Suffolk County Council leaders, Andrew Stringer and Matthew Hicks, disagree on Suffolk's devolution vote.

Suffolk News

Transcript

00:00What do we want? Democracy! When do we want it? Mayday!

00:04What do we want? Democracy! When do we want it? Mayday!

00:08What do we want? Democracy! When do we want it? Mayday!

00:12To join or not to join the government's devolution priority programme,

00:16that was the choice Suffolk's county councils had to make yesterday.

00:20But joining meant postponing this year's local elections in May.

00:23Those in support called it a necessary step in making sure Suffolk got the best deal possible.

00:28Others said it robbed residents of their right to vote.

00:32It's almost surreal today. I've been at many debates in this chamber

00:37since I was first elected as a district councillor back in 2003.

00:41And today feels like the most important debate I've ever been involved in.

00:46It's almost like democracy is on the agenda here today and the future of it,

00:50certainly the future of it here in Suffolk.

00:52And it's why it's so important that when you see on an agenda

00:56the possibility of cancelling an election to give people a mandate to carry out these works,

01:01we really need to challenge that. And that's what we'll be doing today.

01:04They could just have the election. It will not stop anything coming forward.

01:08It won't stop devolution. In fact, it will give it a mandate

01:12and actually could make it come here faster and more efficient.

01:16Whenever the answer to a question is less democracy, I challenge that question.

01:22It's the price of democracy that's on the ballot today.

01:24It costs about a pound per person to vote in a county council election.

01:29I think a pound is not a price too far for democracy.

01:35Inside the council chamber, a full crowd of residents and district councillors

01:39gathered to listen to what ended up being a two and a half hour fiery debate

01:43which saw most county councillors get a crack at the whip.

01:50Today was really good. We had a great debate. It was robust.

01:53It was varied. We had lots of differing views.

01:56But it's about the opportunity that this brings.

02:00The Labour government is very clear. It wants mayors.

02:03It wants two-tier authorities to go through reorganisation and to have uniters.

02:07And that's going to happen. And I would rather we were at the front of the queue

02:11discussing with government, working with government,

02:13rather than it just happening to us at a later point.

02:16So government is clear. It wants us to apply by tomorrow if we're interested.

02:20And what they've asked for is a business case to be ready by the summer of 2025.

02:25And it is their perception that you cannot run local government elections

02:29alongside that rapid pace of change that they want.

02:33So it's not our decision. The decision on delaying elections is nothing

02:36that the county council has influence over.

02:38That will be a ministerial decision made in Whitehall by government.

02:42And we have to respect that. So it's not something I can influence.

02:46What I do know is I want to be ambitious.

02:49I want Suffolk to be at the top of the list.

02:51I want us to take that opportunity so that we can deliver for our residents.

02:55Despite disagreements, and although much of the detail is still missing,

02:59there is one thing every councillor agreed on.

03:02Last night's decision might have been the most important for some time.

03:06So we can see on the screen, 74% voted yes, 26% voted no, and 9% voted yes.

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