The Mayor expressed the Council’s sympathy and condolences on the loss of former Councillors Douglas Rapley, Brian Colley and Elizabeth Colley.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Ejaz Aslam and Alan Ridgers.

The Minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday 6 December 2022 were signed by the Mayor.

The Chief Executive advised that, in accordance with advice received from the Council’s Monitoring Officer, Members only needed to declare interests which had not already been listed within their Disclosable Pecuniary Interests form.

No declarations of interest were made.

No questions had been received.

To receive and adopt the proceedings, reports and recommendations of the following committees, except those items reserved under Council procedure Rule 5.2 (6) and to ratify and confirm the orders made by them.

Motions that proceedings, reports and recommendations of Committees, except those reserved under Council Procedure 5.2(6) as referred to below be received and adopted and where applicable the Orders made by them be ratified and confirmed were duly proposed, seconded and resolved in each case.

·         Minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on Tuesday, 3 January 2023

·         Minutes of the meeting of the Planning Committee held on Wednesday, 4 January 2023

·         Minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on Monday, 30 January 2023

·         Minutes of the meeting of the Planning Committee held on Wednesday, 1 February 2023

·         Minutes of the meeting of the Finance and Audit Committee held on Monday, 13 February 2023

The Council’s attention was drawn to Minute 34 (Treasury Management Strategy and Capital Strategy 2023-24) of the Finance and Audit Committee held on Monday 13 February 2023.

To receive and adopt the proceedings, reports and recommendations of committees contained in the list of items reserved under Council Procedure Rule 5.2(6) and to ratify the orders made by them. They will be dealt with in the following order:-

Cabinet

Finance & Audit Committee

Planning Committee

There were no reserved minutes.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 17.4.1, an extension of time was given to Councillor John Burden and an equal amount of time to Cllr Jordan Meade.

The Chief Executive reminded Members that all individual votes in relation to the budget and any amendments thereto would be recorded as required by legislation.

It was moved by Cllr John Burden and seconded by Cllr Lee Croxton that:-

the motion before Council as set out in the order paper be approved.

The motion was put to the meeting and declared to be carried by 23 votes to 15:-

It was therefore resolved that:-

1. Itbe notedthat on5 January2023 theDirector (CorporateServices) calculated;

The Council was presented with the Treasury Management Strategy and associated Annual Investment Strategy and the Minimum Revenue Provision Policy for 2023/24 along with the Capital Strategy for 2023/27.

Resolved that:-

1.    the Treasury Management Strategy for 2023/24 as set out in Appendix 1 be approved;

2.    the Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) calculation on all new capital expenditure as set out in Section 5 of the Treasury Management Strategy Statement be approved for 2023/24 and beyond in accordance with the Authority’s Capital Programme with delegated authority given to the Director (Corporate Services) to amend as required;

3.    the Annual Investment Strategy for 2023/24 as set out in Section 15 of the Treasury Management Strategy Statement be approved;

4.    the Capital Strategy for 2023/27 set out in Appendix 2 be approved;

5.    delegated authority be given to the Director (Corporate Services), in consultation with the Chair of the Finance and Audit Committee, to amend the prudential and treasury indicators as necessary as a result of the budget approved by Full Council on 21 February 2023; and

6.    delegated authority be given to the Director (Corporate Services), in consultation with the Chair of the Finance and Audit Committee, to amend the Treasury Management Strategy for 2023/24 and the Capital Strategy for 2023/27 as required following successful completion of the 2019/20, 2020/21 and 2021/22 final accounts process.

The Council was presented with a proposal to revise the governance framework for the Rosherville group of companies, which had previously been discussed at Cabinet and recommended for Full Council consideration. Specifically to:

·         amend the Rosherville Limited Board structure to remove Councillors from the Board and replace them with non-executive Directors (at an officer level). The revised structure will include introduction of an independent non-executive Director and recruitment of a specialist manager/Director at the appropriate time, to drive forward the commercial nature of the group of companies, once the company is in a position to fund these posts themselves;

·         replace the current Shareholder Group with the Rosherville Shareholder Advisory Board which will be formed of Councillors and be an Advisory Board to the Cabinet; and

·         implement a performance management framework for the Rosherville group of companies which will focus on key performance indicators for each entity and include performance reviews of the Directors to ensure they are continuing to deliver against the objectives of the companies.

Resolved that:-

1.    the amended governance framework surrounding the operating model for Local Authority Trading Companies in Gravesham, as set out in section five of the report be approved;

2.    subject to a request coming forward from Rosherville Limited to amend its Articles of Association in line with the revised framework set out within the report, delegated authority be given to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Leader of the Executive, the Monitoring Officer, the Section 151 Officer and the Chair of Rosherville Limited to make all necessary amendments to the company Articles of Association and Shareholder Agreement to reflect the agreed changes;

3.    upon amending the Articles of Association and Shareholder Agreement, officers submit these documents to Cabinet to formally approve the changes in March 2023; and

4.    the changes outlined in the report formally take effect from 1 April 2023.

The Council reviewed the representation of political groups on Committees, following the recent move of Cllr Leslie Pearton from the Independent Group to the Conservative Group, and appointed Councillors, including Chairs and Vice-Chairs, to those seats accordingly.

Resolved that:-

1.    the size of each committee as set out in the report be agreed;

2.    the allocation of seats on committees to each of the Council’s political groups as set out within the report be agreed; and

3.    the appointment of councillors to sit on the committees (including to the positions of Chairs and Vice-Chairs) as set out in Appendix One be agreed.

No questions had been received.

The Mayor thanked those that had attended his fundraiser event on Thursday 9 February 2023.

The Mayor invited those present to ‘Northfleet Day’ which will be held on Saturday 22 April 2023 at St Botolph’s Church, Northfleet.

The Mayor wished everyone a happy Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday.

The Mayor invited those present to join him in the Parlour for refreshments.