Council - Thursday, 1st October, 2026 7.15 pm - Agenda

To confirm the minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of the Council held on 2nd July, 2026 (copy attached).

(1)       To receive any questions by Members submitted in pursuance of Standing Order 8 (3).

Public Questions

(2)       To answer any questions from the public submitted under Standing Order 9 in accordance with the Procedure Note.

To receive the Returning Officer’s Report on the result of the Wellington Ward By-Election held on 16th July 2026 (copy attached – Annex 1).

Under Standing Order 1(4), a request for an Extraordinary Council Meeting was received from councillors Steve Harden, Martin Tennant, Gareth Lyon, Sue Carter and Ade Adeola to consider a motion on the government’s handling of local government reorganisation. It was agreed that the item would be included on the agenda for this meeting.

The Council is asked to consider the following Notice of Motion, to be proposed by Cllr Steve Harden pursuant to Standing Order 10 (1):

“This Council notes that the Government has withdrawn its decision on Local Government Reorganisation in Hampshire following updated legal advice.

Rushmoor and other councils were required to spend time and public money preparing for major changes to local services that many residents did not ask for. The withdrawal creates further uncertainty for residents, council staff and local services.

This Council believes the Government must take responsibility for its handling of this process and that Rushmoor residents should not be left to pay the bill.

This Council therefore resolves to:

·         Ask the Chief Executive and Section 151 Officer to publish within 28 days a reasonable assessment of Rushmoor’s LGR costs, including consultants, legal advice, officer time, communications, joint work and contractual commitments, together with an indicative opportunity cost and a list of projects not pursued while LGR was prioritised.

·         Identify how much spending has been wasted or cannot be recovered.

·         Write to the Secretary of State demanding reimbursement of Rushmoor’s wasted costs.

·         Call on the Government to reimburse all affected councils and provide an urgent explanation of what went wrong.

·         Call for Rushmoor residents to be given a meaningful say before any replacement proposals are introduced.”

To approve the following changes to appointments to committees for the remainder of the Municipal Year 2026/27 in accordance with the allocations to achieve political balance:

1)        Audit and Governance Committee –

Cllr Fouzia Khan to be appointed as a Member of the Audit and Governance Committee to fill the Labour Group vacancy on the committee.

Cllr Sharon Harvey to be appointed as a Member of the Audit and Governance Committee in place of Cllr Ian Simpson.

Cllr Leola Card to be appointed as a Member of the Audit and Governance Committee in place of Cllr Thomas Mitchell.

2)        Development Management Committee –

Cllr Fouzia Khan to be appointed as a Member of the Development Management Committee to fill the Labour Group vacancy in place of Cllr Becky Williams.

Cllr Becky Williams to be appointed as a Standing Deputy on the Development Management Committee to fill the Labour Group vacancy.

3)        Licensing and Corporate Business Committee

Cllr Becky Williams to be appointed as a Member of the Licensing and Corporate Business Committee to fill the Labour Group vacancy on the committee.

To receive a report (copy attached – Annex 2) which advises the Council on the new National Scheme of Delegation for planning applications which will come into effect on 31st October 2026, and the new protocol for managing decision making under prescribed arrangements. The report also sets out the updates to be made to the Constitution to implement the new legal requirements. Cllr Calum Stewart, Chair of the Development Management Committee, will introduce this item.

To receive any questions by Members to Cabinet Members submitted in accordance with the Procedure Note.

To receive and ask questions on the Reports of the following Meetings (copy reports attached):

To note the Reports of the following meetings (copy reports attached):