Yes Minister (of State for Energy Security and Net Zero)

'Well thank you Humphrey.'

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'Minister, The Parliamentary Secretary for Nuclear and Networks needs a word,'

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'Send him in Bernard'

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'Good morning Minister, I need your advice.'

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'Yes, how can I help?'

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'Well it's the fourth GDF site in East Yorkshire.'

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'You mean the one you have proposed for my own constiteuncy? Yes I am aware of it. I thought it was all in hand and we had the working group all sown up, sorry I mean established.'

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'Well yes Minister, the Members are all sound. The Chair spent many years in the energy industry but now works at the University so people will always percieve him as independent. We have a facilitator who used to work for the BBC in the local area who may be helpful in giving us favourable coverage.We  also have two Community Members, one runs the expanding local charity hub in the area, and the other is a young and photogenic farmer from Yorkshire.'

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'By photogenic, you mean she is a young woman?'

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'You know we should not refer to age or gender Minister.'

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'Of course. But she's a farmer, that's good isn't it? Have I met her in the constituency?'

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'Probably not Minister, she farms sheep near Pickering.'

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'Pickering? That's at least fifty-miles from South Holderness.'

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'Yes Minister, but she is an officer of the National Farmer's Union.'

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'So what do you need my advice for?'

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'Well Minister, if you remember, when we first sent out the invitation to all councils in October after the Allerdale proposal fell through, the East Riding of Yorkshire's Inward Investment team was first off the block and put forward the area of Goole, which is not in your constituency, but was an area they wanted to  continue to develop, having brought in a Tesco distribution depot, a glass manufacturing plant, and the new Siemens factory for building London Underground Trains. It had a motoway connection good train lines, it looked perfect. However when the party leaders of the council were appraised of the proposal, they all said no. NWS later said they did not think the site was geologically right, which was useful as Goole is the Leader of the council's ward.

You obviously remember that they then came back to us with the offer of South Holderness as a potential site.'

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'Yes, and I reluctantly agreed to a 'couragous decision' and you set the wheels in motion. What's the problem?'

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'Well we don't think that the Invest East Yorkshire team got sign-off from the council itself. There is no decision record.'

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'A decison record?'

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'Minister, might I clarify?'

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'Please do Humphrey.'

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'Within the Openess of Local Government Bodies Regulations 2014, regulation seven states that an Officer Decison Record needs to be made when the decision would have otherwise been taken by the relevant government body, to committee, sub-committee ecetera, but has been delegated to an officer, and the decision is to, grant a permission or licence; affects the right of an individual; or award a contract/incur an expenditure which matierally affects that relevant local government body’s financial position.

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The ODR must contain the following information:

the date of the decision; a description of the decision with reasons for taking it; details of alternative options, if any, considered and rejected; and, if the decision is taken under a specific, express delegation by a committee, the names of any member of that committee (if any) who declared of interest in relation to the decision.'

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'In English Humphrey.'

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'The officer, or officers, in this case the Invest East Yorkshire team should have been given permission by the relevant councillor or committee to agree to be the Interested Party in the partnership, and should have recorded that, and the reason for the decison.'

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'And Undersecretary, you are saying they didn't?' 

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'Well there is no decision record.'

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'Minister, that potentially means it is ultra vires.'

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'Ultra vires Bernard?'

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'Apologies Minister, it is latin.'

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'I can understand it is latin - what does it mean Humphrey?'

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'In this instance Minister it means actions taken exceeded the scope of power given to the offiicers.'

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'So we are establishing a partnership, at considerable expense, potentially requiring me to speak in the commons, on national media, or even worse in front of the nine-teen twenty-two committee, about something that may be illegal?'

 

'Yes Minister.'