Agenda item

CAMBRIDGESHIRE AND PETERBOROUGH COMBINED AUTHORITY

Minutes:

The Council noted reports prepared by the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority summarising the work of the Authority during June and July 2018.

 

The Council’s representatives on the Combined Authority were invited to comment on the reports, as summarised below.

 

Councillor Bridget Smith, the Leader of the Council, provided an update on the meeting of the Combined Authority Board held on 26 September 2018 and highlighted the following issues:

·         The Board had considered a review of the Constitution.  The Mayor had power to nominate appointments to Committees, Chairmanships and Portfolio holders.

·         The appointment of an interim Chief Finance Officer had been confirmed.

·         Interim arrangements for covering the role of Chief Executive had been discussed.  The role was to be shared jointly between the Monitoring Officer and Chief Executive of East Cambridgeshire District Council. The Leader had argued for external recruitment to the role to be undertaken.

·         The Board had considered the Housing Strategy and it was now proposed to use £60m of the £100m affordable housing fund to enable provision of 2,000 additional affordable housing units, with £40m being allocated to a new revolving fund. However there had been no indication of funding being allocated according to greatest need. The Leader indicated that she would continue the work of her predecessor, Councillor Topping, to fight to ensure that South Cambridgeshire got its fair share of the funding allocation.

·         Discussion had taken place on the submission of a Business Rates pilot bid. It had been agreed that 10% of funds would be ringfenced for use by the Combined Authority for a growth fund; 10% would be split between the two Social Care Authorities in recognition that the costs of growth fell disproportionately on those authorities with the remaining 80% of funds being distributed per capita across all constituent authorities. The Leader indicated that she had refused to take the decision to consent to the bid on behalf of the Council as a constituent authority unilaterally and had taken the matter to Cabinet for decision.

·         The Board had received the Cambridge and Peterborough Independent Economic Review (CPIER) report.  The Leader had sought to obtain the Board’s approval to accept all of the recommendations in the report, which had not been supported, although the Board had agreed to “welcome” rather than “note” the report.

·         The Leader had submitted a motion calling on the Combined Authority urgently to commission an independent organisational review to include delivery objectives for 2018/19; governance, staffing, operations and project delivery in order to give assurance as to the impact, independence and transparency of the Combined Authority. The motion had not been approved but a review would be conducted by the two Interim Chief Executives which was expected to focus on the internal staffing structure.

 

Councillor Allen reported on the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 24 September 2018, noting that cross party support had been received for a number of the issues raised including concerns about:- 

·         the number of temporary appointments at the Combined Authority and the challenges this presented in terms of scrutinising matters in view of the lack of continuity in staffing. 

·         the allocation of housing funding as referred to earlier by the Leader.

·         proposals for variation of the call-in scheme which had now been referred back for reconsideration.

 

Councillor Tony Mason noted that a further meeting of the Audit Committee would take place on 28 September 2018.

 

Councillor Peter Topping reported that he had substituted for Councillor Chamberlain at a meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.  He noted that during the discussion on the housing allocation he had pointed out that the Agreement with the Government had contained specific reference to housing need in this part of the County.   Councillor Topping expected that further discussions would take place on the Housing Strategy at the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and referred to the importance of ensuring that the £100m fund was spent in the way intended and benefited the residents of South Cambridgeshire.  Additionally, the Committee had highlighted the need for an overall assessment of the many projects being managed within the Combined Authority.

 

In response to questions from Members, the Leader:

 

  • Indicated that she had questioned the use of development companies in the Combined Authority and had been advised that the proposed use of such companies had been part of the original devolution deal.
  • Noted that it was important to continue to scrutinise and challenge the Combined Authority’s decisions where appropriate and to speak out in support of the best interests of South Cambridgeshire.
  • Commented on the increasing wage bill in the Combined Authority.
  • Provided further background on the decision to give Constituent Authority consent to the Business Rates Pilot submission, noting that she had been advised that if the Combined Authority had not been part of the bid, it was most unlikely that a bid would succeed and that it would not have been realistic to have submitted a separate bid. 

 

Council RECEIVED the reports summarising the work of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority in June and July 2018.

 

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