Agenda and minutes

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).

The Chair thanked Bristol Council for hosting the meeting, welcomed attendees to the meeting and introduced his colleagues:

• Cllr Toby Savage, Leader, South Gloucestershire Council
• Mayor Marvin Rees, Bristol City Council
• Cllr Dine Romero, Leader, Bath & North East Somerset Council
• Cllr Mike Bell, Deputy 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.

It was noted that apologies had been received from Cllr Donald Davies, Leader of North Somerset Council, Professor Steve West, Chair of the Local Enterprise Partnership Board and Cllr Stephen Clarke, Chair of the Combined Authority Overview & Scrutiny Committee.

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.

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

The Joint Committee RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting of the Joint Committee held on 14 June 2019 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

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

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

• The Secretary of State for Transport had visited Bristol Temple Meads railway station in connection with the MetroWest plans to transform the region’s railways with more frequent services, new train stations and better rail connections across the West of England. The Transport Secretary had given his support for the multi-million-pound upgrades at Bristol East Junction. 

·         He was pleased with the progress being made and the noticeable recent development work on site in the Temple Quarter area.

• The Combined Authority’s new £1m Green Business Grants fund had opened to applications, aimed at helping small and medium-sized businesses across the region to improve their energy efficiency. As part of the ongoing efforts to tackle climate change, this new fund would help businesses make their buildings and activities more energy efficient, thereby reducing their energy bills and protecting them from future energy price rises.

• He had been pleased to welcome the Institution of Civil Engineers’ President, Andrew Wyllie CBE to the West of England Combined Authority to highlight the ambitions for improving air quality and reducing carbon, creating a sustainable, skilled workforce and building connected communities to meet future needs.  The continued development of infrastructure was essential to the region’s growing economy, and mass transit initiatives were central to this. This had been a great opportunity to further discuss infrastructure and growth for the West of England area with the Institution of Civil Engineers and other key stakeholders.

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

It was noted that the Chair of the Local Enterprise Partnership Board, Professor Steve West had given his apologies for the meeting.  No comments had been submitted for this meeting.

To receive any comments from the Chair of the Combined Authority’s Overview &
Scrutiny Committee.

It was noted that comments from the Chair of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee had been presented at the Combined Authority Committee meeting earlier that day.

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 18 July
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 15 July 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. 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.

2 statements had been received in advance of the meeting, as follows:

1. David Redgewell - subject: Transport issues
2. Christina Biggs - subject: Rail services and other transport issues

At the invitation of the Chair, and in accordance with the constitution, those in attendance were given the opportunity to present their statements.  It was noted that the full text of the statements had been circulated to committee members in advance of the meeting and would be available to view on the Combined Authority’s website following the meeting.

To receive any petitions to be presented by any member of the Joint Committee.

No petitions had been notified for this meeting.

Report enclosed.

The Joint Committee considered the latest Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and Invest Bristol and Bath (IBB) revenue budget outturn report (agenda item 10).

The Chair highlighted the following points:

·         Appendix 1 of the report set out the LEP budget forecast.

·         Appendix 2 set out the Invest in Bristol and Bath budget.

·         The report also included a recommendation to approve the inclusion within the LEP budgets of an additional spend of £1.346m to be fully funded by additional grants and reserves brought forward from 2018/19.

The report recommendations were then moved by the Chair and seconded by Cllr Romero.

The Chair then moved to the voting on the recommendations.

The Joint Committee RESOLVED:

1. To note the LEP budget monitoring forecast as set out in Appendix 1.

2. To approve the inclusion within the LEP budgets of an additional spend of £1.346m to be fully funded by additional grants and reserves brought forward from 2018/19.

3. To note the IBB budget as set out in Appendix 2.

Report enclosed.

The Joint Committee considered the latest report on the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) One Front Foor funding programme (agenda item 11).

The Chair highlighted that the report asked the committee to consider business cases for a number of schemes seeking funding through the Local Growth Fund, including:

·         MetroWest phase 1

·         Workforce for the Future

·         Research and Innovation Challenge fund

The report also sought approval for reallocating £1.816m of Local Growth Funding to support A4018 corridor improvements.

The report recommendations were then moved by the Chair and seconded by Cllr Romero.

The Chair then moved to the voting on the recommendations.

The Joint Committee RESOLVED:

1. To approve the reallocation of £1.816m of LGF funding from the Sustainable Transport/Pinch Points programme to the A4018 Corridor Improvements scheme and delegate to the WECA Chief Executive in consultation with the West of England Chief Executives the approval of a change request for up to £346,000.

2. To approve the Outline Business Case for MetroWest Phase 1 and award £11.65m LGF from within the agreed allocation to develop a Full Business Case subject to the supply of a detailed cost breakdown and an updated programme.

3. To approve the changes to schemes in the LGF programme set out in paragraph 4.1.

4. To note the submission of the Full Business Case for Invest Bristol and Bath with sustainable funding options to be considered further by the West of England s151 officers and delegate the funding award to the WECA Chief Executive in consultation with the West of England Chief Executives.

5. To approve the Full Business Case for Workforce for the Future subject to securing ESF funding and finalising the Monitoring and Evaluation Plan and to delegate approval of grant making to the WECA Chief Executive in consultation with the West of England Chief Executives.

6. To approve the Full Business Case for the Research and Innovation Challenge Fund subject to securing ERDF funding and delegate approval of grant making to the WECA Chief Executive in consultation with the West of England Chief Executives.

Report enclosed.

The Joint Committee considered a report providing an update on the proposed next stages of the Integrated Ticketing project and seeking the committee’s endorsement of the approach being taken (agenda item 12).

The report recommendation was moved by the Chair and seconded by Cllr Savage.

Mayor Rees stressed the ongoing importance of ensuring that key deadlines for project delivery were met.

Whilst supporting the proposals, Cllr Romero stressed that whilst unitary authority officers should have an appropriate level of involvement in this type of project, it was important to be mindful of resource constraints and ensure this did not have too much impact in terms of taking time away from those officers’ unitary authority core responsibilities.

The Chair then moved to the voting on the recommendation

The Joint Committee RESOLVED:

- To endorse the proposed next stages of the integrated ticketing project.

Report enclosed.

The Joint Committee considered a report seeking approval of the Employment and

Skills Plan (agenda item 13).

The Chair highlighted the following points:

• The development of a regional employment and skills plan was agreed as a priority in the Combined Authority’s Business Plan.  It was very timely that the plan was being brought for approval at the meeting today as the Local Industrial Strategy would be launched later that day.

• The delivery of employment and skills interventions formed a key component of the Local Industrial Strategy, helping to ensure that residents and businesses would have access to the right support to enable them to contribute and benefit from regional growth.

The report recommendation was then moved by the Chair and seconded by Cllr Savage.

Mayor Rees stressed the importance of employers from all sectors offering

meaningful work experience placements to young people to help prepare them for

the workplace.  He also drew attention to and offered to share details of the Bristol

WORKS programme, an initiative run by the Bristol Learning City Partnership linking

the city’s schools with employers and training opportunities to help get young people

ready for employment.  It was vital to connect young people to pathways to

employment and give them the opportunity to acquire skills. The Bristol WORKS

‘template’ could potentially be extended to other sectors, e.g. the construction

industry and the creative industry sector.

Cllr Savage welcomed the plan and the focus on ensuring a more joined-up

approach to preparing young people for employment.  In relation to growth around

the north fringe of Bristol and into South Gloucestershire, it would be important also

to ensure education places were located appropriately in that area.

The Chair then moved to the voting on the recommendation.

The Joint Committee RESOLVED:

- To approve the Employment & Skills Plan.

Report enclosed.

The Joint Committee considered the quarter 1 progress report on the 2019/20

Business Plan (agenda item 14).

The Chair highlighted the following points:

·         The Business Plan supported delivery of the operating framework and set out the key deliverables during 2019/20 for business, skills, housing and transport.

·         Regular reporting on progress in delivering the Business Plan was a key element of the Combined Authority’s overall performance management and operating framework, which was reviewed annually with Government.

·         The detail of the first quarterly report was set out at Appendix 1.

·         The key risks to delivery were recorded in the Corporate Risk Register as set out at Appendix 2.

The Joint Committee RESOLVED:

-  To note the first quarterly update on delivery of the 2019/20 Business Plan.

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.

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.