Councillor Peters had declared an interest in advance of the meeting as he was a Cabinet Member at East Staffordshire Borough Council.  He did not attend or take part in the meeting.

Councillor Philip White and Victoria Wilson both declared that they were members of the Burton Town Deal Partnership Board.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meetings held on the 7 September 2021, 5 October 2021, and 16 November 2021 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The Chairman explained the call-in procedure to the Committee and the order of speakers.

The Decision and reasons for the Call in were detailed in the report.  In advance of the meeting a detailed written response to the reasons for the call in had been circulated to members.  Both the reasons for the call in and the detailed response are attached to these minutes for information.

Councillor S Hussain as the Lead Member for the call in, expressed concern that the people who had responded to the consultation exercise and had opposed the move (77%), had been ignored.  It was felt that the results of the consultation had not been listened to.  Cllr Hussain felt that there was no evidence that the move would increase library usage.  There was also concern that the Market traders would suffer if the move took place.  He felt that options 2 and 3, as considered by the Cabinet and which didn’t propose moving the library were favourable and had also been the preferred options for users.  He also questioned the financial shortfall of the proposed scheme and how this would be funded.

Councillor Tina Clement, as Chairman of the Prosperous Overview and Scrutiny Committee expressed concern that the majority of the consultation responses had not been taken into account and questioned the purpose of consultation if it was ignored.  She also expressed concern the item had not been considered at Overview and Scrutiny committee before a decision was taken.

Councillor Philip White, Deputy Leader and Cabinet member for Economy and Skills, explained that one of the responsibilities of the County Council was to support and work alongside the Districts/Boroughs/Partners in Economic development and regeneration.  It was explained that there had been a number of Town Deal development projects that joined together to deliver the regeneration of Burton.  Due to their separated evaluation processes and different time scales it could appear difficult to see the benefit of the schemes and what they would deliver for the town in their entirety.

The transformation programme would be led by East Staffordshire Borough Council and it was at their request that the County Council had put in motion the consideration of the Library move which would facilitate the rest of their development plans.  The development of the Waterfront was key to how they develop that part of the town and make it more desirable to residents. 

He also reminded members that the item had been in the for Forward plan for some time and could have been considered by Overview and Scrutiny during that time if requested.

Councillor Wilson, Cabinet Member for Communities and Culture, addressed the Committee.  She felt that the reasons and plans for the proposed move had been clear and had included an extensive consultation and engagement programme. The purpose of the proposal was to generate greater footfall into the marketplace and to generate business interest in a currently underused part of the town centre and ensure a long term future for the market  ...  view the full minutes text for item 28.