Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Kingswood Civic Centre

Contact: Democratic Services 

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 evacuation procedure was set out.

2.

Apologies for absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Carole Johnson (Bristol City Council) and Cllr Brian Allinson (South Gloucestershire Council).

 

An apology for absence was also received on behalf of Cllr Chris Blades from North Somerset Council.

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:

Cllr Pearce declared a non-pecuniary interest in relation to Item 9 as a Non-Executive Director at Bristol Energy.

4.

Minutes of previous meeting pdf icon PDF 401 KB

To confirm the minutes of the meeting of the West of England Combined Authority Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 28 November 2018 as a correct record.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 28 November 2018 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chair subject to the correction of adding Cllr Chris Blades to the list of attendees from North Somerset Council.

5.

Items from the Public (Petitions, Statements and Questions) pdf icon PDF 195 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 Tuesday 22 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 Thursday 17 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 following statements had been received prior to the submission deadline and those members of the public present were asked to address the meeting for a maximum of three minutes per statement:

 

  1. Dave Redgewell, Greater Bristol area light rail issues
  2. Dave Redgewell, Public Funding for Bus Services
  3. Christina Biggs, Infrastructure and Investment Delivery Plan.

 

The full text of the statements were published on the Authority’s website following the meeting.

6.

Chair's announcements/business (10 mins)

Minutes:

There were no announcements from the Chair.

7.

Review of WECA Committee and Joint Committee Forward Plan (15 mins) pdf icon PDF 227 KB

To review the current WECA Committee and Joint Committee forward plans and to identify items to be included in the WECA Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s forward agenda plan.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee reviewed the latest Forward Plans for the WECA Committee and the Joint Committee and were invited to comment thereon.

 

The Scrutiny Manager, Ian Hird, reported that the latest forward plans had been published shortly before Christmas 2018 and listed items coming through until May 2019, although the longer-term plan would be that potential items be published on the Forward Plan up to a year in advance.  A report detailing proposed changes to WECA’s Constitution would be brought forward at the May 2019 meeting.

 

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee would receive a detailed briefing on the Business Plan and an informal briefing on the Local Industrial Strategy (LIS) at future meetings.

 

The Committee also requested that a meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny meeting be scheduled prior to the WECA Committee and Joint Committee in May 2019.  It was noted that the WECA Committee and Joint Committee would still be holding their meetings on 5 April 2019 although the usual rules around holding meetings in the pre-election period would apply.  An informal meeting that was scheduled for the Overview & Scrutiny Committee prior to this could be changed into a formal meeting if needed in order to pre-Scrutinise items that may come forward to that meeting.

 

Committee members asked that a briefing or an item be brought to a future meeting on the Cultural Strategy.

 

Resolved:

 

(1)  That following consideration of the Forward Plan, the Committee’s identification of forward agenda plan items be included as future agenda items for more detailed consideration, including progress against the 2018-19 Combined Authority Business Plan and the 2019-20 Business Plan at the next meeting;

 

(2)  That the Forward Plan continue to be considered as a standing item on each WECA Overview and Scrutiny Committee agenda with a view to assisting the Committee in developing their own forward agenda plan on an ongoing basis

8.

Investment prioritisation update (45 mins) pdf icon PDF 387 KB

To update the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on the strategic work underway on long term investment prioritisation.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Malcolm Coe, Director of Investment and Corporate Services gave a presentation on the Investment Priorities and Budget.  The presentation covered the following issues:

 

  • Funding streams available across the region;
  • Recommended approach to prioritisation & financial planning;
  • Considerations for 2019/20 revenue budget;

 

It was explained that although the headline figure for the WECA Investment Fund was £30m per year for the next thirty years, there were a number of other different funding streams that had different constraints and conditions on how they could be used.  Therefore it was important to optimise a joined-up approach.

 

It was also explained that the first government ‘gateway’ funding point for the investment fund was in 2020 when the Authority would have to show how this fund would be used otherwise there could be a danger of the fund not continuing beyond the first five years.    The Authority would need to provide a narrative for:

 

(a)  What outcomes the Authority was aiming to achieve;

(b)  What schemes the Authority was planning to deliver;

(c)   How funding would be aligned to meet the Authority’s objectives.

 

Although the narrative was important, it was also vital that the Authority showed that the money was committed to priority schemes.  The Investment Fund was half revenue and half capital but could not be used for the support of day-to-day operations.  The pace of commitment and spend is also crucial as the amounts would not increase with inflation so would lose value over a period of time.

 

The Local Growth Fund had to be spent by March 2021 although there had been slippage (a similar trend was happening throughout the UK). 

 

The long term financial planning approach would be applied to the Investment Fund (30 years) and the Transforming Cities Fund (5 years).  There were a number of key regional and national strategies and policies that would influence the financial programming, including:

 

  • Joint Spatial Plan;
  • Joint Local Transport Plan;
  • Local Industrial Strategy;
  • Skills Strategy.

 

It was noted that the Energy Strategy was not included in this list.

 

An investment programme would be published by the Authority in May 2019 where greater detail showing the region’s main priorities would be available.

 

The presentation slides were made available on the Authority’s website following the meeting.

 

Resolved:

 

The Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to raise any issues at the meeting of the 1 February 2019 WECA Committee.

9.

Energy Strategy update (45 mins) pdf icon PDF 242 KB

To update the committee on the draft Energy Strategy for the West of England

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Cllr Pearce declared a non-pecuniary interest in relation to this item as a Non-Executive Director at Bristol Energy.

 

Helen Edelstyn, Strategy and Policy, gave a presentation updating the Committee on the draft Energy Strategy for the West of England.  The Energy Strategy would be submitted to the Joint Committee on 1 February 2019. The Chair of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee would be in attendance at that meeting. 

 

The Climate Change Act 2008 committed the United Kingdom to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80% by 2050 as compared to 1990 levels.  Clean growth was at the heart of the Authority’s operating framework and emerging Local
Industrial Strategy.  The Government had committed £50,000 to the Local Enterprise Partnership in order to facilitate the development of a local Energy Strategy.  The aims were as follows:

 

To provide local leadership and influence:

  • towards an integrated, smart, resilient and secure energy system;
  • towards greater affordability (to alleviate fuel poverty and increase
    business productivity);
  • to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (meeting legally binding national
    targets)

 

Success would mean cleaner air, lower energy bills, lower emissions and greater
economic security.  The current position in the West of England was very similar to the national situation, with 85% of energy provided from fossil fuel sources, and 15% from clean sources (including nuclear).  However, 70% of energy was used for transport and heat and many local buildings could be more energy efficient.  Although cars were becoming more efficient and producing fewer emissions individually the growth of car use meant that emissions from cars was on the rise.

 

The Low Carbon sector in the West of England currently employed over 19,000 people,
generating £2.4 billion, more than any other English region.

 

It was explained that the Energy Strategy set out a direction of travel for energy use in the West of England.  The Joint Committee would be asked to approve the proposed basis of a West of England Energy Strategy at its meeting on 1 February 2019.

 

Points raised in discussion:

 

  • Members expressed a range of concerns about the strategy document as presented.  It was noted that following the meeting, the Chair (on members’ behalf) would produce a statement setting out these concerns, to be submitted to the Joint Committee.  This statement forms Appendix 1 to these minutes;
  • There were a number of comments made about the substance of the strategy, as some members felt it was difficult to scrutinise in its current form, although the work to date had been positive.  As presented, the document was more of a high-level “strategic framework” document and it was felt that this should be recognised Bristol City Council had signed off its targets and these needed to be integrated.  It was noted that the work that had been done to date was a direction of travel that other strategies could work from;
  • Three incinerators had recently been built in the Avonmouth area and the plan was that the energy provided would serve 50,000 new homes.  In terms of transport a modal  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

10.

Information item - MetroBus programme update pdf icon PDF 252 KB

Minutes:

The WECA Overview and Scrutiny Committee received a report providing an update on the progress of the Metrobus programme, provided by the Metrobus Integration Manager, Bristol City Council.  The Committee were asked to note the update.

 

The report stated that the Metrobus programme had been delivered as three separate, jointly-promoted projects with a different local authority taking the lead for the delivery of each.  South Gloucestershire Council was the lead authority for the North Fringe to Hengrove (NFH) project, Bristol City Council was the lead for the Ashton Vale to Temple Meads (AVTM) project and North Somerset the lead for the South Bristol Link (SBL) project.

 

Latest updates on the progress of the services was provided in the report.

 

The following comments were received:

 

  • There was disappointment that there was no service performance data provided in the report;
  • There was disagreement that no service provider could be found for the South Bristol Link Road service.  However, while the situation remained a ticketing system that meant a passenger could travel the same route on different services should be explored;
  • Members also asked how comments could be fed back to the Board, so that buses needn’t get held up in congested traffic.  There would be no rapid transport system possible otherwise unless priority was given to these services;

11.

Information item - MetroWest update pdf icon PDF 257 KB

Minutes:

The WECA Overview & Scrutiny Committee received a report on the progress of Metrowest Phase 1 and Phase 2.  The GRIP 4 cost estimate for Phase 2 was now due at the end of February 2019.

 

The following comments were received:

 

  • A question was raised as to whether a Park & Ride scheme around the preferred location for Henbury Station would resolve the drainage issues;
  • It was also queried whether a decision on the Yate turnback would have a bearing on the viability of Phase 2.  It was noted that a decision on this would be needed by summer 2019;
  • An important element was the decision on Filton Arena and whether the Park & Ride would cope with the trains bringing people back from events.  If they could leave in both directions it would reduce congestion.  A request to challenge the docks on the need for coal conveyors was raised although it was noted that a small amount was still brought into the docks.

 

The Chair agreed to amalgamate the comments made and as well as an update on the Metrowest line and update Committee members as appropriate.