To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of the Council, held on 28 June 2017.

Councillor Jones requested that Appendix A referred to in the minutes be made available to Members.

Councillor Okunade’s comment on Page 21, Item 29, Motion submitted by Councillor Spillman should read “Councillor Okunade stated that as Chair to the Children’s Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee and her involvement in Corporate Parenting that it was paramount that no child should suffer and that Members should be assured that authorities have the right processes in place. Based on this Councillor Okunade would be unable to support the Motion”.

Following the above amendment, Members approved the Minutes of the Meeting of Council held on the 28 June 2017 as a correct record.

To receive additional items that the Mayor is of the opinion should be considered as a matter of urgency, in accordance with Section 100B (4) (b) of the Local Government Act 1972.

The Mayor informed the Council that he had not agreed to the consideration of any items of urgent business.

To receive any declaration of interests from Members.

Councillor C Kent declared a non-pecuniary interest as she was an Outside Body representative on the Essex Fire Authority.

Councillor Watkins declared a non-pecuniary interest as he was an Outside Body representative on the Essex Fire Authority.

Councillor Redsell declared a non-pecuniary interest as she was a Member on the Essex Police and Crime Panel.

The Mayor invited all those present to reflect on and remember Thurrock’s fallen of World War One.

The Mayor thanked Thurrock MPs Jackie Doyle-Price and Stephen Metcalfe, along with Councillors Halden, Jones, Okunade and Coxshall and the numerous residents who attended the Civic Service held on the 2 July 2017. The Mayor stated that the event had been well attended by Mayors from nearby boroughs and thanked Reverend Barlow, Laosun and Ruth Cartwright for officiating the service.

The Mayor stated how impressed he had been with the Thurrock 100 events that had taken place over the last month, with 23 schools participating in an art competition with the results proudly being displayed at the Thurrock Thames Art Studio in Mucking. These artists had agreed to display their work in the Mayor’s Parlour in the future.

The Mayor referenced the first graduation of the National College for the Creative and Cultural Industries that had been held in July with Thurrock leading the way on the level of training and that he looked forward to seeing the new students accommodation building.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Gledhill, updated Members on the following:

On Monday 31 July, a commemorative event will take place at the Grays War Memorial from 11.00am in respect of the Battle of Passchendaele which began 100 years ago.

Councillor Gledhill stated that since the introduction of Clean It, Cut It the Council had collected 57,183 bags of litter, 333 litter bins had been emptied, over 1550 fly-tips had been collected which had equated to 345,627 kilograms, over 27,500 hectares of grass had been cut and from 79 parks and green spaces approximately 17,200 bags of rubbish had been removed from these sites.

Councillor Gledhill stated that 2,082 pot holes had been filled since April 2017 having acquired extra money from Government.

That 1858 fixed penalty notices had been issued for rubbish and dog fouling with 35 individuals being successfully prosecuted with £8394.00 in fines, £8574.00 in costs and a £1134.00 victim surcharge. Councillor Gledhill encouraged residents not to ignore a fine, pay up and stop dropping rubbish on Thurrock streets.

Councillor Gledhill stated that from 24 July 2017, the first phase of gas works in London Road, Grays would commence and apologised to residents for the inconvenience this may cause.

Councillor Gledhill confirmed that no London Borough would be bulk purchasing properties in the St Chads development with two thirds of the properties in phases one and two being fully let and social housing properties being available soon.

Councillor Gledhill formally announced the change of Portfolio Holder for Environment to Councillor Watkins who would be responding to questions later this evening.

In accordance with Chapter 2, Part 2 (Rule 14) of the Council’s Constitution.

At 7.15pm, Councillor Collins requested a Point of Order in relation to Rule 14.12, Questions without Notice. He asked the Monitoring Officer to clarify whether Council Members had sight of public questions before any decision had been made to accept or reject them. The Monitoring Officer, David Lawson, confirmed that when Member or Public questions were received they were regarded as strictly confidential. Once questions had been approved they were forwarded to the relevant Officer for response with a very strict understanding that questions received from Members or the Public should never be shared with other Members or the Portfolio Holder until after the deadline to receive questions had passed.

A copy of the transcript of questions and answers can be viewed under the relevant meeting date at http://democracy.thurrock.gov.uk/thurrock and are attached at Appendix A to these minutes.

In accordance with Chapter 2, Part 2(Rule 14) of the Council’s Constitution.

The Mayor informed Members that in accordance with the Council’s Petition Scheme no notices of petitions had been received.

Members received a report on the status of those petitions handed in at Council Meetings and Council Officers over the past six months.

Councillor Redsell requested an update on Petition 487 with regard to double yellow lines on the access road to 36-72 Lodge Lane, Grays.

Councillor Duffin requested an update on Petition 480 with regard to parking in Limeslade Close; Petition 481 with regard to parking in Plashet Close and Southend Road and Petition 484 with regard to insufficient parking in Plaistow Close.

Councillor Duffin stated that the process for dealing with Petitions should be reviewed.

The Council are asked to agree any changes to the appointments made to committees and outside bodies, statutory and other panels, as requested by Group Leaders.

The Mayor enquired whether Group Leaders wished for any changes to be made to the appointments previously made to Committees and outside bodies, statutory and other panels.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Gledhill, informed the Chamber that he wished to make the following changes:

Councillor Collins to become a permanent Member on the Children’s Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee to replace Councillor Watkins.

Councillor Watkins be removed as Substitute Member on the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Councillor Redsell to become a permanent Member on the Health and Wellbeing Overview and Scrutiny Committee to replace Councillor Watkins.

Councillor Snell, Leader of the UKIP Group, informed the Council Chamber he had no further changes to make.

Councillor Gerrish, Leader of the Labour Group, informed the Council Chamber he had no further changes to make.

RESOLVED:

1.         That Councillor Collins be appointed as Member of the Children’s Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

2.         That Councillor Watkins be removed from the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

3.         That Councillor Redsell be appointed as Member of the Health and Wellbeing Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Councillor Gledhill, Leader of the Council, stated that this was the first opportunity to present the report to Council on events following the Secretary of State’s announcement on the 12 April 2017 of a preferred route for a Lower Thames Crossing. That the purdah period had prevented debate and that the announcements were required so that Thurrock could move forward onto the next stage. Councillor Gledhill stated the decision on the route had been the wrong one and that Members and the public would also agree that this decision was the wrong one.

The report had been presented at Full Council to maintain the Council’s continued stance that it was opposed to any new river crossing and associated new road in Thurrock. As the Council continued to oppose the principal of the new crossing it had to be recognised that any damage it may do to the borough should be minimised as far as possible. In a statutory role, the Council will continue to engage with Highways England and to ensure that the responses put together are backed up with solid facts and figures from independent air quality testing.

The voices of Thurrock will continue to be heard as Thurrock residents would feel the negative impact of this scheme whilst everyone else would get the potential benefits. To ensure that Thurrock residents got a fair representation as the process continued, the Council had agreed a £50,000 budget each year to help residents get the best deal from the decision. Councillor Gledhill stated that this figure should be matched by Highways England and not be reliant on one authority to pay for work needed to get the best for the residents that it affected the most.

A clear time table had been set by the Council to ensure that Highways England informed the Council of any advance notices and details of any information, events or correspondence relating to the crossing.

Councillor Gledhill agreed to endorse the amendment to recommendation 1.6 as proposed by Councillor Gerrish and that became the substantive recommendation. The amended recommendation 1.6 read as follows:

That General Services Committee be invited to establish a cross party Lower Thames Crossing Task Force and to agree its Terms of Reference at the next General Services Committee meeting;  or alternatively  consider a change to the constitution to include a new overview and scrutiny committee to look expressly at the Lower Thames Crossing and if agreed bring a report to Full Council as to its possible Terms of Reference, the financial and legal implications including any impact on political balance calculations and payment of special responsibility allowances.

Councillor Gledhill agreed that all Members should have the opportunity to take part in this debate.

Following this Full Council meeting, the Secretary of State will be contacted on how the Council want to take this proposal forward. It would be equally important that the three Group Leaders meet with Highways England to discuss the next steps.

Councillor Gledhill stated that the Council had some  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38.

In accordance with Chapter 2, Part 2 (Rule 14) of the Council’s Constitution.

At 8.24pm, Councillor Coxshall requested a Point of Order that Members should not be named whilst they were not present in the Chamber.

The Mayor informed the Chamber that 2 questions to the Leader of the Council had been received and 5 questions to Cabinet Members.

A copy of the transcript of questions and answers can be found at Appendix A to these minutes.

Councillor Ojetola invited Members to the Annual AGM of the Thurrock Community Leisure Limited/Impulse Leisure Limited on the 23 August 2017 and that previous AGM minutes would be sent to Members for information.

The Minutes of Committees as set out in the Agenda were received.

Members received an information report updating the progress in respect of Motions received at Council over the last year.

At 9.00pm, the Mayor moved a motion to suspend Council Procedure Rule 11.1 to allow the meeting to continue beyond the 2.5 hour time limit until 9.30pm. Members indicated their agreement to the proposal.

The Motion, as printed in the Agenda was proposed by Councillor C Kent and seconded by Councillor C Holloway. The Motion read as follows:

This Council urges the Essex Fire Authority and the Police Crime Commissioner to urgently review the crewing of all special appliances such as the Aerial Ladder Platform by recruiting full time firefighters so these appliances are available whenever they are needed.

Councillor C Kent explained that a proposed amendment had been received by Councillor Watkins and read as follows:

This Council urges the Essex Fire Authority and the Police Crime Commissioner to urgently review the crewing of all special appliances in Thurrock.

Councillor C Kent confirmed that in the spirit of Members working together she would accept the amendment and stated that the Motion had been submitted to ensure the safety of Thurrock residents. Councillor C Kent stated that the Aerial Ladder Platform was a specialised piece of apparatus that was crucial in any fire incident but would be crewed by firefighters outside of Grays. Pressure should now be put on the Police Crime Commissioner that all crew be trained to ensure that the Fire Service are ready if the worse should happen.

Councillor C Holloway stated that this was a practical motion addressing the correct use of apparatus and regard should also be given to the dangers of fire at all infrastructures in the borough. Practical risk assessments should be undertaken to understand where the demand for apparatus fell.

Councillor Watkins thanked Councillor C Kent for agreeing to the amendment and that her passion for the Fire Service was very evident. Councillor Watkins stated that he would fully support the Motion and fully support the Fire Service but stated a full review should be undertaken with the Fire Service to understand the history of events, the statistics and operational requests made by the Fire Service for such apparatus.

Councillor Jones stated that he would be supporting the Motion and that it was vital that industrial infrastructures in the borough should form part of any review undertaken by the Fire Service.

Councillor Piccolo agreed that the Fire Service should undertake a wider review on all specialist and vital firefighting apparatus.

Councillor C Kent thanked Members for their support and stated that the Fire Service had been very close to her heart and thanked all the firefighters in Essex who continued to keep residents safe.

The Mayor called a vote on the Motion as amended.

Following a clear majority in favour, the Mayor declared the Amended Motion carried.

The Mayor declared the Motion was carried.