Agenda item

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 Jackson, Alison Millar, Lin Patterson, June Player, Joe Rayment, Nigel Roberts, Caroline Roberts, Dine Romero, Will Sandry and Shaun Stephenson McGall

Councillors voting against (32); - Councillors Patrick Anketell-Jones, Jasper Becker, Anthony Clarke, Matt Cochrane, Fiona Darey, Matthew Davies, Sally Davis, Emma Dixon, Charles Gerrish, Bob Goodman, Alan Hale, Donal Hassett, Deirdre Horstmann, Steve Jefferies, Les Kew, Paul May, Paul Myers, Michael Norton, Lisa O’Brien, Bryan Organ, Chris Pearce, Liz Richardson, Mark Shelford, Brian Simmons, Peter Turner, Martin Veal, David Veale, Karen Walker, Geoff Ward, Tim Warren, Karen Warrington, Chris Watt

Councillors abstaining (4); - Councillors Jonathan Carr, Francine Haeberling, Barry Macrae, Vic Pritchard]