Agenda and minutes

Venue: Virtual meeting. To view and watch the meeting, the link will appear below in due course.

Contact: Karen Strahan 01392 382264  Email: karen.strahan@devon.gov.uk

Note: To be conducted in line with The Local Authorities and Police and Crime Panels (Coronavirus) (Flexibility of Local Authority and Police and Crime Panel Meetings) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020. To see the live stream, please copy and paste the link - https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_YjQyNTBkZjctYWViZC00ODczLWFhZDAtODE0YmVkOGQ5OWJl%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%228da13783-cb68-443f-bb4b-997f77fd5bfb%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22b0735e0e-6faa-4f6a-91bb-917fd50284ca%22%2c%22IsBroadcastMeeting%22%3atrue%7d 

Items
Note No. Item

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94.

Minutes

Minutes of the meeting held on 15 September 2020.

Minutes:

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 15 September 2020 be signed as a correct record.

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95.

Items requiring urgent attention

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

Minutes:

There was no item raised as a matter of urgency.

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96.

Council Meetings (1 January 2021 to 7 May 2021)

In line with the Local Authorities and Police and Crime Panels (Coronavirus) (Flexibility of Local Authority and Police and Crime Panel Meetings) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020, the Council previously agreed to utilise those regulations to run remote meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic until the end of the year.

 

The regulations are in place until 7 May 2021, therefore the Committee is asked to consider continuing to conduct remote meetings until the expiry of the regulations, in line with the recent advice from the Director of Public Health.

Minutes:

The Committee noted the Local Authorities and Police and Crime Panels (Coronavirus) (Flexibility of Local Authority and Police and Crime Panel Meetings) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020, which were in place until 7 May 2021.

 

The Committee also noted that the Council had previously agreed to utilise the regulations to run remote meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic until the end of the year (December).

 

In view of the latest Government guidance and the advice received from the Director of Public Health, Group Leaders supported the proposal to continue to operate Committee meetings via remote means.

 

It was therefore RESOLVED that the Council continue to conduct remote meetings until the expiry of the regulations, on the 7 May 2021.

97.

Notice Of Motion - Remote Meetings and the Future pdf icon PDF 433 KB

At the Council meeting on 23 July, Councillor Biederman submitted a Notice of Motion relating to the Council’s future working practices relating to Member meetings.

 

‘That Devon County Council make a commitment to holding more virtual meetings, briefings and task groups post Covid-19. They have clearly been very successful, have made a huge saving to the Council in budgetary terms and they also help in the Council’s climate emergency aims, by reducing our carbon footprint. Council therefore asks the Procedures Committee to consider a Report on meetings in the future and what Committees, briefings and task groups could meet virtually.

 

Report of the County Solicitor (CSO/20/18), responding to the Motion is attached.

 

Minutes:

The Committee noted that at the Council meeting on 23 July, Councillor Biederman had submitted a Notice of Motion relating to the Council’s future working practices relating to Member meetings.

 

‘That Devon County Council make a commitment to holding more virtual meetings, briefings and task groups post Covid-19. They have clearly been very successful, have made a huge saving to the Council in budgetary terms and they also help in the Council’s climate emergency aims, by reducing our carbon footprint. Council therefore asks the Procedures Committee to consider a Report on meetings in the future and what Committees, briefings and task groups could meet virtually.

 

The Committee then considered the Report of the County Solicitor (CSO/20/18), responding to the Motion outlining the current process, legislation, the national debates, remote meetings and financial impacts.

 

The Report highlighted that the issue of remote meetings had been discussed in the past, however, prior to the 4th April 2020, there had been no legal provision to allow Councillors to attend meetings remotely. The Legislation outlined that in order to vote on decisions or recommendations a Member must physically be present at the meeting. Of course, the temporary Regulations in the form of the Local Authorities and Police and Crime Panels (Coronavirus) (Flexibility of Local Authority and Police and Crime Panel Meetings) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020 permitted remote attendance for the first time, as long as certain conditions were satisfied, for example, being able to hear and be heard.

 

The Report also highlighted the Council’s Current ICT Strategy and that work was underway to finalise the new Digital & Technology Strategy which took the Council into 2024. Whilst it covered a number of themes reflecting the changing working patterns of many staff, it also looked to understand and support the new meeting experience and refresh “technology enabled meeting rooms”.

 

The Report outlined the representations that had been made at a national level, with the Association of Democratic Services Officers having written to the Local Government Association with regard to the extension for remote meetings more generally beyond May 2021. A response to the letter was awaited.

 

Whilst the outcome of the legislative changes was awaited, this would only apply to the Council’s Committees formally constituted under the Local Government Act, but the Report outlined a number of other meetings that could be conducted remotely in the future and the current work on induction sessions to consider other formats such as webinars, so people could view content in their own time, nothwithstanding this would not be appropriate for all induction sessions.

 

Whilst the most important aspect of this remote meeting conversation was open and transparent democratic processes, there could be considerable budgetary saving and the Report gave detail of the Members expenditure from April October 2020 and the saving of £39,384 when compared to 2019/20.

 

It was also noted that a number of equality and environmental impacts could also be identified, for example, to allow more flexibility in Local Government may increase the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 97.

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98.

Devon Day and Patron Saints pdf icon PDF 208 KB

At the Procedures Committee on the 15th September 2020, the Leader asked that the Committee undertake a piece of research to review how the current date of the 4th June was chosen for Devon Day, the link to St Petrock's Day and also St Boniface. The Committee RESOLVED that the issue be investigated and a Report brought back to the Committee in due course.

 

Report of the County Solicitor relating to Devon Day, attached.

 

Minutes:

The Committee note that at the Procedures Committee on the 15th September 2020, the Leader had asked that the Committee undertake a piece of research to review how the current date of the 4th June was chosen for Devon Day, the link to St Petroc's Day and also St Boniface. The Committee had RESOLVED that the issue be investigated and a Report brought back to the Committee in due course.

 

The Report of the County Solicitor highlighted that whilst the Roman Catholic Church had an elaborate and formal, canonization process, the process in the Eastern Orthodox and Anglican Catholic Churches was much less formal. However, the Church of England had no mechanism for canonising saints. Patron saints of churches had generally been chosen due to some connection of that saint to that place.

 

In relation to Saint Petroc and the link to Devon Day (4 June) it was noted that county days were relatively recent observances, formed to celebrate the cultural heritage of a particular county. Devon Day was linked with St Petroc; one of the three Patron Saints of Cornwall; along with St Piran (5th March) and St Michael (8th May).  The report outlined the history of St Petroc  including his links with Dumnonia, which included Kernow (Cornwall), and parts of Dewnans (Devon), Somerset and Dorset and his work in founding a number of churches and monasteries across the south-west, with several important clusters around Barnstaple and the Devon villages of Petrockstowe and Newton St Petroc. Petroc was also strongly associated with Exeter.

 

The idea for Devon Day began in 2014 to have an official date to celebrate Devon and promote the best of Devon. The previously constituted Devon Flag Group had suggested several significant county dates when the flag might be raised, agreed the Feast Day of Saint Petroc’s and this was the date that had been commemorated since. Since becoming an official day in 2016, Devon Day attracts a massive online following. In 2017, more than 2.4million Twitter followers saw #DevonDay and in 2018, the subject was trending on Twitter nationally for more than eight hours.

 

The Report then went on the highlight the work and status of St Boniface, born in Crediton around 675AD and was a leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of the Frankish Empire. Boniface believed that church and state should work together and was dedicated to a peaceful co-existence. Saint Boniface’s feast day was celebrated on 5 June and a statue stood in the grounds of Mainz Cathedral. The UK National Shrine to St Boniface was at the Catholic church in Crediton as well as an aisle dedicated to him at Crediton Parish Church.

 

The idea of St. Boniface as a Patron Saint of Devon originated with The Boniface Link Association. The Council had previously considered a Notice of Motion and it had been agreed that the Council supported the work of the Boniface Link Association in working towards the adoption of St  ...  view the full minutes text for item 98.