Agenda item - Review of Cabinet Area Working Parties

Report No: CAB/SE/15/080

Cabinet Member: John Griffiths Lead Officer: Alex Wilson

RESOLVED:

That:

(1) in accordance with the adopted West Suffolk Families and Communities Strategy, emphasis be placed on the new focus of Ward Members working with locality officers, and the ability for Borough Councillors to investigate locality issues through a variety of existing mechanisms, which could range from informal Ward Member meetings through to formal scrutiny reviews; and accordingly that

(2) the Bury St Edmunds Area Working Party be disbanded and, if required, proposals for a locality forum for Bury St Edmunds be developed with other local authorities and partners, building on the learning from Haverhill and Suffolk County Council’s Our Place meetings;

(3) the Haverhill Area Working Party be disbanded but the need for timetabled, regular discussion meetings be recognised to enable Haverhill Borough Councillors to examine, debate and act on locality issues when needed with appropriate Portfolio Holders and officers; and

(4) the Rural Area Working Party be disbanded and it be replaced with a quarterly Parish Forum by re-launching St Edmundsbury Borough Council’s existing Parish Conference, with the possibility of an Annual Parish Conference for West Suffolk.

The Cabinet considered Report No: CAB/SE/15/080, which sought approval for four recommendations following a review of the Cabinet’s Bury St Edmunds, Haverhill and Rural Area Working Parties.

Councillor John Griffiths, Leader of the Council, drew relevant issues to the attention of the Cabinet including that the purpose of any Cabinet working party was to deliver the Cabinet’s priorities and functions, ideally without duplicating the role of any other committee or the Ward Members. In this context, the Cabinet’s three Area Working Parties were set up to deliver specific Cabinet priorities in the rural, Bury St Edmunds and Haverhill areas. Since their inception, the Area Working Parties had all evolved over time and the number of meetings had also reduced. In 2014/2015, a total of eleven Area Working Party meetings were held in the three areas, resulting in only three formal recommendations to Cabinet.

In May 2015, the Cabinet had resolved to undertake a review of the Area Working Parties to establish, in consultation with borough councillors, partners and stakeholders, a potential way forward regarding the future of the Area Working Parties.

A summary of the consultation responses received over the summer and autumn 2015 were contained in the report, and having taken these comments into account, four proposals had been formulated which recommended the disbanding of the three Area Working Parties.

Emphasis was placed however, on encouraging the continuation of the Area Working Parties’ positive evolution in the context of the adopted Families and Communities Strategy which promoted locality-based working; and for issues to be investigated through a variety of alternative existing mechanisms, which could range from informal Ward Member meetings through to formal scrutiny reviews. Equally, it was important to be mindful of the need, at a time of reducing resources, to reduce any duplication in the discussion of issues, within the Council and between tiers of local government and partners.