to be put to the Business Chair, a member of the Cabinet or the Chair of any Committee or Sub Committee, in accordance with the Constitution’s Rules of Procedure No.9
Minutes:
Question 1 from Councillor Hill to the Leader
There will not be a referendum on establishing a North East Mayoral Combined Authority and a North East Mayor. Who made that decision, and do you agree with it?
The Leader responded that there was no provision in the legislation for a public referendum. He was personally in favour of a referendum when there was an important decision to make but in this case, neither Conservative nor Labour had included it in their manifestos. However, a significant amount of consultation was planned.
Councillor Hill responded that this was not the same as a vote and she asked how the Leader expected to take people along on this when there was no referendum and it had not been put to Council. This was a democratic deficit. She asked if the consultation showed that Northumberland residents didn’t want this, would the Leader roll back from his position?
The Leader was confident that the public would support this once they knew what was involved. He would be listening to what people said and it was important that all members were fully aware of the detail. Again, he was confident that members would be supportive, once they were fully briefed.
Question 2 from Councillor Swinburn to the Leader
Is there a process or procedure that can be followed where elected members can receive different treatment to that of residents when it comes to getting work carried out in their area, or in their own street. For example, ‘preferential’ treatment?
The Leader responded that he was not aware of any preferential treatment being given to councillors. The usual process was to look at the urgency or merits of an issue. The expected process was that residents could raise matters with their local councillor, who would then raise it with officers and then it would be dealt with, but he was not aware of members receiving preferential treatment.
Councillor Swinburn sought clarity that no elected member could get things done in their own areas other than by following the standard reporting process, and that all members received the same treatment as residents, with issues being dealt with on a priority basis. The Leader reiterated what he had previously said.
Question 3 from Councillor Taylor to the Leader
As the 4th largest Market Town in Northumberland how much revenue in the form of Council Tax has been paid by Bedlington residents over the last 10 years and what investment from that revenue has been made into the town?
Can you provide a comparison with Berwick, Hexham, Ashington and Ponteland?
Councillor Wearmouth replied that he may need to provide a written response given the level of detail to the question. However, on tax receipts, he could provide the following figures:-
West Bedlington - £59m
East Bedlington - £37.8m
Berwick - £62.8m
Hexham - £87.2m
Ponteland - £102.9m
Ashington - £135m
He sought clarification from Councillor Taylor regarding what kind of expenditure detail she was looking for specifically around revenue or capital and then this could be provided. Councillor Taylor asked that information on all expenditure would be helpful so that a proper comparison could be done. Residents in Bedlington felt that nothing was happening in their area, for example, the town was not even on the list for HM the Queen’s memorial projects.
The Leader responded that if Councillor Taylor could identify a suitable scheme it would be assessed for inclusion.
The Business Chair then advised members that he had accepted two late questions from Councillor Dickinson.
Councillor Dickinson asked, given the devastating news about British Volt, what support could the Council offer for the 300 employees and how long was it expected to be before the Council could retrieve its land through the administration process.
The Leader shared this disappointment. It was not clear how many of the 300 employees were resident in Northumberland, but it was believed that the majority were in the West Midlands. There had been discussions with DWP and the Council would do all it could. Mr O’Farrell advised that the land was owned by British Volt and it was the role of the Administrator to ensure that they secured the maximum possible for British Volt’s assets. The sale contract of the land to British Volt included a number of conditions, the key one being that if it was not used to build a gigafactory to make batteries by December 2024, then the Council had the option to buyback the land at the price that was paid for it. This put the Council in a good position with the Administrator because the land could not to be sold to another party unless they planned to build a gigafactory. The land would stay with the Administrator until 2024, when the Council could exercise its option, or until another party came along who wanted to build a gigafactory.
The Leader added that should the position be reached where the Council had the option to extend the deadline because it would bring in investment, he would talk to the Group Leaders beforehand.