03 12 2003

A MEETING of the COUNCIL OF THE BOROUGH OF GOSPORT was held in the Council Chamber at the TOWN HALL, GOSPORT on WEDNESDAY, the THIRD day of DECEMBER 2003 at 6.00 PM.

The Mayor (Councillor Mrs Binfield) (P) (in the Chair);

The Deputy Mayor (Councillor Edwards) (P);

Councillors Allen (P), Mrs Angus (P), Mrs Batterbury (P), Bone (P), Burgess (P), Carr (P), Carter (P), Chegwyn (P), Clinton (P), Mrs Cully (P), Cully (P), Edgar (P), Mrs Elshaw (P), Farr (P), Francis (P), Gill (P), Mrs Gravell (P), Hayward (P), Hook (P), Jacobs, Kimber (P), Langdon (P), Redrup (P), Russell M (P), Russell P (P), Mrs Salter (P), Searle (P), Smith (P), Taylor (P), Train (P), Mrs Wright (P) and Wright (P).

Also in attendance: Honorary Aldermen Mrs Bailey, Flory, O'Neill and Rushton.

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ONE MINUTE'S SILENCE

In order to express their sympathy regarding the recent death of Honorary Alderman John Keast, Members of the Council stood in silent tribute for one minute.

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APOLOGY

An apology for inability to attend the meeting was submitted on behalf of Councillor Jacobs.

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MINUTES

RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the Ordinary Council Meeting held on 8 October 2003 be confirmed and signed.

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PRESENTATION TO SURGEON CAPTAIN LIONEL JARVIS

The Leader of the Council requested Councillor Edgar as the Council's Spokesperson on the Haslar Task Force to introduce Surgeon Captain Lionel Jarvis, Commanding Officer of the Royal Hospital Haslar to the Council. Surgeon Captain Jarvis was leaving after 15 years service with the Hospital. He had taken over as Commanding Officer in 1999. He would officially be leaving on 9 December to take up a new post at the Royal College of Defence Studies in London from 7 January 2004.

The Mayor accordingly presented Surgeon Captain Lionel Jarvis with a Borough Council Plaque and a limited edition D-Day Print depicting the Gosport side of Portsmouth Harbour. This was for his distinguished service as Commanding Officer of the Royal Hospital Haslar.

Surgeon Capital Jarvis replied briefly, thanking the Council for the commemorative gifts.

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MAYOR'S COMMUNICATIONS

MOBILE PHONE MASTS

The Mayor referred to a Petition that had been presented to her by Mr and Mrs Rimington against more mobile phone masts being erected on top of the BT building bordering a Conservation Area (Bury Road and Foster Gardens).

The Mayor reported that she would forward the Petition to the Chairman of the Regulatory Board for consideration by the Board.

MONTGOMERY ROAD, BRIDGEMARY, GOSPORT

Councillor Mrs Wright presented to the Mayor a Petition concerning a number of disturbances related to the subway/railway adjacent to Montgomery Road, Bridgemary. The Petition detailed the disturbances along with recommendations for action by the Council.

The Mayor reported that she would forward the Petition to the appropriate Unit in the Town Hall for consideration.

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QUESTIONS PURSUANT TO STANDING ORDER 3.4

(A) Question No 1 standing in the name of Councillor Chegwyn on the way the Council handled allegations of sexual harassment made by one staff member against another and how the Council assessed whether a member of staff was mentally unfit to continue in employment was answered by the Leader of the Council.

(B) Question No 2 standing in the name of Councillor Chegwyn on the subject of the procedures to be adopted to allow the Council to select the best candidate to be Mayor in 2004-2005, the year of Gosport's 800^th Anniversary, was answered by the Leader of the Council.

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APPROVAL OF THE STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS

Members of the Council had before them a report of the Borough Treasurer which updated Members on the external audit of the accounts together with an updated Statement of Accounts for 2002-2003 for information.

Members were reminded that the draft Statement of Accounts (subject to audit) was received and approved by the Policy and Organisation Board on 25 June 2003. Following completion of the external audit, the District Auditor had issued an unqualified opinion on the Council's financial statements.

It was now necessary to update the Statement previously issued on 25 June for several amendments that had been agreed with the District Auditor. It was a statutory requirement that Full Council received the final version of the Statement. The District Auditor would then issue the audit certificate and the Statement booklet would be published. A copy of the amended Statement of Accounts for 2002-2003 was circulated to each Member prior to the Council meeting.

The amendments made to the Statement fell into two broad categories:

(i) Financial, primarily comprising adjustments following the receipt of more accurate information since the prompt closure of the accounts in early June.

(ii) Presentational, primarily detailed amendments as to how the figures were presented in the published accounts including additional information added as notes to the main accounting statements.

The two main financial amendments were:

(i) Housing Benefit Subsidy

The final subsidy claim for 2002-2003 was submitted to the District Auditor for certification on 1 September. The subsidy claim was greater than that estimated for the final accounts closure by £72,919.

(ii) Section 38 Agreement Fee Income

It was anticipated that the responsibility for Section 38 Agreements would be passed to the County Council at the end of the 2003-2004 financial year and this would result in the retention by the Council of a proportion of the Section 38 fees that were currently held to fund the inspection and supervision of these Agreements. The financial position would not be known until the effective date of the transfer because schemes were constantly progressing and agreement had yet to be finalised with the County Council over the fee proportions to be retained. It was estimated that, subject to confirmation of the final position, the sum of £100,000 would be retainable by the Council as at 31 March 2003. This had been effected in the Statement of Accounts.

The financial adjustments had resulted in an increased General Fund Working Balance of £464,290 at 31 March 2003.

RESOLVED: That the amended Statement of Accounts for the financial year ending 31 March 2003 be approved.

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STANDING ORDER 4.15.1

The Mayor reported that notice had been received requesting that Standing Order 4.15.1 be moved to enable the Borough Solicitor to present her report on the Membership of Sub-Boards and Conduct and Standards Committee.

RESOLVED: That Standing Order 4.15.1 be moved to enable the Borough Solicitor to present her report on the Membership of Sub-Boards and Conduct and Standards Committee.

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MEMBERSHIP OF SUB-BOARDS AND

CONDUCT AND STANDARDS COMMITTEE

Members of the Council had before them a report of the Borough Solicitor (a copy of which is attached hereto as Appendix "C1") in connection with the above.

The report reminded Members of the main terms of the "Proportionality Rules" made under the Local Government and Housing Act 1989. The rules provided that the Council should have regard to the wishes of Political Groups in the appointment of seats on Boards and Committees "allocated" to those Groups on the Rules.

The current balance of seats on the Council between the Political Groups was as follows:

	CONSERVATIVE	LABOUR	LIBERAL DEMOCRAT
Number of Seats	11	12	10
Proportion	32.35%	35.29%	29.41%

The total number of seats currently available on the Sub-Boards was 44 and they were allocated as follows:

	CONSERVATIVE	LABOUR	LIBERAL DEMOCRAT
Number of Seats	14	15	15
Proportion	31.81%	34.09%	34.09%

It was not possible to allocate the 44 seats on the Sub-Boards in the exact proportion for each Political Group as shown in the first table. The table below showed the Proportion for the Sub-Boards in accordance with the 11:12:10 Political Group split on the Council:

SUB-BOARDS – 44 SEATS	CONSERVATIVE	LABOUR	LIBERAL DEMOCRAT
Number of Seats	14.23	15.52	12.94
Proportion	32.35%	35.29%	29.41%

The report concluded that looking at the above proportions the proposed allocation of seats on the Sub-Boards should be 15:16:13 as follows:

SUB-BOARD	CONSERVATIVE	LABOUR	LIBERAL DEMOCRAT
Personnel Sub-Board	2	3	1
Gosport Coastline Editorial Panel	2	2	2
Gosport/Royan Twinning Sub-Board	3	3	2
Emergency Sub-Board	2	2	2
Grants Sub-Board	2	2	2
Priddy's Hard Heritage Area Sub-Board	2	2	2
Appeals Sub-Board	2	2	2
TOTAL	15	16	13
	34.09%	36.36%	29.54%
	+1.74%	+1.07%	0.13%

The proportionality rules did not apply to the Conduct and Standards Committee. However, the Council had previously agreed that in addition to the two independent members, each Political Group should have two seats. It was proposed that this allocation continued. The Council was therefore asked to nominate members to this Committee.

APPOINTMENT OF SUB-BOARDS AND

CONDUCT AND STANDARDS COMMITTEE

RESOLVED: That –

(i) the determination of the allocation of seats to Political Groups on the Sub-Boards and the Conduct and Standards Committee be as set out in paragraphs 4.1 and 5.1 respectively of the Borough Solicitor's report; and

(ii) the Sub-Boards and Conduct and Standards Committee be appointed as outlined below to serve for the remainder of the Municipal Year.

PERSONNEL SUB-BOARD	GOSPORT COASTLINE EDITORIAL PANEL	GOSPORT/ROYAN TWINNING SUB-BOARD
Councillor Cully	Councillor Mrs Batterbury	The Mayor
Councillor Gill	Councillor Chegwyn	Councillor Allen
Councillor Hayward	Councillor Mrs Cully	Councillor Carr
Councillor Searle	Councillor Hayward	Councillor Carter
Councillor Taylor	Councillor Kimber	Councillor Edwards
Councillor Wright	Councillor M Russell	Councillor Farr
		Councillor Jacobs
		Councillor Train

EMERGENCY SUB-BOARD	GRANTS SUB-BOARD	PRIDDY'S HARD HERITAGE AREA SUB-BOARD

Councillor Burgess	Councillor Mrs Angus	Councillor Edwards
Councillor Bone	Councillor Francis	Councillor Hook
Councillor Cully	Councillor Hayward	Councillor Langdon
Councillor Hook	Councillor Mrs Salter	Councillor M Russell
Councillor M Russell	Councillor Taylor	Councillor Searle
Councillor Wright	Councillor Wright	Councillor Wright


APPEALS SUB-BOARD	CONDUCT AND STANDARDS COMMITTEE

Councillor Mrs Cully	Councillor Cully
Councillor Hayward	Councillor Edgar
Councillor Kimber	Councillor Edwards
Councillor M Russell	Councillor Hayward
Councillor P Russell	Councillor M Russell
Councillor Mrs Salter	Councillor Wright