish to put to members of the Cabinet in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 11 (if any).

No questions had been received from members of the public.

To receive petitions from councillors or members of the public in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 13 (if any).

No petitions had been received.

In accordance with Policy and Performance Advisory Committee Procedure Rule 17, to receive details of any urgent decisions taken by the Cabinet or Cabinet members since the previous meeting.

Copies of the public decision-notices of two decisions by the Leader of the Council are attached to this agenda relating to:

·        Wave Leisure Trust Ltd – 23 July 2021

·        Newhaven Town Deal – 26 July 2021

In accordance with the Policy and Performance Committee Procedure Rule 17, the Council received details of two decisions which had been taken by the Leader of the Council under special urgency procedures, in relation to the Wave Leisure Trust Ltd and Newhaven Town Deal made on 23 July and 26 July 2021 respectively.

To consider the report of Councillor Nicholson on behalf of the Cabinet held on 8 July 2021.

Councillor MacCleary moved and Councillor Carr seconded the recommendation of the Cabinet of 8 July 2021, to agree the annual treasury management report and prudential and treasury indicators for 2020/21.

The recommendation was put to a vote and carried unanimously.

Resolved to:

(1)    Agree the Annual Treasury Management report for 2020/21 (attached as an appendix to the Cabinet report).

(2)    Approve the 2020/21 Prudential and Treasury Indicators included in the Cabinet report.

(3)    Note that the Treasury Management activities for the period starting from 1 March to 31 March 2021 have been in accordance with the approved Treasury Strategies for that period.

To consider a notice of motion which has been received from Councillor Collier.

Councillor Collier moved and Councillor Clayseconded a motion to end the practice of ‘Fire and Rehire’ as set out in the agenda.

The motion was debated.  Although there was general support for the principle of opposing the practice of ‘fire and rehire’, some Councillors indicated they did not see it as the Council’s role to lobby MPs on such a matter.

The motion was put to a vote and carried by 16 votes in favour, none against, with 15 abstentions.

Resolved that – Lewes District Council condemns the use of ‘Fire and Rehire’ by any employers in the Lewes District, and:

• Calls upon the Members of Parliament representing Lewes District residents (Maria Caulfield MP (Lewes) and Lloyd Russell-Moyle MP (Brighton Kemptown), by way of a letter from the Cabinet Member for People and Performance, to support Barry Gardiner’s Private Member’s Bill and do all in their power to make this practice unlawful; and
• Reserves the right, in the event that the Employment and Trade Union Rights (Dismissal and Re-engagement) Bill is enacted, to exclude an organisation from participating in a Lewes District Council procurement procedure where (a) that organisation had committed an offence under that legislation, and (b) the exclusion was proportionate and justified in relation to the particular works, goods or services being procured.

(Note: Councillor O’Keeffe arrived in the meeting at 18.14 at the end of this item.)

To consider a notice of motion which has been received from Councillor Bird.

Councillor Bird moved and Councillor O’Connor seconded a motion to call on Southern Water to explain how it will safeguard the River Ouse, its tributaries and the coastal waters of Lewes District, as set out in the agenda, subject to an additional recommendation being added which had been circulated ahead of the meeting:

“B. To request that the Leader of the Council writes to the Environment Agency to request that it reverses its decision to introduce a waiver to allow water companies, including Southern Water, to avoid having to go through the third stage in the treatment of sewage if the company does not have the right chemicals due to driver shortages, given Southern Water’s recent track record.”

The motion was discussed and concern was expressed as to additional pollution incidents from the last few weeks and it was asked if Southern Water was the best agency to address questions around infrastructure for climate resilience and whether there was any additional information on recent sea discharges.

Councillor Bird in summing up, responded that there was an app available from Southern Water called ‘Beachbuoy’ which indicated whether there had been outfalls into the sea during the last 72 hours.  In addition, he advised that water infrastructure was a key area to be addressed in responding to the climate emergency, and he would expect this to be part of Southern Water’s own risk analysis.

The motion was put to a vote and was supported unanimously.

Resolved that - The Council resolves to:

A.    Request that the Leader of the Council write to the Chief Executive of Southern Water and ask him to respond to the following questions:

1. What measures are you taking to ensure there are no sewage discharges or other pollution incidents in those parts of the River Ouse, its tributaries and the coastal waters that lie within the area covered by Lewes District Council?

2. What measures are you taking to ensure that sewage discharges do not take place in the area covered by Lewes District Council in extreme weather events such as those in the Lewes Floods of 2000?

3. How much are you investing in infrastructure improvements in the area covered by Lewes District Council and what measures are you taking to ensure this infrastructure is climate resilient?

B.    Request that the Leader of the Council write to the Environment Agency to request that it reverses its decision to introduce a waiver to allow water companies, including Southern Water, to avoid having to go through the third stage in the treatment of sewage if the company does not have the right chemicals due to driver shortages, given Southern Water’s recent track record.

To deal with written questions which councillors may wish to put to the Chair of the Council, a Lead Councillor on the Cabinet or the Chair of any committee or sub-committee in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 12 (if any).

No written questions had been received from Councillors.

To deal with questions (if any) which councillors may wish to put to the Leader of the Council. It will be at the Leader’s discretion to re-direct questions to relevant Members of the Cabinet. A councillor wishing to raise a question must notify the Chair of the Council of the text of the question prior to the commencement of the meeting. (NB This item is limited to a maximum of 5 questions, with no more than 1 question being asked per councillor. If a question requires a detailed or technical response, the Leader may decide that a written response is more appropriate).

No questions had been submitted for the Leader. 

To deal with ward issues which councillors wish to raise (if any).

There were no ward issues raised for this meeting.

To receive any reports from the Council's representatives who serve on outside bodies in respect of meetings they have attended.

The following reports had been received on outside bodies set out in the agenda and were noted:

• Aspiration Homes – Councillors Nicholson and MacCleary
• Greater Brighton Economic Board – Councillor Nicholson
• Health & Wellbeing Board – Councillor Nicholson
• LGA People & Places Board – Councillor O’Brien
• ES Strategic Planning Group – Councillor O’Brien
• Police and Crime Panel – Councillor Denis
• Equalities and Fairness Stakeholder Group – Councillor Denis
• Community Safety Partnership – Councillor Denis
• Wave Leisure Trust – Councillors Denis and O’Connor
• Impact Seaford – Councillor Brett
• Upper Ouse Flood Protection and Water Return Works Working Group – Councillor Bird.

The Chair noted that other Councillors had indicated that their outside bodies had not met recently, but they hoped to be able to report at the next Full Council meeting.

The next meeting is scheduled for 6 pm on 22 November 2021.

It was noted that the next meeting of the Full Council was scheduled to take place at 6 pm on Monday 22 November 2021.