Council believes that the start of a four-year term with a controlling partnership of councillors with an increased mandate from the people of East Devon provides the opportunity to refresh the whole council both in terms of its priorities and the way it assembles all its resources to deal with the complex issues faced by its residents in challenging times.
To that end council commits to the following actions to provide the strong, united and informed managerial and political leadership that is required:
In the short term, to work with Local Government Association and other parts of the local government family to:
1. Undertake a skills and knowledge audit of all Cabinet Members and key councillors to ensure that they are fully equipped to undertake their roles in the challenging times in which we find ourselves. This will lead to individual support for those members including specific mentoring and placement on appropriate courses and conferences; and
2. Work to bring together the Cabinet and Senior Management to become a unified team which, whilst respecting the different roles of officers and members, can move forward as one body in dealing with the issues faced by the council and its partners. In the first instance this would involve a facilitated Cabinet/SLT awayday and such work as may flow from that.
In the medium term, to:
3. Ask the LGA to undertake a Corporate Peer Challenge in September using leading and respected officers and members from other councils to look at the core of the council and recommend ways forward with a particular emphasis on:
i) Reviewing the member/officer protocol.
ii) Reviewing the Council’s communications strategy in the light of experiences gained with Covid.
iii) Reviewing the procedural standing orders as part of a constitutional review and make all parts of the constitution become clearer, both to the public and members, and encourage more members to participate in discussions & decisions around both the development, and the scrutiny, of those strategies.
iv) Reviewing all safeguarding strategies to ensure the continued protection of our vulnerable residents.
v) Reviewing the relationships between the District Council, the County Council and town & parish councils to ensure appropriate place-based working and the joining up of the public sector and partners to deliver cost-effective and locally relevant services.
4. Ask the Centre for Governance and Scrutiny to conduct, as soon as is practicable, a review of the scrutiny processes to ensure that:
i) The Cabinet and Officers continue to cooperate in the preparation of strategies to ensure that the undoubted professionalism of our staff is supported by the undoubted skills and knowledge of all local councillors from across the political spectrum in the development of those strategies from the outset.
ii) A suite of performance indicators are put
in place to ensure that service delivery can be scrutinised by both
Councillors and the public and to ensure that modifications can
made to service delivery by a due process of review.
5. Ask SW Employers to undertake a review of the training and
support needs of the SLT and the methodologies by which the SLT
functions as a coherent team.
6. Ask the Council’s S151 officer, in conjunction with the
Cabinet Member for Finance and Assets, to prepare a report
outlining the likely costs to the Council of these
recommendations and to ascertain any
risks associated with them, both financially and
reputationally.
7. Establish a working Group (composed of the Leader and Deputy
Leader of the Council, the Chair of the Council and other Group
Leaders) to support this programme of action and to monitor it and
move the improvement agenda forward within the Council in
cooperation with the Council’s SMT.
Proposed by Councillor Paul Hayward
Seconded by Councillor Todd Olive
Supported by Councillors John Health, Paul Arnott, Tim Dumper and Geoff Jung
Minutes:
As advised above, the Chair and the Vice-Chair would leave the meeting for this item.
Councillor Paul Arnott proposed that Councillor Whibley take the chair for this item. This was seconded by Councillor Levine and was RESOLVED.
In response to a question from Councillor Goodman, the Monitoring Officer advised that it was a matter for individual Members to decide whether or not they should leave the meeting.
Councillor Rylance and Councillor Hawkins left the meeting.
Councillor Whibley took the chair.
Motion:
Council believes that the start of a four-year term with a controlling partnership of councillors with an increased mandate from the people of East Devon provides the opportunity to refresh the whole council both in terms of its priorities and the way it assembles all its resources to deal with the complex issues faced by its residents in challenging times. To that end Council commits to the following actions to provide the strong, united and informed managerial and political leadership that is required:
In the short term, to work with Local Government Association and other parts of the local government family to:
1. Undertake a skills and knowledge audit of all Cabinet Members and key councillors to ensure that they are fully equipped to undertake their roles in the challenging times in which we find ourselves. This will lead to individual support for those members including specific mentoring and placement on appropriate courses and conferences; and
2. Work to bring together the Cabinet and Senior Management to become a unified team which, whilst respecting the different roles of officers and members, can move forward as one body in dealing with the issues faced by the council and its partners. In the first instance this would involve a facilitated Cabinet/SLT awayday and such work as may flow from that.
In the medium term, to:
3. Ask the LGA to undertake a Corporate Peer Challenge in September using leading and respected officers and members from other councils to look at the core of the council and recommend ways forward with a particular emphasis on:
i) Reviewing the member/officer protocol.
ii) Reviewing the Council’s communications strategy in the light of experiences gained with Covid.
iii) Reviewing the procedural standing orders as part of a constitutional review and make all parts of the constitution become clearer, both to the public and members, and encourage more members to participate in discussions & decisions around both the development, and the scrutiny, of those strategies.
iv) Reviewing all safeguarding strategies to ensure the continued protection of our vulnerable residents.
v) Reviewing the relationships between the District Council, the County Council and town & parish councils to ensure appropriate place-based working and the joining up of the public sector and partners to deliver cost-effective and locally relevant services.
4. Ask the Centre for Governance and Scrutiny to conduct, as soon as is practicable, a review of the scrutiny processes to ensure that:
i) The Cabinet and Officers continue to cooperate in the preparation of strategies to ensure that the undoubted professionalism of our staff is supported by the undoubted skills and knowledge of all local councillors from across the political spectrum in the development of those strategies from the outset.
ii) A suite of performance indicators are put in place to ensure that service delivery can be scrutinised by both Councillors and the public and to ensure that modifications can made to service delivery by a due process of review.
5. Ask SW Employers to undertake a review of the training and support needs of the SLT and the methodologies by which the SLT functions as a coherent team.
6. Ask the Council’s S151 Officer, in conjunction with the Cabinet Member for Finance and Assets, to prepare a report outlining the likely costs to the Council of these recommendations and to ascertain any risks associated with them, both financially and reputationally.
The Chair, Councillor Whibley, invited Councillor Hayward as the proposer, to speak to the motion.
Councillor Hayward advised that the principle behind the motion had come from the recent letter sent to the Secretary of State regarding various issues in the Council. From time to time, every local authority needs additional support in order to improve and develop. There was a need for the Council to work as a team in order to move forward and additional support from the Local Government Association should be viewed as a positive step.
Councillor Olive seconded the motion.
Debate on the motion included the following points:
· The Peer Review in 2019 had included some quick win points, but why had these not been followed up by the administration?
· Financial and legal comments and an equalities impact assessment are needed, which would have been included had the motion been taken as a report to Cabinet.
· A governance review had been started previously but not completed.
· The motion cannot be supported without information on the costs involved.
· The south west area lead officer for the Local Government Association would be involved and the likely cost would be less than £10,000.
· The Council is due a Peer Review and needs to recognise that a re-set is needed due to historic problems.
· Following the previous Peer Review the administration had other priorities, including the covid pandemic.
· It is good practice to draw up processes and principles for partnership working and to seek continuous improvement and accountability.
· The proposed review of relationships with DCC and town and parish councils is welcome as these do not always run smoothly.
· There is currently one team within the Council, but the covid pandemic affected the ability to create and maintain relationships.
· The motion sought to underpin the Council, rather than undermine it.
· Should the motion be agreed, the findings should be made public and reviewed frequently.
· The motion had nothing to do with helping local residents and was a reflection of poor leadership by the administration and an attempt to undermine officers.
· The Council should wait for the outcome of the forthcoming report by Grant Thornton and efforts should be made to bring forward this report.
· The previous Peer Review was under-researched and there was a need for peer reviewers to be briefed by Members, not just officers as happened previously.
· The Grant Thornton report was not due until September.
· The Council should not make a decision on the motion without knowing the costs involved.
· The issues should have been raised by way of an officer report to Cabinet and not as a motion to full Council.
· The Council would achieve more if it works together.
· The recent Verita report had not found fault with the Council.
Cllr Hayward summed up as the proposer of the motion, and noted that it was disappointing that some Members would use the motion as an opportunity to criticise the administration. The cost of not bringing in improvements would be greater than any costs incurred as a result of the motion being agreed.
A recorded vote was requested and agreed.
The motion as set out in the agenda and above was put to the vote.
In favour:
Councillors Paul Arnott, Kevin Blakey, Kim Bloxham, Violet Bonetta, Chris Burhop, Olly Davey, Tim Dumper, Paula Fernley, Charlotte Fitzgerald, Steve Gazzard, Del Haggerty, Anne Hall, Matt Hall, Paul Hayward, John Heath, Nick Hookway, Sarah Jackson, Richard Jefferies, Geoff Jung, Dan Ledger, Yehudi Levine, John Loudoun, Duncan Mackinder, Todd Olive, Marianne Rixson, Andrew Toye, Susan Westerman, Dan Wilson – 28 votes in favour.
Against:
Councillors Brian Bailey, Ian Barlow, Colin Brown, Jenny Brown, Alasdair Bruce, Maddy Chapman, Peter Faithfull, Mike Goodman, Marcus Hartnell, Stuart Hughes, Melanie Martin, Tony McCollum, Cherry Nicholas, John O’Leary, Helen Parr, Sophie Richards, Henry Riddell – 17 votes against.
Abstentions:
Councillors Roy Collins, Joe Whibley – 2 abstentions.
RESOLVED:
Council believes that the start of a four-year term with a controlling partnership of councillors with an increased mandate from the people of East Devon provides the opportunity to refresh the whole Council both in terms of its priorities and the way it assembles all its resources to deal with the complex issues faced by its residents in challenging times. To that end council commits to the following actions to provide the strong, united and informed managerial and political leadership that is required:
In the short term, to work with Local Government Association and other parts of the local government family to:
1. Undertake a skills and knowledge audit of all Cabinet Members and key councillors to ensure that they are fully equipped to undertake their roles in the challenging times in which we find ourselves. This will lead to individual support for those members including specific mentoring and placement on appropriate courses and conferences; and
2. Work to bring together the Cabinet and Senior Management to become a unified team which, whilst respecting the different roles of officers and members, can move forward as one body in dealing with the issues faced by the council and its partners. In the first instance this would involve a facilitated Cabinet/SLT awayday and such work as may flow from that.
In the medium term, to:
3. Ask the LGA to undertake a Corporate Peer Challenge in September using leading and respected officers and members from other councils to look at the core of the council and recommend ways forward with a particular emphasis on:
i) Reviewing the member/officer protocol.
ii) Reviewing the Council’s communications strategy in the light of experiences gained with Covid.
iii) Reviewing the procedural standing orders as part of a constitutional review and make all parts of the constitution become clearer, both to the public and members, and encourage more members to participate in discussions & decisions around both the development, and the scrutiny, of those strategies.
iv) Reviewing all safeguarding strategies to ensure the continued protection of our vulnerable residents.
v) Reviewing the relationships between the District Council, the County Council and town & parish councils to ensure appropriate place-based working and the joining up of the public sector and partners to deliver cost-effective and locally relevant services.
4. Ask the Centre for Governance and Scrutiny to conduct, as soon as is practicable, a review of the scrutiny processes to ensure that:
i) The Cabinet and Officers continue to cooperate in the preparation of strategies to ensure that the undoubted professionalism of our staff is supported by the undoubted skills and knowledge of all local councillors from across the political spectrum in the development of those strategies from the outset.
ii) A suite of performance indicators are put in place to ensure that service delivery can be scrutinised by both Councillors and the public and to ensure that modifications can made to service delivery by a due process of review.
5. Ask SW Employers to undertake a review of the training and support needs of the SLT and the methodologies by which the SLT functions as a coherent team.
6. Ask the Council’s S151 Officer, in conjunction with the Cabinet Member for Finance and Assets, to prepare a report outlining the likely costs to the Council of these recommendations and to ascertain any risks associated with them, both financially and reputationally.
The Chair of Council returned to the meeting. Councillor Whibley stepped down from the chair.
The Chair thanked everyone for attending and closed the meeting.