Agenda item

To receive any questions relating to items on the agenda from members of the public and replies thereto.

The following members of the public all asked questions in relation to item 6 on the agenda, ‘Changes in the Cabinet’:

Cllr David Garcia stated that he was speaking as an individual. Many of us involved in local governmenet who are accustomed to making collective decisions are appalled at how one member cannot only remove councillors from a decision making group i.e. the Cabinet, but also change the direction the majority of councillors may wish to go.

You were elected Leader of the Council with the support of your group, the Independents, the Liberal Democrats and  the Green Party. Only the Conservative group opposed you and yet you decided to turn your back on all of them by sacking the 4 Lib Dems and replacing them with the 4 Conservative members who originally opposed you and also not promoting anyone to Cabinet from your own group. So my questions are to you:

How will you new Cabinet members be of greater benefit to the Council than the 4 you sacked?

Are your actions to be seen as a move on your part to re-join the Conservative party or their group on the MDDC?

Honorary Alderman David Nation addressed his question to the Leader:

Does he realise the damage being done to the standing of the council by his dictatorial behaviour expressed in the changes to the Cabinet which prompted this special meeting? Does he see the similarity with the abuse of power manifested by the previous council, which he then condemned? Is he aware of the disapproval and suspicion the pubic feel when they know that this council in 18 months has made no progress in reforming governance and it has taken two FOI requests, one of which is still outstanding, to discover what has been going on in that regard?

Steve Keable stated that his questions related to ‘Changes in the Cabinet’ and were in 3 parts: 

1)  Please clarify the Council’s Press Release (28 August) stating that: 4 Liberal Democrats are no longer part of the Cabinet, or were they singled out for sacking by voting in Cabinet 7-1 against you to abandon GESP?

2)  In the following Council debate you stated that “GESP is dead”, if so why are you, your Independent Group and the Green Party now aligned with the Conservatives, and finally

3)  Are there plans for a ‘son of GESP’ for similar village and community developments and have you shared these with the Green Party?  

Nigel Richardson asked…..at this particularly challenging time for all of us, why does the Council Leader, Bob Deed, consider that now is the time for confrontation rather than cooperation?

David Wulff stated ……my first question is to Cllr Evans, Leader of the Conservative Group:

At the Annual Meeting of the Council on 22nd May 2019, not only did you and the rest of the Conservative Group vote unanimously against the appointment of Cllr Deed as Leader of the Council, but you also refused the offer of places in his Cabinet.  Now however you are serving under him. What happened to change your mind?

And my second question is to Cllr Deed, Leader of the Council:

Given the Conservative members voted unanimously against your appointment as Leader, and your publicly stated desire for a politically balanced Cabinet, why did you sack the four Liberal Democrats and replace them with Conservative members after the Council meeting on 26th August, and do you still consider the Cabinet to be politically balanced and reflective of the Mid Devon voters?

Honorary Alderman Paul Williams stated that as a former councillor he had felt pride at having served the people of Mid Devon for over 30 years. Is it true you only sacked Liberal Democrat Members? Is it also true that you have ambitions to be Chairman of GESP? I would also like to know whether you meeting with the Chief Executive and Conservative Leader in August was to discuss the sacking of Liberal Democrats?

Andrew Cox stated that…….I understand from the published agenda that this meeting will discuss the recent changes in the Cabinet where all of the Liberal Democrat members were sacked by the Leader of the Council (Cllr Bob Deed, Independent).

This appears to be a gross abuse of the democratic process to retaliate against the Cabinet overwhelmingly voting to withdraw from the Greater Exeter Strategic Plan against the Leader’s wishes.  Particularly as the four Liberal Democrat Cabinet positions were then awarded to loyal Conservative Party members.

I would like to know if the Green Party and Independent members still support the Leader of the Council and his new Cabinet considering how he has acted?

Andy Perris stated that….the key question is why did the Leader decide only to remove the four Lib Dems from Cabinet when seven members voted to withdraw from the Greater Exeter Strategic Plan? Also why choose to install four Opposition members, several of whom are former members of the previous failed Cabinet and are tarnished by a track record of failure? Could he not have found more capable replacements from within the majority group, rather than taking political failures from the opposition?

John Squires addressed his question to Cllr Deed, Leader of the Council:

With the failure of the Greater Exeter Strategic Plan (GESP) following East Devon’s withdrawal, at the meeting on 26th August the then Cabinet member Cllr Barnell put forward an amendment to continue cooperation with neighbouring authorities for joint planning considerations.  This amendment failed.  You also put forward your own amendment, which aims to more closely align with GESP’s likely outcome of unsustainable overdevelopment of Mid Devon communities under a new guise.  Your amendment was agreed.

Given that your previous Cabinet unanimously voted to recommend withdrawal from GESP, and that six members of that Cabinet also voted for Cllr Barnell’s amendment, why did you sack the four Liberal Democrat members?  To residents like myself, your actions appear to be an effort to purge dissenting voices from your Cabinet.  This is all the more concerning due to your involvement with GESP as the former Chair, which gives the appearance of a conflict of interest in your decision making.