 Edych chi'n gwybod, maen nhw'n cael ei ddwyddiolion. Yn cyflawn yma, dyna'r ystod yma yma, ond i'r gydag yma i'r gweithio i ddweud yma, ond i'r 15 May 2023, yna'r gweithio i ddweud yma. Er yna'r ddweud cyfre yma ar y ddweud yma yma, os ydych chi'n gwneud yma ar y ddweud yma, ar y ddweud yma ar y ddweud yma'r ddweud yma. Diolchriff y Llyrdat. Dyog, ddwy fydd moyddi yn enghretaid fel Menlyr Peter Fane ar y cyfnod rhain ddaeth Cynllunio. Dyna'r syniadattau? Dyna syniadattau? Ddydw i. Ddwy fydd koeidio gond justement cyframpol. Guid sut'r mylbaith gofnoddau? Chi nid bod yn mwy am fyddi bobl hyn. I'm going to invite Councillor Fane to leave the room as the only nominee, and our constitution requires that a secret ballot be undertaken, so democratic services will provide you with the means by which you can record a vote, so for the purposes of the live feed I'm just going to, just for the purposes of the live feed I'm just letting members who might be watching online know that the votes are being counted. So, we welcome Councillor Fane back into the room, and I'm pleased to announce that Councillor Fane has been elected as the new chair of council with 31 votes. So, thank you very much, and I will now. Thank you very much. The new chair now has to sign the acceptance of office, which he's about to do. Thank you very much for that. We now resume. You will have seen that I had a declaration sign, which I now need to read out to you. I, Peter Fane, having been elected to the office of chair of South Cambridge District Council, declare that I take that office upon myself and will duly and faithfully fulfil the duties of it according to the best of my judgment and ability. I undertake to observe the code as to conduct which is expected of members of South Cambridge Council, and I have signed that, and it has now been witnessed by our chief executive. Thank you. Well, I'm not sure that I need to read out the next thing on my list to you, but I will anyway. My name is Councillor Fane. Thank you for electing me, chair of the council for the forthcoming year. I do not intend to make anything in the way of an acceptance speech or anything like that. I don't feel that's necessary. One or two technicalities I need to go through before we proceed to next business. As usual, this meeting is being live streamed and recorded, and we also allow recording, filming and photography. So long as proceedings at the meeting are not disrupted to minimise disturbance to others attending the meeting, please switch your phone to silent. Please keep your microphone switched off unless you're invited to speak. If participating remotely, when you're invited to address the meeting, please make sure your microphone and camera are switched on. And when you finish addressing the meeting, please turn your microphone and camera off. Please, with members who are attending remotely, indicated wish to speak through a chat message in the team's meeting, and those present in the meeting should indicate their wish to speak by raising their hand. I will then ask the vice-chair when appointed to note the order of speakers. The chat facility should not be used for any other purposes except where necessary to note down a simple amendment, complex amendments should have been shared with democratic services in advance of the meeting. When we move to a vote on any item and there is not clear affirmation, I will state the recorded vote will be taken, and members in the chamber will then vote electronically, selecting for, against and abstain. The result will be displayed. I think much of that will be known to you. The meeting is quarried, so we can now proceed to the meeting itself. The next item of business item two is the appointment of vice-chair. And in accordance with the constitution, the vice-chair also is to be elected by secret ballot. So can I ask, are there any nominations for the office of vice-chair of the council for the 2023-24 municipal year? Leader. Thank you very much, and congratulations. I would like to nominate Councillor Peter Sandford for the role of vice-chair of council. Thank you. Is there a seconder for that nomination? Yes, Chair. I second that nomination of Peter Sandford as vice-chair. Are there any other nominations? I see no other nominations. We then proceed to a selected ballot. At that point, I would ask Councillor Sandford to leave the room. If other nominations are received, they would need to be seconded, but I said I don't see any. Right. Members, I understand there were 32 votes for Councillor Peter Sandford to take up the position of vice-chairman. So we've now asked Peter Sandford to come back into the room, and we shall just complete the formalities. Thank you, everyone, for electing me vice-chair. I have just signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office, which I now have to read out to you. I, Peter Sandford, having been elected to the office of vice-chair of South Cambridgeshire District Council, declare that I will take that office upon myself and will duly and faithfully fulfill the duties of it according to the best of my judgment and ability. I undertake to observe the code as to the conduct which is expected of members of South Cambridgeshire District Council. Thank you. Thank you. We'll then proceed to next business. Item three. Are there any apologies for absence? Thank you, chair. We have apologies from councillors Paul Bearpark, Libby Earle, Eileen Wilson, William Jackson Wood, Carla Hoffman, Richard Stobart, Pippa Halings, Graham Cohn and Mark Howell. Thank you. Are there any members who are participating remotely? Item four is declarations of interest. So do any members have any interest to declare in relation to any item of business on the agenda today? If any interest subsequently becomes apparent later in the meeting, please, would you raise it at that point? Councillor Heather Williams. Thank you, chair. I remember the Greater Cambridge Partnership Assembly, although it is not reported on the agenda list. Thank you for that. Any other declarations of interest in relation to today's business? I think not. So item four, and now this is the register of interests. This is, of course, to remind members that they need to keep their register of interests up to date and to inform democratic services of any changes, which might, for instance, result from new roles which members are taking on today. I emphasised that item four relating to declarations of interest in today's business is just a reminder about the register. I think we then move on to item six, which is the minutes of the previous meeting, which you have before you on pages 11 to 26 of your printed agenda. Now I'm going to take this approval page by page. So the first page is page 11, page 12, page 13, page 14, page 15, page 16, page 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, I see page 22. Yes, Councillor Ribbeth. It's on the very top of page 23 in the paper copy, and the sentence is something that I said at the last meeting on the motion. The consultation allowed a more nuanced response that a simply yes or no referendum, it probably needs to say than a simply yes or no referendum would do. Thank you. Thank you, page 23. And then lastly, page 24. Members, I propose that we approve these minutes as amended. I now call for a seconder. Thank you. May I take that by affirmation? Does any member wish to vote against or to abstain? No. So the council therefore agrees the approval of the minutes of the last meeting as amended as a correct record. I should say that next time I will count the number of pages before I offer to do it page by page, but we learn as we go along. So announcements. I have no announcements as chair. This is item seven. Leader, do you wish to make any announcements? Yes, thank you very much indeed. I've got three. So firstly, most importantly, I'd like to thank Councillor Anna Bradnam for her service as chair of council. She has been unfailingly fair, even handed and when required firm and our council meetings have run smoothly and efficiently under her guidance as I trust they will under you in the future. So thank you very much to Anna and I hope you'll join me showing our thanks for her. So secondly, I would like to welcome John Murphy, our new monitoring and legal officer to join us. I hope he knows that he's joining an exciting council with highly motivated members of all persuasions and that I hope his time here is going to be a very happy and fulfilling one. And then just finally, just for noting, Cabinet approved the extension of the four day week trial this week for further 12 months and subject to the approval of Cambridge City Council. The trial will be rolled out to include the waste service as well. Thank you very much chair. Thank you, leader. And I would just take this opportunity to endorse what you said about my predecessor. I've been fortunate to stand sit as vice chair for a couple of years and learn a lot more and I tend to learn further from her. I should say that when we come to leaders in chairs engagements, that there's a notable absence of vice chairs engagements over the last two years because Anna Bradner has been so assidious that there's never been any need for me to step in on occasion, I think. So many thanks from us all. Right. Any announcements from members of your cabinet? No. From the Head of Pay and Service. Thank you. Item eight is petitions. We have, I think, received no petitions. No petitions received. Item nine, questions from the public. Do we have any questions from members of the public or statements? I think not. We don't usually take them at an annual meeting as opposed to an ordinary meeting. Item 10, appointments to cabinet, including appointment of the statutory deputy leader. So I invite the leader of the council to confirm her appointments to cabinet. Thank you very much, Chair. I've noticed that Councillor Brian Milne's is to be the nice statutory deputy. The other members of cabinet are Councillor Toomey Hawkins, Councillor Bill Handley, Councillor John Williams, Councillor John Bachelor, Councillor Peter MacDonald and Councillor Henry Bachelor. Thank you, leader. Next, we come to item 11, allocation of seats on committees and appointment of committee chairs. You'll find this on pages 27 to 43 of your printed agenda. I call on and reference the elections and democratic services manager to present the report, which, as I said, starts on page 27 of your agenda. Thank you, Chair. The report is, as stated, really members. There are four recommendations. The first is A, and that is to confirm the allocation of a number of seats on each committee, which is an appendix A to the report. Item B is the nominations of the group leaders to the seats on each of those committees. That is appendix B. The appointment of the chairs and vice chairs and nominees of those positions are set out at appendix C, and D is the reappointment of Grant Osborne as the council's lead independent person and Gillian Holmes as the council's deputy independent person as well. That's it, really. Thank you. Thank you. I propose that we take all those items together, but with the exception of the appointments of chair and vice chair of the scrutiny and overview committee, which will be taken separately. Is there a proposal for this item? Thank you, leader. Thank you. I'd like to propose that, but there is a change to the planning committee. Is this the right point at which I should notify of that? So, councillor Dr Marking Carr is now nominated as chair of the planning committee with councillor Peter Fane nominated as vice chair, please. Thank you. Can I ask for a seconder of these proposals, councillor Brian Mill? Does anyone else wish to speak on this item? No. Members, does anyone wish to vote against these recommendations? I see none. Are you content for me to take this item by affirmation? Great. Does anyone wish to vote against the proposal or to abstain? No. Thank you. Therefore, the council agrees with this motion by affirmation. I'll now move to the appointment of chair and vice chair of the scrutiny and overview committee. Is there a proposal for this item? Councillor Heather Williams. Chair, I'm happy to propose councillor Graham Conor's chair and councillor Stephen Drew as vice chair of scrutiny. Do I have a seconder for that, leader, councillor Bridget Smith? Thank you. Does anyone wish to speak on this item? Are you content to take this by affirmation? Does anyone wish to vote against or to abstain? Then I propose we take this by affirmation. Agreed. Agreed. Thank you, member. Council therefore agrees with this motion by affirmation. We then move to item 12, which is the appointments to Cambridgeshire and Peterborough combined authority, which has been published as a separate item. I hope members have received the papers or seen the papers on that. Members, we have been invited to approve appointments to the combined authority. We've also been invited to delegate authority to the chief executive to make amendments to these appointments in the event of any change in political balance across the combined authority area. Leader, would you confirm the names of your proposed appointees? Thank you. The combined authority board, the lead member, will be myself with councillor John Williams as substitute. Ordered in corporate governance committee, councillor Jeff Harvey substituted by councillor Sunita Hansraj. Overview and scrutiny committee, councillor Judith Rippeth and councillor Ian Van Derwire with councillor Peter Fane as substitute. Thank you. Is there a proposal for this item? I'd like to propose, please. And a seconder? Councillor Brannell, thank you. Does anyone else wish to speak on this item? Are you happy to take this by affirmation? Agreed. Can I take it that there is nobody who wishes to record a vote against or to abstain? The council therefore agrees the motion by affirmation. We then come to item 13, which is appointments to outside bodies, and you'll find this on pages 45 to 47 of your printed papers. Members were invited to approve appointments to outside bodies. You can see the full list of proposed appointments on page 45 onwards. This list is in two parts. The first is a list of council appointments, which is what we're looking at now. The second part of the list is appointments made by the leader, and which is shared here for reference. So I propose that this council by vote. Thank you. So on the list on page 45, the sixth one down says Cambridgeshire and District Blue Pluck scheme. The name is actually the Cambridge and District Blue Pluck. Thanks. Thank you very much. And Councillor Ellington. Can I point out that on page 46, two from the bottom, it says of Swaith Seaf Village College Community Committee. Now in 2019, I wrote to that committee and it no longer exists, but I've been on it now for three years. Councillor Ellington, are you proposing that you should no longer be on the committee that no longer exists? Yes, I think we probably don't need to take a vote on that one. Thank you for keeping us informed. Right. Does anyone else wish to speak on this item? Members, are you content that we take this by affirmation? Agreed. Does anyone want to register a vote against or to abstain? No. So the council therefore agrees that motion by affirmation. We then move on to item 14, the designation of scrutiny and overview committee as the crime and disorder committee. Members, we are asked to designate the council scrutiny and overview committee as also its crime and disorder committee. This is in accordance with section 19 and 20 of the Police and Justice Act 2006. I therefore propose that recommendation. Is there a seconder? Councillor Hart, thank you. Does anyone wish to speak on this item? I see none. Members, are you content to take this decision by affirmation? Agreed. Anyone wish to register a vote against or to abstain? I see none. Thank you. The council therefore agrees this motion by affirmation. We then come to the annual report from the scrutiny and overview committee, or scrutiny and overview committee, which is on page 49 onwards of your printed papers. Members were invited to receive the scrutiny and overview committee annual report for 2022-23. I call on Councillor Drew, chair of the scrutiny and overview committee for the past year, to present the report. Thank you, Councillor Fane. Obviously the report has been presented in advance of the meeting, so we will not go through the whole report, but I just wanted to make a statement in relation to the report. The scrutiny and overview committee has sought to fulfil its responsibilities to South Cambridge's residents during the year 2022-23 by covering a wide range of topics related to the work of the council and its tracks with residents. As well as regularly reviewing key performance indicators, we have considered other matters such as the provision of facilities for residents of North Stoke, the development of the local plan, the management of the council's financial resources, the extension of the four-day week trial, the provision of housing for Ukrainian refugees and support for residents during the current cost of living crisis. On behalf of the committee, I would like to thank the leader, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Members for their attendance at scrutiny and overview meetings to fight us with answers, explanations and clarifications of the work they undertake in their role as the executive of the council. We would also like to thank the various officers of the council who have attended scrutiny and overview meetings in order to explain their work in the service of residents. Their skill, knowledge and expertise is constantly evident in relation to the full range of work that the council undertakes on behalf of residents. I hope that the work of the scrutiny and overview committee has provided a robust and purposeful challenge for the work of those charged with delivering services and support to our residents. I wish to thank the members of the committee for their work during the year and I wish councillor Cohn every success as the incoming chair of the committee for the year 2023-2024. Thank you councillor Fein. Thank you very much councillor Drew. Would any members like to comment on that report? I see none so I'd just like to thank councillor Drew very much for all his work on that and for chairing itself effectively over two years to one year, right? It seemed like two. Thank you councillor Drew and I see that you'll be continuing as vice-chair. I am familiar with the feeling of stepping down to vice-chair of the committee and we appreciate your efforts. Can I just, before the record at this stage, welcome councillor van der Veier to the meeting, he had notified us that he would not be able to join us at the start, but just for the record. And then proceed to the, yes I ought to formally ask the council to receive that report. Do I have a proposal for that? councillor Milne, the seconder, councillor Bachelor. I thought I saw him stir. Thank you councillor Bachelor. Can we take the, can we note that report by affirmation? Great. Thank you councillors. We then come to the annual report of the Civic Affairs Committee which is on pages 57 onwards of your papers. Members were invited to receive the Civic Affairs Committee annual report for 2022-23 and I call on councillor Anna Bradman, chair of the Civic Affairs Committee for the past year to present the report. Thank you very much chair. As you said, the report is on pages 59 and 60 and just to remind members that the Civic Affairs Committee, the responsibility includes reviewing the constitution and looking at the code of conduct and considering the electoral and governance arrangements of the council. So by the very nature of its work, those sorts of subjects come up for consideration periodically, but not entirely regularly. However, three meetings were held during 2022-23 in June, December and March. And we've considered in those meetings an update on the, well many updates on the code of conduct complaints that have been submitted to about, well to the council throughout the year on code of conduct and also on the consideration of appointing assistance for political groups which was in March's meeting. I'd like to thank the members of the committee for their diligence and thoughtfulness on the committee and also to the officers for guiding us in the work that we have done. Thank you chair. Thank you councillor Bradman for the work that you've done in chairing that as well as of course in this council over the last two years. Any members like to raise any points, a discussion on that, any questions? Can I then take it that we note that report, receive that report by affirmation? Agreed. We then come to item 17, which is the leader of the opposition's annual statement. And I invite the leader of the opposition, councillor Heather Williams to make her annual statement. Thank you chair. When preparing my annual statement and looking back across the last 12 months, it really is quite astounding what we have managed to cram in. This year has given us both joy and sadness. I was very pleased to have councillor Bygott back by our side after his victory in Longstanton. But the sad passing of councillor Love Luck is something that touched all of us here and serves as a reminder that we should all appreciate every moment we have in this life. This year our chamber has seen councillors disagree and unite in very varying degrees. All of us together supported the debate not hate motion, which we should all be very proud of to be part of. Any form of abuse should not be tolerated. Until society as a whole has cottoned on to this, it is our duty to ensure that we lead by example and for all to see how we can be different while being respectful to one another. It is through true diversity of ideas that we can build the strongest future for generations to come. Over the last 12 months this council has not been without its controversy and has been involved in some very controversial issues. It is as members know the opposition's duty to hold the administration to account. And as I reflect on the topics of C2C, destroying Cote-Nautchard, congestion charging and the four-day working week, I truly hope that all members will reflect on what I say next, for it makes me wonder where the mandate for these controversial projects has come from. Where was the mandate to destroy Cote-Nautchard? Was it when the leader of this council along with other Lib Dem campaigners and councillors when an opposition went on protest marches to stop the bus route, and then once got control of this council sent their representative on the GCP off to support the destruction of Cote-Nautchard? How distant does the council's green to the core mantra feel from reality now for the residents of Cote-N and beyond? Has there been a mandate sought for the introduction of congestion charging by this administration? Who have been supporting its proposal development at the GCP? Was this achieved by making no mention of it in their election literature or when they refuse to support a referendum on the introduction of such a charge? I think the tens of thousands of people that have signed petitions wouldn't say otherwise. And the four-day working week. Now I wish to make it clear that I consider this to have happened as a consequence of political decisions made by this council's cabinet. And on this issue, not even a mandate from a majority of councillors has been sought for a trial, but not only costs our residents financially, but fundamentally changes the council as a whole. For cabinet to take this decision as opposed to full council means 80% of residents in South Cameshire have been denied representation on this experiment at taxpayers cost. All this chair when residents are facing financial struggles on a scale unlike many have known. Now we all agreed to support residents with the cost of living and when the motion came to show our support, all of us were keen to do so across the chamber. But when it came to action, the administration failed. They put up council tax, put up rents on council houses, put up garage rents, increased charges for community rooms and so the list goes on. And with all that, they leave the threat of a congestion charge that would cost our residents to access work, education, healthcare over hardworking taxpayers' heads. So the last 12 months or so, each and every one of us signed our declaration of acceptance of office just as the chair and vice chair have today. And we signed that we would duly and faithfully fulfil the duties of office. I'd like members to reflect on what that means for them and whether that is what has truly been happening or whether the administration has sadly lost their way. So to conclude, I give my advice in good faith to the administration for the next 12 months. Change course. Because neither this council's reputation nor the residents who live here can afford to continue down this road. That cost you £10. I take no pleasure in saying this, but do feel it is my duty to say to the administration and the ruling group as a whole, change direction now before it is too late. Thank you chair. Thank you Councillor Williams for that presentation. There will be no discussion or questions on that, but I am sure those are issues that this council and its committees will come back to many times over the next coming months. I then pass on to items 18 and 19 in your agenda, which relate to 18, the Cambridge and Peterborough combined authority and 19, the greater Cambridge partnership. And of course due to elections that have taken place this month around the county, there have been no meetings of the combined authority or of the greater Cambridge partnership. In this period. Therefore for this meeting there are no reports to discuss, but there may be members who wish to discuss that and I am leader. I take you by surprise on this one. I just want to make it clear that the place that I held on the GCP board will now be taken by Councillor Brian Milne's and he was deputy previously. I will become deputy on the GCP board and Councillor Brian Milne's will take the board place. Thank you. Thank you leader. We have nothing to approve so I will pass on to the next item, which is item 20 questions from councillors. Now members, I would remind you that a period of 30 minutes is available for questions. This includes those questions where notice has been provided as set out on the agenda. And if there is still time remaining after the questions with notice have been dealt with, we will deal with any questions which have been notified to the democratic services manager before the start of this meeting. I would just say that there were three questions which we did not reach at our last meeting. Two of those have received written replies which are set out with your minutes. And the third was from councillor Sue Ellington who asked me to hold it over. So councillor Sue Ellington, can I ask you to put your question? Thank you chair. Members will recall this question was timed out at last council meeting and since then several of us have attended the members briefing around the provision of water in the next decade. But I think it would be useful to hear the leaders response to this question and that is as on the order paper. Thank you and through you leader. It seems to me that councillor Ellington is in a hurry and one can only guess why that is. Not to mention the fact that the winner of this question has the hallmark of our current south comes empty. Anyway, to remind councillor Ellington the draft Cambridge Water Resource Management Plan was published on 24th February for consultation and the closing date of 19th May 2023, which is just Friday last week. And cabinet agreed the council's response on 15th of May and this is a joint response with Cambridge City Council. And furthermore, she might recall that in February cabinet considered a report updating on the strategy for the greater Cambridge local plan. This highlighted that updated evidence from our independent specialist consultants concluded that the objectively assessed housing need had increased since our first proposals consultation and that in part is relating to the success of our local economy. And we were clear then as she very well knows from her previous experience as a cabinet member that the identified need is a starting point for plan making and that we would now consider whether it is sustainable or deliverable to meet those needs including considering the availability of sustainable water supply. Now as we all can appreciate water supply is a complex and technical issues and it requires us as local plan authority to engage with the supplier who is Cambridge Water as well as the environment agency and DEFRA and I can assure you this discussions are ongoing. So the consultation has only just closed and Cambridge Water have not had ample time to consider all the feedback they got and come up with a final plan. And for that reason we asked the local plan authority and not yet in a position to settle on a figure by a valuable water supply to assist us to determine future housing numbers that we can accommodate within the joint local plan. However we will continue to engage with our partners on this issue and dependent on the outcome, the final outcome of the Cambridge Water plan process concluding we expect to bring the revised version of the local plan to members for consideration later this year. Thank you. Thank you Councillor Hawkins. Councillor Ellington, do you have a supplementary to your question? Yes. My impression of the briefing that we had was that the council was inclined to be taking its usual stance of not me gov and relying on the environment agency water companies and Angliaw Water to respond to the council's demand. For them to provide the water to meet their, our, the council's planning aspirations. Is that correct? Councillor Hawkins. I think I might have to repeat myself here but let me just say this. Councillor Ellington mentions housing growth agenda of this council. Let's just say that we are continuing to deliver on the growth, the previous administration of which she was a member put in the current adopted local plan which was submitted in 2014, adopted in 2018 and which she voted for. We will continue to do our best to address those needs. However, we cannot take responsibility for water supply which is the responsibility of Cambridge Water. Thank you. Thank you. Councillor Ethel Williams, did you have a point of order or? A point of information, Councillor Ellington voted for it alongside all bar two members of the council at the time. That was when the Liberal Democrats were in control. The only person to vote against the local plan was a Conservative councillor just for information chair. Thank you for that information. We'll now pass on to the next question, which is from councillor Dan Lentel. Thank you chair is on the order paper. Thank you for that. And before I ask councillor Bridget Smith to respond or someone to respond, I just want to emphasise that we have a limited time for these questions so I would be grateful if both questions and answers were kept relatively brief. Leader. Thank you very much. I'm meeting the new chief executive in a couple of weeks time and I'm looking forward to a fruitful relationship with him. Thank you for that. Sorry. Councillor Lentel, did you have a supplementary? Well no, a point of information that wasn't announced to the question. Councillor Lentel, what I'm going to do on this occasion is to ask you to just read out your question which is relatively short just to make sure that it is understood. Will the leader be seeking advice and insight from the newly appointed CEO of the CPCA about his time setting up and running a unitary authority in North Northamptonshire with a view to improving the crazy paving landscape of costly and disjointed local authorities in Cambridgeshire? So, as I said, I'm meeting the new chief executive in a couple of weeks time. The CPCA is a partnership between us and other councils and we will be developing a relationship with him, you know, planning the future of Capriccia. Councillor Lentel, did you have a supplementary to that? I will try again. Does the leader agree with the former chair of the county council that the fact that among the fundamental flaws of the GCP is the fact that Huntingdonshire, East Cams, Fenland district councils are not represented? And what do we need a broken beyond repair GCP for when there's an elected mayor? Councillor Lentel, I think that goes a little bit beyond the scope of your question, but I will ask the leader or Councillor Rahman. No, I'd like confirmation please from the monitoring officer because I think that doesn't bear much resemblance to the original question. Bear with us a moment. I'm just going to take advice on that and I will come back to you. My judgement, as I said, is that that supplementary did not flow from the scope of the question. So unless, I will nonetheless give the leader an opportunity to respond if she wishes to, but otherwise we'll move on to the next business. No, I don't wish to. No. Okay, so we move on to the, thank you Councillor Lentel, we move on to the next business. The next question rather, Councillor Heather Williams. That's on the order paper. Thank you Councillor Williams. I defer to Councillor Henry Batchelor please to answer this question. Councillor Batchelor. Thank you Chair and thank you Councillor Williams for the question, which is actually quite pertinent to those living in and around the Royston area. So I think the answer to the direct question is what are we doing at Southcams to influence the County Council. Luckily the answer is we haven't had to do anything because the County Council have acted as quickly as they have done to negotiate with Hertfordshire County Council what will be a permanent agreement between the two authorities as to Cambridge residents using Hertfordshire facilities and vice versa. But in the short term we are advised that Cambridge residents, as of now, can use Hertfordshire County Council's facilities including the service in Royston. And actually I've just had a quick look on the Royston recycling centre's homepage and it does say, verbatim, you can visit this recycling centre if you pay your council tax to Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex or Central Beds councils please bring proof of address. So hopefully the situation is resolved but I appreciate probably at the time of submission it wasn't. Councillor Williams, do you want a supplementary? No Chair, just to say at the time of submission that hadn't been agreed. Can we have some assurances that if... Sorry I thought you said you didn't want a supplementary. Well I'm going to add that. You do want a supplementary please. I'm going to change the mind on that. Actually can we have some assurances that if there are relationships that break down because there were other authorities that managed it. Managed to get a resolution like before it became a problem that this council will be proactive in that. Absolutely and I'm sure Cambridge County Council will as well. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Williams. I hope you're satisfied with that response. We then move on to the next question which is from Councillor Stephen Drew. Thank you. Can the leader outline the current plans for the next three years of social housing in South Hertfordshire and explain how this will benefit residents? Thank you. Leader. Councillor John Batchel is best placed with full answer to this. Thank you very much Chair and thank you Councillor Drew for your question. I've got quite a long list as you might imagine of the wonders of the housing department. But in the interest of time I just take a few highlights of what our forward plans are. Our new build team have this year 22-23 completed the purchase of 91 houses. Over the next three years we're expecting at least a further 225 affordable houses to be added to our stock. The stock is currently at $5,600. Our asset management team is currently carrying out a stock condition survey. This survey will feed into a programme of works to upgrade, refresh and remodel our homes for the future. And in particular to bringing us up to zero carbon levels. There's a long term plan for the investment of more than £400 million in our stock. Our housing management team are ensuring that the service to our customers is front and centre of everything we do and every decision we make. Our housing strategy team are working closely with developers, housing providers and planning to have the best possible outcome as far as affordable housing is concerned. Throughout the district in the last year 22-23, 504 affordable homes were delivered. We anticipate over the next three years that something of the order of 1,565 affordable houses should be delivered. Our housing advice and options team continues to allocate social housing in a fair and transparent manner. And we continue to support people who are facing housing difficulties providing tailored options to prevent homelessness. Ermins Street housing has completed its investment of £100 million in property to rent. There's something of the order of 870 properties under Ermins Street's management. Ermins Street's a socially responsible landlord that contributes in practical terms to our own initiatives in terms of homelessness. It also, in the coming year, will contribute more than £4 million to the coffers of South Cams District Council. So it all round makes a significant contribution. So we have a first-class management team and a dedicated staff with these two elements. I think we can look forward to a bright future. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Batchelor. I think Councillor Drew, that would count as fairly full answer. Do you wish to ask a supplementary? The interest of time, I am happy for you to move on. Thank you, Councillor Drew. So our next question is from Councillor Pippa Hadings. Now, Councillor Hadings is a way I had intended, I understand, to join this remotely but was not able to because of technical reasons. I'm therefore on this occasion, if Council will indulge me, going to ask Councillor Jeff Harvie to read out her question. This means, of course, there will be no supplementary on this occasion. I take it that's acceptable. Thank you. Councillor Harvie. Yes, so therefore, on behalf of Councillor Pippa Hadings, our chalk streams in South Cams are some of the most precious and most vulnerable in the world. But they are being threatened by sewage pollution with worrying levels of E. coli that's equal bacteria, which makes them unsafe for families, unsafe for dogs, and fatal for local wildlife. And all the while, water companies are raking in huge profits and paying out bumper bonuses. So following on from the motion brought by Councillor Pippa Hadings last year to stop the dumping of raw sewage, what more can the council do to ensure greater scrutiny of water quality in our chalk streams? Leader, who do you wish to respond to that? I'd like Councillor Peter McDonald to deal with this one. Thank you, Chair. I think that Councillor Hawkins is. There's been debated the other day. I've lost track of who's doing what. Councillor Hawkins, thank you very much indeed. Councillor Hawkins. Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Leader. Again, whilst the council is not responsible body for the water or the sewage, we have made our views really clear. We responded to the Angliaw Water Drainage and Waste Water Management Plan consultation, which took place last year. And our response was agreed by Cabinet at its meeting of 12 September 2022. Our response highlighted the importance of investment in drainage infrastructure to address water quality issues given the poor quality of many of the areas water bodies. And letters have also been sent by the chief exec stressing the council's ongoing concern about our water quality. But we will also continue to do all we can to keep the pressure off on the responsible body to improve its performance and protect better the environment, in particular our precious chalk streams. One last thing is the council has recently completed a study to explore the possibility of formal application to DEFRA for bathing water designation of a stretch of river cam in South Cambridgeshire. And this included meetings with Cam Valley Forum, Angliaw Water, DEFRA and the Environment Agency. And the outcomes of the study will be reviewed over the next few weeks, following which hopefully we can make a decision on how and whether to move forward in the progress of this application. Thank you. Thank you, Chair. As I say, we know supplementary on that. We therefore move to the next question from Councillor Susan Vandaven. Thank you, Chair. My question. Thank you to all those involved in the four-day week trial, a bold and important initiative at a time when all local authorities and indeed public sector organisations generally are facing severe and increasing difficulties recruiting to vacancies in the workforce and retaining experienced and valuable staff for reasons that are becoming better understood. These include higher pay in the private sector, but also the build-up of multiple public service pressures in the wake of tumultuous events over the past several years with the overlay of massive societal change. One of the key positives of the trial is signs of improved health and well-being of our staff. I was struck by a conversation with a member of staff last week who said that already the trial had changed his life for the better. At home he is tackling jobs and responsibilities, getting physical exercise and mental relaxation and has time needed to nurture family relationships. At work he is applying himself in a more energetic and smarter way and is more focused and productive. We know that the mental and physical health of our population is worse than before COVID and that improvements must be made. A focus on improving health via the workplace is an important building block used by public health strategists in seeking to improve population health. In light of this, how will learning from the trial be shared with our Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Public Health and Integrative Care System partners as part of our joint population health improvement goals? Thank you. Peter, would you like to respond to that question? Yes, I would. So, thank you, councillor Van de Venfee, for your thoughtful and intelligent question. There is an opportunity to share learning, data and insights from the trial with systems partners via current governance and organisational development groups including Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Public Service Board, the ICB Management Executive, the ICB People Board and others. Obviously, each organisation will need to digest information and learning to see what it can take from our trial and apply benefits to its own organisation, whilst acknowledging there are already a wide range of flexible working arrangements in place across a really broad range of organisations. And while a one-size-fits-all approach is unlikely to work due to each organisation's different remits, policies, regulations, benefits and learnings from this trial can be realised by all organisations in part or whole for wider benefit of staff now and in the future. Thank you very much. Thank you. Councillor Van de Venfee, do you have a supplementary? No, thank you, Chair. Thank you. We then move on to a question from Vice-Chair, Councillor Peter Sanford. Thank you, Chair. My question is as I said it on the order paper. Councillor Henry Batchelor, please. Thank you very much, Chair, and thank you to Councillor Sanford for the question. So I'll start by giving a brief list of what the higher performing councils are doing that we aren't at the moment. Hopefully that might give some clarity. So what they do currently that our current service doesn't is they operate a weekly food waste collection. They operate a weekly dry recycling collection. They operate additional curbside services such as small, electricals and textiles. And they also have a fully chargeable garden waste collection service. And some of the very top performing councils in recycling also provide a three weekly collection of residual waste combined with weekly food waste collections. So what we're doing here to try and compete with some of the better performing councils is that we've successfully completed a three year trial of separate food waste collections in March 2023. And we're now in a position to roll this out when the service is either affordable by both councils that are in the service or it is mandated by central government which is very likely to be in the coming years. What else have we done? So we've also increased our capture rate of electrical recycling with the big pink recycling banks that are dotted at various locations around South Cams. And we're also looking into how we can use mobile banks more in the future. To significantly increase our recycling rate is what we have to do to be in the top percentile of those councils that are in the list that is mentioned in the question. We would have to incorporate possibly one or possibly two of the additional services that I mentioned at the start. But as I said I suppose the good news is that the weekly food collection service is very likely to be mandated by central government shortly. So that will increase our recycling albeit every council will be doing it. So whether that boosts up the list or not it was yet to be seen. But we're in a good position to implement that following the three year trial that we've been running on that. So hopefully that answers the question. Thank you Councillor Batchelor. Did you have a supplementary? Yes please chair. I thank Councillor Batchelor for his response. I know he appreciates that many of those top performing councils in the recycling table are actually led by Liberal Democrat councils. So there is a degree of peer pressure to improve our performance. I would like to ask him if he feels that current recycling arrangements with the county are actually constrained to improving our performance. Thank you for the question. Well absolutely it's good to hear that Liberal Democrat councils are setting the bar very high for us. It is very difficult to compete with some of the more top performing councils. But in terms of drawbacks I mean yeah absolutely obviously I think one of the issues is that the council is tied into a very long term PFI contract with its partners. You know it's no secret PFI contracts tend to be very lengthy very complex legal documents that are difficult to get out of. So when we do want to change our recycling habits we then have to negotiate either nullifying a PFI contract or renegotiating. So it is a drawback and so I suppose the answer is yes that it will be a difficulty in overcoming. But you know as I say the service that we are a part of the Greater Cambridge Way service is committed to improving recycling rates and we will do what we can to make that possible. Thank you all. Our next question of course listed is from Councilor Dr Richard Williams who had warned us he might not be able to stay to the very end and indeed I see he's had to leave. So we will give him a written response which will be attached to the minutes for information. Councillor Stephen Drew. Apologies Councillor Fane and I expect I'm going to be told that I have misunderstood and I'm being very reasonable. Why if Councillor Piper Haley was not present in the meeting was her question allowed to be read out by another councillor. But Councillor Richard Williams was present in the meeting and has left yet his question cannot be read out by another councillor. Why are the two being treated differently? Let me give you a clear answer to that. I think Councillor Heather Williams wanted to comment first and then I will give you the reasons for that. I'm happy to move the question for Councillor Richard Williams if that helps. I must admit it's something we've never seen done before to my knowledge so it wasn't aware it was an option. Yes, the option to ask councillor Harvey to read councillor Haley's question was because her internet connection had failed and therefore I thought it would be unhelpful to this council to have possibly a question that we couldn't clearly hear. The convention is that if a member is not present to ask their question that we answer that by written answer but I'm just going to take advice on that and I will come back to you in a moment. Councillor Richard Williams did ask for his response to be replied to in writing if he was not here and in the circumstances I think it's appropriate that we should stick to that. I recognise that I did use Chairman's discretion at an earlier stage to allow councillor Harvey to read out a question which had been submitted for the reasons stated. But I'm not proposing now to review my decision on this because it is in line with the request that councillor Dr Richard Williams had submitted to us. So I now propose to move to next business if councillor Heather Williams will agree. Chair, I would like some clarification for future. That was not made clear, I think that is what triggered the question from councillor Drew. We have had it before where members have dropped out and they have had a written answer. These questions are time limited so the reading out of that question could have timed out another question. So can we please go forward have a very clear process as to what to do because councillor Richard Williams probably wouldn't have asked for that if he knew that there was another option so it does feel like there is a gap here. Yes, thank you for that point. I don't think any of us can answer for what councillor Richard Williams may have wanted had he known but he did request that his question be answered in written form if he was not here. I have granted that request so I'm now moving on to next business. If I may, Chair, I think we'd be happy to provide some written advice to all members so that it's really clear the circumstances in which questions are read out to all members. Thank you. I hope that will satisfy all members if we have clear advice which I will undertake to try my best to stick to in future but on this occasion I made use of Chair's discretion. I now move forward to the next and of course the last business of this meeting which is the Chair's engagements which is of course the engagements of the previous Chair. Councillor Bradenham has kindly listed her engagements since the last meeting. She attended an event in Barhill on 12 April with the Duke of Edinburgh and then attended a Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace on 3 May. At the risk of perhaps falling a little short of expectations at this point I would like to be slightly from the agenda in order to present her with something that may not quite equal the experience she had on 3 May. Councillor Bradenham, if you wouldn't mind coming up I'd like to present you with the badge that this Council presents to former leaders. Former chairs, I beg your pardon. We have also got one for former leaders I suspect but I will not be presenting it on this or any future occasion. I just want to take the opportunity to say thank you very much Councillor Bradenham and I might suggest you don't show the wording to certain councils but it is a badge that we present to former chairs of the District Council or as it says on this past Chairman but I think you are indulged in the badge. Perhaps we might get some new badges for future occasions. Thank you very much. Councillor Ellington, before we close the meeting. It would be nice to have received one when I was chair. My proposal is that when we, my proposal before I close the meeting and I won't be taking any further comments I'm afraid. My proposal is that when we get our supply of new badges correctly worded we take the opportunity to present one to Councillor Sue Ellington retrospectively which it would be my pleasure to do. On that I would like to close this meeting of the council. Our next meeting will be held on 13 May.