Issue - meetings

To consider a number of recommendations from Council regarding a combined authority for the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough area with a directly elected Mayor.

i.  consent to the Secretary of State making an Order to establish the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (Appendix 1A of the submitted report, circulated separate to the Agenda);

ii.  consent to the Council being a constituent member of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority with effect from the commencement date determined by the final Order;

iii.  authorise the Managing Director, in consultation with the Leader of the Council, to consent to the final draft Order and associated documents, specifically:

a.  to agree minor drafting amendments to the Combined Authority Order to be laid before Parliament;

b.  to consent to the Council being included within the draft Parliamentary Order thereby reflecting this Council’s decision;

iv.  authorise the Combined Authority to have a power to issue a levy to the constituent Councils in respect of any financial year. (This will be subject to the inclusion of a unanimity clause in the Combined Authority constitution on this specific matter);

v.  recommend to the Combined Authority that the costs of establishing the Combined Authority, holding the elections in May 2017 and running the Combined Authority (including Mayoral Office) for 2016/17 and 2017/18 are funded from the gain share grant provided by Government (as outlined in paragraph 13.9 of the submitted report);

vi.  appoint the Executive Leader of Council to act as the Council's appointee to the Shadow Combined Authority and once established, to the Combined Authority;

vii.  appoint Councillor D Brown to act as the substitute to the above (ref (vi));

viii.  note the outcome of the public consultation on the establishment of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority as outlined in paragraph 6.1 and 6.2 and Appendices 2A - 2D of the submitted report;

ix.  note the timetable for the implementation of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough devolution Order as summarised in paragraph 8.1 of the submitted report;

x.  note the Government's response to the outline business case for Housing capital investment funds secured as part of the devolution deal as set out in Appendix 3 of the submitted report;

xi.  agree in principle, for a protocol requiring the Council Executive Leader and the representative on the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to report to each meeting of Council setting out the activities and decisions related to their respective roles within the Combined Authority;

xii.  request that the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Corporate Governance Committee engage their fellow committee members with a view to devising and agreeing the wording of a protocol for inclusion in the Council’s Constitution.

The Cabinet received a report by the Managing Director (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) to enable the Cabinet to endorse and approve a number of recommendations relating to a Combined Authority across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough area, with a directly elected Mayor.

Having already been discussed by the Council Meeting on 16 November 2016 (Minute No.44 refers), it was noted that East Cambridgeshire District Council had approved the recommendations at their Council meeting on 16 November 2016, the Cabinet at Fenland District Council were considering the recommendations the same day as Huntingdonshire and South Cambridgeshire District Council had deferred their Cabinet meeting due to IT difficulties.

The meeting of Council had allowed the Cabinet to have regard to the discussions of and the will of Council when considering whether to approve the recommendations as detailed in the Officer’s report.  Whereupon, the Cabinet

RESOLVED

  i.  to consent to the Secretary of State making an Order to establish the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (Appendix 1A of the submitted report, circulated separate to the Agenda);

  ii.  to consent to the Council being a constituent member of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority with effect from the commencement date determined by the final Order;

  iii.  to authorise the Managing Director, in consultation with the Leader of the Council, to consent to the final draft Order and associated documents, specifically:

a.  to agree minor drafting amendments to the Combined Authority Order to be laid before Parliament;

b.  to consent to the Council being included within the draft Parliamentary Order thereby reflecting this Council’s decision;

  iv.  to authorise the Combined Authority to have a power to issue a levy to the constituent Councils in respect of any financial year. (This will be subject to the inclusion of a unanimity clause in the Combined Authority constitution on this specific matter);

  v.  to recommend to the Combined Authority that the costs of establishing the Combined Authority, holding the elections in May 2017 and running the Combined Authority (including Mayoral Office) for 2016/17 and 2017/18 are funded from the gain share grant provided by Government (as outlined in paragraph 13.9 of the submitted report);

  vi.  to appoint the Executive Leader of Council to act as the Council's appointee to the Shadow Combined Authority and once established, to the Combined Authority;

  vii.  to appoint Councillor D Brown to act as the substitute to the above (ref (vi));

  viii.  to note the outcome of the public consultation on the establishment of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority as outlined in paragraph 6.1 and 6.2 and Appendices 2A - 2D of the submitted report;

  ix.  to note the timetable for the implementation of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough devolution Order as summarised in paragraph 8.1 of the submitted report;

  x.  to note the Government's response to the outline business case for Housing capital investment funds secured as part of the devolution deal as set out in Appendix 3 of the submitted report;

  xi.  to agree in principle, for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 56

To consider the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Devolution proposals and accompanying documents.

Further to Minute No. 17 of the meeting of the Council on 29th June 2016, the Council considered a report by the Managing Director (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) on proposals to establish a Combined Authority across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough to which was attached Appendices relating to the draft Orders, outcome of the formal consultation exercise and outline costs and funding.

In commencing the debate, Councillor P D Reeve questioned the legality of holding the meeting as the draft Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority Order 2016 had been supplied to Members less than 24 hours prior to the meeting and asked that the meeting be postponed. In response, the Managing Director explained that, after seeking legal advice, it was determined that as the substance of the Agenda papers had been published within the legal timeframe and therefore the meeting could proceed.

Members were acquainted with a presentation by the Executive Leader, Councillor R B Howe on the Devolution programme. A copy of the PowerPoint presentation is appended in the Minute Book.

Councillor Howe reminded Members of the background to the Devolution deal that included an annual £20m fund over 30 years totalling £600m to support infrastructure, housing, skills and transport in the Combined Authority area. Attention was drawn to the priority infrastructure projects identified for the District, including the St Neots Masterplan to develop housing, jobs, infrastructure and education to support St Neots in developing a self-sustaining economy. Other infrastructure developments included upgrading Harrison Way, St Ives, A141 upgrade Spittals Interchange to Hartford and new river crossing to alleviate pressure on the local roads.

In highlighting the ambitions for Devolution, Councillor Howe explained that it had the capacity to grow and double the size of the economy in the area, accelerate house building, deliver improvements to connectivity both in terms of transport and digitally, provide a technically skilled workforce whilst improving the quality of life to alleviate areas of deprivation.

Attention was drawn to the consultation results and the specific results for Huntingdonshire, whereby Councillor Howe reported that the IPSOS MORI telephone survey reflected more reliable results than the online poll.

Members were appraised with the financial details that there was £1.2bn of new money to invest in the area and the potential to levy further funding to supplement the initial deal. The Shadow Combined Authority had agreed that the costs of running the office and Mayoral election costs would be funded through the deal and not levied onto each local authority.

Councillor Howe drew Members’ attention to the governance arrangements, whereby the Combined Authority would have representatives from the seven local authorities and Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) plus the Mayor as the Chair. A Cabinet would be created with defined responsibilities allocated to the members and an Overview and Scrutiny Committee appointed consisting of non-executive councillors nominated from the respective Councils.

In referring to the draft Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority Order 2016, Councillor Howe highlighted the recent changes that had included transport  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44

The Panel is to receive a verbal update on Devolution from the Executive Leader of the Council.

The Panel received a presentation from the Executive Leader of the Council on the latest developments on Devolution. The Panel were reminded that Devolution involves the passing over to a Combined Authority, under the control of an elected Mayor a number of infrastructure budgets worth £1.2bn. There will be a Cabinet to oversee the work of the Mayor and that will comprise of the Leaders of all the Councils within the Combined Authority as well as a representative from the LEP.

Members were told that of the £1.2bn there will be £100m available for the building of affordable housing throughout Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and a further £70m for the building of affordable housing in Cambridge City.

Members were informed that Full Council will vote on 16th November 2016 to either accept or reject the Devolution deal. If all the authorities accept the deal then a Government Order will be brought forward in December 2016 to devolve powers to a Combined Authority in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

In order to prepare for the Combined Authority, Members were informed that a Shadow Cabinet has been formed with County Councillor S Count appointed at its leader. The Shadow Cabinet are responsible for delivering several work streams in order to deliver Devolution. Teams of people are working on how to account for the funding and how to distribute it. A separate investment board will be created to ensure that the funding is spent fairly.

It was confirmed that some of the infrastructure funds in the Devolution deal could be used to bring forward some infrastructure projects from the next ten to fifteen years into the next five years.

Following a question regarding the likelihood of Cambridgeshire County Council voting for the Devolution deal, the Panel was informed that the Executive Leader does not know the likelihood of the County Council voting for Devolution however the Leader of the County Council has stated he is confident that the County Council will vote for the deal.

In response to a question on the difficulty of building affordable housing across the Combined Authority, as all the different councils have their own policies, the Panel was informed that there will be an overarching plan with common standards to facilitate the building of affordable homes across the Combined Authority.

A Member asked if the Mayor and Cabinet will have enough expertise to manage the powers and the £1.2bn infrastructure budget, in response the Executive Leader stated that an independent panel of experts will be appointed to oversee and assess the work of the Mayor and Cabinet. The experts are not expected to be a significant cost upon the budget. In addition, the Mayor will need to have to right balance in terms of political network, management skills and commercial negotiating skills.

The Panel asked about the scrutiny arrangements for the Combined Authority and were informed that a scrutiny panel will be formed and headed by an independent Chairman, who will not be employed by the Combined Authority, to scrutinise the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38