Agenda and decisions

Apologies for Absence were received from Councillor Wearmouth.

Minutes of the meeting of Cabinet held on 9 May 2023, as circulated, to be confirmed as a true record and signed by the Chair.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of Cabinet held on Tuesday 9 May 2023, as circulated, be confirmed as a true record and signed by the Chair.

Unless already entered in the Council’s Register of Members’ interests, members are required where a matter arises at a meeting;

Which directly relates to Disclosable Pecuniary Interest (‘DPI’) as set out in Appendix B, Table 1 of the Code of Conduct, to disclose the interest, not participate in any discussion or vote and not to remain in room. Where members have a DPI or if the matter concerns an executive function and is being considered by a Cabinet Member with a DPI they must notify the Monitoring Officer and arrange for somebody else to deal with the matter.

Which directly relates to the financial interest or well being of a Other Registrable Interest as set out in Appendix B, Table 2 of the Code of Conduct to disclose the interest and only speak on the matter if members of the public are also allowed to speak at the meeting but otherwise must not take part in any discussion or vote on the matter and must not remain the room.

Which directly relates to their financial interest or well-being (and is not DPI) or the financial well being of a relative or close associate, to declare the interest and members may only speak on the matter if members of the public are also allowed to speak. Otherwise, the member must not take part in discussion or vote on the matter and must leave the room.

Which affects the financial well-being of the member, a relative or close associate or a body included under the Other Registrable Interests column in Table 2, to disclose the interest and apply the test set out at paragraph 9 of Appendix B before deciding whether they may remain in the meeting.

Where Members have or a Cabinet Member has an Other Registerable Interest or Non Registerable Interest in a matter being considered in exercise of their executive function, they must notify the Monitoring Officer and arrange for somebody else to deal with it.

NB Any member needing clarification must contact monitoringofficer@northumberland.gov.uk. Members are referred to the Code of Conduct which contains the matters above in full. Please refer to the guidance on disclosures at the rear of this agenda letter.

North East Devolution

On 28 December 2022 HM Government announced a “minded to” devolution deal with the seven councils across the North East (ie Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle, North Tyneside, Northumberland, South Tyneside and Sunderland).

To implement the deal, it will be necessary to establish a new mayoral combined authority which covers the area of the seven councils and replaces the two existing combined authorities in the region.

This report updates Cabinet on the public consultation which the councils have undertaken in relation to these proposals and seeks Cabinet approval to submit the attached consultation report to the Secretary of State as the next step in the process of establishing the new mayoral combined authority.

North East Devolution

On 28 December 2022 HM Government announced a “minded to” devolution deal with the seven councils across the North East (i.e. Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle, North Tyneside, Northumberland, South Tyneside and Sunderland).

To implement the deal, it was necessary to establish a new mayoral combined authority which covered the area of the seven councils and replaced the two existing combined authorities in the region.

The report updated Cabinet on the public consultation which the councils had undertaken in relation to these proposals and sought Cabinet approval to submit the attached consultation report to the Secretary of State as the next step in the process of establishing the new mayoral combined authority.

The Leader introduced the report paying tribute to his fellow Leaders and Chief Executives about how the process had been managed to date. He stressed the proposals did not mean that Northumberland would lose its ability to make its own decisions but they would allow greater sharing of expertise and support through cross council working. The prospects were good and absolutely the right thing for the Council to do. The consultation responses had shown that residents were in favour, with queries being raised about ensuring that Northumberland got its fair share. 

A number of questions were raised by members including:-

•         Councillor Horncastle queried whether the additional funding would help with the provision of specialist housing such as extra care and sheltered housing which were expensive to provide. The Leader agreed this was an important issue for the Authority and was hopeful that the additional funding would support this provision.

•         Councillor Riddle welcomed the extra funding for the rural agenda and was sure it would be put to good use. The Leader agreed that rurality was a very important part of the deal and Northumberland would chair the Rural Board.

•         Councillor Watson commented on the significance of tourism to the Northumberland economy and hoped that the County would continue to be advertised as well as the rest of the North East as a tourism destination. The Leader confirmed that the Council would continue to deliver tourism development and expected that there would be extra funding available to support that. He felt there was a need to look more seriously at the County’s tourism offer in terms of the breadth of what was available across the County as a whole and not just along the coastline.

•         Councillor Renner Thompson welcomed the £63m for adult education which would help upskill people to work in the new industries coming into Northumberland. This would sit alongside negotiations for trailblazer funding for the under 18s and he asked if the Leader would be continuing this negotiation going forward. The Leader commented that he was proud of what had been achieved recently in education. Northumberland had a lot of expertise to share and he looked forward to working with others to achieve even greater improvements.

•         Councillor Stewart welcomed that Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service would remain as part of  ...  view the full decision text for item 4.

To consider such other business as, in the opinion of the Chair, should, by reason of special circumstances, be considered as a matter of urgency.