North Yorkshire Council
The Charter Trustees for Scarborough
Minutes of the meeting held on Friday, 25th October, 2024 commencing at 10.00 am.
Councillor Janet Jefferson in the Chair plus Councillors Eric Broadbent, Liz Colling, Rich Maw, Tony Randerson and John Ritchie.
Officers present: St John Harris, Karen Iveson (remote) and Carol Rehill
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Apologies for Absence
Members were advised that Head of Legal (Major Projects), Carol Rehill was deputising for the Clerk to the Trustees and Monitoring Officer, Barry Khan.
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Minutes of the Meeting held on 26 July 2024
Resolved
That the Minutes of the meeting held on 26 July 2024, having been printed and circulated, be taken as read and confirmed and signed by the Chair as a correct record.
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Declarations of Interest
There were no declarations of interests.
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Public Participation
There were no public questions or statements.
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Charter Mayor's Report
The Charter Mayor presented her report noting that she had attended 21 engagements since the last meeting of the Charter Trustees in July. The Charter Mayor then provided some of the highlights of her diary since July including the Scarborough Central Tramway birthday celebration, the Rotary and Manor Road Community Fairs, the Goldwing Light Parade and the Scarborough Cricket Festival Community Afternoon Tea. She added that the day before had marked the launch of the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal and the beginning of a busy period of commemorations leading up to Armistice Day.
Resolved (unanimously) That the Charter Mayor’s verbal report be noted.
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Creation of Scarborough Town Council
Considered a report of the Assistant Director Legal in respect of the work underway by North Yorkshire Council to support the creation of Scarborough Town Council. Members were advised that following full Council’s decision on 24 July to create a town council for Scarborough, a working group of officers has been established to identify actions to ensure a safe and legal transition from the Charter Trustees to the new town council. This work divided into two stages: the Reorganisation Order (RO) and the implementation. The RO confirmed all the key information relating to the creation of the parish in addition to a number of schedules which provided information on items to be transferred including land and property, ceremonial items, funds and balances and any other responsibilities. The RO would also need to include a figure for the budget requirement and precept for the new parish for its first year. A calculation would need to be made based on the anticipated running costs of the new town council, with funds also allocated for service provision.
Consultation would take place with the Charter Trustees as the shadow council (except the member for Eastfield division) to establish an anticipated budget requirement figure for approval by Council and inclusion in the Order. Updating the report, the Principal Democratic Services Officer, Mr Harris advised that this budget requirement and precept would in fact go to full Council for approval at its next meeting on 13 November. This was because the RO must be finalised and sealed ahead of the publication of the electoral register which would take into account the changes from the creation of the new parish. This was scheduled for 1 December.
The Charter Trustees then discussed the report and asked questions. Key points raised were: · The Charter Trustees’ very different role as a shadow town council since the remit and responsibilities of Scarborough Town Council were much more extensive than that of the Charter Trustees · The calculations involved in proposing a draft budget requirement to the shadow council would be covered at the informal briefing for members after the meeting · Given the importance of the draft budget requirement to be recommended by the shadow council for decision by full Council, the Charter Mayor and Charter Trustees requested that a subsequent formal meeting be convened enabling this to be discussed in public session and a position reached by the Charter Trustees [this was arranged afterwards for 4 November at 10am] · The Charter Mayor had the power to convene further meetings of the Charter Trustees should they be required before 1 April 2025.
Resolved (unanimously) That (1) the Charter Trustees note the report; and (2) the Charter Trustees (except the member for Eastfield division) act as a shadow town council for the purposes of being a consultative body in relation to the actions set out in this report.
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Finance report
Considered a report of the Responsible Financial Officer in respect of the Charter Trustees’ in-year budget position to the end of September 2024. Correcting her report, the Responsible Financial Officer advised that in the table at paragraph 4.1 the heading should read ‘Spend to Sept 2024 £.’ Resolved (unanimously) that the Charter Trustees note the expenditure incurred to the end of September 2024.
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Any Other Items
There was no urgent business.
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The meeting concluded at 10.45 am.