The Executive Leader, Councillor R B Howe to address the Council on the State of the District.
(The Chairman will invite the Leader(s) of the Opposition to respond to the address. A Member may speak once in the ensuing discussion).
Minutes:
In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 12, the Chairman invited the Executive Leader, Councillor R B Howe to address the Council on the State of the District. In support of his presentation, a copy of the Annual Report 2015/16 had been laid on the table (a copy of which is reproduced in the Minute Book).
Councillor Howe reported upon the continuing challenge faced by the Council to deliver higher quality services with reduced budgets with a rapidly increasing population. In this connection, Members had been reminded of the surplus budget that had been attained in 2015/16, through efficiency savings and strategic partnerships for some services and commended the Officers involved in achieving these efficiencies.
In referring to the Annual Report 2015/16 that highlighted the achievements in the previous year, the Council noted that Council Tax had not increased for four successive years and remained one of the lowest in the country. Councillor Howe also referred to his new role as Executive Leader and the focus for the Council going forward to understand and manage the demands and expectations of the residents, as well as working with partners and organisations.
The Council’s attention was drawn to closer engagement and improving the working relationships of District Councillors with Town and Parish Councils, in particular referred to the recent issues that had been reported in the press regarding grass cutting. Furthermore, Members were reminded of the Customer Service Strategy that was published last year and referred to the action to develop a new website as a result of direct feedback from customers and work towards channel migration to encourage self-service and reduce the number of unnecessary visits and telephone calls to the Council. In addition to this, Members attention was also drawn to the increased presence on social media and related interaction from the residents.
Councillor Howe reported upon the growth agenda and the delivery of new housing well underway, particularly at the key sites of Alconbury Weald and Godmanchester. He also referred to the aim of meeting the housing needs of the growing population of the District and the subsequent development of infrastructure to support such development. Attention was also drawn to the success of One Leisure and the surplus that had been created in 2015/16 for the first time.
Looking forward, the Council was advised of the challenges to find further saving to reduce reliance on Government funding and the plans already in place to generate additional income, including income from CCTV and the Document Centre and returns on the Council’s capital investment through the Commercial Investment Strategy. The 3C Shared Service went live in October 2015 for Building Control, ICT and Legal and it was expected to produce services delivered more efficiently with increased resilience.
Councillor Howe referred to recent discussions and further debates on the Devolution Deal that was currently out for consultation that would result in the transfer of significant resources and powers for infrastructure, housing, economic investment and capital investment in Huntingdonshire. In concluding, Councillor Howe referred to his confidence in the administration of the Council to address the challenges ahead with the Council’s finances to provide value for money services for the residents of Huntingdonshire.
The Leader of the Principal Opposition, Councillor Mrs S J Conboy was invited to respond. Councillor Mrs Conboy commended the Council and its staff on their performance over the previous 12 months and in particular the achievements at One Leisure, development of the shared services and letting of space in Pathfinder House. Councillor Mrs Conboy asked that the Managing Director, Executive Leader and Lead Members pass on a message of thanks to those staff involved.
In referring to the Council’s current financial position and necessity to identify further savings, Councillor Mrs Conboy highlighted their concern for the future sustainability but commended the changes that had already taken place to transform the way the Council delivered its services.
Member’s attention was drawn to the proposed Devolution Deal and although in support of the regional decisions being made locally, Councillor Mrs Conboy expressed concern that although negotiations are still ongoing there remained issues to be resolved before taking the Deal forward. Reference was made to encourage the Council to be more ambitious for the residents of the District to focus on becoming a provider of services rather than enabler and provide support to the vulnerable residents and volunteer services.
Whilst welcoming the need for further housing, there was a requirement for more affordable housing and Councillor Mrs Conboy expressed concern with the current provision of jobs in the District and highlighted the need for the development of jobs to support residents to remain in the District.
Reference was made to the additional financial burdens that had been placed upon Towns and Parishes as a result the savings that the Council had achieved and Councillor Mrs Conboy suggested that the Council had a role to play in supporting Towns and Parishes and ensuring that frontline services are maintained.
In concluding, Councillor Mrs Conboy welcomed working alongside the new Executive Leader in the forthcoming year in an attempt to be more ambitious and show greater leadership for the District’s residents.
In response to a question from Councillor T Hayward on the importance of attendance by Councillors at organised training events, Councillor Howe referred to the difficulty of some Members in attending events during the day due to work commitments but concurred with the sentiments of Councillor Hayward and the importance of the training programme but had been investigating alternative flexible methods of delivering the training to Members.
Arising from concerns raised by Councillor M F Shellens in relation to the potential unfairness of how the funding would be shared between the Combined Authority as part of the Devolution Deal, Councillor Howe explained that there would be a guaranteed stream of funding for the District and explained that there would be significant discussions and debates as to whole the funding would be allocated.
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