Date: 6 th June 2016 Time: 7.30 pm Location: Council Chamber, Ripon Town Hall Present: In attendance: Cllr A I Morgan (Chairman) Cllr L P A Barnes Cllr J Bate Cllr M Chambers Cllr S J Hawke Cllr P Horton Cllr S L Jones Cllr P McHardy Cllr P Pearson Cllr M Stanley Cllr A Williams Mrs S Adamson, Acting Deputy Clerk Canon Paul Greenwell, the Mayor s Chaplain Mr J Vauvert, Serjeant at Mace Mr A Weston, the City Development Manager Mrs I Taylor (former Acting Clerk, part, arrived at 7.45 pm) 7 members of the public. Prior to the start of the meeting the Mayor s Chaplain said prayers, and then departed. 69-16 To receive apologies and approve reason for absence: Cllrs Martin, Powell and Willis. 70-16 Members of the public are invited to question, seek clarification or make representation to members of the Council on any Agenda item as listed below: there were no representations. 71-16 To request any disclosure of an interest in relation to any matter under consideration at this meeting (financial or otherwise) & to consider any written requests for dispensation: there were no declarations of interest nor requests for dispensations. 72-16 To approve the Minutes of the Annual Meeting held on the 3 rd May 2016. Proposed Cllr Jones Seconded Cllr McHardy that the Minutes of the Meeting held on 20 th April 2016 be approved and signed as a true record. and the Minutes were signed by the Chairman. 73-16 To consider and approve the membership of each committee of the Council as follows: (Cllr Stanley rose to request that (f) should be correctly itemised as the Alderman T F Spence Management Committee rather than the Alderman T F Spence Charity). a) Finance & General Purposes Committee: 9 members of the Council, 3 from each Ward. Proposed by Cllr Horton and approved unanimously by a show of hands: that Cllr McHardy, Cllr Hawke and Cllr Bate be appointed Minster Ward representatives, and that Cllr Horton, Cllr Jones and Cllr Powell be appointed Moorside Ward representatives on the Finance & General Purposes Committee; and that Cllr Powell s appointment should be an interim measure until Cllr Williams was again eligible to comply with Standing Orders. Page 1 of 5
that Cllr Martin, Cllr Pearson and Cllr Chambers be appointed Spa Ward representatives on the Finance & General Purposes Committee. b) Planning Committee: 9 members of the Council, 3 from each Ward. Proposed by Cllr Hawke and approved unanimously by a show of hands: that Cllr Bate, Cllr Hawke and Cllr Powell be appointed Minster Ward representatives, and Cllr Horton, Cllr Jones and Cllr Williams be appointed Moorside Ward representatives on the Planning Committee. that Cllr Barnes, Cllr Pearson and Cllr Willis be appointed Spa Ward representatives on the Planning Committee. c) Hugh Ripley Hall Committee: 6 Councillors plus up to 6 non-voting, non-council members. Proposed by Cllr Horton and approved unanimously by a show of hands: that Cllr Hawke, Cllr McHardy, Cllr Powell and Cllr Williams be members of the Hugh Ripley Hall Committee. that Cllr Martin and Cllr Willis be members of the Committee. d) City Plan Committee: 6 Councillors plus up to 9 non-council members. Proposed by Cllr Stanley and approved unanimously by a show of hands: that Cllr Stanley and Cllr Barnes be members of the City Plan Committee. Proposed by Cllr McHardy and approved unanimously by a show of hands: that Cllr Horton, Cllr Williams, Cllr Jones and Cllr Powell be members of the City Plan Committee. Proposed by Cllr Williams and seconded by Cllr Stanley: that the nine non-council members of the City Plan Committee appointed in the last civic year be re-appointed en bloc. e) Staffing Committee: To approve the appointment of one member to this Committee, following the resignation of Councillor Waiting. Proposed by Cllr Bate and seconded by Cllr Williams: that Cllr McHardy be appointed to the Staffing Committee. Page 2 of 5
f) Alderman T F Spence Management Committee 6 Councillors plus up to 6 non-voting, non-council members. Proposed by Cllr Jones and seconded by Cllr McHardy: that Cllr Powell, Cllr Jones, Cllr McHardy, Cllr Martin, Cllr Hawke and Cllr Horton be appointed as members of the Alderman T F Spence Management Committee. Proposed by Cllr Stanley and seconded by Cllr Williams: that the 6 non-council members of the Alderman T F Spence Management Committee appointed in the last civic year be re-appointed en bloc. 74-16 To appoint the Chairman and the Vice-Chairman of the following committees: (Please note that the Terms of Reference allow the Hugh Ripley Hall Committee and the Alderman T F Spence Management Committee to elect their own Chairman and Vice-Chairman; all other committee Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen are elected by the Council.) a) Finance & General Purposes Committee Chairman: there were two nominations: Cllr Chambers proposed that Cllr Pearson remain as Chairman of the Committee and Cllr Horton proposed that Cllr McHardy be appointed as Chair. Cllr McHardy was duly appointed by a majority vote by a show of hands. Vice-Chairman: Cllr Horton, seconded by Cllr Jones, proposed that Cllr Hawke by appointed Vice-Chairman; and he was duly appointed by a majority vote by a show of hands with one abstention. b) Planning Committee Chairman: Cllr Williams, seconded by Cllr Jones, proposed that Cllr Horton be appointed as Chairman of the Planning Committee and this was agreed unanimously by a show of hands. Vice-Chairman: Cllr Horton, seconded by Cllr Jones, proposed that Cllr Powell continue in his role as Vice-Chairman of the Planning Committee and this was agreed unanimously by a show of hands. c) City Plan Committee Cllr Stanley proposed that the position of Chair of this Committee be left open, and that Cllr Horton be appointed as Vice Chair; this was seconded by Cllr Barnes and agreed unanimously by a show of hands. d) Staffing Committee Following the resignation of Cllr Waiting, it was necessary to appoint a new Vice-Chairman of the Staffing Committee. It was proposed by Cllr Williams and seconded by Cllr Bate that Cllr McHardy be appointed Vice-Chairman; and she was duly appointed by a majority vote by a show of hands. Page 3 of 5
75-16 To review the Council Representatives on outside bodies: It was proposed by Cllr Williams, seconded by Cllr Chambers, and agreed unanimously by a show of hands that the present incumbents should continue in their roles, unless they wished to step down. [It was not realised at the meeting that representatives to replace Cllr Waiting on two of these bodies would need to be elected: to return to the Agenda.] a) Age Concern (Mayor) Cllr Morgan b) Ripon in Bloom (1 member) Cllr Powell c) Visit Ripon (Mayor & 1 member) Cllr Morgan and Cllr Stanley d) Ripon Museum Trust (Mayor) Cllr Morgan e) Harrogate & District Access Group (Mayor) Cllr Morgan f) Ripon Municipal Charities (Mayor plus 3 nominated representatives) Cllr Morgan, Cllr Bate, Cllr Powell and Mrs Brierley (council nominated representative) g) YLCA Harrogate Branch (1 member - Chairman F&GP with D/Chair as Deputy) Cllr McHardy h) Ripon Festival Trust (2 members) Cllr Chambers and Cllr Jones i) Spa Gardens Forum (1 member) Cllr Willis j) Council of the Cathedral (1 member) was Cllr Waiting k) Harrogate & District Transport Forum (1 member) Cllr Morgan l) Ripon Fairtrade Action Group was Cllr Waiting m) Ripon Grammar School Foundation Governors (7 representatives appointed by RCC) Cllr McHardy, Cllr Stanley, Clrl Morgan, Cllr Bate, Mr Ian Pringle, Mr Barry Kay and Mrs J Geddes) n) Ripon Chapels & Hospitals Trust Cllr Stanley, the Rev d Hanson o) Ripon Girls Club Charitable Trust Ex-Officio Trustee (Constitution states must be the Mayor) p) White Rose Sailing Association (Mr P Tarren, 44 College Road, Ripon HG4 2HA) The Mayor to be president. 76-16 To confirm the signatories on the Bank Mandate be the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Council, and the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Finance & General Purposes Committee for the next Council year; any two to sign. It was noted that as Cllr McHardy was Vice-Chairman of the Council and also Chairman of the Finance & General Purposes Committee, there would only be three signatories on the Bank Mandate instead of the usual four: Cllr McHardy, Cllr Morgan and Cllr Hawke. 77-16 Mayoral Announcements for information. Cllr Morgan had no announcements on this occasion. Adjournment At 8.00 pm the meeting was adjourned to enable a meeting of the newly appointed Finance & General Purposes Committee to take place to consider the 2015/16 Accounts. Six Parishioners departed. At the request of one of the councillors, who was experiencing an allergic reaction to the atmosphere in the Council Chamber which was being redecorated, councillors continued their meetings in the Mayor s Parlour. Page 4 of 5
78-16 The Mayor to re-open the meeting: The meeting of the Full Council resumed at 8.40 pm. 79-16 2015/16 Accounts a) To consider and approve the previously circulated 2015/16 accounts, to include signing of the bank reconciliation and balance sheet to 31 st March 2016 by the Mayor. Proposed Cllr Chambers Seconded Cllr Bate that agenda item 79/16 a) be approved as recommended by the Finance & General Purposes committee on 6 th June 2016. and the bank reconciliation and the balance sheet to 31 st March 2016 were signed by the Chairman. b) To receive and consider the Internal Auditor s opinion on the 2015/16 accounts. Cllr Williams pointed out that the Internal Auditor had highlighted one significant issue: the Council s Approach to risk management; and that for this reason the Finance and General Purposes Committee should not have postponed their perusal of the draft Risk Assessment at their meeting earlier in the evening, as it meant that the Council had no Risk Assessment in place. There was a short discussion during which it was confirmed that in accordance with the Council s Standing Orders, this decision could be overturned by the Full Council, and it was then proposed by Cllr Horton and seconded by Cllr McHardy: that following consideration of the Internal Auditor s report, the draft Risk Assessment should be adopted pending review. all in favour, with one abstention. c) To approve the Annual Governance Statement for 2015/16 as found on the Annual Return. Proposed Cllr Pearson Seconded Cllr Hawke that the Annual Governance Statement for 2015/16 as found on the Annual Return should be approved. d) To approve the Accounting Statements for 2015/16 as found on the Annual Return. Proposed Cllr Pearson Seconded Cllr Hawke that the Accounting Statements for 2015/16 as found on the Annual Return should be approved. The meeting closed at 8.50 pm These minutes were recorded and prepared by Sarah Adamson, Acting Deputy Clerk to the City Council. SIGNED DATE THE RIGHT WORSHIPFUL THE MAYOR Page 5 of 5