Agenda and minutes

30.1     RESOLVED – to confirm the minutes of the meeting of the County Council held on 14 July 2015 as a correct record

31.1     Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Mike Blanch, Peter Charlton, Philip Howson and Peter Pragnell

NORMAN WILCOCK AND NOEL MACKILLIGIN

32.1     The Chairman paid tribute to 2 former colleagues, Norman Wilcock and Noel Mackilligin. Noel was a County Councillor from 1974 to 1989 and served as Chairman from 1987 to 1989. Norman served a County Councillor from 1993 to 1999 and was a former Headteacher at The Grove School. On behalf of the County Council, the Chairman offered condolences to Noel and Norman’s family and friends.

32.2     The Council stood in silence as a mark of respect for their former colleagues Noel Mackilligin and Norman Wilcock.

HERO AWARD

32.3     On behalf of the County Council the Chairman congratulated Louise Baxter from the Trading Standards Service who was honoured at the Chartered Trading Standards Institute Conference with a ‘Hero Award’. The award was for the significant contribution Louise had made to consumer protection. Louise set up the National Trading Standards Scams Team 2 years ago. The Team works to protects residents, usually those that are vulnerable from scammers. The Team was established after Louise discovered that those who had already fallen prey to scams were put on a ‘suckers’ list and being scammed out of thousands of pounds. Since then she has worked to provide a fundamental support system for residents, run campaigns and encouraged others such as banks and postal services to join the cause.

GARY WALSH

32.4     On behalf of the Council the Chairman welcomed Gary Walsh to his first meeting as Chief Fire Officer and Chief Executive. The Chairman also congratulated him on being awarded the Queen’s Fire Service Medal which he received on 16 October

CHAIRMAN’S ACTIVITIES

32.5     The Chairman reported that he had attended a number of engagements since the last meeting of the County Council including: the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service for Children with Cancer Trust, East Sussex Youth Orchestra events, the Queen’s Award Investiture for the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association, the Families for Autism Charity Gala, the Rugby World Cup Welcome Ceremony and the Royal Air Force Association Battle of Britain 75^th Anniversary. The Vice Chairman also attended a number of events.

PRAYERS

32.6     The Chairman thanked Reverend Vicky Martin, Seaford Baptist Church for leading the prayers before the Council meeting

PETITIONS

 32.6 The Chairman informed the Council that immediately before the meeting he had received the following petition from members as follows:

33.1    The following members declared personal interests in items on the agenda as follows:

34.1    The Chairman of the County Council, having called over the reports set out in the agenda, reserved the following paragraphs for discussion:

            Cabinet                                              -           paragraph 1

Lead Member for Resources         -           paragraph 1

Lead Member for Transport          -             paragraph 1

and Environment

            East Sussex Fire Authority            -           paragraph 1

NON-RESERVED PARAGRAPHS

34.2    On the motion of the Chairman of the County Council, the Council ADOPTED the paragraphs in the reports of the Committees that had not been reserved for discussion.

35.1     There were no questions from the public

36.1     Councillor Glazier moved the reserved paragraph of the Cabinet’s report

36.2     The motion was CARRIED after debate

37.1     Councillor Elkin moved the reserved paragraph of the Lead Member for Resources report

37.2     The motion was CARRIED after debate

38.1     Following the withdrawal of the motion set out in paragraph 1.13 the report of the Lead Member for Transport and Environment the Chairman stated that the County Council would be voting on the motion set out in paragraph 1.1 of the report as follows:

East Sussex County Council (ESCC) opposes the introduction of neonicotinoid pesticides when the 2 year ban, introduced in 2013, comes to an end and supports a continuation of the ban to support the numbers of bee keepers and farmers dependent on a healthy bee population.

Further, ESCC undertakes to ban any use of neonicotinoid pesticides in the ESCC owned or managed sites such as the Ashdown Forest, the country sites such as Seven Sisters Country Park, Ditchling and Chailey Commons and gardens associated with ESCC offices and properties throughout the county should the ban be overturned in the UK

38.3     After debate, a recorded vote was requested and taken. The Motion was CARRIED, the votes being cast as follows:

FOR THE MOTION

Councillors Belsey, Bennett, Bentley, Buchanan, Butler, Carstairs, Charman, Clark, Daniel, Davies, Chris Dowling, Claire Dowling, Earl, Elkin, Ensor, Field, Forward, Glazier, Hodges, Keeley, Lambert, Maynard, O’Keeffe, Pursglove, Scott, D Shing,    S Shing, Shuttleworth, Simmons, Standley, St Pierre, Tutt, Ungar, Wallis, Webb and Wincott

AGAINST THE MOTION

None

ABSTENTIONS

Councillors Barnes, Galley, Phillips, Sheppard, Stogdon, Taylor, Tidy and Whetstone

(a)  Oral questions to Cabinet Members

(b)  Written Questions of which notice has been given pursuant to Standing Order 44

ORAL QUESTIONS TO CABINET MEMBERS

39.1    The following members asked questions of the Lead Cabinet Members indicated and they responded:

WRITTEN QUESTIONS PURSUANT TO STANDING ORDER 44

39.2    Five written questions were received from Councillors Ungar, Tutt (2), Davies and Lambert for the Lead Member for Adult Social Care, the Lead Member for Learning and School Effectiveness, the Lead Member for Transport and Environment, the Lead Member for Economy and the Lead Member for Resources. The questions and answers are attached to these minutes.

39.3    The Lead Members responded to supplementary questions.

40.1     Members commented on paragraph 1 of the East Sussex Fire Authority’s report.