Mr Eber Kington (Ewell Court, Auriol and Cuddington) to move under Standing Order 11 as follows:
‘This Council notes that Members’ Allocations are a key element of localism and an important means by which individual County Councillors are able to support local voluntary groups and valuable community initiatives.
This Council further notes that the recent cut in Member Allocations:
· was agreed without any detailed public scrutiny
· has reduced each Local Committee’s Member Allocation by £35,000 and
· has led to a reduction in the both the range and amount of support Members are able to give to local good causes at a time when there is an even greater demand for assistance from the voluntary, community and faith sectors.
This Council therefore calls upon the Cabinet to review this decision and to restore Member Allocations to its 2014/2015 level.’
Minutes:
Under Standing Order 12.3, the Council agreed to debate this motion.
Under Standing Order 12.1, Mr Eber Kington moved the motion, which was:
‘‘This Council notes that Members’ Allocations are a key element of localism and an important means by which individual County Councillors are able to support local voluntary groups and valuable community initiatives.
This Council further notes that the recent cut in Member Allocations:
· was agreed without any detailed public scrutiny
· has reduced each Local Committee’s Member Allocation by £35,000 and
· has led to a reduction in the both the range and amount of support Members are able to give to local good causes at a time when there is an even greater demand for assistance from the voluntary, community and faith sectors.
This Council therefore calls upon the Cabinet to review this decision and to restore Member Allocations to its 2014/2015 level.’
The motion was formally seconded by Mr Beckett.
Mr Kington said that:
· That local committees were one of this County Council’s successes
· Member allocations were valued which enabled Members’ to respond to individual requests for funding and therefore the reduction of each local committee Member allocation by £35,000 was disappointing
· None of the Residents Association / Independent Members had been made aware of this reduction. Also, there had been no opportunity to scrutinise this proposal
· It was the Residents Association / Independent Group’s belief that the Conservative Group’s priorities were wrong
· That the funding for the Leader of the Council’s Community Improvement Fund remained unchanged
· All Epsom & Ewell County Councillors had spent their Member Allocation in full
· Local committees were better placed to make informed decisions in relation to local issues.
· As the proposals for devolved funding were being discussed by Central Government, he asked the Leader of the Council when these Member Allocations would be reinstated so that Members could make a difference to their residents.
Seven Members spoke, making the following points:
· That the motion was factually incorrect because the reduction related to local capital funding, as set out in the February 2015 Cabinet / Council Budget papers and this motion had resulted in a misleading story being printed in the local press
· There had been no changes to Members’ allocation in the revenue budget – this had remained at £10,300 for this financial year
· Reduction in the local capital funding for the next two years had been re-directed to fund the increased number of school places required - £3.4m had already been spent in the Epsom & Ewell area, with a further £19.1m earmarked for future expenditure in this area
· That the diminished funding available for local committees to spend risked damaging the reputation of the County Council and there should be a return to the status quo
· Fund raising initiatives should be encouraged as an alternative
· Local committees now have less funding to support worthwhile causes in their areas
After the debate, the motion was put to the vote with 15 Members voting for it and 46 Members voted against it. There were no abstentions.
Therefore, the motion was lost.