Agenda item

To give consideration to the attached report and recommendations on Devolution, which will be debated at the Council meeting prior to this meeting.

Councillor Long informed Cabinet that as the decision being taken was one of urgency, he had contacted Councillor Wareham, Chairman of the Corporate Performance Panel and informed him of the fact that the item being considered at this meeting was deemed as one of urgency as the decision had to be made by 30 June 2016, and therefore would not be subject to call in, although Council had thoroughly debated the item before the Special Cabinet.  Councillor Wareham had agreed with that position.

As the decision relating to the Devolution process was an Executive one, Cabinet considered the deliberations and conclusions reached by Council on the proposed Devolution Agreement, Governance Review and Scheme of Governance and agreed the recommendations as follows:

RESOLVED:   1)         That the Authority endorses the signing of the Norfolk and Suffolk Devolution Agreement by the Leader.

2)         That, on the basis of the Governance Review, and having regard to any impact on equalities explored in the Equalities Impact Assessment (EqIA) attached, the Authority concludes that the establishment of a Mayoral Combined Authority for Norfolk and Suffolk is the option which most fully permits the effective discharge of the functions that Government is prepared to devolve to this area.

3)         That the Authority endorses and supports the publication of the draft Scheme for a Norfolk and Suffolk Mayoral Combined Authority as attached to this report for consultation purposes, subject to such final revisions as may be approved by the Chief Executive in consultation with the Leader, and prior to the commencement of the formal consultation exercise. Such formal consultation, on the Scheme, to commence once all Norfolk and Suffolk Councils have considered the matters in this report and, in any event, no later than the 4 July 2016. In the event that a Constituent Authority named in the attached Scheme does not agree to endorse the Deal Agreement and/or the Scheme, the Authority authorises, through its Chief Executive the relevant changes to be made to the Deal Agreement, the Scheme and the Governance Review to reflect that Authority’s non-participation.

4)         That the outcome of the consultation exercise is submitted to the Secretary of the State by the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Leader, by early September.

5)         That Council meets no later than 28 October 2016 to consider giving consent to an Order establishing a Mayoral Combined Authority for Norfolk and Suffolk. 

6)         Insofar as any of the matters referred to in this report concern the discharge of functions related to the endorsing and signing of the Norfolk and Suffolk Devolution Agreement and the publication of the Scheme, authority is delegated to the Chief Executive in consultation with the Leader, to take all necessary steps and actions to progress the recommendations detailed in this report. 

7)         In the event that any technical changes are required to reflect legislative requirements and the contents of the Deal Agreement, authority is delegated to the Chief Executive, in agreement with the other Executives across Norfolk and Suffolk to make the necessary changes to the Scheme.

8)         That further reports are presented to the Authority as appropriate as the Devolution process develops. 

Reason for Decision

If the Authority withdraws at this stage it will lose the opportunity to develop the benefits of the devolution process and may lose access to future government resources and the local determination of policy and spending priorities.