Agenda, decisions and minutes

Items which in the opinion of the Chair should be considered at the meeting as matters of urgency.

There was no item raised as a matter of urgency.

There was no announcement by the Chair at this meeting.

There was no petition received from a Member of the Public or the Council.

There was no question from a Member of the Council.

Report of the Chief Executive (CX/24/1) outlining the proposed Devon & Torbay Combined County Authority and Devolution Deal and accompanying document “Draft proposal for the Devon and Torbay Combined County Authority”, attached.

A draft Impact Assessment has been prepared for the attention of Members at the meeting, attached and available at Devon and Torbay Devolution - Impact Assessment / https://www.devon.gov.uk/impact/devon-and-torbay-devolution/

RESOLVED

(a) that the proposed Devon & Torbay devolution deal be supported; and

(b) that a public consultation be carried out in conjunction with Torbay Council from 12 February 2024 to 24 March 2024 to invite views on the draft proposal to establish the Devon & Torbay Combined County Authority.

(Councillors Biederman, Brazil, Cox, Leaver, Letch, Whitton and Wrigley attended in accordance with Standing Order 25(2) and spoke to this item raising questions such as governance arrangements of the proposed Combined Authority (CA) (voting, representation, staffing, gender balance), costs of the deal and the CA, new money associated with the deal, role of District Council’s, distribution of funds, powers afforded to the CA in terms of responsibility of functions, shared prosperity fund, the measure of success for consultation outcome and the role of the PCC on the Board)

The Cabinet considered the Report of the Chief Executive (CX/24/1) outlining the proposed Devon & Torbay Combined County Authority and Devolution Deal, 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 Cabinet also received a presentation which covered the benefits for Devon in terms of economy and growth, housing, skills, transport and net zero / low carbon, the approach to the consultation as well as the ambition and partnership. The presentation was appended to the minutes.

Devon, Plymouth and Torbay were one of nine areas invited by Government, as part of the February 2022 Levelling Up White Paper, to agree a devolution deal. Plymouth City Council (on 17 November 2023) decided to withdraw from the negotiations and therefore a proposed devolution deal for Devon and Torbay was announced by the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Homes and Communities and published by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) on 25 January 2024. It was available on the DLUHC website and at www.devontorbaydeal.org.uk.

The powers and the transfer of Government funding included in the proposed devolution deal promised to bring greater control to Devon and Torbay to help tackle local priorities, including the need for: new training and retraining opportunities; improved coordination of public transport; more affordable housing and investment to support local business and green jobs to increase productivity and pay.

Government would devolve the powers and funding to a new legal body established by Parliament that brought Members of the existing local authorities together: the Devon & Torbay Combined County Authority (DT CCA). The DT CCA would include Members of Devon County Council and Torbay Council together with District Council Member representatives and other stakeholders. The statutory requirements for implementing the proposed deal included public consultation on the draft proposal to establish the DT CCA and the Council’s consent to the secondary legislation.

The Report recommended that a public consultation on the draft proposal to establish the DT CCA was undertaken in conjunction with Torbay Council from 12 February 2024 to 24 March 2024.

The Cabinet noted that the Levelling Up White Paper, described opportunities for areas to secure devolved powers, funding, and influence based on a devolution framework (outlined in appendix 1 of the Report).  The framework had three levels of devolution depending on the type of governance model with the powers and funding available ranging from the highest level 3 to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 467.

There was no question from a Member of the public.