Minutes:
Councillor Barber reported that there had been no questions submitted under Procedure Rule 8.6. Under Procedure Rule 8.4, Councillor Booth, as Leader of the Opposition, asked the following questions:
· Councillor Booth asked for an update on Local Government Reorganisation after the letter to Central Government had been sent and has there been any further discussions with other local councils in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and any progress made with regards to putting a proposal forward to Government? Councillor Boden advised that an enormous amount of work has been undertaken in a very cooperative way between all the Leaders of the Councils in Cambridgeshire and in Peterborough City as well as the Chief Executives and other officers of those councils, with a great deal of data now being collated to make assessments of the alternative possible make up that there may be for two or three unitary authorities covering the footprint of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. He explained that the data collected will be applied to those alternatives to inform an initial decision by leaders as to which probably two options will be taken forward for further analysis so that a decision may be made before the response deadline of the 28 November. Councillor Boden stated that there is no requirement for everyone to be saying the same thing, and that it is extremely helpful for everyone to be using the same data set to inform and explain the positions that are reached and even if they are putting forward slightly different proposals then they should still be able to put forward one proposal and one document between all seven local authorities so that it demonstrates that there has been collaboration and that the options are clear. He explained that it may still be too early to state what those options are as technically there are six different options and theoretically other options could still come forward, but it is anticipated that those six options will be reduced to two within the next couple of months. Councillor Boden explained that his intention will be to have a meeting of Full Council in order for that process to be explained and to get the agreement or otherwise of Full Council with regards to the approach that Fenland will take in those discussions which will take place in July as to how this Council moves forward with a smaller number of options to explore in detail. He made the point that a lot of money is also being spent, particularly by the County Council, in supporting the process but there is no guarantee whatsoever that the Secretary of State, Angela Rayner, or Jim McMahon, the Government Minister, will not respond and state that they do not like the suggestions that are made and put forward their own proposal. Councillor Boden explained that the first indications in the process are not hopeful, with the first local authority in this round of reorganisation to be considered is Surrey County Council and then there are five other County Councils together with nearby unitary authorities which will be considered under phase 1 and Fenland is being considered under phase 2 which is 21 County Councils together with associated unitary authorities such as Peterborough City Council. He explained that Surrey County Council put forward a solution that they indicated that they wanted a single unitary authority and that the eleven District Councils in Surrey agreed to provide an alternative solution with three unitary authorities but a couple of weeks ago Jim McMahon announced that he is considering two. Councillor Boden expressed the view that he is not enthused or confident following the significant amount of work which has taken place that a resolution will be made and which the Government will accept. He added that this Council needs to do its best for the people of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and he has to do the best for the residents of Fenland, with him working really hard in accordance with Government instructions to produce the recommended geography for the assumed two unitary authorities. He added that a special meeting of Full Council will be convened at the right time which will be of interest to all members where much more suggested detail will be available with his suggestion of how to move forward and a debate can take place.
· Councillor Booth thanked Councillor Boden for his comprehensive update, and he expressed the view that the reason authorities in Surrey did not reach the option that they had wanted was because they were not speaking with one voice. He expressed the opinion that the more unified approach that is presented means that you are likely to reach that conclusion. Councillor Booth added that he would encourage the closer working which seems to be taking place already.
· Councillor Booth referred to the new Inspire projects and stated that as members of the Cabinet have now changed there appears to be a change in the responsibilities members have under the project. He questioned as to who will have the final say and asked whether it will be going to the new project board who are yet to meet? Councillor Boden stated that the Inspire projects have been split between more than one Cabinet member due to the size of the ambition which is involved and as a result he has asked two members of Cabinet to take responsibility for the Inspire projects specifically and whilst they are going to be leading on those, it will be the role of Cabinet as a whole to take collective decisions and where appropriate and necessary for questions and matters to come back before Full Council, especially at budget time. He added that the items will need to appear in the Council’s capital and revenue budgets particularly the capital side in order that it can ensure that what is actually put forward is affordable and it will ultimately be Full Council who will decide when decisions are being made about the budget for future years and what is and what is not included. Councillor Boden explained that it is much too early to identify specific timescales for specific projects as that is being considered at the present time and the Council will be prudent in what it does whilst also being ambitious. He explained that with regards to the new Project Advisory Group it is meant for any specific project which is decided will be useful for Cabinet’s direction to be scrutinised by members and currently there is nothing proposed. Councillor Boden added that he would hope that there will not be the need to utilise that group, however, if there does become a reason to call a meeting, he will ask for the committee to be constituted in order that the committee can participate in a decision-making process.