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(Informal Joint)
Cabinet
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Notes of informal
discussions of the SEBC/FHDC Cabinets held
on
Tuesday 27 February 2018 at
6.25 pm in the
Conference Chamber West, West Suffolk House, Bury
St Edmunds IP33 3YU
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Present:
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Councillors
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St Edmundsbury Borough Council (SEBC)
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Sara Mildmay-White
(in the Chair for the informal
discussions)
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Carol Bull
Ian Houlder
Alaric Pugh
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Joanna Rayner
Peter Stevens
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Forest Heath District Council
(FHDC)
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James Waters
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David Bowman
Stephen Edwards
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Robin Millar
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In attendance:
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(SEBC)
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(FHDC)
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Mike Chester
Mary Evans
Paula Fox
Susan Glossop
David Roach
Clive Pollington
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Ruth Bowman
Brian Harvey
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(Immediately prior to the informal discussions at 6pm, the
Cabinets received a briefing from representatives of the Ministry
of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) on the current
position regarding the creation of a single council for West
Suffolk. Non-Cabinet Members were also
invited to attend this briefing, which provided the opportunity for
Members to ask questions of the representatives of MHCLG on the
legislative process and current progress.)
Prior to the formal meeting,
informal discussions took place on the following substantive
items:
(1) Referrals
Report of Recommendations from Council to Cabinet: Single Council
for West Suffolk: Legislative Process;
(2) Fair Funding
Review – Response to Government Consultation; and
(3) Gender Pay Gap
Report.
All Members of Forest Heath
District Council’s Cabinet had been invited to attend St
Edmundsbury Borough Council’s Offices at West Suffolk House,
Bury St Edmunds to enable joint informal discussions on the reports
to take place between the two authorities, prior to seeking formal
approval at their respective separate Cabinet meetings, immediately
following the informal discussions.
The Chairman/Deputy Leader of
St Edmundsbury Borough Council, welcomed all those present to West
Suffolk House. The Service Manager
(Democratic Services) and Monitoring Officerfirstly advised on the
format of the proceedings for the informal discussions and
subsequent separate meetings of each authority.
Under their Constitutions, both
Cabinets listed as standing agenda items: an ‘Open
Forum’, which provided the opportunity for non-Cabinet
Members to discuss issues with Cabinet and also ‘Public
Participation’, which provided the opportunity for members of
the public to speak. Therefore, as any
matters arising from the discussions held during these agenda items
may have some bearing on the decisions taking during the separate
formal meetings, non-Cabinet Members and members of the public were
invited to put their questions/statements prior to the start of the
joint informal discussions.
1. Open
Forum
A brief discussion
was held on the format for delivering the single council briefing
that had been provided immediately prior to this meeting by
representatives of the MHCLG.
2. Public Participation
There were no members of the
public in attendance.
3.
Referrals Report of Recommendations to Cabinet: Single
Council for West Suffolk: Legislative Process
(Report
Nos: CAB/SE/18/014 and CAB/FH/18/016, and Addendums to
CAB/SE/18/014 and CAB/FH/18/016)
The Cabinets considered the
above report, which sought approval for the draft Orders to create
West Suffolk Council. The report contained a referral from both
FHDC and SEBC Councils, following their endorsement of the policy
requirements and next steps set out in the respective Council
Report Nos: COU/SE/18/003 and COU/FH/18/005 (and Addendums), to
create a single council for West Suffolk.
Following the publication of
the agenda and papers for this meeting, the legislative process for
moving towards creating a single council for West Suffolk had
progressed more quickly than anticipated, which meant that rather
than seeking approval for appropriate delegations to be put in
place to authorise the relevant Orders on the condition they
remained in line with the policy requirements within Report Nos:
COU/SE/18/003 and COU/FH/18/005 (and Addendums), the draft Orders
were now ready for approval by both Cabinets so they could then be
submitted to the Houses of Parliament for
consideration.
A revised recommendation was
therefore considered by both Cabinets, which had been previously
circulated as an Addendum to Report Nos: CAB/SE/18/014 and
CAB/FH/18/016 respectively setting out the updated position, which
was:
It is RECOMMENDED
that Cabinet:
Approves the draft
orders to create West Suffolk Council, as attached as Appendices 1
and 2 to Report No: CAB/SE/18/014 (Addendum) [CAB/FH/18/016
(Addendum)], and authorises the Chief Executive, in conjunction
with the Leaders of Forest Heath District and St Edmundsbury
Borough Councils, and the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Future
Governance Steering Group, to agree (where required to do so) any
subsequent minor amendments arising during the legislative
process.
To accord with the above, the
draft Orders were attached to the addendum as Appendices 1 and 2
for approval.
Councillor Carol Bull,
SEBC’s Portfolio Holder for Future Governance, drew relevant
issues to the attention of the Cabinets, including expressing her
thanks to the Service Manager (Democratic Services) and the single
council project team, and to the representatives of MHCLG for the
extensive work that had been undertaken to support Members’
decisions in reaching this point in the process. Councillor Bull reiterated that approval of the
draft Orders was an executive decision, hence the referral being
recommended to the Cabinets for a decision by both Councils
following their endorsement of the policy requirements and next
steps.
The Cabinets fully supported approval of the
draft Orders, as proposed in the revised recommendation.
4.
Fair Funding Review – Response to Government
Consultation
(Report Nos: CAB/SE/18/015 and CAB/FH/18/017)
The Cabinets considered the
above report, which sought agreement to a draft response to
the Government’s Fair Funding Review consultation, which was
attached as Appendix A.
Councillor Ian Houlder,
SEBC’s Portfolio Holder for Resources and Performance, drew
relevant issues to the attention of the Cabinets, including the
background to the review and the set of principles by which the
Government was being guided by as part of the work, as summarised
in paragraphs 1.3 and 1.4 of the report.
Councillor Houlder added that consideration of
this paper would provide the Cabinets with an opportunity to ensure
the specific challenges facing West Suffolk were fed into this
process and the potential impact on the funding allocation that
would be received following the review.
It was noted however, that given the timing of the review, any
changes that were implemented would only relate to the new West
Suffolk Council and not to FHDC and SEBC.
A detailed discussion was held on the proposed
response, particularly regarding issues in respect of the baseline funding allocation provided did not take
into account the impact of the council tax-exempt American Service
personnel living within the area, which had been emphasised within
the response at Appendix A.
Recognition was also
given to incorporating the following into the response:
(a)
taking into account the sustainability of rural communities and
their rural economies; and
(b)
looking at the areas where the Councils were required by the
Government to provide services compared to the grant which is
actually provided, ie Internal Drainage Boards (IDB).
The Cabinets also recognised the importance of
lobbying MPs regarding issues associated with local government
finance, particularly around the need to factor in the impact of
the US Visiting Forces and rurality.
The Fair Funding Review consultation response,
would be submitted to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and
Local Government by 12 March 2018, subject to the incorporation of,
or greater emphasis placed upon, as appropriate, the additional
comments summarised in (a) and (b) above, the final
wording of which would be determined by the Assistant Director
(Resources and Performance) under delegated authority.
5.
Gender Pay Gap Report
(Report Nos: CAB/SE/18/016 and CAB/FH/18/018)
The Cabinets received and noted
the above report, which presented gender pay gap data for the West
Suffolk organisation.
Under the Equalities Act 2010
(Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017, Forest
Heath District Council and St Edmundsbury Borough Councils were
each required to publish gender pay gap information by 31 March
2018.
Councillor Stephen Edwards,
FHDC’s Portfolio Holder for Resources and Performance, drew
relevant issues to the attention of the Cabinets, including that
the data, which was attached as Appendix A to the report, was only
meaningful when analysing the shared workforce of the entire
West Suffolk organisation (FHDC and SEBC), however
each Council, as employers, was required to report and publish its
data separately. The Gender Pay
Gap data for West Suffolk showed no disadvantage for women in the
workforce.
A discussion was held on how the data was
gathered and the median and mean average figures calculated, as
detailed in Appendix A.
On the conclusion of the
informal joint discussions at 6.41 pm, the Chairman then formally
opened the meeting of St Edmundsbury Borough Council’s
Cabinet at 6.41 pm in the Conference Chamber West, which upon
conclusion at 6.45 pm, was immediately followed by Forest Heath
District Council’s Cabinet, also in the Conference Chamber
West.
See overleaf for formal minutes…..
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