Agenda and minutes

The Lord Mayor welcomed all attendees to the meeting, and made a safety

announcement in relation to the fire/emergency evacuation procedure.

Apologies were received from Councillor Peter Abraham and Councillor Chris Jackson.

To note any declarations of interest from the Councillors.  They are asked to indicate the relevant agenda item, the nature of the interest and in particular whether it is a disclosable pecuniary interest.

Any declarations of interest made at the meeting which is not on the register of interests should be notified to the Monitoring Officer for inclusion.

There were no declarations of interest.

Please note: public forum business is permitted for this Extraordinary Full Council provided that it relates to the business for which the meeting has been arranged.

Up to 30 minutes is allowed for this item.

Public forum items should be emailed to democratic.services@bristol.gov.uk

Please note that the following deadlines will apply in relation to this meeting:-

Questions - Written questions must be received at least 3 clear working days prior to the meeting.  For this meeting, this means that question(s) must be received in this office at the latest by 5.00 pm on Thursday 23 June 2016.

Petitions and statements - Petitions and statements must be received by 12 noon on the working day prior to the meeting.  For this meeting, this means that they must be received in this office at the latest by 12.00 noon on Tuesday 28 June 2016.

In relation to agenda item 5 (Combined Authority and Devolution proposals), four public forum statements were received and noted, from:

1.      David Redgewell, Martin Cinamond, Nigel Bray, Jenny Raggett and John Hassell.

2.      Councillor Charlie Bolton.

3.      James Durie.

4.      Christina Biggs.

1.    To agree to proceed with the devolution deal as set out in the governance scheme.

2.    To note the West of England Devolution Agreement (Appendix 1).

3.    To consider the Governance Review for the West of England 2016 (Appendix 2) conducted under s.108 of the 2009 Act and to Agree the conclusion that the establishment of a Mayoral Combined Authority for the area of Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol City Council and South Gloucestershire Council would be likely to improve the exercise of statutory functions in relation to the area.

4.    Consider the Proposed Governance Scheme for a Mayoral Combined Authority (Appendix 3) and agree the Scheme for public consultation under s.109 of the 2009 Act.

5.    Authorise the City Director to subsequently submit.

a)            the Governance Scheme;

b)            the consultation responses received (or an appropriate summary); and

c)            any further consultation response that may the Council itself may wish to make to the Secretary of State for the Department of Communities and Local Government.

6.    Authorise the City Director to make any minor amendments or corrections to the governance scheme to enable publication of the scheme for public consultation.

7.    Refer any resulting Order back to the appropriate decision making body Cabinet for approval.

The Full Council considered a report on the Combined Authority and West of England devolution proposals.

Prior to the debate on the report, the Lord Mayor advised the Full Council that the final decision on whether to approve the package of proposals detailed in the report was an executive decision.

The Cabinet had met earlier that day to give initial consideration to the proposals.

The Cabinet meeting had been adjourned.  In adjourning the meeting, the Mayor and Cabinet had asked that Full Council debate and scrutinise the proposals.  Once the Full Council had debated and voted on whether to support the proposals, and concluded its meeting, the Cabinet would reconvene to consider the final decision, taking account of Full Council’s views.

The Full Council then held a debate on the proposals.

Councillor Bolton moved the following amendment, setting out additional points (i.e. additional to the report recommendations) that the Full Council may wish to refer to the Cabinet:

Add at the end of the combined authority and devolution proposals on page 5 of the Full Council papers:

“Council expresses its view that:

1.      The devolution deal must not be solely about economic growth; we must give equal importance to reducing inequality and enhancing environmental sustainability.  Therefore equality and environmental sustainability must be given meaningful weightings in the economic model, in both

a.      The criteria used for selecting projects to benefit from devolved funds, and

b.      The metrics that determine whether the projects have been successful.

2.      We welcome the mention of scrutiny and audit in the documentation.  However, it does not state what level of support is given to each.  It must be at a sufficient level to allow it to be fully effective and independent from the executive.”

Councillor Denyer seconded the amendment.

Upon being put to the vote, the amendment was LOST (18 members voting in favour, 47 against with 1 abstention).

Councillor Hopkins moved the following amendment, setting out additional points (i.e. additional to the report recommendations) that the Full Council may wish to refer to the Cabinet:

Add:

“This Council, although fully committed to the principle and practice of devolution, regrets the condition of a ‘Metro Mayor’ which represents an unnecessary and expensive extra layer of spending when public funds are in short supply.”

Councillor Jos Clark seconded the amendment.

Upon being put to the vote, the amendment was LOST (18 members voting in favour, 47 against with 1 abstention).

Councillor Kent moved the following amendment, setting out additional points (i.e. additional to the report recommendations) that the Full Council may wish to refer to the Cabinet:

Add:

“This Council regrets the lack of public involvement in the ‘devolution process’ and would wish to debate the proposals in the autumn after the public have had their say and before this Council commits itself irrevocably to the Metro Mayor and all that goes with it.”

Councillor Wright seconded the amendment.

Upon being put to the vote, the amendment was LOST (15 members voting in favour, 47 against  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.