Agenda item

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).

Minutes:

The Clerk read out the following statement on behalf of Mr David Orr;

“Back in 2018, when John Williams proposed a Town Council based only on unparished wards in just half of the town, it was a subpar solution to a Town Council fit for our County Town in historic Somerset. In 2021, with a Unitary Council decision expected within weeks, it is parochial and expedient to carry on with an outdated half-a-town proposal like this. King Alfred had ambitions in Somerset that led to the formation of England and his cakes were over-baked rather than half-baked! To those who say there isn’t enough time to do this properly, I say you have had two years to start earlier.

By direct comparison, David Fothergill for One Somerset says that they can carry out a fully-scoped Town Council project and meet the May 2023 timescale. On the one hand, we have councillors not wanting a new Tiverton and Minehead constituency taking Staplegrove and Norton Fitzwarren wards away from Taunton, while supporting a subpar Town Council project that only covers half the town. Within a few weeks the Secretary of State is expected to announce his preferred unitary solution. I hope that within the Statutory Change Orders, he will decree a proper Town Council for Taunton, after 47 years without one. This half-a-town project will then be obsolete and should be halted in favour of the Shadow Authority running a properly scoped project.

Q1. In the scoping paper for the Working Group it is stated that Taunton parishes adjoining the unparished ward will NOT be part of the remit. Will the Charter Trustees amend the recommendations to allow for early consultation with parishes within Taunton and for those in favour of joining a Town Council to be in-scope?

Q2. So that the work here isn’t wasted if a unitary council is announced, will the Charter Trustees consult now with the Boundary Commission for a whole of Taunton boundary review to determine a viable geography and the settlement boundaries?

Q3. What are the estimated annual running costs of a new Town Council? With the costs only falling on the unparished wards, then what is the estimated band D precept for a Town Council?

Q4. If the project remains narrowly scoped to only unparished wards, will the Town Council consultation be undertaken only with households within the unparished wards (as the future precept payers)?

Q5. With a Town Council based on unparished wards only as a pre-determined option, will the consultation choice simply be between having the unparished wards individually parished or the unparished wards being amalgamated into a half-a-town Town Council? Would that pre-determined choice pass the test of being “a meaningful and genuine consultation”?

Q6. Will the Mayor for a half-a-town Town Council attend events for all of Taunton and will grants be issued to support causes and groups that are whole of Taunton in nature? Is it fair that only the residents in unparished wards will bear those costs for whole of Taunton events and causes?”

The Clerk advised that Mr Orr would receive a written response which would be circulated to all Charter Trustees. It is reproduced below;

It is not for the Charter Trustees for Taunton, as a separate body to SWT Council to amend the recommendations of the Council Working Group or their scoping documentation, although when the final report and Terms of Reference is brought back before the Taunton Charter Trustees for their consideration then the feedback of the Taunton Charter Trustees will be considered and should carry the appropriate weight in Councillors considerations at Full Council. I would refer you to the statement read out at the Charter Trustees on 20^th July 2021 which outlined how the Council and by extension the Working Group need to “review the reasons for the extent of the planned review area and the terms of reference of the community governance review before it places such before full council. The reasoning for the extent of the review, or any variation of such, needs to be set out with clarity and follow the statutory guidance, or if not, set forth reasons for any departure.”

I have not been instructed by the Charter Trustees for Taunton to consult with the Boundary Commission on their behalf, however I can confirm officers from Somerset West and Taunton Council have been and are in discussions with the Boundary Commission on the review.

Q3. What are the estimated annual running costs of a new Town Council? With the costs only falling on the unparished wards, then what is the estimated band D precept for a Town Council?

This estimation work is currently being undertaken by Officers of SWT Council, and will necessarily be determined on the nature of the activities that any successor body would wish to precept for and its geographical scope.

A balance has to be struck between providing any created body and Somerset West and Taunton Council with stability and allowing any new council autonomy to make its own decisions. The long-term funding and service agreement will be the mechanism to strike this balance. The decision about the precept will be linked to the budget set for the new Council which will, in turn, be driven in significant part by the proposed funding and service agreements to be entered between SWT Council and any new Parish/Town Council.

Q4. If the project remains narrowly scoped to only unparished wards, will the Town Council consultation be undertaken only with households within the unparished wards (as the future precept payers)?

Yes this would be correct if this was the exercise that is ended up as proposed, as from reading the Guidance, which states that;

“Under the 2007 Act principal councils are required to consult both those local government electors in the area under review, and others (including a local authority such as a county council) which appears to the principal council to have an interest in the review.”

I would refer you to the statement read out at the Charter Trustees on 20th July 2021 which outlined how the Council and by extension the Working Group needed to “review the reasons for the extent of the planned review area and the terms of reference of the community governance review before it places such before full council. The reasoning for the extent of the review, or any variation of such, needs to be set out with clarity and follow the statutory guidance, or if not, set forth reasons for any departure.”

The first stage of the consultation exercise as evidenced in the draft documentation did not set out any potential options so was intended to be as genuine and meaningful as possible in taking on as many views as possible on the future of this area.

I would consider it far too early to comment on the scope of a role that is yet to be created, although I can see your line of argument I don’t think I can comment on the fairness or otherwise of such a system. It will be for the two councils to negotiate on such matters and to take in consideration when the Community Governance Review is underway as part of the issues around geographical scope.

The District Council would no longer need to raise a Special Expenses precept on the ratepayers of the former unparished area if the area became a Town or Parish Council. It would be for the successor body to determine whether to operate any form of grants scheme out of the precept it levied if possible, however the existing scheme is designed to support those types of things that a town or parish council usually would, so it would presumably do this through the precept rather than through a grants scheme this would be done.