Agenda item

Report of the Chief Executive (CEX/24/1) seeking approval for the proposed Devon & Torbay Combined County Authority and Devolution Deal, attached.

Appendix A - Analysis of the responses on the draft proposal for the Devon and Torbay Combined County Authority.

Appendix B – Proposal for the Devon and Torbay Combined County

Authority (DT CCA) for submission to the Secretary of State for Levelling Up,

Housing and Communities.

The Impact Assessment has been updated and is also attached. It can be  viewed on the website at https://www.devon.gov.uk/impact/proposed-devon-and-torbay-combined-county-authority-and-devolution-deal.

(Councillor Davis declared a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in this matter by virtue of being Chair of Exmoor National Park and also the Peninsula Transport Shadow Sub National Transport Body and withdrew from the meeting during its consideration).

RESOLVED

that Council be recommended to;

(a) thank all those who responded to the consultation be thanked, for the time they gave in considering the draft proposal and in preparing responses to it;

(b) consider the analysis of the responses (Appendix A) on the draft proposal for the Devon and Torbay Combined County Authority, showing the variety, breadth and range of views expressed,

(c) approve the proposal (Appendix B) for the Devon and Torbay Combined County Authority (DT CCA) for submission to the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, having taken into consideration and having due regard to the consultation responses and the Public Sector Equality Duty.

(d) delegate authority to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Leader of the Council, to consent to the making of the necessary Regulations to create the Devon and Torbay Combined County Authority thereby implementing and giving effect to the proposal, subject to those Regulations reflecting the principles in the proposal document and this report.

(e) note that, subject to the approval of the proposal and making of Regulations, the Council will give consideration to a draft constitution for the DT CCA in September 2024.

(f) support the establishment of the statutory Team Devon Joint Committee to formalise the existing partnership, address shared priorities and have a voice in the work of the Combined County Authority and note that its proposed terms of reference will be considered by the Council in September 2024.

(Councillors Biederman, Brazil, Leaver and Whitton attended in accordance with Standing Order 25(2) and spoke to this item broadly welcoming the concept of Devolution but expressing concerns, as outlined in some of the representations in the Report, on potential democratic deficits and the role of Districts moving forwards, financial considerations and relationships with Plymouth).

(Councillor Davis declared a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in this matter by virtue of being Chair of Exmoor National Park and also the Peninsula Transport Shadow Sub National Transport Body and withdrew from the meeting during its consideration).

The Cabinet considered the Report of the Chief Executive (CEX/24/1) which sought approval for 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.

Appendix A contained the analysis of the responses on the draft proposal for the Devon and Torbay Combined County Authority.

Appendix B contained the full proposal for the Devon and Torbay Combined County Authority (DT CCA) for submission to the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

The Leader commented that this meeting and Report was an important step in the Devolution journey and the views of the Consultation must be considered when deciding whether to submit the proposal for the Devon and Torbay Combined County Authority to the Secretary of State.

The Leader explained the rationale for the recommendations in the Report but highlighted a change to recommendation (f) from what had been published in order to make it clear that the Team Devon Joint Committee would have a wider role than just the CCA.

The Director of Legal and Democratic Services updated the Cabinet on the ongoing work to write the Constitution for the CCA and the progression of Governance arrangements. She highlighted that the table of powers in appendix B should be amended to reflect the full powers of the Localism Act 2011, not just economic regeneration and also that the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 should include section 241.

The Director of Performance and Partnerships added that two changes had been made to the draft proposal: to recognise role of the voluntary/community sector and also strengthen collaboration with the NHS, as outlined in paragraph 3.2.

The proposed devolution deal for Devon and Torbay had been 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.

At its meeting on 2 February 2024, the Cabinet agreed to support the proposed Devon and Torbay devolution deal and resolved to carry out a joint public consultation with Torbay Council (as the Constituent Councils) on the draft proposal to establish the Devon and Torbay Combined County Authority (DT CCA).

The Levelling-up and Regeneration Act required that prior to submitting a proposal for a CCA to the Secretary of State, the Constituent Councils must undertake a public consultation on the proposal in the proposed area and consider the results.

Appendix A provided an analysis of the response to the consultation. A six-week consultation had been undertaken with the draft proposal published on the Devon and Torbay Devolution Deal website –www.devontorbaydeal.org.uk. There had been a total of 890 responses to the consultation of which 99 were letters/emails from organisations and individuals, and 791 were completed online questionnaires. Each of the eight District Councils had submitted a response, and they were included in full as part of Appendix A. The analysis provided Members with an overview of the consultation process, an analysis of the responses to each of the themes in the draft proposal (maximising economic potential, addressing housing pressures, improving local transport, meeting net zero ambitions, delivering investment in Devon and Torbay, creating a strong and sustainable local economy and delivery arrangements for the Devon and Torbay Combined County Authority.

It was noted that a large proportion of the responses to the consultation included concerns and issues about how the DT CCA would function. Concerns raised by District Councils with them being defined by the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 as “non-constituent” members of CCAs. However, a Team Devon working group would be established to develop the terms of reference of the Joint Committee for consideration by the Council in September.

Some respondents raised issues about the role, purpose, and membership of the proposal for the various advisory groups that the DT CCA could consider establishing as well as concerns that the DT CCA would create an additional layer of local government and impose additional costs on Council Tax payers. Other issues raised included the size of the population of Torbay (economic coherence and democratic deficit), when compared to that of the District Councils.

The Report also outlined how other matters might be dealt with, for example the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), Housing and Homes England, Transport and Community Involvement as well as the role of Plymouth in the CCA, noting that the provisions of the proposed devolution deal enabled Plymouth City Council to apply to join the DT CCA at some point in the future.

The proposal was outlined in full at Appendix B for agreement by the Council and submission to the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

The Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 gave the Secretary of State the power to make regulations that established Combined County Authorities as separate free-standing bodies and gave them the responsibility for specific local authority functions. The DT CCA would be a “body corporate” that would be brought into being through statutory regulations: secondary legislation that was approved by Parliament.

Parliamentary time was limited and in order to ensure there was no delay, it was proposed that Council be asked to delegate authority to the Chief Executive in consultation with the Leader to formally consent to the regulations.

The anticipated timescale was outlined in section 6 of the Report which included, subject to approval at Torbay and this Council, was a Government decision on the final proposal in May 2024, the draft regulations (the “Statutory Instrument”) to create to DT CCA (prepared by Government) was planned for June with the Statutory Instrument being laid in Parliament in July. Consideration of the Statutory Instrument by the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments, the House of Commons Delegated Legislation Committee and the House of Lords Grand Committee would be September/October 2024, with the Statutory Instrument coming into force in the Autumn.

Further detail relating to the running of and governance of the DT CCA, such as the arrangements for meetings, scheme of delegation to officers and details of audit and scrutiny would be matters for the Constitution of the DT CCA. As these issues were discussed, there would be opportunities for key stakeholders, including District Councils, to provide input and a Report would be presented to both Councils in September to present a draft DT CCA Constitution for acceptance, ahead of formal agreement by the CCA.

The Financial Considerations were outlined in paragraph 9 of the Report, noting that the costs of the public consultation had been shared between Devon County Council and Torbay Council. To support the establishment of the DT CCA in its early stages, the Government would provide £1million of capacity funding over three years: £250,000 in 2024/25, £500,000 in

2025/26 and £250,000 in 2026/27. The creation of the DT CCA would lead, through the delivery of the devolution deal, to additional funding, including the £16 million of capital, being made available to be spent within the Devon and Torbay area on a wide range of services, projects and schemes.

The Impact Assessment had been updated and had been circulated with the agenda. It could be viewed on the website at https://www.devon.gov.uk/impact/proposed-devon-and-torbay-combined-county-authority-and-devolution-deal. This recognised that the final proposal had the potential to provide significant benefits to all communities, but specifically for people from the protected characteristic groups and deprived communities. However, this would be dependent on the implementation of the final proposal and the systems and processes that were put in place; and how the DT CCA would address inequality as an integral part of every decision. The new DT CCA would become subject to the Public Sector Equality Duty under the Equality Act 2010.

The risk to establishing the DT CCA had been included in the risk register.

The matter having been debated and the options and alternatives and other relevant factors (e.g. financial, sustainability and carbon impact, risk management, equality and legal considerations and alignment with the Council’s Strategic Plan) set out in the Chief Executive’s Report having been considered:

it was MOVED by Councillor Hart, SECONDED by Councillor McInnes, and

RESOLVED

that Council be recommended to;

(a) thank all those who responded to the consultation be thanked, for the time they gave in considering the draft proposal and in preparing responses to it;

(b) consider the analysis of the responses (Appendix A) on the draft proposal for the Devon and Torbay Combined County Authority, showing the variety, breadth and range of views expressed,

(c) approve the proposal (Appendix B) for the Devon and Torbay Combined County Authority (DT CCA) for submission to the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, having taken into consideration and having due regard to the consultation responses and the Public Sector Equality Duty.

(d) delegate authority to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Leader of the Council, to consent to the making of the necessary Regulations to create the Devon and Torbay Combined County Authority thereby implementing and giving effect to the proposal, subject to those Regulations reflecting the principles in the proposal document and this report.

(e) note that, subject to the approval of the proposal and making of Regulations, the Council will give consideration to a draft constitution for the DT CCA in September 2024.

(f) support the establishment of the statutory Team Devon Joint Committee to formalise the existing partnership, address shared priorities and have a voice in the work of the Combined County Authority and note that its proposed terms of reference will be considered by the Council in September 2024.