May the 5th be with you..

In our show Sunday March 20th, we tried to squeeze in coverage of a six-and-a-half hour council meeting into 60 minutes - and we failed. We're going to cover two of the motions raised in Sunday 27th's episode, when we also take a glance at Rishi Sunak's budget-not-budget.

For reference if you want to catch the relevant parts of the full council meeting we've cued up the links on YouTube:

8. Planning development management:?https://youtu.be/l6XBZ6-McbM?t=1470

11 Health & Wellbeing Strategy:?https://youtu.be/l6XBZ6-McbM?t=4117

12. Solent Freeport.?https://youtu.be/l6XBZ6-McbM?t=4339

13. Carbon Budget methodology.?https://youtu.be/l6XBZ6-McbM?t=5202

14. Pay Policy Statement?https://youtu.be/l6XBZ6-McbM?t=6195

15a Defibrillators?https://youtu.be/l6XBZ6-McbM?t=6248

15b Elections Bill?https://youtu.be/l6XBZ6-McbM?t=8446

15c Supporting Adults with ADHD?https://youtu.be/l6XBZ6-McbM?t=11631

15d Insourcing first.?https://youtu.be/l6XBZ6-McbM?t=12225

15e Jubilee?https://youtu.be/l6XBZ6-McbM?t=16127

15f Constitutional review?https://youtu.be/l6XBZ6-McbM?t=16369

15g Local plan?https://youtu.be/l6XBZ6-McbM?t=18028

16 Members' questions?https://youtu.be/l6XBZ6-McbM?t=21643

Our show notes:-

Caveat: The notes attributed to speakers are not verbatim transcripts of their statements. They are our notes of the speeches made.

8 - Update on planning development management and increase capacity.??

Cabinet items in February decision to use ￡45,000 of corporate contingency fund to increase capacity in the dept. Cllr BRENT called for an increase in transparency about the backlog, citing that in 2018-19 the city were 23% behind national stats, and are still 15% behind. 9/14 wards in the city are not meeting statutory timeframe. Eg 174 day wait for a decision in Baffins. Cllr STUBBS pointed out the majority of decisions are about minor changes, extensions, changes of use, for the larger developments. 'length of time is putting developers off'. Cllr SMYTH stating this is 'bad for our economy and the impression of PCC as an efficient and effective council'. SPH points out that the review is all good and well, but without the staff to actually do the work it won't make a difference. Recruitment and retention are important, and asks if there's a problem with leadership and culture. Cllr HUGH MASON; 6 persons short, dept is moving fwd - the council had tried using a highly recommended contractor, who failed. It's a long standing issue. Systems thinking review of processes have simplified the structure and application process. 'Applications must be right before going to (planning) Committee'. BOSHER 'we forget there's a resident at the end of this. Think about the people at the end of the chain waiting for the decision to come through'.?

?GVJ aims to??'clear the backlog in a year.' that regular reports are sensible, and that other areas are struggling with planning too. 'we tried the private sector, it didn't work'. Point out that the issue with lack of development in commercial road / tricorn wasn't delay in planning, but a lack of plans coming from the developer - which now PCC is the sole land owner this will change. 'Nobody could have done a worse job than the private sector'.?

11 - Health and wellbeing strategy

For reports to council, there isn't necessarily a debate unless a member objects to the report. Something Cllr Mellor explains, but also mentions that this objection itself can be misconstrued or represented.?

?CLLR MELLOR: LA do not have an up-to-date poverty strategy. 'Social depravation is a cause of ill health. Poverty rarely the result of single circumstance. We must not lose sight that social depravation and the cost of living crisis is severely damaging our communities and therefore I feel that PCC should have an UpToDate poverty strategy in place??and show that poverty reduction, accessible healthcare, decent wages and safe homes are a priority for all of us in this council chamber.'

CAB MEMBER FOR WB&SC JASON FAZACKARLEY: '..happy to speak to colleagues and look at addressing what the concerns of Cllr Mellor are.'

GVJ pointed out there is a poverty strategy in November 2020. CLLR MELLOR had spoken to officers who didn't seem to be aware of one.?

12 - SOLENT FREEPORTS

Deadline for submission of the business case for SFP to govt is April 15th. If FBC is approved SFP exists with customs & tax powers for 25 years. As owner of Portsmouth International Port, a proposed customs sited the owner & developer of Dunsbury park a proposed tax site - both within SFP.?

?TAX SITES: Business operating in TAX sites have enhance capital allowances, structures and buildings allowance, Stamp & land tax duty benefits as well as employers' NI contribution relief and business rate relief.?

?CUSTOMS SITES: Simplified customs procedures, duty exemption, duty deferred, duty inversion & VAT deferral.?

BOSHER: Havant, Marchwood also effected, ￡220m benefits to private sector, creating 28,000 jobs. 'Opportunities here are immense.' Other councils need to approve.

SMYTH: benefits clear. 'Some misunderstandings about freeports. Some people think companies operating in FP are exempt from employment law & zero carbon etc. FP don't exempt operators from good practice - T&C & min wage or implementing policies environment.'

?ATKINS mentions only an opportunity available because of Brexit, before correcting that'it was not a proposal that was on the table you might say it was possible but it was not a proposal'.?

GVJ: SFP not a silver bullet. 'It's right we look at the opportunity. UK used to have FP's but was closed by conservative govt in 2012. FP's have reputation that they will create low wages in warehousing jobs. We wouldn't need to be doing this if we'd not chosen to leave the customs union'. Able to charge higher rents.?

13 - CARBON BUDGET METHODOLOGY.

Lots of congratulation of the council officer and cabinet member (KIMBERLY BARRET) from CLLR's SMITH, GERADA, ROB NEW, BOSHER - who also asked where the ambition for future was - and contribution of VOI scooters to reducing carbon emissions. 'It doesn't excite me in the way it should do, it's not about more of the same, it's about the other bits of imagination'. BARRETT Team effort. Thanks for comments. This is response to request from BOSHER to report on current. Portsmouth has secured ￡16.2m of the ￡67m govt funding meaning up to ￡25,000 per home on energy efficiency measures.?

?15a - DEFIBRILLATORS - KB & IH.

Subsumed amendment from BOSHER / GOSLING. Passed unanimous.?

15b - ELECTIONS BILL - 21 FOR. 10 AGAINST. 4 ABSTAINED

Calling on council to write to Michael Gove & write to city MPs to raise in parliament.?

GVJ 'important thing for democracy that people are able to vote and easily. Evidence in England of fraudulent voting is really low. We know ID will discourage people from voting. Important not to create a bigger problem than the one we're trying to solve. Those people on lower incomes, on the edges of society are less likely to have documentation.' SUBSUMES LABOUR AMENDMENT

HEANEY 'the govt is seeking to direct the work of the electoral commission, and the amendment seeks to support the independence of the EC.'

NORTON: 'Free ID would be available. Voter fraud is not widespread, but it does happen. There are cases where it was industrial. Instigated online by students. If one person robs another of their opportunity to vote it's an outrage. We ask for ID to smoke and buy alcohol why not for our democracy. ￡180m to do this is a huge concern. Head vs heart decision, so still quite torn on.'

ATKINS: 'EC found 92% of voters had one of those items. You can get a free photo card issued by the local council officer. The idea this is intended to be exclusionary is false.??30% of people are suspicious of the electoral process, and potential for fraud in in-person voting.'

STUBBS cites claims about electoral fraud in the US elections with dead people turning out to vote, and voting democrat. - Not sure how anyone would know how the votes of deceased voters were cast.?

ROB NEW: On the fence. The cost is not something I would like to support. Colleagues have made a good point that it doesn't happen. Voter coercion does happen. Some of the people came forward were saying they were being asked to sign over their proxy votes. To say that it doesn't happen is disingenuous. Voter fraud, absolutely does happen in this city.

GVJ: If 92-96% do have ID, then 1.9-3.8m people in the UK don't. Extra member of staff at a polling station.?

?15c - SUPPORTING ADULTS WITH ADHD - UNANIMOUS

CLLR COLES shares his very personal story of how his diagnosis and support was present when a teenager, but once an adult had to wait years to secure this. CLLR UDY citing her experience waiting for diagnosis. CLLRS HORTON & FAZACKARLEY expressing support.?

?15d - INSOURCING - LD AMENDMENT 8 for. 18 AGAINST (FELL). MOTION. 10 FOR. 15 AGAINST. 7 ABSTAIN.?

FIELDING: 'Outsourcing has not delivered on its promise of competition being the driver of efficiency & quality improvement & innovation. Institute for govt, Association of public excellence have collated large levels of empirical data and case studies on outsourcing and of conclusions that show hat outsourcing generally leads to increased costs, poorer performance and the loss of accountability. Bringing services can mean less risk, better accountability more flexibility and better jobs. 2019 report by APSE shows 77% of councils plan to bring back services in house. The report calculates that between 2016-18 220 local govt contracts have been brought back into local control. 78% of LAs believed insourcing has saved money, while more than half said it has improved the quality of service while simplifying how it was managed.'

GVJ: 'growing body of evidence that some of the outsourcing deals haven't worked very well at all, we don't want to exclude voluntary sector to be excluded. Sensible thing to look at. My worry is, when we ask people to look at when there's an inhouse bid, we need to do that early enough in the process. People don't feel they have the management capacity to do it'

SPH: Citing his professional sector experience, how companies shield the council from shock, and provide expertise the council might not have and are able to make more efficient purchasing decisions.?

HUNT: What works is what matters

STUBBS: Proposition is wrong. 'When conservatives were in administration we made case-by-case basis. Not socialism, deciding we'll deliver this ourselves regardless of whether we have the expertise or not.'

SMYTH: Reminding folk to read what the motion says. 'Underlying this are some principles that social value should be obtained. The Portsmouth ￡ kept in Portsmouth. People shouldn't be making money out of council tax raised to help others. The leader is right, it does need preparation. The administration has put too little effort into investigating it.'

ATKINS: Stuck in old school ideology of 60s, 70s, 80s. 'There are some things privatisation works well for, some things it doesn’t. Labour needs to move on from the Corbynite view of dealing in absolutes.'

BOSHER & SYMES making contributions. SYMES citing that Tories brought gardening in house when they were in administration.?

FAZACKARLEY: 'Usually the speeches we all make don't really make a difference. All colleagues have made interesting and relevant points. The key is flexibility. There are pros and cons from both'... 'When it boils down to my perspective it's down to flexibility. I'm going to abstain, probably a wimpy Lib Dem way out of it.... I've been swayed by the debate.'

ROB WOOD: Support. Haven't we recently learned that what's important is resilience??

FIELDING: Not going to subsume. Let the council decide. 'We're not saying dogmatically we want all services to be run in-house, we're saying the policy should be drawn up so that we have people and the means with which to put forward bids'.?

?15e - JUBILEE - UNANIMOUS without debate.?

15f - CONSTITUTIONAL REVIEW - CARRIED - RECORDED VOTE, but not played on stream. No votes against.?

The motion speaks for itself. '????????Portsmouth City Council's constitution sets out how we operate, how decisions are made and the procedures which are followed to ensure that these are efficient, transparent and answerable to local people. Some of these processes are required by the law, while others are a matter for us to choose.

However, it is noted that the council has significantly changed in recent years with regards to how it functions, which means the Constitution is somewhat inflexible. This council now believes it is time for the Constitution to be reviewed along with the Council's standing orders and officer member protocol.

Therefore the Council requests that a Constitution Working Review group is set up and reports into Governance, Audit and Standards Committee while also reporting back into this Full Council by May 2023.'

SPH makes the case that times have changed, constitution doesn't reflect how council does business or how standing orders are used, or include anything about digital meetings. Cites recent situation where officers shared disparaging remarks about a Conservative Cllr and Cllrs in general. No where to raise these concerns. 'By doing this review correctly we can strengthen our democracy and our relationships in the chamber and make better decisions for everyone.'

GVJ: Constitutional working party exists. BOSHER. MADDEN. Not sure who from LABOUR.?

HEANEY: Explains constitution and standing orders written from (scratch when council moved to cabinet system) by cross parry group. 'I do think GVJ's had a nonchalant attitude to the constitution'. It's not been reviewed and hasn't been made a priority. 'We had set out in the constitution a budget policy framework, but we don't use it. So we should either use it or change it. The other thing I find puzzling of what goes to cabinet and what goes to the brief holder'.?

SMITH - should be taken seriously. If last one 21 years ago..?

ATKINS: Need to work on how recorded vote is done, how budgetary amendments work. Issues these days with social media and bullying. Cites no constitutional mechanism to ask questions of a member making a deputation.?

BOSHER: Not aware still a member of that WP. Cites example of how council spent so long speaking about the amendment to speaking time, that they neglected discussion on another measure, voting on it, and then when someone tried to use a now removed item in SO's at next council... Items on website, say??'reports to follow' but not updated. 'What we forgetting is how residents are supposed to follow about a report they can't see in the first place. We need to have this constitution review.'

ROB NEW: Need to give this time and priority. Monitoring Officer needs to be independent. How can we report to them an issue with an officer the monitoring officer has to report in to??

SPH: Reminding ATKINS of SO that allows for such questions. Demonstrating why it's important not just to use the SOs but actually know what they are.??

15g - LOCAL PLAN

BRENT: reads his motion. 'lack of vision, lack of strategy, lack of ownership'?

HUGH MASON: 'the process has taken longer than anticipated has been the uncertainty created by central government for changes to planning process. These have created uncertainty that our plan would meet their requirements and also created extra work. We do not wish to find ourselves in the position that Havant borough have of withdrawing their local plan and starting again' 45% in favour land reclaim. 23% in existing land. 23% no development beyond maintaining the land. 9k email petitioners, some of whom might live in Portsmouth. ' This work is taking time. Essential if plan is coherent, robust and deliverable. If not we'll have to start again. Admin management of local plan is careful, sound, prudent and properly managed.' BRENT points out later that Lennox point, ￡18m of funds up in the air.?

HUNT: reminds Portsmouth Conservatives that it's Havant Conservatives that are having to start from scratch. Accusing Cosham councillors of not wanting 800 homes there. CLLR BRENT later reminds him Havant isn't in Portsmouth, and that 'Havant Conservatives aren't Portsmouth Conservatives'.?

ATKINS: bemoans the lack of progress. Why haven't the LD admin appealed to govt to reduce the target (also mentioned by others).?

GVJ: Talks of cross party talks on back of PCC saying not in favour of 3,500 homes on TW / Lennox point. Claims BRENT not been to any meetings. BOSHER points out this isn't true.?

STUBBS: Talks about York not having a plan and the planning process stemming from 1948. Concerned time taken, and looming deadline to produce plan risks plan could be thrown out and has to start from scratch, as assumptions need to be no more than 15 years old.?

BOSHER: reduction in possible homes in Cosham by land assembly not the councillors. When we met, first thing leader said was to look at Langstone Campus, Cosham High St and City Centre first then Lennox point last. This is wrong way round. Officers frustrated by this. Hour of my life I'm never getting back. Is it because Langstone campus is in Leader's ward and where he's desperate to get ex deputy leader elected back onto the council? 'you really should be putting Portsmouth first and not playing politics'.?

NORTON: expresses concern for GVJ's legacy and lists what he describes as GVJ's failures (Tipner, Lakeside, St James bid for a ￡, gave away Tricorn Centre and brought it back for ￡10m. Why no decisions? Can't blame government if you do.?

BRENT: Why have you not written to govt to request a lower target. 'It's interesting why the labour group have been quiet, which is nice. I hope your silence is agreement. I would like the Labour group to hold their word and support this motion. We have a Lib Dem administration that has a lack of vision, lack of strategy, lack of ownership.'

16 Questions to members.

GAZPROM

Break clause in Sept. Costing council ￡45k + ￡12k broker fee. Also in this deal gas purchased for next winter. If need to purchase elsewhere could be 2 / 3 times cost. If we try to leave sooner, costs + GAZPROM could prevent PCC gaining a new supplier. Govt could remove GAZPROM's supply licence. BOSHER calling on requesting broker waives fee or donates to Ukraine.?

GVJ mentions unclean money allowed to be invested in property in London, 'Unless they can show the things they are buying are with legal money, we're going to take this money and pay for the reconstruction of Ukraine, and maybe the first thing to do this is Chelsea football club.'