To receive a presentation from Councillor Martin Stears-Handscomb, Leader of the Council.
Decision:
Councillor Martin Stears-Handscomb, Leader of the Council, thanked the Chairman for inviting him to address the Committee. He gave a verbal presentation regarding the Plans of tnhe Administration for the coming year.
The Chairman thanked Councillor Stears-Handscomb for his presentation.
Minutes:
Audio recording – 4 minutes 24 seconds
Councillor Martin Stears-Handscomb, Leader of the Council, thanked the Chairman for inviting him to address the Committee. He gave a verbal presentation as follows:
· This presentation had traditionally considered the preceding year but for obvious reasons he would not be covering this;
· He expressed his commitment to Overview and Scrutiny and its role in being a critical friend to the Administration;
· He noted that the Committee had asked for a dedicated Scrutiny Officer and stated that he was sympathetic to the idea. The previous Administration agreed to provide support through Committee, Member and Scrutiny Services and the Committee should see how this worked, however he would review the situation in the Autumn. It was important the there was sufficient support to service the activities of the Committee, with a level of independence;
· Work was being undertaken with the Local Government Association to institute a Peer Review as soon as possible with Overview and Scrutiny being part of the process;
· How support and resources was provided was dependent of the financial situation;
· It is regrettable that there was no knowledge of how much the settlement would be for the coming year;
· Austerity was a political choice that almost squeezed the life out of Local Government;
· He was confident that, whilst working with what was available, the Council could work together to make a difference for the community;
· He was delighted that the Council had agreed to become a Co-operative Council;
· He wanted to engage and work with the communities and how this was done was important. The Council needed to be constructive, inclusive, manage expectations, learn from mistakes and make every effort to reach those who are hard to reach;
· Want to ensure that all 49 Councillors have an opportunity to input into Council decisions;
· Committed to a thorough review of our governance and the Constitution;
· Some Councils had gone back to a Committee structure and he may wish to talk to one of those Councils to learn about their experience
· Cabinet Panels and Task and Finish Groups were methods of involving other members of the Council;
· This Council had become very centralised and he was committed to expanding the work of Area Committees so that they could take more of a lead in their communities;
· Want to learn from the approach of other innovative Councils and be ambitious and proactive for our Council;
· It was notable that our towns are not included in larger infrastructure issues and it was important that our voice was heard;
· In respect of Churchgate they were talking to people about options and to pursue all avenues
· In respect of the Local Plan, he was disappointed at the change of goalposts by the Inspector;
· In respect of the Waste Contract, he had been kept up to speed, Urbasr had made changes to the staff teams and were taking actions to improve access to the payments system. Next year they would be including the option to pay by Direct Debit.
The following Members commented and asked questions:
· Councillor David Levett
The Chairman thanked Councillor Stears-Handscomb for his presentation.