Agenda item

To agree the establishment of the Gloucestershire City Regions Board and that authority be delegated to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Leader of the Council, to finalise and complete the Inter-Authority Agreement and other key documentation and to take all necessary steps to create the Gloucestershire City Regions Board, including finalising the Terms of Reference for the Gloucestershire City Regions Board with those recommendations not being effective until all Gloucestershire Councils pass equivalent resolutions; and upon the establishment of the Gloucestershire City Regions Board, to agree to delegate this Council’s functions to the Gloucestershire City Regions Board as necessary for the delivery of the functions identified in the Terms of Reference at Appendix 1 to this report; confirm the appointment of Gloucestershire County Council as the Administering Authority; and appoint the Leader of the Tewkesbury Borough Council to the Gloucestershire City Regions Board as the nominated Member of the Board and to appoint a substitute Member to the Board.

97.1          Attention was drawn to the report of the Chief Executive, circulated at Pages No. 69-90, which set out the emerging form and function of the Gloucestershire City Regions Board.  Members were asked to agree the establishment of the Gloucestershire City Regions Board and that authority be delegated to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Leader of the Council, to finalise and complete the inter-authority agreement and other key documentation and to take all necessary steps to create the Gloucestershire City Regions Board, including finalising the Terms of Reference for the Board with those recommendations not becoming effective until all Gloucestershire Councils passed equivalent recommendations; and, upon the establishment of the Gloucestershire City Regions Board, to agree to delegate this Council’s functions to the Gloucestershire City Regions Board as necessary for the delivery of the functions identified in the Terms of Reference as set out at Appendix 1 to the report; confirm the appointment of Gloucestershire County Council as the administering authority; to appoint the Leader of Tewkesbury Borough Council to the Gloucestershire City Regions Board as the nominated Member of the Board and to appoint a substitute Member to the Board.

97.2          The Leader of the Council proposed the report recommendation, subject to an amendment to propose that the Deputy Leader of the Council be the substitute Member of the Board.  He acknowledged that the Gloucestershire City Regions Board name was likely to cause some concerns but explained that the Gloucestershire local authorities had worked jointly through membership of Severn Vale, Rural Ambitions and Central Gloucestershire City Region Boards, together with the Gloucestershire Economic Growth Joint Committee, for several years.  Following a review of the joint working arrangements, Leadership Gloucestershire had agreed that the three Boards and the Joint Committee should be merged into a single forum under the name of the Gloucestershire City Regions Board serving the whole county.  The report set out the emerging form and function of the Gloucestershire City Regions Board, the nature of its authority, Terms of Reference, membership and joint scrutiny arrangements.  He had sought assurances in terms of the devolution offer from the government and advised that Gloucestershire County Council could do this with or without Tewkesbury Borough Council so becoming part of the Gloucestershire City Regions Board would ensure Tewkesbury Borough Council had a seat at the table along with the other district authorities.   The proposal was duly seconded.

97.3          A Member expressed the view that the Gloucestershire City Regions Board was a very misleading name given the largely rural nature of the county, particularly Tewkesbury Borough, and she questioned why this report had not been taken to the Executive Committee.  In response, the Chief Executive advised that it was a matter of timing and he stressed that the Council did not have the ability to make changes to the process, it could simply decide whether it wished to sign up to the Gloucestershire City Regions Board.  A Member indicated that, historically under the Gloucestershire Economic Growth Joint Committee, there had been a clear distinction between urban and rural and, in managing economic growth, there was a risk that urban would be favoured over rural so he asked if there had been a conscious effort to address that to ensure rural Tewkesbury Borough had a fair say in the direction of the Board.  The Chief Executive explained this was why the Board was being set up; there was a good rural/urban split across the district authorities and Gloucestershire County Council represented both.  There were safeguards built into the way the Board would operate and Gloucestershire County Council worked well with the district authorities to ensure delivery of economic growth was right for the whole of the county with balance between rural and urban areas.  In response to a query regarding scrutiny, Members were advised that the activities of the Gloucestershire Economic Growth Joint Committee had been scrutinised by the Gloucestershire Economic Growth Scrutiny Committee and it had been agreed that a joint scrutiny function would continue to exist to scrutinise the work of the Gloucestershire City Regions Board; however, subject to all Gloucestershire authorities agreeing to establish the Gloucestershire City Regions Board, it was proposed that a review of the scrutiny function be undertaken to ensure it aligned with the priorities of the Board.  The Monitoring Officer advised that Tewkesbury Borough Council would have a Member on the board who would be nominated by its Overview and Scrutiny Committee and would report back to that Committee.

97.4          A Member asked for clarification as to the financial impact of setting up the Gloucestershire City Regions Board on the district authorities, and Tewkesbury Borough Council in particular.  In response, the Executive Director: Resources advised that the Gloucestershire City Regions Board would continue the arrangements already in place with Gloucestershire County Council as the host and providing administrative support to the Board.  Any project work would be funded from the Social Enterprise Development and Investment Fund (SEDIF) which was funded by the first 10% of receipts from the Gloucestershire Business Rates Pool.  The Member indicated that she was concerned that the Medium Term Financial Strategy suggested Tewkesbury Borough Council was approaching a ‘cliff edge’ where it would have a significant budget deficit in the next few years and she was concerned about the financial impact of devolution if the Gloucestershire City Regions Board chose to go down that route again and whether the County Council could require the district authorities to contribute towards that cost.  It seemed this was a path to devolution and to a unitary authority.  The Chief Executive advised that, if a devolution deal was agreed with the government, there would be designated funding for that.  Any additional expenditure aligned to a devolution deal was expected to be passported to the County Council; it was not about Tewkesbury Borough Council having to run and fund a devolution programme.  In terms of whether this was a backdoor to unitary, from his perspective the Gloucestershire City Regions Board was about achieving an economic vision for the county building on the two-tier system rather than trying to bypass it and he was reassured by the journey that was taking place.

97.5          Upon being put to the vote, it was

RESOLVED          1. That the establishment of the Gloucestershire City Regions Board be AGREED and that authority be delegated to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Leader of the Council, to finalise and complete the inter-authority agreement and other key documentation and to take all necessary steps to create the Gloucestershire City Regions Board, including finalising the Terms of Reference for the Board with this not becoming effective until all Gloucestershire Councils passed equivalent recommendations.

2. That, upon the establishment of the Gloucestershire City Regions Board, it be AGREED that:

i.   this Council’s functions be delegated to the Gloucestershire City Regions Board as necessary for the delivery of the functions identified in the Terms of Reference as set out at Appendix 1 to the report;

ii.  the appointment of Gloucestershire County Council as the administering authority be confirmed; and

iii. the Leader and Deputy Leader of Tewkesbury Borough Council be appointed to the Gloucestershire City Regions Board as the nominated Member and substitute Member of the Board respectively.