Issue - meetings

To consider a report of the Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Social Well-Being).

Requested that the Town and Parish Councils be notified of the opportunity to establish their own Local Joint Committees across the District; approved a revised Constitution for Local Joint Committees in Huntingdonshire and requested each individual Ward Member to attend their respective Local Joint Committee(s) if a meeting is called by the communities.

(Councillor S J Criswell, Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Social Well Being) was in attendance and spoke on this item.)

Further to Minute No. 12/21 and by way of a report by the Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Social Well-Being) (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book), the Cabinet were reminded of their previous decision on the proposed establishment of Local Joint Committees (LJC) in Huntingdonshire.  This had included the adoption of a constitution and approval to trial a pilot scheme in the Norman Cross County Division.  Having regard to the latter, it was reported that only one informal meeting of the pilot LJC had been held.

At the invitation of the Chairman, Councillor S J Criswell, Chairman of the Panel, addressed the Cabinet. He explained that as a result of Members’ concerns over the absence of a face to face neighbourhood engagement mechanism within the district the issue of LJC’s had been raised with the Executive Leader’s Strategy Group.  As a result, a series of new principles for LJC’s were agreed with the intention of promoting local ownership of the scheme rather than a top-down approach. 

In considering the information before them, Executive Councillors expressed reservations over the prescriptive nature of the proposed boundary map areas adding that some towns/parishes may wish to join up with others not within the areas identified. In response to which, Councillor Criswell explained that the Town and Parish had been consulted on whom they considered to be part of their local communities and that no one had raised any disagreement with their proposed geographical allocation.  However, the Cabinet felt that the areas should be perceived as guidelines only in order to allow some flexibility. 

Having thanked the Panel for their input, the Cabinet

RESOLVED

(a)  that Town and Parish Councils be notified of the opportunity to establish their own Local Joint Committees across the District within the parameters set out in Appendix A and Appendix B;

(b)  that the revised Constitution for Local Joint Committees in Huntingdonshire as set out in Appendix C of the report be approved; and

(c)  that each individual Ward Member be requested to attend their respective Local Joint Committee(s) if a meeting is called by the communities.