Issue - meetings

Report of the Chief Executive

Presented by the Leader

Councillor R Blunt presented the report to members.  He stated that the proposal was simply a bid to the government for the authorities to formally agree to work more closely together on areas where there should already be collaboration in any case.  He made reference to the public consultation which had been undertaken, showing that 68.8% of respondents were in favour of creating a combined authority.  He explained that the creation of a combined authority would not result in a loss of sovereignty.  He advised that this issue would be debated across Leicestershire in the coming weeks.  He commended the Chief Executive for her work on the project.

Councillor R Blunt moved the recommendations as set out in the report.  The motion was seconded by Councillor A V Smith who reserved her comments.

Councillor S McKendrick stated that in principle, a combined authority could provide benefits with opportunities to share good practice, and devolution was positive for local councils.  She added that it was imperative that this was structured to provide support to local people, and therefore governance and scrutiny became even more important.  She stated that this was an area of concern.  She asked whether there would be an opposition representative involved in scrutiny, and how local people could have an influence upon any issues raised through scrutiny.  She commented that there was little in the scheme to reassure members in this respect.  She made reference to the interest in collaboration from Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, and asked if the bid would be strengthened if Leicestershire had been interested in working with these authorities.  She commented that the scrutiny arrangements were not sufficient and created too much distance for local people.  She acknowledged that a consultation had been undertaken but questioned how robust this had been as she was not convinced that 4 weeks was sufficient to ensure a broad representation had been made.

Councillor S McKendrick moved an amendment to the motion as follows:

Recommendation 4 to be reworded to read; That Council authorises the Chief Executive, following consultation with the Leader, to make any final minor amendments to the scheme and governance review prior to their submission to the Department for Communities and Local Government in December 2015 or January 2016.

Recommendation 6 to be deleted.

Councillor R Blunt welcomed Councillor S McKendrick as the new leader of the Labour Group.  He indicated that he was happy to accept the amendment to recommendation 4; however it was not possible to delete recommendation 6.

Councillor A C Saffell commented that as someone who lived in the northern parishes, he was much closer to Derby and Nottingham than Leicester.  He felt that it would be more beneficial to combine with Derby and Nottingham as North West Leicestershire would then be in the centre if a larger combined authority was created covering the whole of the East Midlands.  He expressed disappointment that Leicester did not want to collaborate with Derby and Nottingham.

Councillor J Legrys sought clarification as to why the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 49

Report of the Chief Executive

Presented by the Leader

The Leader presented the report to Members.

He advised Members that the report sought the support to bring forward the first stage to enable the Leicestershire to demonstrate that they could work as a combined authority and that all nine Councils needed to agree.

He highlighted to Members the three areas that were to be proposed which were transport, planning and skills. He stated that as the district grew all nine authorities would need to work together to ensure that the transport infrastructure was in place, that there was the opportunity for local residents to continue to improve on their skills for a better quality of life and that the neighbouring authorities talked to and co-operated with each other as to where housing and development would take place.

He informed Members that there were a number of proposals across the Country, but he was committed to the Leicestershire model, adding that should the proposal go ahead it would almost certainly provide a financial injection to the district and that following recent consultations there was strong support for a combined authority, but it did not mean that each authority would lose its own sovereignty.

Councillor T J Pendleton stated that Leicestershire didn't have an option as both Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire were already attempting to combine.

Councillor R D Bayliss agreed with Councillor T J Pendleton adding that there was no reason not to.

Councillor A V Smith stated that she was happy with the proposals and that it was the way forward.

The Chief Executive advised Members that the Government required a governance review and scheme to be drawn up and that the proposals would benefit the district post 2028 in locating were future development should go. She informed Members that this was due to the urban areas of the County being unable to take any further housing, adding that it would allow the authority some control on the volume, speed and area of growth. She highlighted to Members that they were being asked to recommend the delegation of authority to herself in consultation with the Leader to make minor amendments to the submission. She assured that anything that was more substantial would go back to Members. She also assured Members that a joint scrutiny committee would be established with one non executive member from each authority nominated to ensure that appropriate scrutiny of decisions.

 
Councillor R Blunt advised Members that the recommendations were identical to those going to Council.

It was moved by Councillor R Blunt, seconded by Councillor A V Smith and

RESOLVED THAT:

Cabinet recommend to Council that it:

1.    Approves the scheme for the Combined Authority;

2.    Approves the Governance Review;

3.    Authorises the publication of the Scheme and its submission to the Department for Communities and Local Government;

4.    Authorises the Chief Executive, following consultation with the Leader, to make any final amendments to the Scheme and Governance Review prior to their submission to the Department for Communities and Local Government in December 2015 or January  ...  view the full minutes text for item 51