Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber - Guildhall, Bath

Contact: Jo Morrison  01225 394358

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Items
No. Item

14.

EMERGENCY EVACUATION PROCEDURE

The Chairman will draw attention to the emergency evacuation procedure as set out under Note 8.

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Minutes:

The Chairman drew attention to the emergency evacuation procedure, as set out on the agenda.

15.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

At this point in the meeting declarations of interest are received from Members in any of the agenda items under consideration at the meeting. Members are asked to complete the green interest forms circulated to groups in their pre-meetings (which will be announced at the Council Meeting) to indicate:

(a) The agenda item number in which they have an interest to declare.

(b) The nature of their interest.

(c) Whether their interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest or an other interest,  (as defined in Part 2, A and B of the Code of Conduct and Rules for Registration of Interests)

Any Member who needs to clarify any matters relating to the declaration of interests is recommended to seek advice from the Council’s Monitoring Officeror a member of his staff before the meeting to expedite dealing with the item during the meeting.

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Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest made.

16.

ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM THE CHAIRMAN OF THE COUNCIL OR FROM THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE

These are matters of information for Members of the Council. No decisions will be required arising from the announcements.

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Minutes:

The Chairman made the customary announcements regarding mobile phones, webcasting and Councillors accessing meeting papers on their ipads.

 

He then made a statement on behalf of the Council in response to the alarming rise in incidences of racial abuse and hate crime that had been reported since the EU referendum result.  [A copy of the Chairman’s statement has been linked to the online minutes and added to the Minute Book.] His comments were endorsed by Councillor Lisa Brett who called on the Council to work with the Police and Crime Commissioner to encourage reporting.  Councillor Tim Warren added his support to the comments already made.

Chairman Statement pdf icon PDF 43 KB

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17.

TO ANNOUNCE ANY URGENT BUSINESS AGREED BY THE CHAIRMAN

If there is any urgent business arising since the formal agenda was published, the Chairman will announce this and give reasons why he has agreed to consider it at this meeting. In making his decision, the Chairman will, where practicable, have consulted with the Leaders of the Political Groups. Any documentation on urgent business will be circulated at the meeting, if not made available previously.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

There were no items of urgent business.

18.

QUESTIONS, STATEMENTS, PETITIONS AND DEPUTATIONS FROM THE PUBLIC

The Democratic Services Manager will announce any submissions received. The Council will be invited to decide what action it wishes to take, if any, on the matters raised in these submissions. As the questions received and the answers given will be circulated in written form there is no requirement for them to be read out at the meeting. The questions and answers will be published with the draft minutes.

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Minutes:

Statements were made by the following people;

 

David Dixon made a statement regarding the housing, employment and infrastructure opportunities that the deal presented and stressed that powers were coming down from Government as opposed to being taken away from the Council.  In response to a question from Councillor Tim Warren about whether David considered that the benefits of the deal outweighed the disadvantages, he responded that he did.  Councillor Tim Ball asked whether, in light of the considerable amount of money secured over the last 5 years by the 4 Unitary Authorities jointly and the money promised through the deal, David considered this a good deal, or that we were being short-changed, to which David responded that any money on top of what had already been received was good.  Councillor Eleanor Jackson asked for David’s view on whether the destruction to the ecology of Meadow View in Radstock from new housing was worth it, David responded that any reasonably developer should have taken this into consideration and urged Councillor Jackson to contact the enforcement team.  Councillor Sarah Bevan asked David whether he considered the governance measures were robust enough; to which he replied that they weren’t perfect but that the consultation would give an opportunity to test these.  In response to a question from Councillor Jonathan Carr about whether David considered changes were needed to the governance arrangements to make them more accessible, David commented that there will always be a perceived disconnect with democracy for some members of the public.

 

Ian Bell, Executive Director of the Chamber of Commerce and Initiative for Bath & North East Somerset, highlighted the long-term and sustainable business benefits he saw arising from the devolution deal.  The principal concern of the businesses he represented was infrastructure needing improvement, plus a perception of Bristol monopolising the funding and some doubts about the Metro Mayor.  On balance, however, their conclusion was that the deal should be accepted.  Councillor Tim Warren asked if Ian thought that employers saw this as providing more stability for the region.  Mr Bell responded that they wanted to see progress and not be locked out of the deal.  Councillor Dine Romero asked if caution was needed following the EU referendum vote and the likelihood of recession; Ian responded that he found that language unhelpful.  There would be a number of benefits and it was important to be optimistic.  Councillor Sarah Bevan asked if the Chamber of Commerce had done a poll of their members to gauge views; Ian responded that the Economic Development Committee of the Chamber met often and had given their pragmatic support and recognition that it was better to be in.  In response to a question from Councillor Jonathan Carr about whether Bath & North East Somerset had partnered with the right Local Authorities for the Combined Authority, Ian responded that the West of England might be a bit small, but it would be illogical not to partner with the large economic area of Bristol.

 

Lynne Fernquest made a statement on  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.

Public Statements pdf icon PDF 36 KB

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19.

Combined Authority and Devolution Proposals pdf icon PDF 225 KB

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

 

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Minutes:

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.

20.

QUESTIONS, STATEMENTS, PETITIONS AND DEPUTATIONS FROM COUNCILLORS

The Democratic Services Manager will announce any submissions received. The Council will be invited to decide what action it wishes to take, if any, on the matters raised in these submissions. As the questions received and the answers given will be circulated in written form there is no requirement for them to be read out at the meeting. The questions and answers will be published with the draft minutes.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

No items had been registered from Councillors, although the Leader took the opportunity to inform Council that Bristol City Council had voted in support of the deal.