Agenda item - Strategic Rail Investment

- Report for consideration by the Combined Authority Committee and the Joint Committee.

1. The West of England Combined Authority Committee RESOLVED to endorse the change to scope (extension to Westbury to be progressed) for MetroWest 1a on the condition that the business case is produced and approved; and to delegate responsibility for approving the business case for this to the WECA CEO in conjunction with UA CEOs.

2. The West of England Combined Authority Committee RESOLVED to delegate the responsibility for signing the Implementation Agreement for MetroWest 1a with Network Rail to the WECA CEO, in conjunction with UA CEOs, subject to funding.

3. The West of England Combined Authority Committee RESOLVED to delegate the responsibility for signing the MetroWest Phase 1a Inter-Authority Agreement to the WECA CEO, in conjunction with the UA CEOs, subject to funding.

4. The West of England Joint Committee RESOLVED to delegate the responsibility for agreeing procurement strategies for MetroWest 1b for detailed design and construction to the WECA and NSC CEOs, subject to funding.

5. The West of England Joint Committee RESOLVED to delegate responsibility for signing Implementation Agreements and Asset Protection Agreements for MetroWest 1b with Network Rail to the WECA CEO and NSC CEOs, subject to funding.

6. The West of England Combined Authority Committee RESOLVED to endorse the change to scope for MetroWest 2 (extension to Gloucester) on the condition that the business case is updated, approved and represents good value for money.

7. The West of England Combined Authority Committee RESOLVED to delegate responsibility for signing a revised Inter-Authority Agreement for MetroWest 2 to the WECA CEO, in conjunction with UA CEOs, subject to funding.

8. The West of England Combined Authority Committee RESOLVED to delegate responsibility for signing the novation of the MetroWest Phase 2 Network Rail Development Services Agreement to the WECA CEO, subject to funding.

9. The West of England Combined Authority Committee RESOLVED to delegate responsibility for signing Implementation Agreements for MetroWest 2 with Network Rail to the WECA CEO, in conjunction with UA CEOs, subject to funding.

10. The West of England Combined Authority Committee RESOLVED to delegate responsibility for agreeing procurement strategies for delivery of the Access for All (AfA) station enhancements to the WECA CEO.

11. The West of England Combined Authority Committee RESOLVED to delegate the approval of the Bristol Temple Meads Eastern Entrance Full Business Case to the WECA CEO, in conjunction with UA CEOS, to a maximum value of £26.645m (which includes the £2.5m already awarded).

12. The West of England Joint Committee RESOLVED to delegate responsibility for agreeing the programme of schemes for the 10 Year Delivery Plan for rail investment in the West of England to the WECA CEO, in conjunction with UA CEOs and Strategic Rail Board, should new Department for Transport funding for rail become available during 2020.

The Combined Authority Committee and the Joint Committee considered a report setting out the necessary delegations required to support the budget and contractual requirements to deliver strategic rail programmes (agenda item 20).

The Chair highlighted that the report included updates and sought appropriate delegations to enable officers to progress further work to deliver the following:

· MetroWest programme - Phase 1a – Severn Beach & Westbury Line, Phase 1b – Portishead line and Phase 2 – Henbury and Yate lines.

· MetroWest GWR rail services and access to Department for Transport funding.

· The Bristol Temple Meads Eastern Entrance project.

· Work that the Combined Authority and Network Rail were undertaking to produce a joint 10 year Delivery Plan and 25 year Strategic Outline Business Case (SOBC) for rail investment in the West of England.

He also emphasised and very much welcomed the important work that the Combined Authority had taken forward to extend the scope of MetroWest 2 to Gloucester.

The recommendations as set out in the published report were then moved by the Chair and seconded by Cllr Savage.

Cllr Dudd welcomed the investment taking place, particularly in relation to the Bristol Temple Meads Eastern Entrance project. He expressed wider concerns around the national issue of slippage in the timescales for rail delivery, especially when viewed in the context of how important rail was in terms of the Climate Emergency.

Cllr Romero generally welcomed the report and the investment in rail. She also advised that she remained hopeful that as part of this approach, feasibility work could be carried out on the re-introduction of a railway station at Saltford.

Cllr Savage welcomed the report and the important opportunities for rail investment that would be coming forward, and particularly drew attention to the importance of the extension of the scope of MetroWest 2 to Gloucester, which together with the proposals for a new station at Charfield would significantly enhance the rail commuter offer between Yate and Gloucester.

Cllr Davies stressed the importance of rail as part of the response to the Climate Emergency; in the context of strategic planning and future housing development, it would be important to take every opportunity to improve the connections between where people live and where they work.

The Chair then moved to the voting on the recommendations. Voting took place as per constitutional requirements.