Agenda item

The Commission considered a report of the Chief Executive which provided detail information on the Area Board structures and planning governance arrangements established by Wiltshire Council and Durham County Council.  A copy of the report marked ‘Agenda Item 9b’ is filed with these minutes.

The Chairman welcomed the Leader of the Council and the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Lead Member for Resources to the meeting for this item.

Arising from discussion and questions the following points were raised:-

General

(i)          The financial modelling for a unitary authority included a small amount of funding to support the Area Committee structure, although the model had not yet been fully costed.  The views of the Commission regarding how the structure should be developed would be taken into account in the business case and the funding requirements would be revisited at this stage.

(ii)         There was general agreement to the proposal to separate the Area Committee structure from the Development Management (Planning) function.  It was also recognised that any proposals put forward in the business case would be subject to public consultation and, where appropriate, co-design with local communities.

Area Committees

(iii)       The report to the Cabinet in October 2018 had not specified the number of Area Committees that would be needed, although it had suggested issues to be taken into account when designing the geographies.  It would be essential to seek the views of local communities to ensure that the structure reflected local needs and identities.

(iv)       There was a general consensus that the Wiltshire model of Area Committees, which were formally constituted and had some delegated executive powers, would be a good starting point for developing a Leicestershire model.  Only elected members were able to vote at the Area Committees in Wiltshire, although arrangements should be developed to enable the Committees to reach decisions by consensus based on the view of all participants.  There was support for replicating this arrangement in the Leicestershire model, although it was felt that there should be an item on Area Committee agendas to enable the public to ask questions.

(v)        There was support for an Area Committee model where powers to determine minor highways schemes could be delegated.  It was also suggested that the work currently undertaken by district Health and Wellbeing Boards could be picked up by the Area Committees.

Planning Governance Arrangements

(vi)       Planning policy, such as the development of the Local Plan was an executive function and final approval was required from the full Council.  It would be possible and indeed helpful to involve local planning committees or even the Area Committees in the process and to seek their views on the proposals.

(vii)     A member expressed concern that currently major planning decisions were often ultimately determined by the Planning Inspectorate at a national level, where the local context was not taken into account.  It was noted that moving to a unitary structure of local government for Leicestershire would not resolve this problem.  However, a single, countywide Local Plan, which could only be developed by a unitary authority, would carry greater weight with the Government than the current structure of seven district level Local Plans.

(viii)    The model adopted by both Durham County Council and Wiltshire Council, of having a countywide strategic planning committee and local planning committees, was generally supported, although it was felt that further consideration was needed to the thresholds for where applications should be considered and the membership of the Committees to ensure that they were right for Leicestershire.  Members welcomed the idea of the local planning committees meeting in their local areas and were keen to see as many planning applications determined locally as possible.  It would also be important to use technology effectively to enable greater public access to meetings.

RESOLVED:

That the views of the Commission be taken into account in the development of the business case for a unitary structure of local government for Leicestershire.

[The meeting adjourned at 1.12pm and reconvened at 2.05pm.]