Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

To note the Joint Committee’s membership and to receive apologies for absence from Members.

The Membership of the Joint Committee for 2023/24 was confirmed as follows:

South Gloucestershire Council: Cllr Claire Young

Bristol City Council: Mayor Marvin Rees

Bath & North East Somerset Council: Cllr Kevin Guy

North Somerset Council: Cllr Mike Bell

The following apologies had been received: Cllr Mike Bell (North Somerset Council).  Cllr Mark Canniford attended as substitute.

Cllr Kevin Guy (Bath & North East Somerset Council).  Cllr Sarah Warren attended as substitute.

Mayor Marvin Rees (Bristol City Council).  Cllr Kye Dudd attended as substitute.

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.

No declarations of interest were declared under the Localism Act 2011.

To consider the Annual Business Report.

1.    That the Chair of the Joint Committee for municipal year 2023/24 be Cllr Mike Bell;

2.    That the Vice-Chair of the Joint Committee for municipal year 2023/24 be Cllr Claire Young;

3.    That the Joint Committee’s membership as shown on the agenda sheet be noted;

4.    That the Joint Committee’s terms of reference as set out in the constitution at page A7 ConstitutionAmendedApr2023.pdf (moderngov.co.uk) be endorsed.

The meeting opened with the Monitoring Officer in the Chair who presided over the election of the Chair. 

Cllr Mike Bell was elected as the Chair of the Joint Committee for Municipal year 2023/24.  Cllr Claire Young was elected as Vice-Chair of the Joint Committee for Municipal Year 2023/24.

[Councillor Claire Young was in the Chair for the remainder of the meeting].

Cllr Young welcomed new members to the meeting and those present introduced themselves.

The Committee was requested to agree the recommendations set out in the annual business report including constitute the Joint Committee for the forthcoming Municipal Year 2023-24.

The Joint Committee had been established to deal with any relevant functions that fell outside those set out in the West of England Combined Authority Order 2017; in particular the West of England Joint Spatial Plan and Joint Transport Plan, the receipt of any relevant recommendations from the Local Enterprise Partnership Business Board and any other relevant legacy matters that involve the West of England Combined Authority area and the area of North Somerset Council. The membership is the Constituent Councils of the West of England and North Somerset Council.

[Voting Arrangements: Decisions on the appointment of Chair and Vice-chair are by simple majority of members present and voting].

The recommendations were moved by Cllr Claire Young and seconded by Cllr Sarah Warren and unanimously

Resolved:

1.    That the Chair of the Joint Committee for municipal year 2023/24 be Cllr Mike Bell;

2.    That the Vice-Chair of the Joint Committee for municipal year 2023/24 be Cllr Claire Young;

3.    That the Joint Committee’s membership as shown on the agenda sheet be noted;

4.    That the Joint Committee’s terms of reference as set out in the constitution at page A7 ConstitutionAmendedApr2023.pdf (moderngov.co.uk) be endorsed.

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

There were no announcements from the Chair.

To consider and approve the minutes from 27 January 2023 of West of England Joint Committee Meeting.

The minutes of the meeting held on 27 January 2023 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

WRITTEN PUBLIC QUESTIONS

1. Any member of the public can submit a maximum of two written questions in advance of this meeting.

2. The deadline for the submission of questions is 5.00pm, at least 3 clear working days ahead of a meeting. For this meeting, the deadline for questions is 5.00pm on Monday 12 June 2023.

3. Questions should be addressed to the Chair of the meeting and e-mailed to democratic.services@westofengland-ca.gov.uk.

4. Under the direction of the Chair, wherever possible, written replies to questions will be sent to questioners by the end of the working day prior to the meeting.

5. Please note - under the Combined Authority’s committee procedures, there is no opportunity for oral supplementary questions to be asked at committee meetings.

6. The written questions and replies will be circulated to committee members in advance of the meeting and published on the Combined Authority website.

PUBLIC STATEMENTS

1. Any member of the public may submit a written statement (or petition) to this meeting.

2. Please note that one statement per individual is permitted.

3. Statements must be submitted in writing and received by the deadline of 12 noon on the working day before the meeting. For this meeting, the deadline for statements is 12 noon on Thursday 15 June 2023. Statements should be emailed to democratic.services@westofengland-ca.gov.uk.

4. Statements will be listed for the meeting in the order of receipt. All statements will be sent to committee members in advance of the meeting and published on the Combined Authority website.

5. Please note: If any member of the public wishes to attend the meeting to orally present their statement, they are asked please to notify the Combined Authority’s Democratic Services team of this at the point when their statement is submitted and by 12noon on the working day before the meeting at the very latest.

6. For those presenting their statements at the meeting, up to 3 minutes ‘speaking time’ is permitted for each statement. The total time available for the public session at this meeting is 30 minutes.

Three questions had been submitted for this meeting from two individuals.  Responses to these questions had been circulated and published on the Authority’s website.

In addition, six statements had been received.  These statements had been circulated and published on the Authority’s website.  The following individuals addressed the meeting for up to three minutes each on the topic of their statement:

·       Dave Redgewell

·       Robbie Bentley (on behalf of Brendan Taylor)

·       Robbie Bentley

·       Dave Redgewell (on behalf of Jevon Smith)

·        

The Chair of the Local Enterprise Partnership Board to be invited to address the Joint Committee.

The Chair of the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership Board (LEP),  Richard Bonner, was invited to comment on the items for consideration.  His comments are set out below:

EP & IBB Outturn 2022/23

§  In a similar vein to the main Combined Authority outturn - It is vital that we continue to recognise that the West of England Combined Authority is changing and growing into an organisation set up to deliver the significant programme of work ahead that will provide vital benefits for the economy, and ultimately the West of England residents and businesses.

§  It is central to note that the LEP Capacity Core Grant was reduced during the Financial Year to £375k from £500k and a further reduction has been announced for 2023/24 at £250k.

§  The LEP Board continues to be supportive and is keen to increase its engagement to provide a positive impact to the Combined Authority’s reputation with government, business, and residents.

This report represents the revenue and capital outturn to the West of England Joint Committee for the financial year 2022/23 based on data from the period April 2022 to March 2023. The report covers the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and Invest Bristol and Bath (IBB) revenue budgets. Change request approvals are also included as part of this reporting process.

1.     That the following be noted:

·       the Revised Analysis of LEP External Grants as at the end of March 2023 as set out in Figure 1;

·       The LEP Revenue Outturn as set out in Appendix 1;

·       The LEP Capital Outturn as set out in Appendix 2;

2.     That the change requests for schemes in the Local Growth and Getting Building Fund programmes as set out in Appendix 3 be approved;

3.     That the change requests for schemes in the Economic Development Fund and Revolving Infrastructure Fund programmes as set out in Appendix 4 be approved.

The Chair introduced a report which set out the revenue and capital outturn to the West of England Joint Committee for the financial year 2022/23 based on data from the period April 2022 to March 2023. The report covers the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and Invest Bristol and Bath (IBB) revenue budgets. Change request approvals were also included as part of this reporting process.

The Outturn was a balanced year end position taking into account the previously agreed committee decision to drawdown from the reserves to cover the shortfall in year as a result of the reduced LEP Core Capacity Grant.

[Voting Arrangements:

Item 1:                   None required – Recommendations are for noting purposes.

Item 2:                   Decision requires majority agreement of Committee Members in attendance, or their substitutes (one vote representing each Authority) and including the West of England Combined Authority Mayor.]

The recommendations were moved by Cllr Claire Young and seconded by Cllr Sarah Warren.

It was unanimously

Resolved:

1.     That the following be noted:

·       the Revised Analysis of LEP External Grants as at the end of March 2023 as set out in Figure 1;

·       The LEP Revenue Outturn as set out in Appendix 1;

·       The LEP Capital Outturn as set out in Appendix 2;

2.     That the change requests for schemes in the Local Growth and Getting Building Fund programmes as set out in Appendix 3 be approved;

3.     That the change requests for schemes in the Economic Development Fund and Revolving Infrastructure Fund programmes as set out in Appendix 4 be approved.