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Votes at planning meetings in Teignbridge will now be recorded in the minutes following concerns over ‘decisions being made in secret’.

Cllr Adrian Patch had put forward a motion to Monday’s Teignbridge District Council full council meeting that would have changed the current requirement for a Recorded Vote from five members to ask for it to just one.

But his motion was amended by the ruling Liberal Democrat group so that from now on, all votes for planning committee meetings will be captured electronically and recorded in the minutes. A report on the best way to to record votes for other meetings will come back to April’s full council meeting.

The amendment followed concerns about how a named vote in a roll-call fashion could lead to ‘virtue signalling and playing to the public gallery’, and that if just one councillor needed to call for a recorded vote then a ‘maverick member’ could disrupt all meetings.

As a result of the motion, at the next planning committee meeting members will vote using the electronic voting system, their vote will be captured, and then recorded once the meeting minutes are published a few days later so the public can see how their representative vote.

Explaining his motion, Cllr Patch said: “With votes in most committees taken by a show of hands, it is possible to see who votes which way, although this is not recorded by default. But in Planning Committee meetings where an electronic voting apparatus is used for decision mking, unless a Recorded Vote is successfully requested, votes are effectively being made in secret (in terms of the way each Member votes).

“In a recent meeting of the Planning Committee, a decision on a contentious Planning Application was made without a Recorded Vote despite four Members requesting one, and despite great public interest in the vote – not least in the way that Members were voting. This falls severely short of the principles of openness and accountability expected by the public and as espoused in Article 16 of the Constitution. It is this regrettable situation that the current Motion seeks to remedy.

“I urge people to vote for the motion and remove the stain on the reputation of the council in terms of secrecy in voting on planning.”

But Cllr Gary Taylor, portfolio holder for planning, said that while he welcomed the notice of motion and the council was committed to the principles of open and transparent decision making, he was concerned though that it will have unintended consequences.

He said: “Named votes could lead to showboating and virtue signalling and playing to the public gallery.”

He instead proposed an amendment to capture and record voting in a different way, with electronic voting done during the meeting and the recorded in the minutes of planning committee meetings and that arrangements for recorded voting in other committees are looked at by the Constitutional Review Group and would come back to the next full council meeting for discussion.

Cllr Andrew McGregor added: “I am in favour of recorded votes, but concerned that request for a recorded vote is part of a virtue signalling or showboating environment. We are required to vote without fear or favour and it is important that we can vote in that fashion. An electronic recorded system where it can be recorded in the minutes, removes any influence, undue or otherwise, in the voting system.”

Cllr Alan Connett said that the amendment takes the ideal of the motion and supports it and wraps around the procedure to get it done.

He said: “We want planning decisions recorded so people can see what their councillor did. If the thrust is about being open and clear and planning decisions are recorded how people voted, there is a system can be achieved by recording via the electronic voting system.”

Cllr Alison Eden added that in the past, she has seen councillors often turn to the councillor next to them and ask what they are supposed to be voting for. She added: “Surely we all want people to know how we vote? People can be swayed by how people around them vote but if the votes are published afterwards, then we know people are voting for what they mean and what they think.”

Cllr David Cox added: “With electronic voting, I don’t see why it cannot start at the next planning committee meeting. The technology is there so this can be enacted immediately.”

Chairman of the planning committee, Cllr Mike Haines, said that he supported the amendment, as one councillor was too low a threshold to ask for a recorded vote as a ‘maverick member’ could relish the opportunity to jump up at anything, but that lowering the threshold from five to three would be something he could support.

Councillors voted in favour of Cllr Taylor’s amendment to the motion, meaning that from the next planning committee meeting, all votes will be recorded and published in the minutes, while the April 21 meeting will see a report come forward about the best way to capture votes for other committees.

Individual councillors will still retain their right for their vote to be recorded during the meeting, while the existing process off five councillors needing to ask for a recorded named vote to take place remains.

(Image: Daniel Clark)

After the meeting, Cllr Patch said: “I am happy that consideration of my Motion is steering Teignbridge Planning Committee Meetings towards decisions made with ‘a presumption in favour of openness’ – in accord with our constitution – and away from ‘a presumption in favour of secrecy’, which is how the Committee has been operating since I joined the Council in May.

“My one concern is that if the new system is not up and running smoothly by the time of the next Planning Committee meeting (in March) then the current secretive methods might be retained.

“I attempted to table an amendment to my Motion yesterday stating that in the event of the system not being fully operational then voting ought to revert to a show of hands in the first instance. I am somewhat bemused that the Chairman did not allow this amendment to be put to a vote. We will see what happens in practice at the next Planning Committee meeting.

“On the related matter of accountability, and lowering the threshold required to achieve a Recorded (Named) Vote on decisions of all Committees and Full Council, I sincerely hope that the Constitution Review Working Group recommends a suitable change.

(Image: Daniel Clark)

“The requirement for five Committee Members to request a Recorded Vote in order for one to happen has led to two recent failed requests on contentious decisions, in contrast to the recent successful attempt by a member of the ruling party, which lead to a unanimous decision on a controversial application to a packed public gallery – it is noteworthy that resistance to lowering the threshold to achieve a Recorded Vote at yesterday’s meeting included claims that it might lead to ‘show-boating’ and ‘virtue-signalling’, with Councillors making those claims seemingly forgetting the recent history of Recorded Vote requests at Teignbridge.

“In any case, there is already ample opportunity for ‘show-boating’ and ‘virtue-signalling’ for Councillors during their speeches in the Chamber – moving forward, the public will be able to ascertain whether all fine words translate into votes in accord with those words.”