Agenda item

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.

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 behalf of the Bath Business Improvement District, a copy of which is placed on the Minute Book and attached to the online minutes.  Lynne urged Councillors to vote in favour of taking this process to the next level of extensive consultation.  In response to a question from Councillor Tim Warren about whether Bath Business Improvement District represented big businesses, Lynne responded that they represented small, medium and large businesses.  Councillor Tim Ball asked about the merit of proposing a Metro Mayor to residents, shortly after they had rejected the idea of an elected Mayor; Lynne responded that it wasn’t perfect but it was progress and we should look at the details and push to have our voice heard.  Councillor Sarah Bevan asked whether there was a specific detail of the deal which appealed to the BID and Lynne responded that it was the element of collaboration and the ability to work together on infrastructure changes.  Councillor Lin Patterson raised a recent West of England survey of Parish Councillors with a large majority not being in favour, and asked how many BID members were located in parishes in Bath; Lynne responded that she didn’t have those statistics but that this could be addressed during the consultation.

Robin Kerr made a statement on behalf of the Federation of Bath Residents’ Association, a copy of which is placed on the Minute Book and attached to the online minutes.  He passed on the views from FoBRA members, the majority of whom backed the deal, and urged Councillors to vote to put the deal out to consultation.  Councillor Tim Warren asked how many residents FoBRA represented, to which Robin responded that it was approximately 4000, and the membership was reviewed annually.  Councillor Dine Romero clarified that the Association covered Bath only, and Robin confirmed that there were some areas where they would like to have representation, but didn’t currently, such as Newbridge and Twerton.  He referred Members to the map on their website for further information.  Councillor Sarah Bevan asked whether a vote had been taken in Committee and Mr Kerr explained that, as they only met once every 2 months, a vote had been taken by e-mail and a good majority had voted in favour.  Councillor Jonathan Carr asked what had changed FoBRA’s view regarding a Mayor, to which Robin explained that FoBRA had never expressed a view either way concerning the elected Mayor.

David Redgewell (South West Transport Network) made a statement in support of the devolution deal, but raising some concerns regarding transport delivery, a copy of which is placed on the Minute Book and attached to the online minutes.  Councillor Anthony Clarke asked David whether he considered that disproportionate benefits would be brought from schemes outside the Authority, David confirmed that he did.  In response to a question from Councillor Dine Romero about whether David considered the deal would offer enough money to deliver all the projects he had mentioned, David responded that initially there wouldn’t be, but Greater Manchester were on their 4^th and 5^th deals and so he anticipated that further funding would be opened up.  Councillor John Bull mentioned the reference in David’s written statement to losing European funding and asked for further information on this.  David responded that we were at risk of losing the Trans European Network funding which was part of the electrification programme which goes through Bath on to Wales and then Ireland, money which would need to be replaced.  Councillor Sarah Bevan asked which projects David considered would be top of the list for public transport users, to which David responded he would like to see the bus fleet replaced in the city to provide high quality, low floor, clean emission busses to address air quality issues.

The Chairman thanked everyone for their statements.