The Review Committee started the new civic year under its new chairman, Cllr Jerry Gibson. It was a good natured , non-party-political meeting.
The most significant item was a call-in by Cllr Michael Hoy regarding a decision by Cllr Mike Steptoe on charging for commercial use of council car parks. Councillors weren’t concerned so much about the commercial side but by the fact that RDC charges the NHS for having its mobile breast screening unit in our car parks at various times. This is done at a reduced rate , and the amount involved was fairly small – about ?2,200 per year. However most councillors had misgivings about the moral principle of this.
In the end the committee referred the issue back to Cllr Steptoe, both on the moral ground, and because the report from officers wasn’t very clear. Mike Steptoe now has the final say. He was at the meeting, and listened very carefully. A lot of people will be hoping he changes his mind on this.