Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Guildhall, Bath

Link: Webcast video is available

Items
No. Item

1.

Evacuation Procedure

In the event of a fire, please await direction from staff who will assist with the evacuation.   Please do not return to the building until instructed to do so by the fire warden(s).

Minutes:

The Chair thanked Bath and North East Somerset Council for hosting the meeting, welcomed attendees to the meeting and introduced his colleagues around the table:

  • Mayor Marvin Rees, Bristol City Council
  • Councillor Tim Warren, Leader, Bath and North East Somerset Council.
  • Councillor Jon Hunt, attending on behalf of Councillor Toby Savage, Leader, South Gloucestershire Council.
  • Councillor Nigel Ashton, Leader, North Somerset Council.

 

The evacuation procedure for the venue was then announced by the Chair.

 

The Chair then informed everybody present that the meeting was being recorded and that the recording would be available to view after the meeting on the Combined Authority website. Any individuals present who did not wish to be filmed were asked to indicate this.

 

2.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

It was noted that apologies had been received from Councillor Toby Savage, Leader, South Gloucestershire Council, Professor Steve West, the Chair of the Local Enterprise Partnership Board and Cllr Stephen Clarke, Chair of the Combined Authority Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

 

3.

Declarations of Interest under the Localism Act 2011

Members who consider that they have an interest to declare are asked to: a) State the item number in which they have an interest, b) The nature of the interest, c) Whether the interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest, non-disclosable pecuniary interest or non-pecuniary interest. Any Member who is unsure about the above should seek advice from the Monitoring Officer prior to the meeting in order to expedite matters at the meeting itself.

Minutes:

No declarations of interest were declared.

 

4.

Minutes of previous meeting pdf icon PDF 142 KB

To confirm the minutes of the meeting of the Joint Committee held on 30 November 2018 as a correct record.

 

Minutes:

The Joint Committee RESOLVED:

 

That the minutes of the meeting of the Joint Committee held on 30 November 2018 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

 

5.

Chair's announcements

To receive any announcements from the Chair of the West of England Joint Committee.

Minutes:

The Chair shared the following news about the Combined Authority’s recent activities:

 

  • He welcomed the news that the West of England had been highlighted as a national role model for supporting businesses. The UK-wide organisation the Scale Up Institute had praised the region after the Growth Hub, run by the West of England Combined Authority and Local Enterprise Partnership, appointed a “scale-up enabler” to support the region’s companies to overcome challenges to their growth
  • He had welcomed the Business Secretary Greg Clark to the West of England to announce the new sector deal between the aerospace industry and government – including a direct £15 million investment in our region. This further investment and ongoing support, would help the authority to develop the vision for the continued success of the West of England and create a Local Industrial Strategy which will set the course for even greater achievements in the future.
  • A further boost had come with the announcement that the authority was going to receive £1.35 million from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport to support creative businesses in the region. This new funding would be used to help creative industries grow by improving access to expert knowledge and experience as well as supporting businesses through training and advice on securing investment.
  • He also reflected on the significant amount of work completed and investments during 2018, right across the West of England, through the Local Growth Fund – totalling some £45 million. It had been a great year for improvements happening right across the region and he was very pleased to see so many important projects being completed to support the West of England’s growth – from helping people get around to giving businesses a boost. The West of England Combined Authority and the LEP had already allocated millions of pounds through the Local Growth Fund and looked forward to offering further support in the coming year.

6.

Comments from the Chair of the Local Enterprise Partnership Board

To receive any comments from the Chair of the Local Enterprise Partnership Board.

Minutes:

None for this meeting.

 

7.

Comments from the Chair of the WECA Overview & Scrutiny Committee

To receive any comments from the Chair of the WECA Overview & Scrutiny Committee.

Minutes:

None for this meeting.

 

8.

Items from the Public (Petitions; Statements; Questions) pdf icon PDF 137 KB

If you wish to present a petition or make a statement at this meeting, you are required to

submit this by 12 noon on the working day before the meeting by e-mail to

democratic.services@westofengland-ca.gov.uk

For this meeting, this means that your petition/statement must be received in this office

by 12 noon on Thursday 17 January 2019.

 

If you wish to ask a question at the meeting, you are required to submit the question in

writing to democratic.services@westofengland-ca.gov.uk by no later than 3 working

days before the meeting. For this meeting, this means that your question(s) must be

received in this office by the end of Monday 14 January 2019.

 

In presenting any statements at the meeting, members of the public are generally

permitted to speak for up to 3 minutes each. The total time available for this session is

30 minutes so at the discretion of the Chair, speaking time may sometimes be reduced

depending on how many public items are received. Please note that all public items will

be circulated in advance of the meeting to the committee members.

Minutes:

The Chair advised that one question had been submitted in advance of this meeting, as follows:

 

  • Question from Matthew Wood - subject: Energy strategy

 

It was noted that the full text of the question and the reply sent to the questioner in advance of this meeting would be available to view on the Combined Authority’s website following the meeting.

 

The Chair then advised that one statement had been received and circulated to Joint Committee members in advance of the meeting, as follows:

 

  • Keith Walton – subject: Severnside Community Rail Partnership.  Mr Walton presented his statement.

 

In addition, David Redgewell made a statement on transport issues, including comments on the draft Joint Local Transport Plan.

 

It was noted that the full text of the statements would be available to view on the Combined Authority’s website following the meeting. 

 

9.

Petitions from any member of the Joint Committee

Any member of the Joint Committee may present a petition at a Joint Committee Meeting.

Minutes:

No petitions had been notified for this meeting.

 

10.

Joint Local Transport Plan - consultation pdf icon PDF 43 KB

This report asks the Joint Committee to endorse the draft Joint Local Transport Plan 4 for public consultation, starting in February 2019.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Joint Committee considered a report seeking endorsement of the draft Joint Local Transport Plan (JLTP) 4 for consultation, starting in February 2019.

 

The Chair advised that there was a proposed minor amendment to the JLTP consultation document as published in the agenda papers, whereby it was proposed, in the interests of clarity, that one sentence and a diagram should be removed – copies of the proposed change to page 6 had been circulated to the committee and were available for public inspection at the meeting.

 

The report recommendations, as amended, were then moved by the Chair and seconded by Councillor Warren.

 

Councillor Warren stressed that the JLTP was being launched for consultation at this stage; the plan raised transport challenges faced by the region and inevitably a range of views would be received during the consultation; in the longer term, the plan, once finalised and then implemented, would improve people’s lives.

 

Councillor Ashton indicated his support for endorsing the JLTP for consultation purposes – however, he also flagged that he had particular concerns about the impact a possible new road link to junction 20 of the M5 would have on the Nailsea and Tickenham areas.

 

Mayor Rees stressed the importance, through the consultation, of sharing the challenges faced by the region with local communities and seeking to ensure constructive dialogue around this.

 

The Chair then moved to the voting on the recommendations (which was carried out in line with the constitution).

 

The Joint Committee RESOLVED to approve the following recommendations:

 

1. That the draft Joint Local Transport Plan 4, as amended at this meeting, be

endorsed for consultation starting in February2019.

 

2. That authority be delegated to the WECA Director of Infrastructure to make any

further minor changes to the consultation documents in consultation with the relevant

Directors of the constituent authorities.

 

11.

Information item - Decisions taken at this meeting pdf icon PDF 143 KB

Details of the decisions taken at this meeting and the draft minutes of this meeting will

be published on the West of England Combined Authority website as soon as possible

after the meeting.

Minutes:

In closing the meeting, the Chair advised that details of the decisions taken at this meeting and the draft minutes of the meeting would be published as soon as possible on the Combined Authority website.