Agenda and minutes

SWT Executive
Wednesday, 20th October, 2021 6.15 pm

Venue: The John Meikle Room - The Deane House. View directions

Contact: Clare Rendell Email: c.rendell@somersetwestandtaunton.gov.uk 

Webcast: View the webcast

Items
No. Item

46.

Apologies

47.

Minutes of the previous meeting of the Executive pdf icon PDF 323 KB

48.

Declarations of Interest

    To receive and note any declarations of disclosable pecuniary or prejudicial or personal interests in respect of any matters included on the agenda for consideration at this meeting.

     

    (The personal interests of Councillors and Clerks of Somerset County Council, Town or Parish Councils and other Local Authorities will automatically be recorded in the minutes.)

     

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    Members present at the meeting declared the following personal interests in their capacity as a Councillor or Clerk of a County, Town or Parish Council or any other Local Authority:-

     

    Name

    Minute No.

    Description of Interest

    Reason

    Action Taken

    Cllr S Coles

    All Items

    SCC & Taunton Charter Trustee

    Personal

    Spoke

    Cllr C Ellis

    All Items

    Taunton Charter Trustee

    Personal

    Spoke and Voted

    Cllr L Lisgo

    All Items

    Taunton Charter Trustee

    Personal

    Spoke

    Cllr D Mansell

    All Items

    Wiveliscombe

    Personal

    Spoke

    Cllr D Perry

    All Items

    Taunton Charter Trustee

    Personal

    Spoke

    Cllr M Rigby

    All Items

    SCC & Bishops Lydeard

    Personal

    Spoke and Voted

    Cllr F Smith-Roberts

    All Items

    Taunton Charter Trustee

    Personal

    Spoke and Voted

    Cllr R Tully

    All Items

    West Monkton

    Personal

    Spoke

    Cllr B Weston

    All Items

    Taunton Charter Trustee

    Personal

    Spoke

    Cllr L Whetlor

    All Items

    Watchet

    Personal

    Spoke

    Cllr G Wren

    All Items

    Clerk to Milverton PC

    Personal

    Spoke

     

49.

Public Participation

    The Chair to advise the Committee of any items on which members of the public have requested to speak and advise those members of the public present of the details of the Council’s public participation scheme.

     

    For those members of the public who have submitted any questions or statements, please note, a three minute time limit applies to each speaker and you will be asked to speak before Councillors debate the issue.

     

    Temporary measures during the Coronavirus Pandemic

    Due to the temporary legislation (within the Coronavirus Act 2020, which allowed for use of virtual meetings) coming to an end on 6 May 2021, the council’s committee meetings will now take place in the office buildings within the John Meikle Meeting Room at the Deane House, Belvedere Road, Taunton. Unfortunately due to capacity requirements, the Chamber at West Somerset House is not able to be used at this current moment.  

     

    Following the Government guidance on measures to reduce the transmission of coronavirus (COVID-19), the council meeting rooms will have very limited capacity.  With this in mind, we will only be allowing those members of the public who have registered to speak to attend the meetings in person in the office buildings, if they wish (we will still be offering to those members of the public that are not comfortable in attending, for their statements to be read out by a Governance and Democracy Case Manager).  Please can we urge all members of the public who are only interested in listening to the debate to view our live webcasts from the safety of their own home to help prevent the transmission of coronavirus (COVID-19). 

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    No members of the public had requested to speak on any item on the agenda.

50.

Executive Forward Plan pdf icon PDF 94 KB

    To receive items and review the Forward Plan.

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    (Copy of the Executive Forward Plan, circulated with the agenda).

     

    Councillors were reminded that if they had an item they wanted to add to the agenda, that they should send their requests to the Governance Team.

     

    Resolved that the Executive Forward Plan be noted.

51.

Establishment of a Joint Committee in Somerset for the implementation of Local Government Reorganisation pdf icon PDF 243 KB

    This report is the responsibility of Councillor Federica Smith-Roberts, Leader of the Council.

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    During the discussion, the following points were raised:-

    ·       Councillors agreed that the five councils needed to work together to get the best outcome.

    ·       Councillors queried whether the Joint Committee meetings would be held in public session.

    The Leader advised that the meetings would be open to the public to attend.

    ·       Councillors queried whether the Joint Scrutiny Committee, once established, would just carry on into the New Council.

    The Leader advised that the joint committees being established would only be in operation until the New Council had been created.

    ·       Councillors highlighted that a resolution had been passed by Full Council to recommend that a committee system be used for the Unitary Authority and that they did not want to lose sight of that recommendation.

    The Leader advised that the work carried out on the Constitution would be completed by the Shadow Council, so we could only recommend to that Working Group the adoption of a committee system.

    ·       Councillors were reassured that the vice chair of the Joint Committee would be a District Leader and that the quorate figures would include district members.

    ·       Concern was raised that action was not being taken now.

    The Leader advised that there were many different work programs being set up and that officers were carrying out work, but that it was still early days.

    ·       Concern was raised on the rumours that Somerset County Council would remain as the continuing authority and that there would be no Shadow Council and that the district councils would simply be abolished.

    ·       Councillors wanted to work together to ensure that the best outcomes were achieved for the residents.  Councillors also wanted to look after the officers throughout the process to ensure that they were best placed in the New Council.

    ·       Councillors advised that the Leader of the County Council had publicly announced who the members of the Joint Committee were and that the vice chair would be a District Leader.

    The Leader was glad that a public announcement had been made on the committee composition.

    ·       Councillors queried what would be included in the Structural Change Order (SCO) and what progress was being made on the Joint Scrutiny Committee.

    The Deputy Monitoring Officer advised that the SCO would detail the composition of the Executive, who would replace the Joint Committee.  The SCO would also extend the matters Executive dealt with within the Scheme of Delegations.  He advised that work was being carried out to establish a Joint Scrutiny Committee and that a report would be brought through the democratic pathway soon.

    ·       Concern was raised that district councillors would not be involved in the process or have a voice on the decisions being made.  They queried how the Leader would ensure that didn’t happen.

    The Leader advised that she was keen to continue with the Group Leader meetings and member briefings to ensure that as much information as possible was distributed to councillors.

    ·       Councillors queried how a continuing authority would work.

    The Leader suggested a member briefing could be held to explain.

    ·       Concern  ...  view the full minutes text for item 51.