Agenda and draft minutes

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The evacuation procedure was set out.

Following the recent elections in Bath and North East Somerset and South Gloucestershire there had been several changes to the Committee’s membership compared to 2018/19.  In addition, there had also been recent elections in North Somerset and three new members had been appointed as observers. The new members were welcomed. 

It was proposed by Cllr Weston, seconded by Cllr Allinson and resolved:

• That Cllr Stephen Clarke be appointed as Chair of the WECA Overview and Scrutiny Committee for municipal year 2019/20.

(Cllr Clarke was in the Chair for all subsequent items).

It was proposed by Cllr MacFie, seconded by Cllr Threlfall and resolved:

• That Cllr Winston Duguid be appointed as Vice-Chair of the WECA Overview and Scrutiny Committee for municipal year 2019/20.

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.

There were no Declarations of Interest made under the Localism Act 2011.

The Committee’s Terms of Reference had been attached for information and were noted.

It was agreed that the Committee would meet on the following dates and at the following venues during 2019/20:

Wednesday 17 July 2019, Kingswood Civic Centre
Wednesday 2 October 2019, Bath Guildhall
Wednesday 4 December 2019, Bristol City Hall
Wednesday 29 January 2020, Kingswood Civic Centre
Wednesday 18 March 2020, Bath Guildhall

It was requested at the meeting that any pre-meetings commence no earlier than 10am with the main Committee meetings starting at 10:30am or 11:00am as appropriate.

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting as a correct record.

The minutes of the meeting held on 27 February 2019 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

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 officeby 12 noon on Tuesday 11 June 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 6 June 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

Two statements had been received from Members of the Public as follows:

1. David Redgewell – bus and transport services
2. Christina Biggs – rail services

Mr Redgewell attended the meeting and addressed the Committee in person.

Report enclosed.

The Committee received a report providing the annual assessment of the delivery of the Combined Authority’s Business Plan for 2018/19.  The Committee were asked to note the report.

The report stated that the business plan for 2019/20 was agreed by WECA and Joint Committee at its meeting on 1 February 2019.The report attached at Appendix One provided an annual assessment onprogress in delivering the business plan for 2018/19, including:

• An overview of delivery in 2018/19, with a description of key projects and activities

• A detailed commentary on each item in the 2018/19 business plan

• Specific information requested for the LEP delivery plan

The Corporate Risk Register was attached at Appendix 2.

During the discussion the following points were made:

• A question was raised as to how funds were allocated to different schemes, for example £60k was allocated specifically to women yet there was some underspend in the Adult Education Budget (AEB).  In reply it was stated that the Combined Authority had to adopt a mixed approach between being reactive and proactive while allocating funds depending on the conditions attached to the funding being received;
• A query was raised regarding the AEB budget.  It was stated that this had been nationally funded previously and the Combined Authority had to prove its readiness.  Funding had been based on a formula that had taken previous years’ spending into account and as a result there had been less money allocated than anticipated.  The current year would be about keeping the status quo although in future years the Authority can be more proactive in its budget allocation;
• In response to a question about delivering a bus strategy, Patricia Greer reported that although there was a requirement to produce a bus strategy there was no extra allocation of funds to go with it and as the Authority could not have any ongoing revenue streams, any solutions would have to be sustainable.  David Carter added that the process included Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) being agreed with all local bus operators.  He stated that the Authority anticipated being able to bring forward a report to its Committee in autumn 2019;
• Returning to the AEB budget a question was asked what mentoring was being provided for small and medium sized businesses to enable them to ‘scale-up’.  It was noted that there was already existing support freely available, but that the growth hub could take a lead in channelling this support more effectively;
• A comment was made that the success of Metrobus had had a negative effect on some areas which were now used for commuter parking and a suggestion was made that a solution could be to provide more small and medium sized park and ride sites;
• It was also noted that the Authority was aware of other issues regarding Metrobus such as cancelled routes, effect on existing services and the cost of providing new bus stops.  However, it was reiterated that the operation of Metrobus was completely commercial.  A move to a more  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

Report enclosed.

The Committee received an update on the Investment Fund prior to its consideration by the WECA Committee on 14 June 2019.

The report stated that the Combined Authority received different funding streams, including the Local Growth Fund, the Investment Fund and Transforming Cities Fund.  Each fund came with different conditions attached.  The investment fund was allocated at £30m a year for 30 years.  The first £350m of this funding was currently being allocated.  Some over-programming had been built in.  The Authority was subject to a number of ‘gateway reviews’ where the allocation of funds would be reviewed in order for the next tranche of funding to be released.

It was specifically noted that the business case for the research funding facility at Bristol University’s Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus had been published.  The scheme would however still be subject to due diligence and appropriate planning permissions.

Agreed: That the report be noted.

Report enclosed.

The Committee received an update on Combined Authority governance arrangements and proposed changes to the Combined Authority’s constitution.

The governance structure had set out 12 meetings a year for the Overview and Scrutiny Committee with six formal and six informal meetings.  The following comments were raised:

• It was requested that any exempt reports be shared with the Scrutiny Committee in an open manner in order that the Committee could carry out proper pre-scrutiny of the item;
• The new Board structure was welcomed;
• There was some concern of the continuation of the public question arrangements with no oral or supplementary questions being allowed and this comment was to be passed on to the WECA Committee;
• It was confirmed that the pay ratio within the WECA organisation was within usual parameters;

Agreed: That the report be noted.

Report enclosed.

The Committee considered the reports being submitted to the WECA Committee and Joint Committee on 14 June 2019 and considered whether to make any comments thereon on behalf of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee.  The Chair, Cllr Stephen Clarke, indicated that he would not be able to attend the main Committee meetings on 14 June 2019.  The Vice-Chair therefore indicated that he would attend on behalf of the Committee.

The comments made were circulated to the WECA Committee and Joint Committee prior to their meetings and taken into consideration during their decision-making process. 

Report enclosed.

The latest update of the WECA Committee and Joint Committee Forward Plan was noted.  The Forward Plan covered the 2019/20 year ahead and would assist members in setting their own agendas and work programme.