Agenda item

To receive the update.

Requested that the devolution programme and a review of service level agreements for devolved services be added to the work programme.

Sarah Dowden, Service Director for Regulatory and Operational Services, gave an update on the current progress of devolution based on the pilot carried out with Bridgwater Town Council. Service transferred include street cleansing, street sweeping, ground maintenance, open spaces, play areas, and fly tipping. The proposed transfer date is 1^st May 2024.

During the discussion, the following points were raised:

·       Where there are existing contracts in place are they continuing with those contracts? For Bridgwater area staff are in-house. There is no contract in place. This allows us to be more flexible with timelines as we are not dealing with contract expiry or transfer.

·       Open air street markets not in the list – is that because there aren’t any? No markets are covered under this.

·       Will there be things to do with Bridgwater Carnival that are devolved? Yes, work around the carnival such as post-midnight cleanup will now fall to Bridgwater Town Council.

·       Is the overall cost to the taxpayer going to be higher than currently, with each town council having their own contract? We don’t know what it will look like at the end of devolution. It’s not clear what services will be left over.

·       For Bridgwater Town Council, precept increased for Band D of £3.52 per week, £183 per year. Appendix 16C to the budget gives every Parish precept. This can be shared so councillors can see the increase cost to taxpayers.

·       Will trucks get to the sign and turn around? Yes, unless they choose to buy services in with us, everything else will in effect turn around at the boundary.

·       Some of these are statutory functions. Do we have to be assured that these functions will be carried out to the statutory standard? Yes.

·       If service levels were dropping in Bridgwater, how would we deal with that? There are quarterly meetings. It would be a different process to review it.

·       There is a benefit to staff being TUPEd across as there is consistency in who will be doing the work. The cost of staffing then transfers to Bridgwater Town Council.

·       What are the possibilities of Bridgwater Town Council handing them back to us? It is possible, but they have set their precept in order to fund this.

·       Is there a contract with a timeframe? There is an agreement, with no end date.

·       This will be a partnership going forward. The Bridgwater Town Council Clerk will be happy to share information with parishes or towns on how the devolution process has gone.

·       It would be helpful to see what the action is in Service Level Agreements if the service level is not met and how that would roll out to other devolution agreements. Yes, this can be added to the Work Programme later in the year.

·       Were there things that were not possible or viable for the devolution? Yes, but that is a question for the overall devolution programme. We only deal with regulatory and operations and they guide the conversation.

·       Williton Parish Council would like to be included in the conversation, feel they have not been. There are buildings in Williton that they would like to be included in the discussion. Devolution of assets is a separate workstream.

·       For other towns and parishes in the pipeline, we would like to know where they are and what the learning points are from Bridgwater Town Council Devolution.

·       Devolution as a whole is dealt with by Partnerships and Localities, which holds a central register of all people interested but these have been prioritised based on financial benefit. When a town or parish will give enough financial benefit, a service manager is assigned as a sponsor. For some items, such as car parks, these are fee earning so are a financial loss if devolved. There are also different legislation and governance procedures for transfer of services compared to transfer of assets.

·       At Full Council, £600,000 was allocated in the budget to support devolution with legal resources and other costs. This is not money that will go to town and parish councils.