To receive any public questions, statements or petitions submitted in accordance with the Constitution. Further information on the requirements for submitting these is available to view at the following link:-
https://democracy.bcpcouncil.gov.uk/ieListMeetings.aspx?CommitteeID=151&Info=1&bcr=1
The deadline for the submission of public questions is midday 3 clear working days before the meeting.
The deadline for the submission of a statement is midday the working day before the meeting.
The deadline for the submission of a petition is 10 working days before the meeting.
Minutes:
There were no Public Statements or petitions. There were three public questions received from Mr McKinstry. These were responded to by the Lead Member of the Task and Finish Group as outlined below:
Question 1
For the historical record more than anything, can we be told which ten councillors were on the cross-party task and finish group which considered the community governance submissions; and what were the dates of their six meetings?
The Task and Finish Group was politically proportionate with each political group appointing their representatives. The membership of the Task and Finish Group was initially Councillor Walters (Chair), Councillor Aitkenhead (Vice-Chair) plus Councillors Broadhead, Bull, Dedman, Dove, Hanna, Le Poidevin, Rice and Trent. On 12 February 2025, Councillor Broadhead resigned from the Task and Finish Group and was replaced with Councillor Beesley.
The Task and Finish Group met on the following dates:
Friday, 31 January, Tuesday 4 February, Friday 7 February, Wednesday 12 February, Friday 14 February and Friday 21 February 2025.
Question 2
Why were councillors given such a short time frame to respond to the email of 7 February 2025 which sought their views on this matter? (The responses cite a deadline of 11 February, and this meeting wasn't until 4 March, so I can't see why they weren't given an extra week at least - given the complexity of the subject, plus their unique stance as ward representatives and charter trustees.) It would also be good to know why councillors' views were solicited so late in the day, whereas the response from Tom Hayes MP - dated 2 December 2024 - suggests MPs were communicated with back in November / early December.
BCP Councillors were emailed on 7 November 2024. This email outlined the project timetable for the stage 1 exercise, the dates of the initial submissions period and that the initial stage was open to any interested party to respond. The email included dates of the planned public briefings and details of an all-Councillor Briefing session which was held on 14 November. This communication was sent on the same date as the communication to local Members of Parliament. A number of councillors made representations during the initial submission period.
The agreed timetable for the Task and Finish Group to finalise the draft recommendations was as follows:
• Friday 14 February – Deadline to agree all draft recommendations to allow drafting of the report
• Friday 21 February – Sign-off content of final report
• Monday 24 February – Release report for inclusion on agenda
Question 3
Finally, why were councillors not allowed to make face-to-face representations to the task and finish group - as indicated in a reply to the 7 February email, reprinted on page 536 of tonight's supplementary papers?
The Task and Finish Group had initially intended to invite all councillors to attend a meeting to explain the submissions for their respective ward areas and seek feedback. However, the Task and Finish Group were advised that a number of councillors were unable to attend and had indicated that they would prefer to receive details of the submissions received and to have the opportunity to potentially make a short written representation to the Task and Finish Group. The Task and Finish Group agreed to this request.