Agenda and minutes

To receive, note and where requested, approve the reasons for apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Goodman-Bradbury, Mayne, J. Petherick, Wrigley.

Resolved that the apologies be noted.

There was no Part II.

To declare any disclosable interests relating to the forthcoming items of business (if any).

Councillor M. James declared an appendix B interest in relation to the item on Dawlish Community Hospital – Minor Injuries Unit by virtue of his membership of Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust.  He advised he would remain in the room to listen to the debate but not speak or vote.

Councillor Foden joined the meeting at 6.34 p.m.

To receive and consider requests for dispensation (if any).

There were no dispensations.

To approve, sign and adopt the minutes of the Town Council meeting held on 4 October 2023.

Members considered the minutes of the Town Council meeting held on 4 October 2023.

Resolved that the minutes of the Town Council meeting held on 4 October 2023 be approved and signed as a correct and accurate record.

To receive the Minutes of the following Committee(s) for adoption (if any) – Members are requested to refer to the Town Council’s website to view said Minutes:

·         HR Committee – 29 September 2023

·         Finance & General Purposes Committee – 28 September 2023

·         Manor House & Riverside Centre Committee – 13 September 2023

·         Planning Committee – 14 September, 5 October 2023

Resolved that the minutes set out below, approved by the relevant Committee and signed by the Chairman as a correct record of that meeting, be adopted:

·         HR Committee – 29 September 2023

·         Finance & General Purposes Committee – 28 September 2023

·         Manor House & Riverside Centre Committee – 13 September 2023

·         Planning Committee – 14 September, 5 October 2023

To welcome the Deputy Medical Director of Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust, Liz Thomas to the meeting who will address Members regards the continued closure of Dawlish Community Hospital’s Minor Injuries Unit.

Councillor Weatherhead joined the meeting at 6.36 p.m.

The Mayor introduced and welcomed Dr Elizabeth Thomas, Deputy Medical Director of Torbay and South Devon Foundation Trust who would be addressing Members regards the continued closure of Dawlish Community Hospital’s Minor Injuries Unit (MIU).

At this juncture, Standing Orders were suspended to permit Dr Thomas to address the meeting.

Dr Thomas informed Members that:

·         She was on the Council’s side in wanting to see the MIU reopen and was aware that the Council and local community felt let down by previous broken promises

·         The Urgent Treatment Centre (UTC) in Newton Abbot had experienced recruitment issues with no medical lead; due to patients attending with matters beyond available staff capabilities, they then had high staff turnover.

·         Following a recruitment process the Trust had only been able to recruit to the UTC in Newton Abbot but had now received additional funding.  The situation in Newton Abbot had stabilised; the current recruitment process was finding applicants who were already trained in MIU and UTC care provision, which would enable a much quicker restart.

·         Whilst she was not able to offer definitive dates for reopening, it was the goal of the Trust to reopen the MIU as soon as possible.  Shortlisting of applicants was taking place and a view to making appoints in a few weeks’ time.  It was likely successful candidates would then be required to give three months’ notice.  With her prior experience as a community GP she was passionate about community-led services with MIUs playing an important role, despite being an expensive service to run given the nature of treatment requirements was an unknown until they happened.  The Trust was now in a substantially improved position which had enabled this latest push to reopen.

·         The MIU was anticipated to be operated by two members of staff, five days a week from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., with an aspiration of ultimately opening seven days.

·         She hoped this was welcomed news and acknowledged it could be viewed with scepticism, but asked Members to trust the process which would hopefully yield positive results for the Community.

Questions were received from Members, a local GP, Chair of the Friends of Dawlish Hospital, and a Teignmouth Town Councillor regards the points that had been made, the hope that was being told was the truth, but due to previous promises, some were not convinced.

Dr Fox, a local general practitioner supported Dr Thomas’ passion for community services and the renewed interest she had shown in Dawlish Community Hospital.  When asked whether he could provide a briefing to Members on local primary care now and in the future, he advised he would be happy to do so.

At this juncture, Standing Orders were reinstated.

The Mayor thanked Dr Thomas for attending on behalf of the Trust.  She had found the briefing informative and useful, and implored the NHS to deliver on reopening the unit this time.  She requested that the Town Council be formally communicated with regards this  ...  view the full minutes text for item 105.

To receive any updates from the Town Clerk (if any).

Town Clerk’s Report

On 10-12 October I attended the Society of Local Council Clerk’s National Conference in Hinckley, near Leicester.  A minibus carried a strong Devon contingent of 10 Town and Parish Clerks to the event which was attended by more than 170 town and parish clerks across England and Wales.

Malcolm Nicholson, Town Clerk at Western-super-Mare Town Council become the Society’s President for 2023/24.

The first session was entitled ‘From Tragedy to Legislative Change’ and was delivered by Figen Murray OBE, the mother of Martyn Hett who at 29 years of age was tragically killed alongside 21 others at the Manchester Arena terrorist attack in May 2017.  Since that time, Figen has been working with the government and the security industry to make the tangible changes that can help ensure no other family has to go through what hers has.  She has been and continues to be the driving force behind Martyn’s Law (Protect Duty), a legislation requiring publicly accessible locations to improve security against the threat of terrorism.  Her ambitions to better understand counter terrorism saw her achieve a distinction in a counter terrorism master’s degree from the university of Lancashire.  She was awarded an OBE in the 2022 New Year’s Honours List.  Whilst the legislative timetable is ongoing, it is anticipated that royal assent will be given in the spring, and a period of 12 months to allow the legislation to bed in.  Currently there is the potential for the tier one threshold figure (recommended to be 100 attendees) being watered down by the government in response to a member of the House of Lords comments on the select committee examining the proposals.

Currently the Bill will impose requirements on premises and events to increase their preparedness for and protection from a terrorist attack by requiring them to take proportionate steps, depending on the size and nature of the activities that take place there.??

Proportionality is a fundamental consideration for this legislation. It will therefore establish a tiered model, linked to the activity that takes place at a premise or event and its capacity:??

A standard tier?will drive good preparedness outcomes. Responsible persons will be required to undertake simple yet effective activities to improve protective security and preparedness. This will apply to qualifying premises with a maximum capacity of 100 (this figure subject to change) or more individuals. This could include larger retail stores, bars, or restaurants.??

An enhanced tier?will see additional requirements placed on high-capacity venues in recognition of the potential catastrophic consequences of a successful attack. This will apply to premises and events with a capacity of 800 or more individuals. This could include live music premises or events, theatres, and department stores.?

The next session was delivered by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.  They detailed that

·         A fund totalling £1.1bn had been made available for 55 towns for projects of £20m to be spent over the next 10 years reviving town centres.  This involved the creation of town task  ...  view the full minutes text for item 106.

To receive the Town Mayor’s announcements (if any).

Mayor’s Report – October 2023

2nd Met with concerned headteacher and escalated to full council as urgent item 

3rd AGM friends of Dawlish hospital 

4th Visit to Barton House residents

4th Full Council meeting

5th Visit to Palm Court residents 

5th Emergency response volunteers meeting

9th Bridge (Manor Gardens)meeting TDC - bridge to be replaced, communication to be improved

12th DALC forum at Forde House aiming to assess and strengthen relationship between TDC and parish/town councils

13th Mayoral event History Evening raising over £1k

17th Presented at Teignmouth Town Council and they voted unanimously to join our MIU campaign

27^th  Launch Brook Street Family Shopper Store

28th AIMS group mayoral visit 

29th Opening of local music studio

30th Launch of DEFIB at Oaklands

31st OPCC police advocate forum

UPDATE MIU CAMPAIGN

Teignmouth Town Council now on board, boxes out for feedback and links online, email address, Facebook page, upcoming events to engage public

UPDATE CHILDCARE CRISIS

Coffee morning booked in November run by myself and DCC Early Years Officer, info to go into Town Crier, Martin Wrigley fact finding at TDC about possibility of venues for future childcare provision

Resolved that the report be noted.

To receive and note the first interim internal audit report for 2023-24.

Resolved that the first interim internal audit report be noted.

To consider the recommendation of the Planning Committee meeting held on 26 October 2023 that the Town Council endorse the Teignmouth Neighbourhood Development Plan 2023, with particular note to policies NE2 and NE3 and endorse their conclusions.  The Planning Committee further encourages Town Councillors to submit their individual comments as part of the consultation process.

Resolved that the Town Council agrees with the recommendation of the Planning Committee meeting held on 26 October 2023, endorsing the Teignmouth Neighbourhood Development Plan 2023, with particular note to policies NE2 and NE3 and their conclusions.  The Town Council also encourages Town Councillors to submit their individual comments as part of the consultation process.

The Town Council is recommended to approve the proposed Car User Policy following consideration by, and approval at, the HR Committee on 21 September 2023.

Members considered the proposed Car User Policy.

Following questions from Members, the Town Clerk, and Chair of HR advised that:

·         The rates payable were set by the National Joint Council (NJC) and were dated 2013; the body had not reviewed them since and did not currently incorporate rates for electric car users.  The Town Clerk would investigate this point further with the Council’s HR Providers.

·         The policy set out the mechanisms by wish car user claims would be lodged and reviewed against where previously this had not existed.  Essential user lump sums were a tax-free allowance and therefore could not be included as part of a member of staff’s salary.

Resolved that the proposed Car User Policy be adopted.

To receive a report from the County Councillor (if any).

There was no County Councillor report.

To receive reports of District Councillors (if any).

Councillor Dawson

Councillor Dawon advised that:

·         Teignbridge had considered updates to the Local Plan and these had been approved with the removal of sites at Holcombe.  The document would now go to the Planning Inspectorate; the Inspector could put the site back in if housing supply is shown to fall short without the inclusion of the site.

·         The bridge in the Manor Gardens would be replaced and would need to go through a tender process.  She had asked for signage to placed nearby to explain to residents the situation.

Resolved that the report be noted.

To receive reports of Town Councillors (if any).

Councillor Heath

Councillor Heath noted the exclusion of the proposed site at Holcombe being removed from the local plan submission and hoped the Inspector would not put back in.

Councillor Dawson

Councillor Dawson reminded Members that there was still availability for Councillors to take part in the Councillor Surgeries across the Parish.  They could either complete the rota online, or contact the office to advise of their availability.

Resolved that the reports be noted.