To discuss the report to be considered by the Emergency Committee.

The Deputy Leader introduced the report which proposed that the Chief Executive be delegated to take decisions in emergencies or other circumstances which made it impractical for the Council, Cabinet or a committee to meet.  He proposed the recommendation which was seconded by Councillor Ben J Martin.

In the discussion that followed, Members raised points including:

·         The delegation was not necessary as the Covid-19 Pandemic was starting to rescind;

·         it put officers in a difficult position;

·         how would a decision be scrutinised by Members?;

·         sought clarification on the wording in the delegation in relation to Part A reports;

·         this was not the best solution;

·         if agreed, the delegation should be time-limited as the Council would be moving to the Committee System in May 2022;

·         the Emergency Committee should be re-named;

·         sought clarification on how a decision was ratified by the Council;

·         considered the pandemic was coming to an end and the delegation should have been agreed earlier;

·         who considered what an emergency was?;

·         Full Council should have met instead of the Emergency Committee;

·         what did ‘any other circumstances’ refer to?; and

·         many had to work in a Covid-safe community as were unable to work from home and Full Council should have met as scheduled.

In response, the Chief Executive reminded Members that the temporary Coronavirus Regulations allowing remote decision-making meetings to take place had expired and she said that the delegation allowed for a decision to be taken, not ratified.  The Deputy Leader said if the Emergency Committee could meet, the delegation would not be necessary.  He added that the Constitution was currently under review and that a Part A decision could not be delegated to an officer.

The Chairman explained that the decision to cancel Full Council was made in the early stages of the present wave of the Covid-19 Pandemic and it was the Mayor’s decision.  He said the Emergency Committee met when Full Council could not and holding Full Council with the numbers required to be in attendance was high risk.  He added that deaths from Covid-19 were continuing and the decision was made because of health and safety concerns of officers and Members.

A Member said that at the time the report was prepared in early December 2021when the new variant was spreading, it was a good idea but the situation had since moved on.   He said that decisions should be made by Councillors.

In the debate that followed, Members made further points including:

·         Could hold Full Council in a larger, more suitable venue;

·         there were other ways to allow decision-making;

·         supported a time-limited change;

·         it was a good tool to have if needed;

·         there was no certainty that further variants might cause more disruption;

·         an Emergency Committee meeting might be not be quorate if Members were isolating;

·         did not usually support delegations but this was necessary;

·         an emergency was not just about Covid-19, there were other emergencies such as extreme weather; and

·         clarification on the wording in the recommendation.

Councillor David Simmons proposed and Councillor Mike Whiting seconded an amendment to the recommendations that it be time-limited and include reference that the delegation only to be used if the Emergency Committee could not meet.  On being put to the vote, the amendment was lost.

Members then voted on the substantive proposal which was agreed.

Recommended:

That the Emergency Committee is asked to:

(1)  Agree to add the delegation in paragraph 3.1 of the report to the list of the Chief Executive’s delegations.