Issue - meetings

The Leader of the Council introduced the English Devolution White Paper Interim Plan. He said that the government had published its white paper on devolution in December which laid out its plan for reforms in two tier areas. The government had asked Hertfordshire to come up with an interim proposal to be submitted to them which must be submitted by 21 March 2025.

The Leader of the Council said that last month, all 11 councils in Hertfordshire have met to discuss the options and have been meeting frequently. He said the options proposed in the report had been a positive, collaborative effort and it had been brought to the Executive for discussion and agree for it to be submitted.

Councillor Daar felt that there were not enough resources delegated to town and parish councils to fulfil their new roles under these proposals. She hoped that this would be resolved moving forward.

Councillor Crystall said that town and parish councils had been a consideration, but it was not yet clear how their role would change. It may be that parishes are put in where they do not currently exist.

The Interim Chief Executive said that a working group was being set up specifically for town and parish councils and Ware had expressed an interest to join the group. She said that central government had not yet been clear how they fit into the overall picture.

Councillor Brittain said that from a public point of view, the biggest question was what would happen to Council Tax. He referred to page 26 and said implications needed to be understood in relation to council tax for the different options.

Councillor Crystall said there was a lot of data that did not exist yet. He said that a considerable amount of work had been done by all councils but were only starting to see the real implications of what the different models mean.

Councillor Glover-Ward said there was still some discussion about the ideal number of residents in a unitary. If the ideal number was 350k – 500k then the four unitary option was not a viable solution.

Councillor Crystall said it was balance between financial sustainability and democratic representation.

Councillor Dumont said that there were a lot of questions that did not have answers at the moment. He said that this was a once in a generation opportunity and was pleased to hear that progress was being made. He said that there were things that concerned him such as the transition costs of £52-54 million and questioned who foots the bill.

Councillor Hoskin said that this exercise was about economies of scale and said that option one looked too large. He referred to the waste service and said that when the district hands over, it was important that the service did not stop start but was a continuation.

Councillor Deering said that this was coming from the government, not the county council. His personal view was that it was important to consider what was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 386