Agenda and minutes

Venue: Civic Hall, Leeds, LS1 1UR

Contact: Email: kevin.tomkinson@leeds.gov.uk 

Items
No. Item

1.

Appeals against refusal of inspection of documents

To consider any appeals in accordance with Procedure Rule 15.2 of the Access to Information Procedure Rules (in the event of an appeal the press and public will be excluded).

 

(*In accordance with Procedure Rule 15.2, written notice of an appeal must be received by the Head of Governance Services at least 24 hours before the meeting)

 

Minutes:

There were no appeals against the refusal of inspection of documents.

2.

Exempt Information - possible exclusion of the press and public

1  To highlight reports or appendices which officers have identified as containing exempt information, and where officers consider that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information, for the reasons outlined in the report.

 

2   To consider whether or not to accept the officers recommendation in respect of the above information.

 

3   If so, to formally pass the following resolution:-

 

RESOLVED – That the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following parts of the agenda designated as containing exempt information on the grounds that it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the press and public were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information, as follows:-

 

Minutes:

There were no resolutions to exclude the public.

3.

Late items

To identify items which have been admitted to the agenda by the Chair for consideration

 

(The special circumstances shall be specified in the minutes)

 

Minutes:

There were no late items.

4.

Declaration of Disclosable Pecuniary and Other Interests

To disclose or draw attention to any disclosable pecuniary interests for the purposes of Section 31 of the Localism Act 2000 and paragraphs 13-18 of the Members’ Code of Conduct. Also to declare any other significant interests which the Member wishes to declare in the public interest, in accordance with paragraphs 19-20 of the Members’ Code of Conduct.

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

5.

Apologies for absence

To receive any apologies for absence from the meeting.

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Councillor Lowe (Councillor Harland attended as substitute).

 

6.

Minutes of the last meeting pdf icon PDF 70 KB

To receive and approve the minutes of the meeting held on 10th May 2017.

Minutes:

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting held on the 10th May 2017 be approved as a correct record.

7.

Joint Review of Polling Districts and Community Governance Review of Parish and Town Councils pdf icon PDF 140 KB

To consider a report of the Head of Licensing and Registration in respect of initial proposals for the joint polling district review and community governance review of parish and town councils and to agree the initial proposals to be published on 3 October 2017 for the second consultation period of the review.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Further to minute 29 of the meeting held on 10th May 2017 the Head of Elections, Licensing and Registration submitted a report asking General Purposes Committee to consider the Initial Proposals for the Joint Polling District and Community Governance Review. The report was also seeking agreement for the Initial Proposals to be published on 3rd October 2017 for the second consultation period of the review.

 

The report set out: -

 

  • Background information;
  • Details of the review process;
  • Details of the Review of Polling Districts and Places;
  • Details of the Community Governance Review of all Parish and Town Councils;
  • Results of the preliminary stage; and
  • Returning Officer’s comments.

 

ln presenting the report the Head of Elections, Licensing and Registration informed the Committee of the following and responded to Members comments and queries: -

 

  • That in addition to the representation received from Swillington Parish Council during the initial consultation period, the Parish Council had submitted additional comments after the closing date for receipt of representations.  Members noted that these could either be considered at this meeting or considered as part of the next consultation period;
  • That the Clerk to the Barwick-in-Elmet and Scholes Parish Council had made a late request asking for a referendum to take place in respect of the proposals for that Parish Council.  Members noted that there was no provision for conducting a referendum as part of the community governance review process and Members had rejected previous requests of this nature in previous reviews due to the costs associated with a referendum;
  • That on the morning of the meeting he had received a telephone call from the Clerk to the Ledston Parish Council assuring him that improved administrative processes would be put in place at the Parish Council in future; and
  • That following the second consultation period there would be a further report back to the General Purposes Committee to recommend the Final Proposals on 11th December 2017.

 

At the conclusion of the discussion on the item it was

 

RESOLVED: -

 

a) To note that the summary of representations set out in Appendix B that had cross-party support (by parties who expressed a view) and in each case was confirmed as an Initial Proposal whilst having regard to the resolutions at b (i), (ii) and (iii);

b)   (i)To agree that the additional representation made by Swillington Parish Council after the closing date for receipt of representations be included and considered as part of the second consultation period;

  (ii)That the request from the Barwick-in-Elmet and Scholes Parish Council for a referendum to take place in respect of the proposals for that Parish Council be not supported due to the costs associated with a referendum and that the normal consultation process be used as the mechanism for electors to make any representations; and

  (iii) That in respect of the Ledston Parish Council proposals officers arrange a meeting with representatives of the Parish Council and Ward Members to look at this matter further.  However, the recommendation to abolish  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.