Agenda and minutes

CO-OPTEES: Councillors B Anderson and P Truswell

To consider any appeals in accordance with Procedure Rule 25* of the Access to Information Procedure Rules (in the event of an Appeal the press and public will be excluded).

(* In accordance with Procedure Rule 25, notice of an appeal must be received in writing by the Head of Governance Services at least 24 hours before the meeting).

There were no appeals against the refusal of inspection of documents.

1  To highlight reports or appendices which officers have identified as containing exempt information, and where officers consider that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information, for the reasons outlined in the report.

2  To consider whether or not to accept the officers recommendation in respect of the above information.

3  If so, to formally pass the following resolution:-

RESOLVED – That the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following parts of the agenda designated as containing exempt information on the grounds that it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the press and public were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information, as follows:

  No exempt items have been identified.

There were no items which required the exclusion of the press and public.

To identify items which have been admitted to the agenda by the Chair for consideration.

(The special circumstances shall be specified in the minutes.)

In relation to agenda item 7, a supplementary agenda pack was circulated to the Board which includes a summary of questions submitted by Board Members in advance of the meeting.

To disclose or draw attention to any disclosable pecuniary interests for the purposes of Section 31 of the Localism Act 2011 and paragraphs 13-16 of the Members’ Code of Conduct.

There were no declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests.

To receive any apologies for absence and notification of substitutes.

Apologies were received from Cllr Diane Chapman and Cllr. Alan Lamb.

Cllr. Blake (Leader of Council) and Tom Riordan (Chief Executive) also relayed their apologies.

The Chair, Cllr Harland explained that due to technical difficulties the remote meeting of the Strategy and Resources Scrutiny Board on 10th June 2020 unfortunately had to be adjourned. Today’s meeting would therefore be a continuation of the Board’s discussion of the West Yorkshire Devolution Deal.

The Board’s membership had therefore again been expanded to include the contribution of the Council’s other Scrutiny Board Chairs too.

In acknowledging the apologies relayed by Tom Riordan and Cllr Blake, the Chair explained that the Council’s Chief Executive had been called to an urgent meeting linked to his role in leading an important part of the national contact tracing programme during the pandemic.

The Chair explained that sadly Cllr Blake had recently suffered a family bereavement and therefore passed on the Board’s condolences to Cllr Blake.

To confirm as a correct record, the minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 10^th June 2020.

RESOLVED – The minutes of the meeting held on 10^th June 2020, were approved as a correct record.

To receive a report from the Head of Democratic Services which presents details of the published Scheme linked to the West Yorkshire Devolution Deal and invites the views of Scrutiny as part of the formal consultation process.

Further to the meeting held on 10^th June 2020, which was unfortunately adjourned due to technical difficulties, the Chair reiterated that this Scrutiny Board had maintained a watching brief on developments with Devolution.

It was acknowledged that since the West Yorkshire “minded-to” Devolution Deal was announced as part of the Budget on 11 March 2020, a lot of work and progress had been made, as summarised within the meeting agenda pack, and that essentially we were now at the position whereby the Scheme setting out proposals for changes to the governance and functions of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority linked to the Devolution Deal was being subject to public consultation.  Details of this Scheme were also set out within the agenda pack for the Board’s consideration and comment.

The Chair explained that following the Board’s last meeting, Board Members were invited to share in advance any particular questions they would like to raise with regard to the West Yorkshire Devolution Deal.  These had been presented to the Board as part of the supplementary agenda pack and the Chair thanked those within the Council and the Combined Authority for providing written responses to these questions in readiness for the meeting.

To help provide any further clarity and address questions from the Board, the Chair welcomed to the meeting the following:

·  Councillor James Lewis – Deputy Leader and Executive Member for

·  Resources

·  Ben Still – Managing Director of West Yorkshire Combined Authority

·  Neil Evans – Director of Resources and Housing; and

·  Mike Eakins – Intelligence and Policy Manager.

It was noted that during the Board’s meeting on 10^th June 2020, Cllr Blake had already provided an initial introduction to the ‘Minded to Deal’ and the consultation, as referenced within the minutes of that meeting.  The Chair therefore moved into inviting questions from Board Members.

At this stage, due to further technical difficulties encountered during the meeting, elements of the Board’s discussion were not captured as part of the live webcast.

In response to questions raised by Board Members, the following key points were made during the meeting:

·  Bus franchising could follow the example of Greater Manchester. However, there were challenges given that we are dealing with a number of large bus companies, and the funding required;

·  Funding packages such as the £38m gain share could be used for transport and flooding issues. It was noted that the government arrangement to other cities with a mayoral role brings considerable financial advantages;

·  Traineeships and apprenticeships were not an element of the ‘Adult Education Budget’ devolution deal element made available from government;

·  Police funding would be ring-fenced with a separate pot of money to the general fund.  However, Members also queried whether such funding could also be topped up?  It was agreed that further clarity on this would be sought and fed back to Members;

·  The Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) responsibilities would become part of the powers assigned to the Mayoral Combined Authority (MCA). The mayor has the capacity to devolve these  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

The Chair thanked all for their attendance and contributions.

The Chair also took the opportunity to thank Angela Brogden, Principal Scrutiny Adviser, for her work with the Scrutiny Board (Strategy and Resources) as she was moving to take up a new supporting role with the Council’s Adults, Health and Active Lifestyles Scrutiny Board. The Chair wished her well in her new role.

The Chair introduced and welcomed Rob Clayton who would be taking over the role of Principal Scrutiny Adviser to the Board.

The meeting concluded at 16:15

Wednesday, 22^nd July 2020 at 11.00 am (Pre-meeting for all Board Members at 10.30 am)

The next meeting of the Strategy and Resources Scrutiny Board will be on Wednesday 22^nd July 2020, 11.00 am (Pre-meeting for all Board Members at 10.30 am)