Agenda

Full Council’s Terms of Reference is attached to the agenda pack for reference.

Information pertaining to public participation rules and attending Council and Committee meetings can be found on the following webpage:Public participation and attending meetings - Teignbridge District Council

To approve as a correct record and sign the minutes of the previous Council meeting on 23^rd October 2025 and the two extraordinary meetings on 25^th November 2025.

Announcements only from the Chair of Council, Leader, Members of the Executive or the Managing Director.

Information pertaining to the Members' Code of Conduct and guidance relating to declaring interests can be found on the following webpage: Teignbridge District Council - Councillor-conduct

Members of the public may ask questions. A maximum period of 15 minutes will be allowed with a maximum period of three minutes per questioner.

Members of the Council may ask questions of the Council subject to procedural rules.

To receive the recommendation of the Appointments and Remuneration Committee on 6^th January 2026, to appoint the Council’s Monitoring Officer pursuant to the Local Government and Housing Act 1989.

The agenda and minutes of this meeting can be found: Agenda for Appointments & Remuneration Committee on Tuesday 6th January 2026

RECOMMENDATION

The Committee recommends to Full Council the appointment of Charlie Fisher to the position of Interim Monitoring Officer, and that the Committee notes that should efforts to recruit for the role be unsuccessful that he continues on in the role.

At the Executive Meeting on Tuesday 6^th January 2026, the Executive recommended to Full Council that:

1.    The Council Tax Reduction Scheme (attached as Appendix A) is adopted for the year 2026-27 with the income amounts uprated in line with annual uprating of welfare awards which are usually confirmed before the end of this calendar year.

2.    Delegated authority is given to the Council Tax Lead Officer to amend the income bands within the scheme to align with the uprated amounts, once confirmed by Government.

The associated documents can be found at: Agenda for Executive on Tuesday 6th January 2026 - Teignbridge District Council

To consider the recommendations from Independent Renumneration Panel, as recommended by the Governance Committee at its meeting on 8^th January 2026.

The agenda and minutes for this meeting can be found: Agenda for Governance Committee on Thursday 8th January 2026

The report of the IRP is attached.

To consider a number of amendments to the Constitution, as agreed by the Constitution Review Working Group.

Within the Procedural Rules (Section 4) that the Monitoring Officer be named to determine the acceptance of Questions by Members of the Public (4.7.1 (f)) and Questions from Members of the Council (4.7.3) instead of the Managing Director to ensure consistency across all processes.

To agree the proposed changes to the Amendments to Motions procedure.

To agree a petitions process to be inserted into Section 4 – Council Meeting Procedural Rules.

To agree the proposed Councillor Role Profiles to replace the current Section 8a and those role profiles documented in other parts of the Constitution.

The following motion on the proposed closure of Torquay Police Custody Centre has been proposed by Councillor Jane Taylor, seconded by Councillor Horner and supported by the requisite number of Members within the procedural rules.

Background

I am proposing a notice of motion regarding the proposed 'pilot' closure of Torquay Custody Centre, on the grounds of efficiency. As I am sure you will have seen in the press, Police Officers will have to transport prisoners arrested in Torbay or Teignbridge, to Exeter or Plymouth. It has been reported that more than 5,000 detainees are processed each year. Some sources put it has high as 7000, either way it is a lot of detainees being transported across the County. 

Torquay is one of the busiest custody centres in the force and is frequently full, having to divert Officers to other custody centres. There are at least 36 cells and numerous other functions are carried out in custody suites, including breath and blood tests for drink and drug drivers. This is a time crucial process with a serious risk of offenders providing samples under the limit, if not done as soon as possible. Strip and intimate searches, swabs, bail returnees, interviews, fingerprinting and DNA are also conducted there, to name a few.  

In a previous life, I served 30 years with Devon and Cornwall Constabulary, starting in Torquay and spending most of my career in South Devon, including a stint as a Custody Sergeant. This is an issue which is very close to my heart because first and foremost it is about the welfare and safety of our police officers. There are many obvious consequences of closure and some less, which I have listed below to assist you in your letter to the Chief Constable. 

In relation to the proposed closure of Torbay Custody Centre, the Council notes that:

1. Officer Safety - Violent prisoners need to be transported the shortest possible distance for the safety of Officers and the detainees. Currently violent prisoners can be restrained in prison vans for long periods of time when Torquay Custody Centre is full. The detainee will remain restrained while they are transported to the nearest custody centre with availability, in some case first going to Exeter and then being redirected to Plymouth.  

2. Detainee Safety - It is well documented that prolonged restraint of detainees can contribute to deaths in custody, as was the finding of the Coroner in the sad case of Thomas Orchard. On arrival at a custody centre the waiting times to process detained persons are regularly longer than two hours and up to 7/8 hours, the whole of the officer's shift! 

3. Officer Abstraction - Officers would be out of area for longer, leaving little or no response capability. The effectiveness of any policing response will be seriously impacted. The consequence of this will be incurred overtime cost, increased time in lieu being accrued and officers being refused time off and annual leave.   

4. Response Times - Response times will increase with fewer officers  ...  view the full agenda text for item 11a