Shepway Chairman's Blog

Whilst I have recorded every event I’m invited to as chairman, I have neglected to mention the full council meetings which I chair and made no record at all of the meeting on 22 July.  So I shall attempt to make up for this with an explanation of how a full council meeting fits into the way the council is run.

Although the council is run by a leader and cabinet, full council is still the body that approves the budget, agrees all the council’s policies and appoints councillors to the committees that do the day to day work such as Development Control (planning), Committee Overview Committee, Licensing, Housing Appeals, Corporate Scrutiny etc..  These committees have memberships of between four and thirteen and most are required by law to reflect the political balance of the council.  

There are 46 councillors in all.  Some, like me, are single members representing a ward but more populous areas have two or three councillors.  There is roughly one councillor for every 1,500 voters.  At present there are 37 Conservative Councillors, 6 Liberal Democrats and 2 People First councillors.  And the reason that doesn’t add up to 46 is that a Conservative councillor, Sue Ashworth has resigned due to ill health.  There is a by-election on Thursday 12 November for the New Romney Coast ward.  All 46 seats will next be up for election the first Thursday in May 2011.

All councillors are expected to attend the full council meeting which is held about 8 times a year at the Civic Centre in Castle Hill Avenue, Folkestone.  Our February meeting is particularly important as it sets the budget and therefore the level of council tax we pay.  We will also meet as a full council next spring to consider the planning application for Lydd Airport and, whenever the application comes forward, we will also meet for the planning application for Folkestone Harbour.  Well over 90% of planning applications are dealt with by council officers under what is called ‘delegated powers’ but around 5% or so of contentious items go to Development Control Committee.  The Lydd Airport and Folkestone Harbour applications are considered so important that, quite exceptionally, they will come before full council.

Tonight’s meeting on Wednesday 30 September is a normal meeting with a report from the Leader of the Council, Robert Bliss and the opportunity for comment from the leaders of People First, Brian Copping and the Liberal Democrats, Lynne Beaumont.  We are also adopting a new constitution which will enabe the opposition parties to nominate an item of business for the agenda.  There are three motions to debate, one from the Conservative Group about the High Speed Rail services and two motions from individual councillors; one from Peter Gane about open space in his ward and another from Dick Pascoe about the local Fire and Rescue Service.

Our council meetings normally start with prayers said by the chairman’s chaplain.  The chairman appoints his or her chaplain so they change when the chairmanship changes.  It is an unpaid role but a much appreciated one.  My chaplain is Roger Martin who retired recently as Rector of Saltwood church.  Tonight Roger says a special prayer in memory of Mick Goldup of the Shepway Grounds team who died suddenly in August.

As chairman I also make a report to the council and I highlight Shepway’s Royal Military Canal 200th birthday party, the centenary celebration of the Girl Guides and the High Speed train preview services from Folkestone.  On my left sits Alistair Stewart, Shepway’s Chief Excecutive, on my right is the Vice Chairman, Councillor David Owen.  In front of us on a lower level are a legal officer and the committee clerk.  The councillors sit in three rows laid out in as a semicircle with the councillors who are in the cabinet nearest the front on my left and the senior officers of the council nearest the front on my right.

The meetings start at 7pm and are open to the public.  There are normally a few members of the public in the gallery to watch proceedings.  There is no set finishing time but there are limits on how long each stage of business may last e.g. the motions from political groups can only be debated for forty minutes.

The full council is the opportunity for the backbenchers in general and the opposition councillors in particular to hold the executive to account, to raise matters of importance to their own ward and for political debate.  My role is to keep order and move the meeting on but see that debate is not stifled.

On the whole it is a good tempered meeting and we finish at the reasonable hour of 9 30 pm.  Our next full council meeting is at 7pm on Wednesday 25th November and it is open to the public.