Meeting documents

Apologies for absence were received from Mr Barbour, Mr Berry, Ms Driver, Ms Earl, Ms Filmore, Mr Graham, Mrs Gray, Mr Hitchen, Mr Johnson, Mr Lamb, Lord Liddle, Mrs Mallinson, Mr Marriner, Mr Roberts, Mr Shirley, Mr Southward, Mr Stoddart, Mr Whipp, Mr Wentworth Waites, and Mr  Wielkopolski.

To elect a Chairman of the County Council for the ensuing municipal year.

The Chairman to make a declaration of acceptance of office

The Chairman asked for nominations for the Office of Chair of the Council. Mr Thornton moved that Mr Connell be elected as Chairman for the ensuing year.  This was seconded by Mr Young.

With only one nomination being received and with the agreement of the Council, it was

RESOLVED that        Mr A Connell be elected as Chairman of the Council for the ensuing year

There then followed a swapping of the Badge of Office and chains, and the Declaration of Acceptance of Office was signed by Mr Connell, and he then took the Chair.

Mr Connell in the Chair.

After thanking the outgoing Chairman, Mr Connell spoke about his pride and honour at being elected as Chairman of Cumbria County Council.

The Group Leaders congratulated Mr Connell on his election.

To appoint a Vice Chairman of the County Council for the ensuing municipal year.

The Vice Chairman to make a declaration of acceptance of office

The Chairman sought nominations for the Office of Vice Chair of the County Council.

With Mr Hamilton proposing and Mr Thornton seconding Mr McEwan as Vice Chair, and there being no other nominations, it was

RESOLVED that        Mr W McEwan be appointed as Vice Chair of the County Council for the ensuing year

Mr McEwan signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office.

To disclose any disclosable pecuniary interests relating to any item on the agenda.

Members are asked to refer to the Monitoring Officer for advice in relation to the declaration of interests at meetings of the full Council.  A complete list of declarations notified to the Monitoring Officer by 5.00 pm on Monday ???  will be circulated at the meeting. If any member wishes to correct or add to the circulated list, guidance on what constitutes a disclosable pecuniary interest is set out below.

NB The following is a summary of what constitutes a disclosable pecuniary interest. Please seek advice from the Monitoring Officer.

Members must disclose any disclosable pecuniary interest they have in any item on the agenda which comprises

1          Details of any employment, office, trade, profession or vocation carried on for       profit or gain.

2          Details of any payment or provision of any other financial benefit (other than from the authority) made or provided within the relevant period in respect of any expenses incurred by you in carrying out duties as a member, or towards your election expenses.  (This includes any payment or financial benefit from a trade union within the meaning of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.

3          Details of any contract which is made between you (or a body in which you have a beneficial interest) and the authority

(a)       Under which goods or services are to be provided or works are to be           executed; and

            (b)       Which has not been fully discharged.

4          Details of any beneficial interest in land which is within the area of the authority. 

5          Details of any licence (alone or jointly with others) to occupy land in the area of the authority for a month or longer. 

6          Details of any tenancy where (to your knowledge)

            (a)       The landlord is the authority; and

            (b)       The tenant is a body in which you have a beneficial interest.

7          Details of any beneficial interest in securities of a body where

(a)       That body (to your knowledge) has a place of business or land in the          area of the authority; and

(b)       Either –

(i)      The total nominal value of the securities exceeds £25,000 or one        hundredth of the total issued share capital of that body; or

(ii)     If that share capital of that body is of more than one class, the total nominal value of the shares of any one class in which the relevant person has a beneficial interest exceeds one hundredth of the total issued share capital of that class.

In addition, you must also disclose other non-pecuniary interests set out in the Code of Conduct where these have not already been registered.

Note

A "disclosable pecuniary interest" is an interest of a councillor or their partner (which means spouse or civil partner, a person with whom they are living as husband or wife, or a person with whom they are living as if they are civil partners).

Mr T Allison declared a pecuniary interest in Agenda Item No 18 – Notice of Motion, as he has a holiday home located within the Lake District National Park.

Mr K Little declared a pecuniary interest in Agenda Item No 13 – Update report of the Cumbria Fire Local Pension Board 2021/22, as he was in receipt of a Fire Service Pension.

To consider whether there are any items on the agenda in respect of which the press and public should be excluded during consideration of the item.

RESOLVED,     that the press and public be not excluded from discussions on any items on the agenda today.

To receive petitions or questions from the public under the Public Participation Scheme for the Council.  This item is time limited to 30 minutes.

There were no public questions, statements or petitions on this occasion.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 10 February 2022 (copy enclosed)

RESOLVED,     that the minutes of the previous meeting held on 10 February 2022 be agreed with the following amendment:-

Minute No 73 – Draft Revenue Budget 2022/23 and Medium Term Financial Plan 2022-27 and Draft Capital Programme 2022-27 – add Mr G Roberts into the list of names of the members that voted ‘for’.

To receive any announcements from the Chair, Leader, Members of the Cabinet or the Chief Executive

The Chair started his announcements by mentioning how deeply shocked and saddened he was by the situation in Ukraine. The thoughts of all of the members remained with the people of Ukraine and all those impacted.

He thanked Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service crews who had hosted several car washes in aid of the Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal to help raise vital funds for the people of Ukraine, and said that currently the Service had raised over £10,000 for the appeal.

Secondly, he formally welcomed the new Chief Executive, John Metcalfe, to his first meeting of Full Council here in Cumbria. He also took this opportunity to thank John Readman for all his hard work whilst undertaking the role in the interim period.

Lastly, he reminded members that Dawn Roberts, the Executive Director of Corporate Customer and Community Services, had been appointed as the new Chief Executive of Dumfries and Galloway Council, and would leave the Council in June.

The Cabinet Member for Highway and Transport made an announcement about the Bus Improvement Bid.  Cumbria had been notified recently that the bid had been unsuccessful.  There had been 41 unsuccessful councils and only 31 successful.

To elect a Chair and Vice Chair of Scrutiny Management Board.

RESOLVED,     that Mr W Wearing be elected as Chairman of Scrutiny Management Board, with Mr M Wilson elected as Vice Chair.

To consider a report by the Leader of the Council (copy enclosed).

Members considered a report which dealt with the constitution of the Council’s committees and other member bodies and asked members to appoint chairs and vice chairs of various committees and other bodies.  In addition, the Council was asked to confirm the Scheme of Delegation as set out in the Constitution.

The Leader of the Council presented a report which dealt with the constitution of the Council’s committees and other member bodies and asked members to appoint chairs and vice chairs of various committees and other bodies.  In addition the Council was asked to confirm the Scheme of Delegation as set out in the Constitution.  The schedule of appointments had been circulated to members in advance of the meeting.

The Local Government and Housing Act 1989 and the Local Government (Committees and Political Groups) Regulations 1990 made provision for the allocation by the Council of places on its committees to political groups represented on the Council.

Appendix 1 set out the committees and sub-committees to which these principles applied and the proposed allocations to each group based on those principles.

Members noted that there was currently 1 vacancy in the Longtown division which was previously held by the Conservatives.  As this vacancy arose before the Structural Changes Order came into effect there was no provision for a by-election to be held to fill this vacancy and it would remain vacant until 1 April 2023 when the County Council would cease to exist.

At its Annual Meeting, the Council must appoint at least one scrutiny committee.  Scrutiny committees were required to be politically balanced.  The Constitution provides for the appointment of three Scrutiny Advisory Boards, a Cumbria Health Scrutiny Committee, an overarching Scrutiny Management Board and a committee to scrutinise the Local Enterprise Partnership. It was the intention that County Council members appointed to the LEP scrutiny Committee shall be the same members as those appointed to the Scrutiny Management Board. 

Certain Council bodies were not ordinary committees of the Council and not subject to the requirements of political proportionality.  Under the Constitution the full Council made appointments to these bodies and Members were recommended to make appointments to these bodies as indicated in Appendix 1.

The Council appoints the Chair and Vice Chair of each Scrutiny Advisory Board.  Appointments were subject to specific rules set out in the Constitution.  Under the Council’s Rules of Procedure, nominations were based on the principle of an allocation which was proportionate to the number of seats each political group had on the Council as a whole and in accordance with a weighting system described in the Constitution.

The Council was asked to approve the recommendations in this report so that its committees and sub-committees and other bodies were constituted for the municipal year 2021/22, so that the Council was represented on the outside bodies to which the Council appoints and that the Council had in place an approved Scheme of Delegation to Officers.

Members asked for an explanation about the nominations for the Cumbria Police  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

The minutes of the meetings of the Cabinet held on 3 February 2022 are enclosed (copy attached)

The Leader will ask members if they have any questions on the minutes taking each page in turn. Members should state clearly the minute number of the item concerned.

RESOLVED,     that the minutes of Cabinet held on 3 February 2023 be noted.

The minutes of the meetings of the Cabinet held on 17 March 2022 are enclosed (copy attached)

The Leader will ask members if they have any questions on the minutes taking each page in turn. Members should state clearly the minute number of the item concerned.

On Minute No 213 – Response to the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Public Consultation on the Potential Transfer of Fire Governance Mr Whiteside asked the Leader if he would give clarification regarding the financial argument.  If it was not possible to identify the overheads involved, how was the Council able to say that it would be financially worse if the fire service was rolled in with the police and crime commissioner than if it formed into an independent fire authority.

The Leader responded to say that Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service (CFRS) was an integral part of Cumbria County Council, and full Council was the ‘Fire Authority’.  With this came the ability to spread the central overheads and so CFRS benefitted from buying in to all the back office services.  One of the difficulties with the proposal from the Police and Crime Commissioner was that the Fire Service would lose the ability to take advantage of this going forward. This would have an effect on the budget as to buy these services in would be costly.

On the same minute Mr Turner asked the Leader why the Cabinet’s consideration of the consultation had been left so late that no proper scrutiny could take place or call in, if needed.

The Leader replied to say he would need to investigate this and said a written response would be provided.

On the same minute Dr Haraldsen asked the Leader what Cabinet’s intention was on the question of different brands and cultures. If it was not accepted that there was a close association with fire and police, was the County Council wrong to invest in the blue light hub. He asked whether the Leader believed the fire service had more in common with police than libraries?

The Leader responded to say that the Blue Light Hub was an efficient use of resources as the location of emergency services was in a shared location.  The hub was only about sharing the operation of services and not the governance behind the organisations involved, which all operated under different governance regimes.

The Cabinet Member said that currently CFRS were welcomed in homes in the communities to install fire alarms and other trusted services, and the officers were trusted by the public.  Sadly, she felt people often had a different view when a Police Officer knocked on the door.  However, the Police were working hard on changing this perception.

Also on this minute Mr Morgan asked the Cabinet Member for Customers, Transformation and the Fire Services whether she shared his concerns about the proposal of the PCC to take over our Fire and Rescue Service, for the implications for wider council services – given the integral part CFRS played within Cumbria County Council, and the vital and trusted role it had within communities: contributing to everything from emergency planning and response, to safeguarding some of our most vulnerable residents.

The Cabinet Member replied to say that CFRS was an integral part of Cumbria County Council and played  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11b

To consider a report from the Director of Public Health (copy enclosed).

Members had before them a report from the Director of Public Health, which was the seventh Annual Report to be presented to council following the transition of Public Health responsibilities to the Council from NHS Cumbria.

The statutory responsibilities of the DPH were designed to match exactly the corporate public health duties of their local authority. The exception is the annual report on the health of the local population where the DPH had a duty to write a report, whereas the authority’s duty was to publish it.

The Director of Public Health’s Annual Report was therefore intended to give an independent, expert view of the key issues affecting Public Health in the area with recommendations as to how these may be tackled.

The Director of Public Health then gave members a presentation, which inevitably  focused on Covid 19, and included:-

·           Key statistics

·           Excess deaths

·           Cumulative case rates

·           Age standardised mortality

·           Mortality by deprivation

·           Wider health impacts

·           Community response and resilience

·           Track and trace

·           Vaccinations

·           What next…….

The Chair thanked the Director of Public Health for his informative presentation and opened the floor up to questions.

Mr Whiteside commented that hospitals were still under extreme pressure and only last week one of the hospitals serving Cumbria had to declare OPEL 4, indicating the highest level of system pressure, partly due to covid and partly due to the public delaying contact with health services because of the situation which resulted in more serious health conditions.  He asked the Director of Public Health whether people were still being encouraged to take up vaccinations.

The Director of Public Health said yes people were still being encouraged to take up the vaccine.

Mrs Williamson thanked the Director of Public Health for his leadership during the pandemic, which was exemplary.  She asked the Director to join her in thanking all of the volunteers that helped during the crisis.

The Director paid tribute to all the volunteers that had helped during the pandemic.

Mr Hughes asked what effect the ending of free lateral flow testing had on the health of the population, and also the effect on NHS staff, and also what the effect might be now free lateral tests were no longer available.   

The Director responded to say that inevitably when free testing was no longer available the number of people taking the tests would decline.  The cost of free testing was huge and had to stop at some point as it was unsustainable.  However, testing was still taking place in hospitals and care homes.

Mr Hawkins asked the Director for his view on the resilience of the county if another pandemic came along.

The Director responded to say that there would be lessons learned from the covid pandemic and this process was still underway.  However, his view was that Cumbria was in a much better place to be able to rapidly mobilise should another pandemic happen.

Mr Brereton said the availability of the vaccine had been the major factor in bringing down the number of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

To consider a report from the Cabinet Member – Customers, Transformation  and Fire and Rescue (copy enclosed).

Mr K Little declared a pecuniary interest in this item as he was a recipient of a Fire Service Pension. He took no part in the meeting during discussion of this item.

County Council considered a report from Cabinet Member for Customer, Transformation and Fire and Rescue, which presented an update on the Annual Report of the Cumbria Fire Local Pension Board 2021/22. 

The Cumbria Fire Local Pension Board was required to report on its activities to the Council, and the Annual Report of the Cumbria Fire Local Pension Board 2021/22 detailed developments of the Board and its activities during the year.

Where the Cumbria Fire Local Pension Board was concerned that due consideration had not been given to matters of non-compliance, the Board may submit a report for consideration by the Audit and Assurance Committee as the body designated by the Scheme Manager with the capacity to investigate such matters on its behalf.  There had been no matters raised with the Audit and Assurance Committee.

RESOLVED,     that members note the 2021/22 Annual Report of the Cumbria Fire Local Pension Board.

To consider a report from the Chair of Scrutiny Management Board (copy enclosed).

The Chair of Scrutiny Management Board presented a report which detailed the Scrutiny Annual Report 2021/22 and updated members on the work of Scrutiny and any issues and developments that had occurred since the last meeting of Full Council.

The Scrutiny Annual Report 2021/22 provided a summary of the Scrutiny activity carried out over the last 12 months including the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and its impacts, the beginning of the implementation of Local Government Reorganisation and the ongoing pressures and challenges faced by the Council’s services.  Alongside this, members retained a focus on other key issues important to the residents of Cumbria. Members were asked to note the Annual Report.

The current Scrutiny Work Programme, which Members were asked to note, was under ongoing review and regularly updated to reflect new and emerging issues.

The Chair of Scrutiny Management Board took members through matters which had been considered by the Scrutiny Boards since the last meeting of Council, and also detailed the recent Task and Finish reviews undertaken.

One of the members asked the Chair of Scrutiny Management Board whether he agreed that now was the time that the legal advice in relation to Local Government Reorganisation be released to all members.

The Chair of Scrutiny Management Board said it was not his decision to take on whether the information should be disclosed.  However, he would welcome the full legal advice being released to all members.

RESOLVED,     that

(1)      Members note the Scrutiny Annual Report 2021/22 attached as Appendix 1 of the report;

(2)      Members note the work programme presented as Appendix 2 and recent activity undertaken by Scrutiny set out in the report.

To consider questions from Members, in accordance with Council Procedure Rule No 11.2 to 11.5 to the Leader, a Member of the Executive or the Chair of any Committee.

Ms McCarron-Holmes asked the Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport about the recent train stoppages from Carlisle down the coast line, particularly during the Easter holidays, with coach replacement services, and whether the Transport Minister had at any time recently given any indications that Government would address this important rail link.

The Cabinet Member replied to say that he was notified each week about cancellation of trains.  Ongoing line maintenance was one of the major reasons for train cancellation.  Cumbria County Council was working with Rail Northern to produce a programme of repairs on this line. 

Mr Lister asked the Chair of the Communities and Place Scrutiny Advisory Board  whether given the number of urgent cabinet meetings, he felt that a decision around the future of fire governance warranted an extra cabinet meeting, which would have allowed for the relevant scrutiny to have taken place.

The Chair of the Scrutiny Advisory Board responded to say that he was not responsible for arranging the Cabinet meetings.  As soon as he became aware of the consultation he had called a Communities and Place Scrutiny Advisory Board meeting.

Mr Cotton asked the Leader of the Council how many Cumbrian homes had expressed an interest in sponsoring a Ukranian person and/or family fleeing the war in their country, and how many Homes for Ukraine Scheme applications had been submitted by Cumbrian residents.

The Leader responded to say the Scheme for Homes for Ukraine was very different to the scheme for refugees.  Members of the public had been asked to express an interest individually to the Government for the Homes for Ukraine Scheme, and not through the Council.  This made it more difficult for Statutory Authorities to ensure services were in place to support these individuals.  However, he understood there were approximately 190 Cumbrian sponsors for families under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme, with 554 individuals and 208 children aged between 0-16, but he was not aware of how many of these had yet arrived in Cumbria.   

Mr M Wilson asked the Leader what impact the proposed changes to local Health Systems have on local democracy, and the ability to have a say in local health provision.

The Leader replied to say that current health reforms were the largest reforms of the NHS and the changes were significant.  In the latest reform the Clinical Commissioning Groups would disappear to be replaced by the Integrated Care Partnerships.  Along with the current local government reform the reform would be extremely complex.  However, the effect on democracy was not yet known, but it was unlikely that the representative on the Boards would be from Cumbria, they were more likely to be from the North East.  

Mr D Wilson asked the Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport for an update on the progress of Millom and Haverigg flood alleviation project.

The Cabinet Member replied to say he would provide a written response.

Mrs Williamson asked the Leader of the Council whether he had any idea of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

To receive reports from Committees of the Council and receive questions and answers in accordance with Council Procedure Rules 11.1 to 11.5.

To receive the minutes of a meeting of the Workington Harbour Management Committee held on 29 January 2022 (copy enclosed)

Mr Dobson asked the Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport with reference to Para 46 Port Manager’s report which stated "Members were informed of an incident that had taken place and where significant amount of learnings had come from the investigation. These learnings included a change in the decision making process in adverse weather conditions and the addition of a formalised dynamic risk assessment."  He asked the Cabinet Member to for an explanation.

The Cabinet Member gave a detailed explanation about what had taken place.

RESOLVED,     that the Minutes of the Workington Harbour Management Committee meeting held on 28 January 2022 be received and noted.

To consider a report from the Leader of the Council (copy enclosed)

The Leader of the Council presented a report, the purpose of which was to notify members of any urgent decisions taken in the period since the last County Council meeting. 

Four relevant decisions had been taken since the last meeting and the details of those decisions were set out at Appendix 1.  In all cases, the decisions were treated as urgent decisions as the requirements to advertise for at least 28 days prior to a key decision being taken could not be complied with. 

With reference to the decision of the Award of Contract for Mobilisation Works on the Carlisle Southern Link Road, the Leader informed members that the decision taken by Russia to invade Ukraine had meant the decision to award a contract had been postponed.

RESOLVED,     that the report be received and noted.

To consider notice of motions for up to a specified period of one hour.

Mr Lywood to move:-

Right now within the Lake District National Park some villages have only 20% of their dwellings occupied permanently. The other 80% are either holiday lets or second homes. Within my ward of Keswick the figure is now nearly 40%. One in two houses sold goes to owners who do not dwell in the house on a permanent basis. The guts of our communities are being ripped out. Holiday lets produce income and bring tourists for our economy but the proportions have become so huge that our young people can no longer afford to live here and the community is fast dwindling. 

One seemingly outrageous loophole is that where we all pay council tax roughly 90% of all holiday lets pay neither council tax nor business rates. Once a dwelling becomes a holiday let it changes its status into a business and should pay business rates.

Holiday lets automatically get ‘small business rate relief’ which takes the business rates to zero so effectively subsidising holiday lets to the detriment of the local community and local rented accommodation. 

The Lake District National Park has recently committed to a Partnership Plan, which will see them lobbying and influencing for the abolition of the ‘small business rate relief’ for furnished holiday lets. This will not entirely stop the proportional increase of holiday lets but it will at least ensure that they do not get a free ride in terms of rates as those who occupy them still use our roads, streetlights, police, fire service and all the services council tax and rates pay for. The small business rate relief system was intended for small shops and start ups not for what is effectively an investment. 

I call upon this council to support the lobbying that the Lake District National Park has already committed to, and in turn to:

1.  Write to all Cumbrian MPs and elicit their support.

2.  Write to the Chancellor asking him to close this loophole.

3.  Write to the Local Government Minister to highlight the damage that   

     disproportionate numbers of holiday lets bring onto our communities and

4.  Contact all Cumbrian parish councils to lobby their support.

The people who live in the Lake District National Park are not an add on or like some quaint population of indigenous peoples to be seen as fodder for the economic imperatives of tourism – they are both a crucial part of each and every business and industry in the Lake District and form individual communities. Yet they are being wiped away, and all of us with opportunity should use it to speak up, before it is too late and our Lake District becomes a sterile holiday park, with workers transported in and no local community to speak of. 

This change in small business rate relief will not stop the move to holiday lets but it will stop our rate system from actively encouraging it!  ...  view the full agenda text for item 18.

Mr T Allison declared a pecuniary interest in this item, as he has a holiday home located within the Lake District National Park.  He left the room at this point.

Mr Lywood presented the following motion to Council:

Right now within the Lake District National Park some villages had only 20% of their dwellings occupied permanently.  The other 80% were either holiday lets or second homes.  Within my ward of Keswick the figure was now nearly 40%.  One in two houses sold goes to owners who do not dwell in the house on a permanent basis. The guts of our communities were being ripped out. Holiday lets produced income and brought tourists for our economy but the proportions had become so huge that our young people could no longer afford to live here and the community was fast dwindling. 

One seemingly outrageous loophole was that where we all pay council tax roughly 90% of all holiday lets pay neither council tax nor business rates. Once a dwelling became a holiday let it changed its status into a business and should pay business rates.

Holiday lets automatically get ‘small business rate relief’ which took the business rates to zero so effectively subsidising holiday lets to the detriment of the local community and local rented accommodation. 

The Lake District National Park had recently committed to a Partnership Plan, which would see them lobbying and influencing for the abolition of the ‘small business rate relief’ for furnished holiday lets. This would not entirely stop the proportional increase of holiday lets but it would at least ensure that they do not get a free ride in terms of rates as those who occupy them still use our roads, streetlights, police, fire service and all the services council tax and rates pay for.  The small business rate relief system was intended for small shops and start-ups not for what was effectively an investment. 

I call upon this council to support the lobbying that the Lake District National Park had already committed to, and in turn to:

1.    Write to all Cumbrian MPs and elicit their support.

2.    Write to the Chancellor asking him to close this loophole.

3.    Write to the Local Government Minister to highlight the damage that disproportionate numbers of holiday lets bring onto our communities and

4.    Contact all Cumbrian parish councils to lobby their support.

The people who live in the Lake District National Park were not an add on or like some quaint population of indigenous peoples to be seen as fodder for the economic imperatives of tourism – they were both a crucial part of each and every business and industry in the Lake District and form individual communities. Yet they were being wiped away, and all of us with opportunity should use it to speak up, before it is too late and our Lake District became a sterile holiday park, with workers transported in and no local community to speak of. 

This change in small business rate relief  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.

To hear speeches (not exceeding five minutes each) for up to a specified period of 30 minutes, from individual members, of which at least 24 hours’ notice has been given to the Executive Director – Corporate, Customer and Community Services.

Mrs Williamson made a speech on ‘To freeze or to starve’.

Mr M Wilson made a speech on ‘Anti-social behaviour and role of the police’.