Issue - meetings

To receive and approve the Report of the Chief Executive (CX/19/1) with proposals for the  Constituent Authorities on the Heart of the South West (HOtSW) Joint Committee’s Governance Arrangements and budgetary position for 2019/20, together with the Minute 407 (a-c) of the Cabinet held on 9 October 2019.

The Report is attached.

(Councillor Davis declared a personal interest in this matter by virtue of being a Member of the Joint Committee, appointed by Exmoor National Park).

The Council considered the recommendations of the Cabinet from the meeting held on 9 October 2019 relating to proposals for the Constituent Authorities on the Heart of the South West (HOtSW) Joint Committee’s Governance Arrangements, budgetary position for 2019/20 and financial contribution for 2020/2021.

The Leader of the Council MOVED and Councillor McInnes SECONDED that the recommendations of Cabinet be approved and that Governance arrangements and budgetary position for 2019/20 relating to the Heart of the South West Joint Committee, as set out at Minute 407 (a-c) of the Cabinet, be endorsed.

The motion was put to the vote and declared CARRIED.

(In accordance with Standing Order 32(4) Councillors Brazil, Connett, Dewhirst, G Hook, J Hook and Way asked that their abstention from the vote be recorded)

Report of the Chief Executive (CX/19/01) providing an update for the Constituent Authorities on the Heart of the South West (HOtSW) Joint Committee’s governance arrangements and budgetary position for 2019/20, attached.

(Councillors Atkinson, Biederman, Connett, Dewhirst, Greenslade and Hannaford attended in accordance with Standing Order 25(2) and spoke to this item).

(Councillor Davis declared a personal interest in this matter by virtue of being a Member of the Joint Committee, appointed by Exmoor National Park).

(Councillor Dewhirst also declared a personal interest in this matter by virtue of being a substitute Member of the Joint Committee, appointed by Teignbridge District Council).

The Cabinet considered the Report of the Chief Executive (CX/19/01) which had been circulated prior to the meeting in accordance with regulation 7(4) of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012.

The Report provided an update for Constituent Authorities on the Heart of the South West (HotSW) Joint Committee’s governance arrangements and budgetary position for 2019/20 and contained recommendations for amendments to the Committee’s Arrangements document, following a governance review.

The Council had been a member of the Heart of the South West Joint Committee since its

creation in August 2015 and the Committee had become a formal body in March 2018 with currently twenty-one members. The Committee acted as a single voice to Government on socio-economic and environmental issues and made the case for additional powers and funding for the benefit of the people of Devon and Somerset.

In terms of the review of the role and functions of the Joint Committee, it had refined its focus into strategic policy development, influencing Government and key agencies to achieve direct intervention, support, funding and powers, designing and delivering strategic HotSW responses to ‘Government’ offers, designing and delivering public sector reform where this would deliver improved productivity, e.g. in health and education, delivering at scale (beyond what individual councils could achieve) and oversight of the delivery plan.

The refinements to the focus of the Committee had been reflected in amendments to the list of functions in the Joint Committee’s ‘Arrangements’ document, at Appendix A of the Report.

The Report also outlined that the Committee had agreed to change its meeting arrangements to achieve a better balance between formal decision-making meetings (fewer) and more opportunities for informal engagement and challenge sessions.

In January 2018, the Constituent Authorities had appointed Somerset County Council as the Administering Authority for a two-year period from 22 January 2018. The Report recommended a reappointment of Somerset County Council for a further two-years (until 22 January 2022), which had been endorsed by the Joint Committee.

The diagram in Appendix B to the Report showed the revised management support arrangements of the Joint Committee.

The Joint Committee remained reliant on the Constituent Authorities for its budget to support running costs and delivery of the work programme. Contribution levels for each Council tier were based on population levels. The Joint Committee approved ‘in principle’ to seek agreement from Constituent Authorities to double the 2018/19 core contributions as a one-year arrangement for 2019/20. For the County Council this meant a maximum of £21,000, but the additional monies would only be requested if the budget proved  ...  view the full minutes text for item 407