Issue - meetings

(i)        Questions on Notice to the Executive:-

(a)  Question from Councillor Nick Allen to the Mayor of Doncaster, Ros Jones:-

“How many officers from DMBC contributed to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s technical consultation on the assessment of local authorities' relative needs and resources?  Do you support the contributions of those officers and to what extent did they ensure the Fair Funding review: 'considers the type of adjustment that will be made to an authority’s relative needs assessment to take account of the relative resources available to them to fund local services'?  These are significant issues which have recently been misrepresented, for political gain, despite some clear economic benefits for Doncaster.”

(b)  Question from Councillor Jane Cox to the Mayor of Doncaster, Ros Jones:-

“Doncaster Council correctly declared a climate emergency in September 2019.  Does the Mayor feel that the current Tree Policy is robust and sufficient to move the borough forward given the recent environmental damage in and around Doncaster.  The planting of trees is vital and with historic issues around the town such as Mill Lane in Warmsworth and Middlefield Road in Bessacarr are very much in the headlines.  As was the failure to plant trees properly in Finningley Ward.  Is our declaration of a climate emergency consistent with the town’s tree policy and what issues do you feel should be addressed in the near future?”

(ii)     Questions without Notice to the Executive and the Chairs of Committees.

A.     Questions on Notice

Q.   The following Question on Notice, had been received from Councillor Nick Allen:-

“How many Officers from DMBC contributed to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s technical consultation on the assessment of Local Authorities' relative needs and resources? Do you support the contributions of those Officers and to what extent did they ensure the Fair Funding Review: 'considers the type of adjustment that will be made to an authority’s relative needs assessment to take account of the relative resources available to them to fund local services'?  These are significant issues which have recently been misrepresented, for political gain, despite some clear economic benefits for Doncaster.”

A.       The Mayor of Doncaster, Ros Jones, gave the following response:-

“The Council provided a full response to the Government consultation, ‘A review of local authorities’ relative needs and resources’, and also the ‘Business Rates Retention Reform’ consultation that ran alongside it.  I am happy to share the full response if needed.  Our response to the Adult Social Care section indicated that though we felt the proposed cost drivers were not unreasonable, there were changes that we would like to see.  We also said we would need to see a more detailed technical paper that the Government committed to publishing, which has yet to be published.  The full impact of the Government’s Fair Funding Review and Business Rates Retention Reforms, will not be known until the results are published in full.  At that point, we will assess the impact on Doncaster Council.

It was the Conservative led LGA that leaked the initial figures in regards to the ‘Fair Funding Review’ which identified that Doncaster could lose £5 million per year through the Adult Social Care Element of the review.  It is also worth bearing in mind that in 2019, ‘Centre for Cities’ reported that Doncaster was the third hardest hit area in the country from austerity.

I do support the contributions of Officers.  We share the views of the LGA, SIGOMA and many others that, unless there is an adequate level of funding available for the services that Local Authorities provide, then the Fair Funding Review and by extension, Local Authorities, will be doomed to failure.”

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 15.7, Councillor Nick Allen asked the following supplementary question:-

Q.   “With regard to the last paragraph in your response, did Officers make it clear at the time that they were contributing to the review, because their evidence became the whole library used in the review.  If they had made that point, then surely, it would have been taken in to account?”

A.  The Mayor of Doncaster, Ros Jones, gave the following response:-

“I will read out the first general comment that went back to the Government; ‘We welcome the opportunity to respond to this consultation and include some general comments in addition to responses to the specific questions asked in the consultation.  The most critical element to the success of the review of Local Authorities relative to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 78