Agenda and draft minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillors: N Bradshaw, M Binks, G Cochran, S Chenore, A Cuddy, G DuChesne, S Robinson, N Woollatt and J Wright.

To receive any questions and or statements relating to any items of the Council powers/ duties or which otherwise affects the District and items on the agenda from members of the public.

Nick Quinn

Agenda Item 8

The Cabinet meeting on 10th December, being reported to you tonight, considered an officer report on an historical Housing Rents ‘error’ and Cabinet agreed the actions that officers had set out in the report.

Just to be clear - the mistake, which set the rent too high for 1200 Council properties, was made in 2002 and the Council had been overcharging the Tenants of these properties for the last 23 years.

If a Tenant owes the Council, you say “Pay up, or we will evict you”.

Now the Council owes the Tenants and you should be paying up.

Instead, Officers spent £10,000 on a high priced lawyer and ‘advised’ the Cabinet that the Council could get away without paying Tenants all their money back, by limiting any repayment to 6 years only.

Cabinet agreed to this, but it is not fair.

It was the Council’s mistake and Tenants should not be penalised.

Questions are already being asked about the morality of limiting repayments and the ‘legal advice’ are being queried as well - since the legislation only limits the time the Tenants can come after the Council for the money they are owed - it does not limit Council repayments.

Cambridge City and East Suffolk Councils both had similar issues, got legal advice, and agreed to repay their Tenants what was owed for the whole period.

Probably you all represent Council Tenants. They may ask you: “What are you doing to get the Council to pay the money they owe me?”

Question 1:

Will you please do the right thing, and overturn the Cabinet decision - by formally agreeing that this Council will make a full repayment of all debts owed to Tenants as the result of this mistake?

The Chair explained that as the questions had not been provided in writing in the required period in advance of the meeting that a written response would be provided in 10 working days.

Barry Warren

Mr Chairman may I take this opportunity to bring certain matters to the attention of members which were of concern to me and others as to certain behaviours within this administration.

At a recent Committee meeting I had submitted questions in advance and in response to one question the Chair read from a prepared script. In that response were the words; “We can confirm that all over charged tenancies have now been corrected, so your initial statement is factually incorrect”

My opening statement was factual having been prepared from detail given in officer reports, a letter sent to tenants and information shown on the MDDC website. The morning after the meeting the website still displayed the words which supported my information, but if you look now you would see that it had been updated to correspond with the response read out to me.

Question 1:

Why are Committee Chairs providing responses to questions without checking their facts?

At another recent meeting I raised a number of concerns about an Officer report  ...  view the full minutes text for item 273.

To record any interests on agenda matters.

Members were reminded of the need to make declarations of interest where appropriate.

Cllr A Stirling referred to the 2025/26 Budget report and confirmed that he had a membership for Mid Devon Leisure.

To consider whether to approve the minutes as a correct record of the meeting held on 18 December 2024 and 8 January 2025.

The minutes of the meeting held on 18 December 2024 and 8 January 2025 were AGREED as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

To receive any announcements which the Chair of the Council may wish to make.

The Chair had the following announcements to make:

·         He enjoyed being Chair of the Council.

·         He was very grateful for all the support at the current time.

To receive any petitions from members of the public.

None received.

To receive any notices of motions.

None received.

To receive and consider the reports, minutes and recommendations of the recent meetings as follows:

The Leader presented the reports of the meetings of the Cabinet held on 10 December 2024, 7 January 2025 and 4 February 2025.

The Leader outlined the following:

• It was disappointing that the housing rent error had come to light and he sympathised with all those that had been impacted.
• He acknowledged the points that were raised by the member of public and where necessary the officer would look into those.
• He thanked officers for their hard work and expertise which ensured that business rates continued to be managed effectively, despite the complexity and frequent changes imposed by Central Government.
• Since 2013 business rates had become an ever more intricate system and today’s report reflected another set of changes outside of the Council’s control.

• The Government had made a number of adjustments to the Business Rates that would, in some cases, materially alter the amount of rates due from businesses. Changes to some reliefs were ‘unfunded’ and others funded by Government via s31, an example of this would be Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Relief.
• The key changes taking effect from April 2025 included:

Ø  A reduction in Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Relief, which would drop from 75% to 40%. This meant businesses in those sectors would see an increase in the amount they were required to pay.

Ø  Private schools would no longer qualify for Charity Relief, following changes to primary legislation.

Ø  The restriction preventing councils from awarding discretionary relief more than six months after the end of the financial year had been removed, giving the Council more flexibility but without new funding to give additional relief.

• Those changes could have a significant impact on some businesses, and for those that were affected, the Council would be in contact when annual bills were issued in March 2025.
• These were national decisions not local ones, the government sets the rate, dictates the reliefs and decides how much funding councils received in compensation. The Council’s responsibility was to administer the system as fairly and effectively as possible.
• He was pleased to announce this Council would offer open surgeries to help and support those businesses in Mid Devon from these Central Government changes.

1. Business Rate Tax Base (Minute 130)

The Leader MOVED and seconded by Cllr J Buczkowski:

That the recommendation of Cabinet as set out in minute 130 be APPROVED.

Upon a vote being taken the MOTION was declared to have been CARRIED.

The Leader outlined the following:

• This was one of the most important decisions this Council would make each year, the approval of its budget for 2025/26.
• The budget was the result of months of hard work, scrutiny and collaboration, and he thanked Officers for the dedication and professionalism throughout this process. In particular, the Deputy Chief Executive (S151) Officer and Head of Finance, Property and Climate Resilience and all of their staff, whose expertise and leadership in finance had been invaluable.
• He also thanked Cabinet Members and the Cabinet Member for Governance, Finance and Risk in particular for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 279.

The Vice-Chair of the Scrutiny Committee presented the report of the meetings held on 16 December 2024 and 13 January 2025.

The Chair of the meeting of the Audit Committee presented the report of the meetings held on 21 January 2025.

The Vice-Chair of the Homes Policy Development Group presented the report of the meeting held on 28 January 2025.

The Chair of the Standards Committee presented the report of the meeting held on 5 February 2025.

1. Government Consultation- Strengthening the Standards and Conduct Framework for Local Authorities in England.

The Chair of the Standards Committee MOVED, seconded by Cllr M Fletcher:

That the recommendation of the Standards Committee set out in Minute 30 be ADOPTED.

Upon a vote being taken the MOTION was declared to have been CARRIED.

Note:* Report previously circulated

To consider a report of the Deputy Chief Executive (S151) on the Council Tax Resolution for 2025/26.

The Cabinet Member for Governance, Finance and Risk outlined the contents of the report with particular reference to the following:

• The extensive collaborative process over the past year, one that had required careful planning, rigorous scrutiny and a shared commitment to delivering a budget that was both balanced and responsible.
• Throughout the process, Members had worked constructively to deliver the best possible outcomes for the residents of Mid Devon through Policy Development Groups (PDGs), Cabinet and Scrutiny Committee.
• They had worked together to identify proposals that allowed the Council to set this budget largely without significant impact on frontline services.
• This was no small feat given the financial pressures faced by Councils across the country. It was a remarkable achievement and one that reflected the fiscal responsibility this administration had restored to this Council.
• He thanked Members from all groups for their active engagement throughout this process. The way that Members had worked together, constructively, collaboratively, with open discussion, robust challenge and a shared commitment to doing what was right for our residents and communities was exactly how local government should work.
• He thanked the finance team and officers across all service areas for their hard work, expertise and dedication. In particular, his gratitude went to the Deputy Chief Executive (S151) Officer, Head of Finance, Property and Climate Resilience and Head of Revenue, Benefits and Leisure. Their leadership and diligence had been instrumental in ensuring we reached this point.
• The financial reports approved by Cabinet earlier this month, including those ratified earlier this evening, form the basis of the 2025/26 budget.
• The Council Tax requirement for the Council as the billing authority was also our responsibility. Ensuring that Council Tax was set correctly and aligned with the referendum criteria and that it was collected on behalf of Devon County Council, the Police and Crime Commissioner, the Fire and Rescue Authority and Town and Parish Councils.
• The report before Council set out in Appendix A, contained the formal resolution that the Council was legally required to approve.
• It detailed the Council Tax charges across all 8 bands of parish level and the statutory report from the Section 151 officer which provided assurance on the robustness of the budget and the adequacy of our reserves.

The Deputy Chief Executive (S151) Officer highlighted the following:

• This was a statutory report reflecting a process of many months of collaborative work.
• The robustness of the estimates and the adequacy of reserves were self-explanatory. The estimates had been set in a very robust and challenging manner.
• The review of reserve levels were monitored on a regular basis and clearly made sure this Council maintained healthy levels of reserves to weather any financial and operational storms.
• That the Council's funding position and strategic position had probably never been more uncertain at this time of year.
• Regular updates would be provided to Members on how that would impact the Council's financial position.

Cllr J Buczkowski MOVED and seconded by Cllr S Clist:

“To approve the formal Council  ...  view the full minutes text for item 284.

To consider the appointment to outside bodies for Council for the Armed Forces Partnership and seek one representative to the position available.

The following appointment to an Outside Body was AGREED.

Cllr C Harrower to be appointed as the Council’s representative on the Armed Forces Partnership.

Cllr G Czapiewski MOVED seconded by Cllr J Lock:

Upon a vote being taken the MOTION was declared to have been CARRIED.

That Council note the background report and agrees to the creation and formulation of the Team Devon Joint Committee as proposed in the Devon County Council Report.

To agree the nomination of the Leader of the Council to be the council’s representative on the Team Devon Joint Committee.

This item was deferred from December’s meeting of full council in light of the recently-published English Devolution White Paper and accompanying Minister’s letter. Irrespective of the emerging timeline around any proposals for local government reorganisation, the Combined County Authority covering Devon and Torbay will be implemented in Spring 2025, therefore it is essential that council agrees to the formal creation of the Team Devon Joint Committee and the nomination of the Leader to this body, in order for Mid Devon to be represented and take up its seat on this committee.

The Council had before it a background report to NOTE and agree the nomination of the Leader of the Council to be the Council’s representative on the Team Devon Joint Committee.

The Chair MOVED that:

“The Council had before it a background report to NOTE and AGREE the nomination of the Leader of the Council to be the Council’s representative on the Team Devon Joint Committee”

Upon a vote being taken, the MOTION was declared to have been CARRIED.

To deal with any questions raised pursuant to Procedure Rule 11 not already dealt with during the relevant Committee reports.

To deal with any questions raised pursuant to Procedure Rule 11 not already dealt with during the relevant Committee reports.

There were no questions.

To note any decisions taken under Rule 16 (of the Constitution) Special Urgency.

With regard to any decisions taken under Rule 16 (of the Constitution) Special Urgency taken since the last meeting.

The Chair informed the meeting that no such decisions had been taken in that period.

To receive answers from the Cabinet Members to questions on their portfolios from other Members.

.

Cllr A White asked the Leader the following questions:

• To give an update on unitary conversation in Devon as far as he was able to.

• Was the Leader able to commit to include unitary status and a plan for the future of this Council at future Council meetings?

The Leader outlined the following:

• On the 8th of January an Extraordinary meeting of this Council was called where a discussion was had about local government reorganisation. At that meeting it was agreed to ask the Government to continue with the planned County Council elections on the 1st of May amongst other recommendations. The Government agreed that the elections for Devon County Council should go ahead.
• This Council and all of those in Devon, including County, Unitary, City and Districts, to submit an initial proposal for local government reorganisation to a single tier unitary authority by the 21 of March 2025. This would be followed by a full proposal on the 28 of November 2025.
• He was working with all leaders across Devon to put together a proposal.
• Whilst we might not all agree on a final joint proposal, he was confident that Mid Devon along with many other Councils in Devon would agree a proposal that he would bring to this Council for agreement before submission cut off on the 21st of March.
• He asked the Chair to call an Extraordinary meeting of the Council for the 12th of March, this would allow time for officers to work on our initial proposal. He also asked the Chair to use his discretion to allow Public Question Time at this important single item meeting.
• In response to the second question from Cllr White, about it being an ongoing item, he was certain that it would be the case as he thought it would be occupying much of the Council's business for the next three years.
• With lots of Town and Parish Councils perhaps not appreciating what the full impact to them could be under a single unitary council, for example, would it mean more responsibility? What would happen with things like swimming pools? At this current time as a Council we do not have the answers to these questions.
• He would like to call the State of the District debate on the local government reorganisation as he thought that it would benefit Town and Parish Councils being involved. However, due to the County Council elections due to take place on the 1st of May a pre-election period would soon be entered into making holding the State of the District Debate before the County Council election inappropriate, as many Members would be campaigning on all sides of political aspirations on local government reorganisation. The State of the District Debate would therefore take place after the 1May 2025 and it would be open to Town and Parish Councils for an information session.

To receive any statements made and notice of future questions by Members.

Note:  the time allowed for this item is limited to 15 minutes.

The Chair informed the meeting that were no Members Business.