Minutes:
It was moved by Councillor Rodney Bates and seconded by Councillor Morgan Rise that
“this Council
(i) formally supports the general principle of unitary authorities within local government and agrees that any such unitary authority affecting Surrey Heath should be ideally around the region of 300,000 to 500,000 residents;
(ii) opposes the principle of a single unitary authority to cover Surrey on the grounds that such a unitary authority would be too big, too remote and not in the best interests of Surrey Heath residents;
(iii) instructs the Acting Chief Executive to formally open negotiations with neighbouring authorities (not just within Surrey) with a view to Surrey Heath forming part of a unitary authority;
(iv) confirms that it has no formal position or preferred option at this stage regarding the specific unitary grouping that it wishes to be part, but believes that all options must be thoroughly and positively reviewed and properly considered; this includes the establishment of a network of locally Parish/Town type Councils which could deal with localised issues, including certain planning functions;
(v) instructs the Acting Chief Executive to convene regular Group Leader meetings to update on the various options as they progress and to bring forward a report to Full Council once all options have been clearly worked through;
(vi) asks the Acting Chief Executive to send a copy of this motion to the Chief Executives and Leaders of all of Surrey Heath’s neighbouring authorities, other Surrey Boroughs, and Surrey County Council to inform them of the Council’s position.”
The Council was informed that legislation required that police areas must not be divided between council boundaries; therefore, if any unitary authority were to be formed with authorities outside the Surrey County boundary this would have an impact on police areas. It was moved by Councillor Alan McClafferty that (iii) of the motion be amended to remove “(not just within Surrey)”. This amendment was not seconded and therefore fell.
The Council discussed an anticipated White Paper from the Government, which was expected to promote the creation of unitary authorities. Differing views were presented on whether the Council could fully debate and form a position prior to the publication of this White Paper.
In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 14.11 (c) it was moved by Councillor Colin Dougan and seconded by Councillor Paul Deach that consideration of the motion be deferred. It was proposed that consideration be deferred until after the publication of the Government’s White Paper.
This procedural motion was put to the vote. Having achieved an equality of votes, in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 17.2 (c) the Mayor’s casting vote was exercised in favour of further debate. A further vote was subsequently taken, at which point the procedural motion to defer consideration of the original motion was carried.
RESOLVED to defer consideration of the motion.
Note 1: In accordance with the Members’ Code of Conduct, Councillors Paul Deach, Edward Hawkins, David Mansfield and Charlotte Morley declared a non-pecuniary interest as they were members of Surrey County Council.
Note 2: In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 17.4, a recorded vote on the procedural motion to defer consideration of the original motion was taken.
The following Members voted in favour of the procedural motion:
Councillors Dan Adams, Sarah Jane Croke, Vivienne Chapman, Paul Deach, Colin Dougan, Shaun Garrett, Edward Hawkins, Josephine Hawkins, Rebecca Jennings-Evans, David Lewis, David Mansfield, Alan McClafferty, Adrian Page, Robin Perry, Darryl Ratiram, Valerie White.
The following Members voted against the procedural motion:
Councillors Graham Alleway, Peter Barnett, Rodney Bates, Cliff Betton, Tim FitzGerald, Sharon Galliford, Ben Leach, Emma-Jane McGrath, Sashi Mylvaganam, Morgan Rise, John Skipper, Graham Tapper, Pat Tedder, Victoria Wheeler, Helen Whitcroft, Kristian Wrenn.
The following Members abstained from voting:
Councillor Charlotte Morley.
Having achieved an equality of votes, a further vote was taken.
In the second vote, the following Members voted in favour of the procedural motion:
Councillors Dan Adams, Sarah Jane Croke, Vivienne Chapman, Paul Deach, Colin Dougan, Shaun Garrett, Edward Hawkins, Josephine Hawkins, Rebecca Jennings-Evans, David Lewis, David Mansfield, Alan McClafferty, Chalotte Morley, Adrian Page, Robin Perry, Darryl Ratiram, Valerie White.
In the second vote, the following Members voted against the procedural motion:
Councillors Graham Alleway, Peter Barnett, Rodney Bates, Cliff Betton, Tim FitzGerald, Sharon Galliford, Ben Leach, Emma-Jane McGrath, Sashi Mylvaganam, Morgan Rise, John Skipper, Graham Tapper, Pat Tedder, Victoria Wheeler, Helen Whitcroft, Kristian Wrenn.