Issue - meetings

Council is asked to scrutinise the Cabinet decision on the governance scheme being considered at the Cabinet meeting held prior to Council.

The Council considered a report asking them to scrutinise the Cabinet decision on the governance scheme which had been made at their meeting earlier in the day.

On a motion from Councillor Tim Warren, seconded by Councillor Charles Gerrish, it was

RESOLVED

1.  that Council, in its scrutiny role, recommend to Cabinet that the governance scheme is approved for consultation;

2.  that Council expresses its view that:

·  The devolution deal must not be solely about economic growth, but rather must give substantial importance to reducing inequality and enhancing environmental sustainability. Therefore equality and environmental sustainability must be given meaningful weightings in the economic model, in both

a)  the criteria used for selecting projects to benefit from devolved funds, and

b)  the metrics that determine whether the projects have been successful.

·  A sufficient level of support must be given to the Scrutiny and Audit roles of the new Combined Authority to allow it to be fully effective and independent from the executive.

·  The membership of Scrutiny and Audit roles of the new combined authorities must be chosen in a way that ensures fair representation for all political groups across the region and equal representation of all authorities, should appropriately reflect the scrutiny roles that members hold on the individual authorities, and must be chosen in a clear and transparent manner.

3.  To request that, in addition to the consultation response from members of the public, a response to the Secretary of State will be compiled on behalf of members of the Council, to reflect the views of;

a)  The relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committees

b)  The Bath City Forum and other Area Forums

c)  Each Political Group and

d)  Individual Councillors

With all Councillors who wish to be involved being given sight of anonymised feedback from the public consultation exercise.

[Notes:

1.  The wording in resolutions 2 and 3 above was proposed by Councillor Jonathan Carr and accepted into the substantive motion by the mover and seconder of the motion.

2.  The substantive motion was carried with 42 Councillors voting in favour, 13 Councillors voting against and 4 Councillors abstaining.

3.  During debate, an unsuccessful amendment was moved by Councillor Dine Romero, and seconded by Councillor Lisa Brett requesting that the consultation be delayed until the impact of the EU referendum be fully considered and included in the consultation document, and further information be sought regarding the powers of the Metro Mayor.  This amendment was lost, with 14 Councillors voting in favour and 46 Councillors voting against.

4.  A further amendment was moved by Councillor Will Sandry and seconded by Councillor Joe Rayment calling for the results of the consultation to be brought back to Council before the final Cabinet decision in the autumn.  This was lost on a named vote, as set out below;

Councillors voting in favour (24); - Councillors Rob Appleyard, Tim Ball, Cherry Beath, Sarah Bevan, Colin Blackburn, Lisa Brett, John Bull, Neil Butters, Paul Crossley, Chris Dando, Doug Deacon, Ian Gilchrist, Liz Hardman, Steve Hedges, Eleanor  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19

Cabinet is asked to note the strategic governance review conducted into the joint working arrangements between authorities of the West of England, to consider whether the test for establishing a combined authority is met and to take the necessary steps to agree and submit to the Secretary of State a scheme for the establishment of a Mayoral Combined Authority for the area of Bath and North East Somerset Council, Bristol City Council and South Gloucestershire Council.

Christina Biggs (Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways) read out a statement (a copy of which is attached to the Minutes as Appendix 1 and on the Council's website) where she highlighted matters with Devolution Governance Scheme, Rail Powers and Road Schemes within the Devolution proposals.

Councillor Eleanor Jackson expressed her concerns on congestion at the road leading into Midsomer Norton recycling centre, the state of A367 road and the hole in the wall at Radstock Methodist Church.  Councillor Jackson also said that it was unclear how much funding Bath and North East Somerset would receive compared to South Gloucestershire and Bristol and asked the Cabinet to be clear with public on the benefits of the devolution deal and scrutiny involvement.

Councillor Dine Romero said that she did not believe this was a good governance scheme.  Councillor Romero expressed her concerns on the security of devolution deal and on scrutiny involvement in the process.  Councillor Romero also expressed her concern on a Mayor appointment, even if one was based in Bath.  Councillor Romero concluded her statement by saying that, following the outcome of the EU Referendum, this was not a good time to pursue devolution deal.

Councillor Tim Warren thanked all speakers.

Councillor Tim Warren read out the following statement:

‘Following many months of negotiations, we have achieved the best possible deal – and one that far outweighs any other devolution deal done elsewhere in the country, both in terms of the funding secured and safeguards in place.

- At more than £1,000 per person this represents by far the biggest financial deal of any devolution package in the country.

- And in terms of protections for our area, we have secured more safeguards than any other deal in the country with a veto over planning matters, unanimous approval required over financial matters, and protections in the voting system to ensure that one area cannot dominate over the others.

However, before we move to a decision on this I would like to address a couple of matters which have arisen in recent days and also make clear the decision Cabinet is taking today.

Firstly, there have been some questions raised over the impact of the Brexit vote on this deal.  Over the past few days we have had a number of conversations with both the Treasury and DCLG in this regard.  They have offered assurances that the devolution deal is still on offer and the commitments made can and will be honoured.  They have also confirmed that the timetable remains the same – that if Council wishes to proceed to the next stage of this devolution deal then we need to take a decision by the 4th July.

Secondly, the decision by our neighbours in North Somerset Council to withdraw from the process. Obviously we are disappointed by this decision, but we also respect it.  We have a very strong working relationship with North Somerset, and whatever the outcome of today’s decision we will continue to do so.  We will still  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8