Agenda item

The Executive Leader, Councillor S J Conboy to address the Council on behalf of the Joint Administration on the State of the District.

The Chair will invite the Leader of the Opposition to respond to the address.

[In the ensuing debate, a Member may speak once and no speech may exceed 5 minutes in length without the consent of the Chair].

The Chair invited the Executive Leader, Councillor S J Conboy to address the Council on the State of the District and to open the debate which was scheduled to follow.

Councillor Conboy opened her address by placing on record her sincere appreciation to Officers and Members who had supported everything that had been delivered in the past year. She was pleased to report that twelve months on since her appointment as Executive Leader, she had seen the District Council record better delivery and progress on critical actions compared to the previous year.

The Council were reminded that last year the Joint Administration had committed that they would -

v  work in co-operation towards a greener fairer Huntingdonshire

v  commend the excellent work undertaken by Council staff

v  set a new strategic direction for the Council.

Council was also reminded that the Joint Administrations key objectives over the last year would focus on the following -

1.  Tackling climate change and caring for the environment

2.  Enhancing employment opportunities and supporting businesses

3.  Supporting the needs of residents

4.  Improving the housing situation

5.  Strengthening our communities.

The Council were also reminded of the financial position inherited by the Joint Administration and the budget principles which were agreed at the December Council meeting which provided the Administration with a clear steer on the way in which they should prioritise their thinking in terms of making savings.

In addition to supporting Huntingdonshire residents, the Administration had also made commitments to support District Council staff during the year.

The Executive Leader went on to report in detail and at length on specific progress against the five objectives which had been set at the start of the year.

Looking ahead to the forthcoming year, the Executive Leader explained that the agreement of a new Corporate Plan in March 2023 outlined the Councils three key priorities:

v  Improving the quality of life for local people

v  Creating a better Huntingdonshire for future generations

v  Delivering a good quality high value for money services with reasonable control and compliance with statutory obligations.

She reiterated that working together would continue to be an overarching principle for the Council.  The challenges facing the Council could only be solved through collaboration and the Corporate Plan calls on the Council to play more of an enabling role to make more use of partnership working and to empower people to reduce demand for traditional public services.

The Council were advised that the Council would continue to communicate throughout the year regularly with residents and listen and respond to concerns in shaping its policies and priorities. The Administration would continue to draw on insights from councillors from all political persuasions whilst working together to ensure that the council provides good services and good value. The Council would also continue to work constructively with the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, Cambridgeshire County Council, and colleagues in health and to foster the positive and productive relationships it had grown with local town, parish councils, other public bodies, business partners and the third sector.

Finally, and in concluding her remarks, the Executive Leader referred to the Place Strategy which had been the subject of engagement over the course of the last year. Members were informed that over the summer stakeholders would be brought back together to bring the Strategy to life and that examples would continue to be sought from other parts of the country or abroad that may inspire the adoption of similar initiatives. It was hoped that these initiatives would challenge our existing way of thinking and encourage us to achieve better outcomes for Huntingdonshire.

In response on behalf of the Conservative Group, Leader Councillor J A Gray began by also expressing his appreciation to the Council’s employees who have worked hard to achieve many of the things the Executive Leader had referred to over the last twelve months. He also went on put on record his thanks to the Executive Leader for the way in which she had undertaken her role during the past year. 

Councillor Gray reminded the Council that he had pledged in the previous year that his Group would support those things that made sense and would oppose those things we thought were wrong and as an opposition he believed that they had played their part during the previous 12 months. He was also pleased that there had been a general acknowledgement internally and externally that the Authority had been well run under the previous administration. On a personal note, he was heartened to hear that the Commercial Investment Strategy had not been abandoned and looked forward to this entering the Overview and Scrutiny policy space in the year ahead.

In terms of the Council’s financial position, Councillor Gray explained that he had been heartened by the budgetary position in February 2023 which had been in part made possible by Government making further funds available and which has vindicated his assurances back in February 2022 that the deficit in the MTFS would be closed. He expressed disappointment that he continued to hear talk of a £8M budgetary deficit given the Council’s new budgetary position.  He went on to explain that whilst the Council appears to be entering a situation where it was going to be producing surplus MTFS’ which add to the surplus sitting in reserves, the Council is cutting services, raising charges, and creating new charges at a time of a squeeze on people’s incomes post Covid.

In turning to another of the Administration’s activities over the course of the past year, Councillor Gray welcomed the consultations which had taken place on the Place Strategy, Electric Vehicle Charging Points, St Neots Town Centre, and the forthcoming Council Tax Support Scheme which were consistent with the Joint Administration’s agreement to communicate, engage with and listen and respond to the concerns of residents. Given that this formed a clear part of the Joint Administration’s agreement, however Councillor Gray suggested that residents might enquire why this did not extend to issues such as the increase in one leisure charges, the implementation of an alternative land management strategy, the rewilding programme, and the garden waste subscription service. If the Administration wanted to state with credibility that they were genuinely interested in listening to the views of Huntingdonshire residents, this should include matters of a controversial nature.

In concluding his remarks, Councillor Gray reminded the Council that the electorate had not voted for the Joint Administration at the elections in 2022, nor the agreement that binds that Administration together. He went on to remark that he had not seen any of their members vote in any other way than in support of the Executive Leader’s position. In doing so, he reiterated that Members of the Conservative Group were able to take their own decisions with the interests of their residents in mind.

Having commended the Joint Administration for the delivery of 460 Affordable New Homes during the year, Councillor D Terry went on to raise his specific concerns at planning decisions within the St Neots Eynesbury Ward which had resulted in the demolition of 179 garages and 80 parking spaces to build 48 new affordable homes. This had had a significant impact on parking within the area and had been against the recommendation of the Town Council and despite objections from over 40 residents.

In seeking to respond to some of the comments made by the Leader of the Opposition directly, Councillor L Davenport-Ray reminded the Council that the Conservative Party had included an alternative land management strategy within their last election manifesto and refuted the suggestion that members of the Joint Administration did not vote according to their own political ideals and decision-making ideas. She also referred to public consultation, and the fact that meaningful consultation should not include options which the Council was unable to fund or afford.

Councillor T D Sanderson took the opportunity to reiterate that Central Government settlements were usually issued for one year only and therefore it was difficult to make any assumptions going forward regarding the availability of funding. He also suggested that he would be interested to see alternative budget proposals from the Conservative Group going forward, together with their suggestions for addressing the financial issues facing the Authority.

In taking her turn to address the Council, Councillor S L Taylor took the opportunity to place on record her appreciation to the staff, particularly those within her portfolio of waste, one leisure and street scene who had provided excellent support to her during her first year within her Executive Councillor role.

Councillor D Shaw then spoke to put on record his appreciation to those involved with the Health Inequalities project which had provided funding to the Brampton Hub to help young people with mental health issues within his ward. The Executive Councillor for Community and Health took the opportunity to outline his pride in leading this portfolio. He went on to explain that population health was an important issue that the NHS was now getting to grips with, and which the Council’s new Corporate Plan really holds to heart. He indicated his delight that the project in Brampton was working so well and expressed his support to the 14 other organisations and 55 projects that were part of the initiative. Council was advised of that significant value which was being obtained from the District’s Residents which was a real tribute to the way the Administration was operating.

Councillor N J Hunt outlined his perceptions as a backbencher on the activities of the Administration over the last year  and his pride in being part of an Administration which in his opinion was setting a positive and optimistic view for the future of the District. He expressed his appreciation at working with such an optimistic and talented bunch of people on both sides of the Council Chamber. He also took the opportunity to reiterate that the members of the Administration work together to build a consensus in decision making and provided examples of where opportunities had been taken at Overview and Scrutiny to amend Cabinet recommendations.

Finally, and in direct response to some to Councillor Gray’s comments, Councillor S Ferguson drew attention to the 2022 Conservative Manifesto which stated that if re-elected the Conservatives would convert at least 25% of Huntingdonshire’s grass areas such as roadside verges to meadow grass and wildflowers to further support wildlife and nature.

In exercising his right to reply, Councillor Gray thanked members of the Administration for listening and explaining their positions. He also reiterated that his comments surrounding whipping had not been intended to offend anyone and had been a reference to full Council as opposed to meetings of Cabinet and Committees. Having outlined the reasons for not preparing an alternative budget for 2023/24, Councillor Gray undertook that the Conservative group would prepare one in future years. Finally, he clarified that the remarks with the Conservative manifesto had referred to verges and wildflower areas and that the Conservative Party had never stated that they would not keep play and recreation areas cut for Huntingdonshire residents.