To provide an update on the Task and Finish work to date in respect of Joint Working with Town and Parish Councils and to recommend that the workstream be extended and refocussed in the context of forthcoming Devolution and Local Government Reorganisation.

The Chairman of the Committee reordered the agenda in the interests of the efficient conduct of the meeting, and therefore agenda item 9 was brought forward for consideration before agenda item 6.

Members were presented with a report of the Corporate Director (Planning and Community) which provided an update on the Task and Finish Group’s work to date in respect of joint working with Town and Parish Councils and which recommended that the workstream be extended and refocussed in the context of forthcoming Devolution and Local Government Reorganisation.

It was reported that the scope of that Task and Finish Group had originally been to look at opportunities for mutually beneficial collaboration between Tendring District Council and Town and Parish Councils within the District. However, shortly after the Group had its inaugural meeting on 18 November 2024 (the only meeting that had been held to date), the English Devolution White Paper and announcements in respect of Devolution and Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) in Greater Essex as well as major changes in national planning policy had been published.

The Committee was informed that those changes had resulted in significant attention from Members and Officers being diverted onto understanding the potential implications for Tendring and in resources being focussed on considering and providing input into the business case submissions in respect of LGR and engaging Town and Parish Councils in early discussions, particularly around the potential implications for growth in the Local Plan as well as future governance arrangements and stewardship of assets.

Members were further informed that whilst there had been agreed actions from the inaugural meeting on 18 November 2024 (as set out in the A.5 report and attached minutes), they had not been progressed as intended at the time for the reasons mentioned above; and so it had been recommended that the timeframe for the Task and Finish workstream be extended for a six month period to July 2026; that the inquiry be refocussed on positive joint working with Town and Parish Councils in the context of forthcoming Devolution and LGR; and that the Group reflects on some of the constructive and collaborative work that had taken place in the last year, including engagement on the Local Plan and exploring the implications and opportunities around assets.

It was unanimously RESOLVED that:

(a)   the Task and Finish Group looking into opportunities for mutually beneficial collaboration between Tendring District Council and Town and Parish Councils within the District should work to an extended timeframe to July 2026 and refocus its inquiry in the context of forthcoming Devolution and Local Government Reorganisation (LGR);

(b)   the inquiry continues, where it left off, with the actions agreed at its inaugural meeting on 18 November 2025 albeit, again in the context of the changing landscape around Devolution and LGR;

(c)   in doing so, the Group reflects upon the engagement and collaboration that has taken place over the last year – including (but not limited to) in respect of communicating and discussing the potential implications of Devolution and LGR, the review of the Local Plan against the backdrop of the newly introduced Government housing targets and implications and potential opportunities around assets; and

(d)   the membership of the Task and Finish Working Group remain the same, with the addition of Councillor Doyle.