Agenda item

Councillor Daubney presented his last report as Leader of the Council.  Councillor Rochford asked if there was any update on the Citizens Advice Bureau to which Councillor Daubney explained that the services of debt counselling, housing needs advice had been put out to tender to provide the advice which would continue to be funded by the Council.  Funding from the County Council, via a service level agreement, preferably would continue to fund the generalist advice.

Councillor Joyce asked if the Leader was receiving support from other leaders on Devolution, to which Councillor Daubney commented that the discussions were complex and robust, and not all Leaders were in agreement with the process, but ultimately it would be the Council that took the decision on the matter.  

Councillor J Collop congratulated the Leader on 9 years in the position with it being his last Council Meeting.  Councillor Daubney thanked him for his kind words.

Following a question from Councillor Moriarty, Councillor Daubney explained that the information received from DCLG devolution wise was that if the County Council for the area eg: Norfolk, Suffolk or Cambridgeshire decided not to sign up then the Districts within their area couldn’t sign up, however if a District decided to join after the initial deal they could then join and take the County strategic planning and transport functions with it.

Councillor Gourlay drew attention to the situation which was highlighted in the press about the Citizens Advice Bureau, he drew attention to the fact that a lot of their users were people with mental health issues, and he considered it was essential to have a fully functioning CAB in King’s Lynn.  Councillor Daubney explained that the Council had a responsibility to ensure there was a service provided in some form, but it was down to the best delivery of a first class robust service.

Councillor McGuinness in discussing the Devolution information, commented on the need for as much information as possible  in order for council to take a decision.  He asked whether West Norfolk would be worse off when involving the Norwich area and other cities.  Councillor Daubney commented that it was a judgement that would have to be taken with all the information to hand.  Government policy was to devolve power to the regions, the offer on the table being the best deal being offered by the Government, so it was essential that the Leaders worked together to get the best deal available for the region.  He commented that the information for Members would be expanded once more information was available. 

Councillor A Tyler asked when information would be available to discuss with the public to raise their awareness.  Councillor Daubney confirmed that the information hadn’t been easy to communicate, but there would be a great improvement to that as there was a lot of public information now coming through.

Councillor A Tyler asked if when freedom of information requests were submitted whether they were dealt with as quickly as they can be and without prejudice. Councillor Daubney confirmed they were dealt with as quickly as possible within the required policies and without prejudice. 

Councillor Gourlay referred to the report of the Independent Panel for Allowances and their comment that they considered the Deputy Leader of the Opposition parties as insignificant roles not justifying payment.   He asked what evidence had been taken into account to come to this conclusion.  Councillor Daubney reminded Members that he had supported the view expressed by Councillor J Collop at the Cabinet meeting and had proposed that the allowance be re-instated.  He reminded Members that it was the view raised by the Independent Panel, which the Council had a duty to take into account before agreeing any changes to the scheme.

Councillor Joyce in referring to the Leader’s last full meeting as Leader he referred to the many goals which the Leader wished to bring for the area, however he asked if the Allowance proposals were covered in the budget, to which the Leader confirmed that would be covered in the budget.