The disagreement arose after Cllr Jonathan Bacon told the meeting that members of the Scrutiny Committee had rejected an offer to defer making their recommendations to the Executive on the proposal for a 11-16 and post-16 education consultation.
A deferment had been offered until after a members’ briefing meeting (due to be held at County Hall at 5.30pm today).
Cllr Bacon said,
“The Scrutiny Committee were offered a chance last Thursday evening to have the information and sit again before making recommendations, but it was the case that they rejected that offer and proceeded to make the recommendations in relation to paragraphs 22 and 25.”
Called “a liar”
At this point Cllr Geoff Lumley called out “That is a lie,” and asked the Chair to allow him to intervene.
“It’s on your sheet of paper in front of you”, he said, referring to the recommendation which he read,
(II) The Executive to defer a decision until after a Members briefing and an additional Executive meeting (and if considered necessary a Scrutiny Committee) then to be arranged to discuss the issue further.
Cllr Lumley then continued to call Cllr Bacon ‘a liar’ as Cllr Bacon carried on presenting his paper.
Confusion over wording?
We’ve reviewed our recording of the meeting to try and understand how both councillors believe what they say is correct.
Cllr Bacon told members last night that the Scrutiny Committee had chosen not to defer making their decision until after the briefing – something that had been offered to them at the meeting last week.
Instead they voted to put forward two recommendations.
Granted, one of those included was a recommendation that the Executive defer making their decision until after the briefing (and if necessary another Scrutiny Committee meeting would also be held), but Cllr Bacon was correct in saying the Scrutiny Committee had chosen not to defer making any recommendations.
Executive decision deferred
After some further discussion, it was agreed by all members of the Executive to defer their decision-making on 11-16 and post-16 education consultation until after the briefing meeting being held today (Wednesday).
Another Executive meeting will be held at 6.30pm tonight to consider the proposal.
Recommendation could “potentially render the consultation open to Judicial Review”
Following the meeting, Cllr Bacon told OnTheWight this morning,
“At Scrutiny an offer was made that the process could be paused to allow Scrutiny to receive the consultation data before making any recommendation. The Committee plainly rejected that offer by moving straight to recommendations, the main one of which would potentially render the consultation open to Judicial Review by removing potentially viable options.
“We need to get a consultation process underway. While time is not absolutely crucial it would be helpful to have informed views and know where we are by April. We may need to approach Ministers depending on the outcome and we have to be conscious there is an general election next year which will shut down the possibility of doing that for a significant period. In addition we are reliant on the DfE for funding and if we do not appear to be addressing issues we potentially put that at risk.
“The option of deferring the decision until after an all member briefing tonight is a compromise to try to help the understanding of why we need to proceed with this process and the issues and data that feed into it. Unfortunately I understand that Councillor Lumley now intends to stay away from this briefing.
“A proper open consultation is based on sharing information and listening. I would hope that everyone who wishes to engage with this process properly to help reach a view on a way forward on the issues concerned, which is not known at this stage, will recognise that an informed view and regard to the interests and views of parents and children are the keystones to finding a way forward and that can only take place by launching an open and informed discussion which is what I am seeking to do.”
