Agenda item

Report of the Director of Transition, York and North Yorkshire LEP

Considered –

A report by Barry Khan, Assistant Chief Executive (Legal and Democratic Services), North Yorkshire Council, in relation to the preparation of the Constitution of the Combined Authority.  Attached at Appendix A was a table which summarised the main parts of the Order and how decisions would be made and a copy of the draft Constitution was attached at Appendix B to the report.

Barry Khan introduced the report and gave an overview of the key points, as summarised below:

·       Officers from CYC, NYC and the OPFCC had worked together to produce the draft Constitution.

·       The Order to create the CA had been debated in the House of Commons and the House of Lords and was expected to be approved before the end of the year.  The draft Constitution would need to be approved at the first meeting of the CA which was expected to be on 22 January 2024.  Further reports will be brought to the CA in respect of amendments to enable additional parts to be incorporated in relation to PFCC functions which would transfer into the CA on 7 May following the Mayoral election on 2 May.

·       A single multi-disciplined Overview and Scrutiny Committee was proposed to look at the whole range of areas covered by the CA.  An Audit and Governance Committee consisting of four Members from each of the constituent authorities and an Independent Person was proposed.  There would also be a Business Committee consisting of potentially five Members and ten private sector members, and the Assurance Framework at Minute 29 gave more detail on how the LEP Board would be incorporated into the Business Committee.  The CA might also choose to have a Transport Committee and the PFCC functions would also need to be included, mirroring existing arrangements.

Suzan Harrington advised that the Constitution would be a work in progress for some time as the CA was a new organisation.  It was hoped that a final version could be published in early January to give Members opportunity to look at it and raise any concerns.

Councillor Paula Widdowson addressed the Committee and advised of concerns that in relation to Scrutiny the scheme CYC signed up to was proportional on each of the constituent authorities, however the Order was silent on this and the Constitution stated that it was both authorities added together, which was not what CYC had agreed to.  CYC also agreed to a Mayor that wasn’t first past the post.  Councillor Widdowson requested clarity on why what they were getting was not what they had voted on.  Suzan Harrington responded that there was a Statutory Instrument from 2017 which set out the legal requirements for scrutiny at combined authorities  and paragraph 4  made it clear that for scrutiny committees at combined authorities the political proportionality applied to the area as a whole and not individual council areas.

Councillor Claire Douglas requested that the matters raised in relation to political balance on the Scrutiny Committee be addressed promptly in advance of the meeting in January.  Bryn Roberts advised that officers were arranging for suitable dates to be found in January to enable CYC Scrutiny Committees to consider the Constitution before 22 January.

Barry Khan reported that the Constitution of the newly created North Yorkshire Council was able to be reviewed throughout its first year and a commitment had been given that a fundamental review would be carried out within the first 12 months with a report to Council.  It was agreed that a recommendation be put into the report to the inaugural meeting for a review within the first 12 months.

Resolved –

That the proposals in relation to the drafting of the Constitution for the Combined Authority be noted.