Issue - meetings

The item had been brought to the Committee at the request of the Chairman Councillor Collop.

The Chairman, Councillor Collop referred to the Cabinet minutes of 6 October 2015 and the two recommendations put forward by Councillors Lord Howard and A Lawrence and asked the Deputy Leader if the proposed amendments were acceptable and why they had been put forward.

In response the Deputy Leader explained that Councillor Lawrence had commented that as some other authorities might have financial problems, they might struggle to carry out their obligations, and potentially stop the rest.  Councillor Lawrence had expressed reservations about the word “endorse” in recommendation 2 at this stage in the proceedings and suggested that the recommendation should confirm continued work on the proposal which was agreed by Cabinet.

With regard to the comments made by Councillor Lord Howard that the paper was broad and that a final decision could not be taken until all of the detail was available.  Councillor Lord Howard proposed an amendment to recommendation 5 to show that the decision being taken “does not extend to conceding any existing Borough Council functions or powers without separate and prior authorisation by this Cabinet and Council.”  The amendment had been agreed by Cabinet.

The Deputy Leader advised Members that the above two amendments had provided useful clarification.

In response to comments from the Chairman, Councillor Collop on the amendments to the recommendations and how the other 16 Councils would look at how this Borough Council moved forward, the Deputy Leader explained that this was a difficult to judge, but it was fair to say that all authorities would have concern regarding the lack of detail and the timetable.  It was highlighted that there was presently no clear mandate.

In response to questions from the Chairman, Councillor Collop as to how/when devolution could be expected to happen, the Chief Executive provided an overview of the process and an update of the current position as set out below:

·         The expression of interest had been submitted to Government on 4 September 2015.  The initial submissions for both Norfolk and Suffolk had been well received in Government and civil servants had made it very clear that going forward these two proposals would be greatly strengthened if they could be combined into a single ‘devolution deal.’

·         4 November 2015 – Leaders would present proposal to Lord Hesseltine.  If the proposal was given the go ahead there would be a series of intense negotiations over a 3 week period to reach agreement on each theme which would then be pulled together and a formal agreement reached with DCLG.  It was highlighted that there were only a small number of two-tier rural areas left in the forerunners.

·         If agreement reached by all 16 authorities then each Council would be required to hold a Special Council meeting late November/early December 2015.

·         Next phase would be a full governance review.

·         Daily conference calls were scheduled relating to each work stream.

·         An overview of how the finance had evolved.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 56

RESOLVED:1) That the submission of the Norfolk Letter of Intent be noted and endorsed.

2) That progress towards a joint Norfolk and Suffolk devolution deal be continued.

3) That the proposed functions for inclusion in the devolution negotiations as outlined in Section 3 of the report and updated in accordance with the additional paper distributed to all Members be supported.

4) That it be noted that it will be a requirement that the Borough Council joins and participates fully in a ‘Combined Authority’ for Norfolk and Suffolk in the event that an attractive devolution agreement is reached.

5) That the Leader be authorised to pursue negotiations on behalf of the Borough Council to help to secure a devolution deal for Norfolk and Suffolk with Government – for the avoidance of doubt this authority does not extend to conceding any existing Borough Council functions or powers without separate and prior authorisation by this Cabinet and Council.

6) That a further report be brought forward on the matter for a decision to be taken by Council.

The Chief Executive presented a report which set out Norfolk’s ambition for and approach to the Government’s Devolution proposals contained in the ‘Cites and Local Government Devolution Bill’ currently before Parliament.

The report explained that the approach which had been taken thus far in Norfolk was set out in the letter ‘Devolution – Letter of Intent’ and associated paper ‘The Norfolk Offer’ (Appendix 1 to the report) which had been submitted by all of Norfolk’s Council Leaders and the Chairman of the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).

Norfolk Leaders were responding to an invitation for expressions of interest to be submitted to Government by 4th September 2015. The Leaders had expressed a clear view that devolution proposals should, if at all possible, be based on the New Anglia LEP geography, i.e. for both Norfolk and Suffolk.

The initial submissions for both Norfolk and Suffolk had been well received in Government and civil servants had made it very clear that going forward these two proposals would be greatly strengthened if they could be combined into a single ‘devolution deal’.

The Chief Executive explained that discussions and negotiations had moved on quickly since the report had been written, and that the functions put forward for devolution were broadly the same, but phrased slightly differently as follows, with some explanation of the areas they would look to address:

·       Productivity, business support and inward investment – establishment of a Productivity Commission; Building on the success of the New Anglia Growth Hub to improve local business support;  MAS and Growth accelerator funding into Growth Fund from 2017 and £10m from the Local Growth Fund to be used to expand the Growing Business Fund; create  Productivity Fund; inward investment service focussed on key locations and sectors; local network of innovation centres and devolution of European Structural Funds.

·       Coherent Housing and Planning – Joint Strategic Plan supported by delivery plans so decision making is made locally; identification of new settlements and re-thinking of the Local Plan process to prevent perpetual reviews.

·       Assets and Infrastructure – Devolved capital funding; influence of strategic road network and rail franchises and infrastructure programmes; joined up approach to coastal management  and defences with pooling of resources; influencing priorities for utilities to support growth in key locations; permitting user contributions for concessionary passes and local discretion to vary age threshold on disabled eligibility.

·       Education, Employment and Skills – Post 16 education and skills provision; co-commissioning post 16 education and skills provision; ability to establish a Regional Schools Commissioner; a single entity for schools planning; a Joint Education Infrastructure Plan delivering the maximum number of school places with the available resources; provision of a network of Institutes of Technology; an Apprenticeship levy system which worked at a local level; employment support allowance and a more effective delivery of the service with DWP; Novation of the National Careers Service contract to the local area and local commissioning to Work Programme Plus and other nationally procured employment programmes.

·       Health and Care Redesign – a more  ...  view the full minutes text for item 66