The Mayor’s Chaplain led the Council in prayer.

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillors Hayes, M A Maddison, Peters and Read.

To receive declarations of interest from Members including the terms(s) of the Grant of Dispensation (if any) by the Audit Board or Managing Director.

There were no declarations of interests.

To approve the minutes of the meeting of the General Assembly of the Council held on 17 July 2017.

            RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting of the General Assembly of the Council held on 17 July 2017 be confirmed as an accurate record.

The Mayor made the following announcements:

·         Her Majesty the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh

The Mayor congratulated Her Majesty the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh on the celebration of their 70^th wedding anniversary and wished them many more years together.

·         Mayor’s Charities

The Mayor reported that fundraising for her chosen charities was going very well and thanked the members of her Charity Committee for their hard work.

·         Christmas Lights

The Mayor informed Members that the event held on Saturday 18^th November to switch on the Christmas lights in the town centre had gone very well and had been enjoyable. She thanked everyone involved with the event and also the large numbers of the public who had attended despite bad weather.

·         Remembrance Sunday

The Mayor informed Members that she had attended the Remembrance Sunday Service, parade and march past at the war memorial. This had been very well attended by the participating organisations and many members of the public and the numbers seemed to increase every year. She had found the services in both Dartford and Stone later in the day to be very moving experiences and offered her congratulations to everyone involved.

The Leader of the Council made the following announcements:

·         Remembrance Sunday

The Leader of the Council echoed the Mayor’s comments on the success of the Remembrance Sunday Service and march past. It had been an amazing day and was getting bigger and bigger and he thanked everyone who had attended.

·         Christmas Lights and Pantomime

The Leader also thanked everyone involved in the Christmas lights switch-on event and had been hugely impressed by the amount of talent on display on the stage. He felt that this year’s pantomime at the Orchard Theatre, Cinderella, would be very special and from the antics of Louie Spence at the lights switch-on it promised to be an interesting experience.

·         Changes to Cabinet Delivery Team Lead Members

The Leader announced that Councillor Bardoe would be standing down as Lead Member for Waste, Recycling & Household Services and that Councillor Davis was also standing down as the Lead Member for High Street Revival & Town Centre. Both Councillors had busy working lives and had felt unable to continue to devote the time to their roles. The Leader thanked Councillors Bardoe and Davis for their hard work and said that they would be a difficult act to follow.

The Leader of the Council informed Members that he had invited Councillor Brown to move from his existing Arts, Sport & Recreation portfolio to take up the Lead member role for Waste, Recycling & Household Services. He had invited Councillor Maria Kelly to take up the Lead Member role for Arts, Sport & Recreation.

The Leader had asked Councillor Sandhu to take on the Lead Member duties for High Street Revival & Town Centre in addition to his existing portfolio for Business & Enterprise for the remainder of the Municipal Year.

The following three questions were submitted by the Shadow Leader of the Council:

Question 1

“Does the Leader of the Council share my concern at recent figures showing Dartford now has the highest rate of homelessness in Kent, and will he confirm what measures this authority are taking to mitigate the impacts of the government policies that have been the cause of this worrying increase?”

 Question 2

“Will the Leader of the Council confirm that this authority, like many others across the country, will be making a submission to the current government consultation on reducing the stakes permitted on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals?”

Question 3

“In May, the Leader of the Council launched a review into the contract with Kingdom to undertake enforcement activities on behalf of this authority. Can the Leader update the Council on progress and confirm when councillors and the public can expect to see the results of this review?”

In accordance with Standing Order 14 the questions and answers, including any supplementary questions and answers, are recorded in a book kept for this purpose in the Members’ Area.

No motions were submitted  in accordance with Standing Order 10.

There were no urgent items.

It was moved by Councillor R M Currans, seconded by Councillor J A Kite and

            RESOLVED:

That in accordance with Standing Order 11 (13) the General Assembly of the Council go into Committee and the rules of Procedures for Committees do apply.

THE LEADER OF THE COUNCIL, COUNCILLOR J A KITE MBE, IN THE CHAIR

To consider and agree to the creation of two new polling districts in Greenhithe ward and the reconfiguration of existing polling districts and to agree a new definition of a polling place.

The General Assembly of the Council considered a report which sought agreement to the recommendations from the Electoral Provisions Sub-committee which met on 31^st October 2017 to create two new polling districts in Greenhithe ward and to reconfigure the existing polling districts. This was in response to the growth of the electorate in Greenhithe which meant that the existing polling arrangements were not viable should a major election take place before the wider polling changes arising from the Local Boundary Commission’s review of Dartford’s electoral arrangements came into effect in May 2019. The General Assembly of the Council was also asked to amend the Council’s current definition of a polling place to allow the Returning Officer discretion to locate a polling station anywhere within the polling district.

            RESOLVED:

1.    That two new Polling Districts be created in Greenhithe ward, DC Abbey (Ingress Park) and DD Cherry Orchard (Ebbsfleet), with the boundaries shown on the map at Appendix A to the Sub-committee report, with effect from the publication of the revised register of electors;

2.    That the existing polling districts, DA Greenhithe and DB Knockhall, be reconfigured with the boundaries shown in the Map at Appendix A to the Sub-committee report, with effect from the publication of the revised register of electors; and

3.    That the polling place for each polling district in the Borough should be defined as a “location within the polling district, unless special circumstances require otherwise”.

To update Members on the Scheme of Delegations to Officers.

The General Assembly of the Council received an updated version of the Scheme of Delegations to Officers and was invited to reaffirm the continued delegation of functions in accordance with the Preamble to the Scheme of Delegations to Officers. It was noted that the Scheme of Delegations had last been reported to Members in 2011 and that although the Scheme was kept under annual review it was felt that the updated Scheme should be adopted by the Cabinet and the General Assembly of the Council. The Cabinet had approved the elements of the Scheme relating to delegations of its executive powers on 7 September 2017 and the General Assembly of the Council was asked to approve the delegations relating to its powers.

            RESOLVED:  

1.    That the General Assembly of the Council in pursuance of powers under Sections 101, 151 and 270 of the Local Government Act 1972 and all other powers enabling, continues to delegate to the Managing Director, to the extent of its respective powers, the Council functions referred to in the Preamble to the Scheme of Delegations to Officers, at Appendix A to the report; and

2.    That the General Assembly of the Council note the Sub-delegations at Appendix B to the report.

It was moved by Councillor J A Kite, seconded by Councillor C J Shippam and

            RESOLVED:

That in accordance with Standing Order 11 (14) the General Assembly of the Council now re-convene.

THE MAYOR, COUNCILLOR R M CURRANS IN THE CHAIR

To consider any of the minutes of the following Cabinet meetings reserved in accordance with Standing Order 16:

(a)       for full debate by Political Groups on the Council;

(b)       by Ward Members.

Cabinet

29 June 2017

27 July 2017

7 September 2017

No Cabinet minutes had been reserved for debate.