Agenda item

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

The purpose of this report is to detail the planned response on behalf of Somerset West and Taunton (SWT) Council.  Whilst legally this is an Executive decision, it is important that this is presented to Full Council to ensure transparency and an open debate relating to the important topic of Local Government Reform in Somerset.

During the discussion, the following points were raised:-

·       Councillors requested clarification on recommendation 2 and the decision to bring the report to Full Council.

The Monitoring Officer gave clarification on the process and advised that it was an Executive Decision, as per the Constitution, however, the Leader thought it was fair to bring the report to Full Council for debate.

·       Councillor M Blaker proposed an amendment to the wording for recommendation 2, which was duly seconded by Councillor R Habgood, as follows:-

-      It is proposed that following Full Council’s decision on whether or not to endorse the submission of the response, the Leader of the Council will make the Executive Decision to submit the consultation response to the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government by the deadline of 19 April 2021.

·       The Leader ACCEPTED the amended wording and it became part of the substantive MOTION.

·       Councillors were glad that they had been given the chance to debate the report.

·       Councillors queried whether they had been given a copy of the critique on Somerset County Council’s submission to compare that of Somerset West and Taunton Council’s (SWT) submission.

The Leader advised that she understood the Councillor’s query, however, the debate was on SWT’s submission and they should not be distracted by comparing the two.

·       Councillors understood the logic for a Unitary Council, which was to avoid duplication and to bring forward savings, however, they believed that it was the wrong time to be considering moving towards a Unitary Council.

·       Councillors queried how long it had taken to compile the response and at what cost.

The Leader advised that conversations on submitting a response were initially held around New Year, but PA Consultants had been requested to start approximately 4 weeks ago.  Officers would report back with the cost of the work.

·       Councillors agreed it was an odd way to evaluate the two proposals and that they should have been evaluated independently.

·       Councillors were glad that the recommendations were only to support the submission of the response as they did not support all of the content.

·       Councillors stated that we needed to take on any criticisms and work together whichever proposal was chosen.

·       Councillors stated that the unitary debate had been ongoing for several years and that they were not sure why Central Government had allowed for SWT to be created if they were going to propose the creation of a Unitary Authority 2 years later.

·       Concern was raised as there had been no proof given that a Unitary Authority would provide savings or improved services.

·       Councillors agreed that they needed to get the proposal right for the future of the district and its residents.

·       Councillors were glad that the response was being submitted as they were not sure that One Somerset was a long term proposal.

·       Councillors believed the Stronger Somerset proposal would mean that services could be locally controlled.

The Leader thanked all for their comments and stated that we needed to reform our ways of working to support local residents and services.

Resolved that Full Council:-

1)    Endorsed the submission of the response to the consultation, including the PA Consultancy professional experts critique attached as Appendix A and the Ipsos Mori Poll at Appendix B, on proposals for reform of local government in Somerset, specifically in respect of the One Somerset proposal. 

2)    Noted that the decision to submit the consultation response required an Executive decision to be made before final submission. Whilst this is legally an Executive decision, it was felt important that this was debated by Full Council to ensure transparency and openness.  It was proposed that following Full Council’s decision on whether or not to endorse the submission of the consultation response, the Leader of the Council would make the Executive Decision to submit the consultation response to the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government by the deadline of 19 April 2021.