Agenda item

To notify Members of recent urgent Executive Decisions taken by the Leader of the Council on behalf of the Cabinet.

RESOLVED that –

(a)    the contents of the report be noted; and

(b)    the urgent decisions taken by the Leader of the Council on behalf of the Cabinet, as detailed in this report, be formally endorsed.

The Cabinet gave consideration to a report of the Leader of the Council (A.1) which notified Members of recent urgent Executive Decisions taken by the Leader of the Council on behalf of the Cabinet.

The Cabinet recalled that, as part of the Council’s response to the COVID-10 public health emergency the Council’s Monitoring Officer had produced a formal “Note on Decision Making Business Continuity Arrangements” which had set out the ways in which the normal operational business of the Council could continue in relation to decisions which would normally be referred to Cabinet, Council or Committees. 

In relation to Cabinet decisions the Monitoring Officer’s formal Note as issued on 20 March 2020 had contained the following information and advice:-

“The Constitution requires certain matters to be decided by Cabinet collectively.  The Leader of the Council may exercise any of the powers delegated to the Cabinet:

a.         Following a resolution of the Cabinet (subject to the Constitution), or

b.         In cases of urgency, in consultation with the Monitoring Officer and/or Section 151 Officer.

In cases of urgency the decision of the Leader of the Council will be recorded and published in accordance with the Constitution.  The Leader of the Council will also be required to make a public statement at the next formal meeting of the Cabinet which will explain why they had taken the decision as a matter of urgency.

Therefore, following consultation with the Leader of the Council, it was recommended that to enable formal decisions to be made on behalf of Cabinet the following procedure should be adopted:

• Reports that would have been considered by Cabinet are emailed to the Group Leaders;
• a period of five working days would be provided for Group Leaders to email any comments/questions etc. to the relevant Portfolio Holder, Leader and officer(s) identified;
• responses to comments/questions would be supplied to the Group Leaders;
• this information will be taken into account by the Leader prior to making his formal decision;
• a formal decision will be published recording the matters taken into account;
• at the first formal meeting of Cabinet a report of the decisions taken by the Leader under urgency powers will be produced; and
• if it was necessary for a key decision to made under urgency provisions this must be reported to Full Council (in accordance with the Access to Information Procedure Rules 15 & 16.2).

Whilst it was anticipated that decisions taken during urgency provisions would be limited or uncontroversial in nature, with Group Leaders’ comments being sought prior to decisions being made, it must be highlighted that the ability of Members to undertake the statutory overview and scrutiny function is not removed.” 

The Monitoring Officer had considered that, in responding to COVID-19, the Council was in exceptional times which therefore satisfied the grounds of urgency.

It was reported that in making the decisions in question the Leader of the Council had exercised his delegated power as set out in the Council’s Constitution in Part 3, Schedule 3 (Responsibility for Executive Functions) - Section 3 (General Principles Regarding Decision Making by the Cabinet) – Principle 4b [Part 3.28].

Members were reminded that the decisions taken as a matter of urgency had related to the following matters:-

(1)          Business Rates Covid-19 Grants Scheme [Published 26 March 2020];

(2)          CAROS Scheme – Waiver of Rents  [Published 26 March 2020];

(3)          Council Tax Hardship Scheme  [Published 26 March 2020];

(4)          Tendring Community Fund – Allocation of £1,000 to Members  [Published 26 March 2020];

(5)          Write-Off of Leisure Facilities Income for April 2020  [Published 26 March 2020];

(6)          Annual Capital and Treasury Strategy 2020/21  [Published 24 April 2020];

(7)          Annual Review of the Council’s Constitution  [Published 24 April 2020];

(8)          Creative and Cultural Strategy for Tendring  [Published 24 April 2020];

(9)          Education, Economy and Skills  [Published 24 April 2020];

(10)        Performance Report Quarter 3: October – December 2019  [Published 24 April 2020];

(11)        Scrutiny of the new Waste and Recycling Collection Service  [Published 24 April 2020];

(12)        Tendring Heritage Strategy  [Published 24 April 2020];

(13)        Write-off Leisure Facilities Memberships Income for May 2020  [Published 29 April 2020]; and

(14)        Discretionary Business Grants Scheme [Published 2 June 2020].

Having considered the contents of the report:-

It was moved by Councillor Stock OBE, moved by Councillor Talbot and:-

RESOLVED that –

(a)    the contents of the report be noted; and

(b)    the urgent decisions taken by the Leader of the Council on behalf of the Cabinet, as detailed in this report, be formally endorsed.