Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

Councillors Brett Beetham, Parminder Singh Birdi, Yousef Dahmash, Piers Daniel, Brian Hammersley, Andy Jenns, Jack Kennaugh, Dale Keeling, Justin Kerridge, Sarah Millar, Wallace Redford, Will Roberts, Jill Simpson-Vince, Mejar Singh, Mandy Tromans and Rob Tromans

The Chairman advised Members that the Dispensation Sub Committee had met earlier on the day of this meeting, and granted a dispensation for Members with relevant disclosable pecuniary interests to speak and vote at any meeting in relation to the issues of Devolution, the English Devolution White Paper, and/or proposed unitary local government in Warwickshire. 

The dispensation applied to Members who were Elected Members or Co-opted Members of a District or Borough Council, or a town or parish council, within Warwickshire; or whose Spouse or Partner was an Elected or Co-opted Member of a District or Borough Council, or a town or parish council, within Warwickshire; or whose Spouse or Partner was an employee of the County Council or a District or Borough Council within Warwickshire. 

There were no other interests declared.

To note any requests to speak on any item on the agenda in accordance with the Council’s Public Speaking Scheme (see note at end of the agenda).

The Chairman welcomed speakers to the meeting and advised that he was exercising his discretion to allow speeches up to 10 minutes.

Councillor George Cowcher – Deputy Leader, Stratford-on-Avon District Council

Councillor Cowcher noted that councillors across the county were faced with the proposition of creating something new for Warwickshire and Stratford-on-Avon councillors believed it was important to work together on the future arrangements.  Whether the result was one new unitary council or more than one it was going to be a new council and not a development of either the County Council or any of the Districts and, therefore, everybody needed to play a part.

Councillor Cowcher made the point that the White Paper had two strands: local government reform and the strategic authority that the county would be working with for the future.  He considered that the two were interlinked and could not be dealt with separately or sequentially and it was important that consideration of any strategic alignment sought the best fit for the people of Warwickshire.  If the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) was not an option, other options needed to be explored and this would have implications for whether there was a preference for one or two unitary authorities in the county since the south of the county would have little in common with those authority areas adjacent to North Warwickshire and vice versa.   It was important, therefore, to be clear that there was more than one option to consider for local government reform and vital to have an understanding of the arrangements for a strategic authority.

Councillor Cowcher emphasised that proposals should take account of how each council’s assets and resources were accounted for.  For example, he noted that Stratford-on-Avon District Council had sold its housing stock some years ago and as a result there were cash balances.  This was money that had been contributed by council taxpayers in the District and it was important that the funding was ringfenced for people in Stratford and was not dispersed across the whole of the county.  It was also one of the reasons why the District Council had been able to build positive relationships with town and parish councils and he recognised their importance in a rural district.

Finally, Councillor Cowcher noted that the county council elections would take place in May 2025.  The legacy left behind for the new council was important and should not be unworkable.  It was, therefore, the view of the District Council that the proposal to be submitted by the end of March needed to present at least two options, one of which was two new unitary authorities: one for South Warwickshire and one for North Warwickshire.

Councillor Ian Davison – Leader, Warwick District Council

Councillor Davison thanked Councillor Isobel Seccombe, Leader, and Monica Fogarty, Chief Executive, for meeting with the Chief Executives and Leaders of the five District and Borough Council in the previous week.  He explained the meeting had proposed working together to gather evidence from multiple angles on  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1(3)

The Labour Government, through the Devolution White Paper, has directed all two-tier Local Authority areas shall become Unitary Councils by 2028.  Consultation will be undertaken by the Secretary of State through their department. 

It is crucial that future Unitary Government is not remote from local communities and engagement with them is embedded within future structures. 

The County of Warwickshire has a strong heritage and identity which should be preserved and strengthened for future generations. 

The Council therefore: 

1. Will develop a proposal to Government for unitary local government for Warwickshire which meets the guidance, criteria and time frames set out by Government. 

2. Seeks to quickly establish clarity from Government regarding the model to be progressed to enable the best use of time and resource. 

3. Commits to engage with Districts, Boroughs, Towns, Parishes and Communities in developing proposals, both existing and future emerging arrangements. 

4. Recognises the importance of the boundary and the identity of the County of Warwickshire in any proposals and will work with regional partners. 

5. Will continue to strive for the economic prosperity of the area even against adverse national headwinds. 

6. Agrees to establish a cross-party working group to support this work. 

The Chairman advised that in common with his decision regarding the length of public speeches, he was also exercising his discretion to allow longer speeches, of up to ten minutes, from county councillors during this debate.

Councillor Isobel Seccombe, Leader, thanked the public speakers for attending to share their views and recognised the importance of those views to the debate. 

In order to provide some context, Councillor Seccombe explained the activities that had taken place since the publication of the English Devolution White Paper on 16 December 2024.  She noted that the government’s manifesto had included devolution, but it had been a surprise that local government reform was included within its proposals.  Within three days of the publication, a meeting had taken place between the Leaders and Chief Executives of Warwickshire County Council and the District and Borough Councils to consider the implications, including the government’s deadline of 10 January 2025 to request to be included in the early wave of reorganisation.  This Council had determined to make a request to be included in that wave for several reasons, not least to provide some certainty for the workforce.  However, this was not taken forward by government. 

At this point, Councillor Seccombe noted the difference between devolution and local government reform, stating that whilst they were inevitably joined together, they were separate issues for consideration.  She pointed out that Warwickshire County Council had a devolution deal in place and, beyond the debate at this meeting, there would be a discussion regarding strategic authorities, being the direction in which the government had expressed it wished to progress. However, the debate at this meeting was focussed on local government reform, a piece of work that all six local councils were working on and the final goal of this work was a single tier of local government, either one or two councils, to deliver all the current services delivered across the existing two tiers. It was important for elected members across all councils to shape and be part of delivering the best model possible for local residents, taxpayers, businesses and young people.  Although the government had not chosen to take Warwickshire forward in the early wave, there was still a lot of work to take place.  On the same day the government had announced that Warwickshire would not go forward in the early wave, it had indicated the requirement for the delivery of an interim plan by 21 March 2025 and full proposals by 28 November 2025.  The authorities needed to work to deliver the best model it could, that encompassed the delivery of all services across the existing two tiers, that would make savings.  The government had also requested that funds were not spent on consultants.

Councillor Seccombe highlighted that there was a case for change and consideration would be given to a single unitary council model which she believed was the only sustainable outcome.  She noted that some of the proposals that the government had received were tidying up small unitary councils  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.