At its meeting on 2 September 2015 the Executive Committee considered a report detailing the latest position of the Gloucestershire Devolution Project and RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL that it noted the progress undertaken by Leadership Gloucestershire in respect of the devolution agenda and that it supports, in principle, further devolution development work together with Leadership Gloucestershire partners.

27.1           At its meeting on 2 September 2015 the Executive Committee had considered a report which detailed the latest position of the Gloucestershire Devolution Project and had recommended to Council that it noted the progress undertaken by Leadership Gloucestershire in respect of the devolution agenda and that it supported, in principle, further devolution development work together with Leadership Gloucestershire partners.

27.2           The report that had been considered by the Executive Committee had been circulated with the Agenda for the current meeting at Pages No. 13-29.

27.3           The recommendation from the Executive Committee was proposed and seconded. During the discussion which ensued, a Member questioned whether the Council had received a reply from the Government to its submission. In response, the Chief Executive explained that no formal answer had yet been received. Information had been received from the Civil Servants that there was potentially some interest but at this stage that was the only feedback received. The Government was currently looking at the submissions and further work was likely to be needed on the bid from Gloucestershire in the next few weeks. The general response from the Government was that it would be focussing predominantly on city and urban areas at this stage but that a small number of Shire authorities would go forward. Overall it was felt that the initial feedback from Civil Servants was quite encouraging and, on that basis, the workstreams within the devolution project were continuing. Another Member questioned when the bid was likely to involve figures rather than just words and, in response, he was advised that this would be part of the detailed negotiation. Currently the bid stated that Gloucestershire was interested in devolution but, since the project team did not yet know what the Government was prepared to put forward, it was unable to really tie down any detailed figures.

27.4           In terms of the expression of interest document, a Member questioned who it was intended for and how it had been distributed. In response, the Chief Executive explained that it was a statement of intent that had been put forward to the Government in July. A second document had been circulated to Members and submitted to the Government since that time; both were publically available on the Council’s website. In respect of the affordable homes figure, the Chief Executive advised that this was subject to change and was likely to be adjusted slightly following the Joint Core Strategy Examination. The Government would probably wish to see how the Council would adjust the tenure and housing mix so that the right type of housing was built at the right time. This would also be the case for infrastructure but this could only happen with support from the Government as it was not all within the gift or affordability of the Council.

27.5           A Member referred to the use of the word ‘subsidiary’ within the document and questioned whether the Borough Council would speak to the County Council to see what it would devolve to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27

To note progress to date, to consider the establishment of a Member Devolution Working Group and to recommend to Council that the potential benefits of the devolution agenda are supported in principle.

1.      That the progress undertaken to date by Leadership Gloucestershire in respect of the devolution agenda be NOTED.  

2.      That a Member Devolution Working Group be established, in accordance with the Terms of Reference set out at Appendix 2 to the report, with the political composition being determined by the Leader and Deputy Leader of the Council and Group Leaders being invited to make nominations to the Group as appropriate.

3.      That it be RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL that it notes the progress undertaken by Leadership Gloucestershire in respect of the devolution agenda and that it supports, in principle, further devolution development work together with Leadership Gloucestershire partners.

31.1           The report of the Chief Executive, circulated at Pages No. 18-34, set out the latest position in respect of the Gloucestershire Devolution Project. Members were asked to note the progress undertaken to date; to agree the establishment of a Devolution Working Group; and to recommend to Council that it note the progress undertaken and that it supports, in principle, further devolution development work together with Leadership Gloucestershire partners.

31.2           In introducing the report, the Chief Executive advised that Members would be well aware of the content and thrust behind the project which was in line with the national debate about the need for the Government to pass significant powers down to Local Government in England to match the powers devolved to the Parliament in Scotland and National Assemblies in Wales and Northern Ireland. The purpose of the submission of an Expression of Interest was that the Government and local public sector partnerships could explore what policy/budget areas might advantageously be devolved to enable more local control. The current position in Gloucestershire was that an Expression of Interest had been made to the Government and further work was now being undertaken on the workstreams identified within it; these included economic growth; strategic planning and infrastructure; health and wellbeing; community safety; and governance. At the meeting of Leadership Gloucestershire which had been held that morning, there had been a unanimous decision to make a further representation to Government which would ‘sharpen up’ the Expression of Interest document and offer a clearer view of what Gloucestershire wanted in terms of devolution. The deadline for the submission of the further representation was Friday 4 September. The feeling of Leadership Gloucestershire had been that, even if the County was unsuccessful in its current bid, it would wish to continue to look at devolution as it was an Agenda that the Government would be pushing for some time to come. The Chief Executive was clear that the Council was not in a position to sign up to any formal agreement at this stage but that, if and when this was appropriate, it would be a decision for Members. In offering further clarification, the Chairman indicated that 11 organisations had been present at the earlier Leadership Gloucestershire meeting and all had clearly recognised that they had not yet signed up to anything but at this stage were happy to make a representation to Government to indicate what the County would like to talk about. He had been impressed at how keen all of the parties were to work together for the benefit of the people of Gloucestershire.

31.3           Particular attention was drawn to Paragraph 1.5 of the report which set out that there were significant potential benefits associated with devolution which included: support and devolved Government funding to encourage economic growth and infrastructure provision; better use of public funds in areas such as health and wellbeing which would allow cross sector investment to reduce demand on services; and more coordinated decision-making in respect of major issues  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31