Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Davies, Denton, Hunt, Jusef, Lovering, Spear and Stevenson.

The Senior Corporate and Community Services Officer advised that Councillor Bulled would be attending the meeting virtually, however would not be able to vote.

(a)  Kev Phillips

The Chair advised Council that Kev Phillips who worked in the Waste and Recycling service had sadly passed away.

Council held a one minute silence in his memory.

(b)  Member Satisfaction Survey

The Chair reminded Councillors to complete the Member Satisfaction Survey by Friday 10 January 2025, the results of which fed into the performance indicator which is reported as part of the quarterly Performance and Financial Management report.

Please telephone the Corporate and Community Services team to prepare a form for your signature before the meeting. Interests must be re-declared when the item is called. A declaration of interest under the Code of Conduct will be a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest, an Other Registrable Interest or a Non-Registrable Interest.  If the item directly relates to your interest you must declare the interest and leave the room for the item, save in the case of Other Registrable Interests or Non-Registrable Interests where you may first speak on the item as a member of the public if provision has been made for the public to speak.  If the matter does not directly relate to your interest but still affects it then you must consider whether you are affected to a greater extent than most people and whether a reasonable person would consider your judgement to be clouded, if you are then you must leave the room for the item (although you may speak as a member of the public if provision has been made for the public to speak) or, if you are not, then you can declare the interest but still take part).

The following Councillors declared an other registerable interest in item 5 on the agenda, as Devon County Councillors and had sought and been granted a dispensation pursuant to Section 33 of the Localism Act 2011 to continue to take part in the deliberation and vote on this item by the Governance committee on 7 January 2025:

Councillors Biederman, Crabb, Caroline Leaver, Maskell and Roome.

Chief Executive to report.

Council received a presentation by the Chief Executive regarding Devolution and Local Government Reorganisation.

He highlighted the following:

·       English Devolution White Paper Proposals which was issued on 16 December 2024.  The White Paper covered devolution, Local Government Review, standards, audit, workforce capacity and remote meetings.  It was issued along with the National Planning Policy Framework, Funding statement and proposed changes to Planning Committees. Widespread reform.

·       Devolution proposals which included: Combined Authorities which would be known as Strategic Authorities with the Devon and Torbay County Combined Authority becoming a Foundation Strategic Authority. Government’s ambition was that all areas would be covered by Mayoral Strategic Authorities. New powers would be given to the Strategic Authorities and Government’s wish was that devolution became the default.

·       The criteria for Strategic Authorities and Deals which included: population of 1.5m+; sensible economic geographies; no devolution islands; geography must be capable of delivering key strategies; alignment with other public sector boundaries was an advantage; and a strong local identity.

·       Powers included: existing Foundation Strategic Authorities would remain largely unchanged but with some additions; Mayoral Strategic Authorities would receive long term investment funding; Strategic development management; regeneration and housing delivery; culture, heritage and sport spending; skills; Green jobs and skills; net zero; and health improvement duty.

·       Local Government Reorganisation – English Devolution White Paper Executive Summary stated: “Unitary councils can lead to better outcomes for residents, save significant money which can be reinvested in public services and improve accountability with fewer politicians who are more able to focus on delivering for residents”. Evidence was based on PriceWaterhouseCoopers report for County Council Networks. It facilitated a programme of local government re-organisation for two-tier areas. There would be a phased approach but with all two tier areas being reorganised over this Parliament and the next. There was an expectation that new unitary authorities would have at least 500k population.  There was no other criteria known at this time.  The expectation was that all councils in an area would work together to develop unitary proposals that were in the interests of the whole area. Government did not want competing proposals put forward.  Transition was to be as swift as possible. Support would be provided by Government to facilitate the change including the postponement of elections where this helped smooth the transition.

·       Letter from the Minister was received on 16 December 2024.  It had been sent to all two tier Councils and neighbouring smaller unitaries. There would be a formal invite in January for unitary proposals from all Councils affected, with further detail to be set out on the criteria to be used. Interim plans were required to be submitted by March 2025, with final proposals submitted by May or October 2025.  A Devolution Priority Programme (DPP) was for areas ready to come together and wishing to work to an accelerated timescale.  Areas that wished to join the DPP could apply to postpone the May elections by 10 January 2025.

·       District Councils could not object to a proposal  ...  view the full minutes text for item 70.