Wednesday night was the regular full meeting of Bury Council. This is one of the five or six meetings a year where all 51 councillors meet together.

The main items discussed and considered were:

Combined Authority
We were joined by (Lord) Peter Smith (the Labour Leader of Wigan Council) who is the chair of “AGMA” – the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities – to tell us about the Greater Manchester Combined Authority plans which are moving ahead. Lord Smith outlined the journey that the Greater Manchester authorities had gone on over the last decade or so, which has resulted in a number of Government powers being transferred to the Combined Authority, hopefully next year.

Appointment of Chief Executive
Earlier in the day I had jointed the other two Group Leaders (and the Chair of the Human Resources Panel) to undertake a full interview and assessment for the position of Chief Executive. We unaminously agreed to recommend the appointment of the current Deputy Chief Executive to the position, which was ratified by the full meeting of Council.

Questions to the Leader of the Council
Nowardays we have a time limit on the number of questions that can be asked to the Leader of the Council, which in practice means we only have time for about 7 or 8 written questions and then 20 minutes for verbal questions on the night.

I asked a question about the future of Local Area Partnerships (LAPs), and the Deputy Leader of the Council outlined the decision taken by “Team Bury” (the Local Strategic Partnership) the previous week. I asked if the Council would be taking account of the potential in the new Localism Bill (for powerful Neighbourhood Councils), to which the answer was yes.

My colleagues in the Lib Dems asked questions on Fairfax Road parking charges, grit bins, the olympic games, child protection and more – all the answers are in a separate post here.

Scrutiny Call-In – Funded travel to Faith Schools
The Council’ “Scrutiny process’ had sent a recent decision of the Council’s Executive Committee for consideration by the Full Council. At present, the Council will pay the travel costs of a child that goes to a faith schoool, over 5 miles away, that is not their nearest school. The Council wishes to consult on whether to stop this funding, apart from children from families who need this financial support (people who are eligible for free school meals).

The Liberal Democrat Group had agreed that as this was a scrutiny issue, and one which can give rise to strong opinions on both sides that we would have a ‘free vote’ on the issue. I voted to send the issue for consultation – in these difficult financial times I think it is important that we consider all issues to make sure that services for people most in need are protected.

Green Energy
The Liberal Democrat Group had proposed a motion on Green Energy which was thankfully supported by all three parties. The Government has recently given local councils the power to sell any surplus electricity that it produces from green energy schemes (e.g. small wind turbines or solar panels on council buildings) back to the National Grid, and we agreed to receive a report on this at a future meeting. Here’s Councillor Richard Baum’s speech on the motion.

Local Area Partnerships
We considered a motion asking the Council to re-affirm its commitment to the six Local Area Partnerships. This again received all-party support. As Liberal Democrats we are huge supporters of local decision making – because enabling local people to have a real say in their local communities, services and priorities is a core part of what we believe in. I don’t think any of us think that LAPs are perfect, but they need improving not abolishing!

The papers for the meeting are here. Any questions or comments please get in touch!