Agenda item
Dispensations
Decision:
(a) That Councillor David Mackie be granted dispensation under paragraph (d) of the Standards Committee (Grant of Dispensations) (Wales) Regulations 2001 for a period of 12 months (ending 12 May 2015) to speak for 5 minutes at the Planning Committee but to leave the room after he has spoken. The dispensation to apply to planning application 051613 or any application which in the opinion of the Monitoring Officer was similar.
(b) That Councillor Alison Halford be granted dispensation under paragraph (d) of the Standards Committee (Grant of Dispensations) (Wales) Regulations 2001 for a period of 12 months (ending 12 May 2015) to speak at the Planning Committee, tovote on the application and to communicate with officers in writing. The dispensation to apply to planning application 051613 or any application which in the opinion of the Monitoring Officer was similar.
Minutes:
The Democracy & Governance Manager explained that a meeting of the Planning & Development Control was due to be held on 14 May 2014. He explained that one of the recommendations was that if planning permission was granted, two schools in Hawarden would receive a payment for educational contributions. The Democracy & Governance Manager outlined the wording in the Member Code of Conduct and provided details of the requests for dispensation from Councillors David Mackie and Alison Halford.
The Democracy & Governance Manager advised that as Councillor Mackie was not a Member of the Planning Committee, the Member Code of Conduct indicated that he could speak for three minutes (the same as for a member of the public). He was requesting to speak for five minutes and the Democracy & Governance Manager recommended that following Councillor Mackie speaking, he should leave the room for the rest of that item. He also explained that Councillor Halford had requested to speak for five minutes and also as she was a Member of the Planning Committee to vote and communicate with officers outside of the formal meeting. He explained that a database of previous dispensations was kept and he highlighted a similar dispensation which had been granted for Members on the Planning Committee who had also been on the Management Committee of the Buckley Health Centre; they had been granted permission to speak but not vote on applications for Buckley Health Centre.
Following a question from the Chair and Mr. Kenneth Molyneux, the Democracy & Governance Manager explained that if Councillors were not on the Planning Committee, they could speak for five minutes as local Members on applications in their ward if they did not have a personal and prejudicial interest. However, without submission of an application for dispensation, they would only be entitled to speak for three minutes and would then be required to leave the room during discussion of the application. Councillor Hilary McGuill said that she did not have an issue with Councillor Mackie being able to speak for five minutes and then leave the chamber. She proposed that Councillor Mackie be granted dispensation to speak for five minutes and then be asked to leave the chamber and that the dispensation be granted for 12 months.
On the issue of Councillor Halford’s request for dispensation, the Head of Legal and Democratic Services advised that for previous dispensations of a similar nature, Councillors had been permitted to communicate in writing with officers to allow for a clear and transparent record to be held, and had been permitted to speak but not vote on applications.
In response to comments from Ms. Phillipa Earlam and Mr. Robert Dewey about the finance aspect of the educational contributions for Hawarden High School, and a comment from Councillor Hilary McGuill, the Democracy & Governance Manager provided a detailed explanation of section 106 obligations for educational contributions on planning applications and advised that Councillor Halford being Chair of the Audit Committee was not relevant to the determination of the dispensation request.
Following a discussion about the educational contributions, the Head of Legal and Democratic Services suggested that Councillor Halford also be granted dispensation to speak for five minutes, which was the same for Councillor Mackie, and that the Committee needed to decide if she was permitted to vote and therefore remain in the meeting for the debate. Mr. Kenneth Molyneux felt that the dispensations granted for the Buckley Health Centre Management Committee Members had set a precedent.
Mr. Dewey proposed that Councillor Halford be allowed to speak for five minutes but should then leave the meeting prior to the debate of the application and be permitted to communicate in writing with officers outside of the meeting; the proposal was duly seconded. Councillor David Cox provided details of the sums requested as part of the planning application for educational contributions and said that the monies would benefit the community and that Councillor Halford should therefore be permitted to vote. The Democracy & Governance Manager explained that Councillor Halford would not have had any involvement in the calculation of the figures and that the figure would have been calculated by the Planning Officers using a formula.
On being put to the vote, the proposal to speak, not vote, leave the meeting for the period of the debate, and to be able to communicate in writing with officers was lost. Councillor McGuill then proposed that Councillor Halford be able to speak, vote, and communicate in writing with officers and on being put to the vote, the proposal was carried.
RESOLVED:
(a) That Councillor David Mackie be granted dispensation under paragraph (d) of the Standards Committee (Grant of Dispensations) (Wales) Regulations 2001 for a period of 12 months (ending 12 May 2015) to speak for 5 minutes at the Planning Committee but to leave the room after he has spoken. The dispensation to apply to planning application 051613 or any application which in the opinion of the Monitoring Officer was similar.
(b) That Councillor Alison Halford be granted dispensation under paragraph (d) of the Standards Committee (Grant of Dispensations) (Wales) Regulations 2001 for a period of 12 months (ending 12 May 2015) to speak at the Planning Committee, tovote on the application and to communicate with officers in writing. The dispensation to apply to planning application 051613 or any application which in the opinion of the Monitoring Officer was similar.