Agenda and minutes

The Chairperson welcomed everyone to the meeting.

There were no declarations of interests received.

The Committee were provided with the Quarter 3 Financial Monitoring for year ended 2024/25.

It was explained that on 23 January 2024, the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee (SWWCJC) approved the budget for 2024/25 which was set at £615,049; each of the constituent authorities put forward a levy, which had been reduced by 10% through the utilisation of reserves.

Members were informed that during the 2024/25 financial year, the SWWCJC also received a Welsh Government grant of £100k which was to be utilised for the Regional Transport Sub Committee; Officers were expecting to fully utilise this grant.

The forecast outturn in Appendix A of the circulated report, detailed a total surplus of £128.2k for the year. Officers provided an overview of the reasons for the surplus, which included:

·        Support Services were predicting an underspend of £43.6k due to the budgeted Senior Accountant post remaining vacant; this post was not yet required due to the level of activity.

·        The Sub-Committee expenditure showed a forecast underspend of £86.7k, in respect of the Planning and Programme management expenditure; this again, was due to the level of activity.

·        The Regional Management Office detailed an underspend of £59.3k. It was mentioned that £52.7k of this was due to the Consultancy and Specialist Adviser work not being commissioned; as well as smaller underspends in relation to Printing and Copying, Office Consumables and ICT.

It was stated that reserves had been accumulated due to limited expenditure during the SWWCJC’s first year of operation and also the limited level of activity during the 2023/24 financial year. Therefore, Officers were anticipating that the reserves at the end of the current financial year will be in the region of £970k.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

Officers presented Members with the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee (SWWCJC) draft budget for the 2025/26 financial year, which included the proposed levy charge to the constituent authorities.

The Committee was informed that the constituent authorities must be notified of the levy for the upcoming financial year by 31 January 2025. It was mentioned that discussions had already started to take place with each of the Local Authorities and Elected Members regarding the requirements of the SWWCJC budget setting process.

The circulated report set out three different options (Option 1, Option 2 and Option 2B) in terms of budget setting for the SWWCJC. It was highlighted that the options were quite consistent with previous years; setting a continuity budget or increasing the workflow, through the budget, to try and achieve the objectives of the SWWCJC. Officers added that there was still work to be undertaken in terms of understanding the level of activity of some of the functions and workstreams.

Officers clarified the detail of the three different options as follows:

·       Option 1 – Continuity budget.

·       Option 2 – Requested budget.

·       Option 2B – Requested budget with the use of reserves.

It was stated that Officers were recommending Option 2B, which was set out in Appendix C of the circulated report. Noting that the discharge of reserves was proposed to be carried out over a planned period of three years; this was to help prevent the need to request significantly increased levies in the future, recognising the challenges that the constituent authorities face individually in terms of their budget setting process.

Additional detail regarding Option 2B was provided to the Committee, highlighting that this option accommodated the requests that had been received from three out of the four workstreams; Appendix C detailed the expectations that could be delivered through the budget for Transport, Energy and Economic Development.

Further to the above, it was explained that there were currently some challenges around defining the work and expectations of the Planning workstream; therefore, the funding could not be provided in the same context. However, it was noted that the leads for this workstream had previously confirmed that this was an acceptable position, and they were working with Welsh Government to identify further funding and clarity on delivering the programme of work. 

A discussion took place in regard to the overall budget position of the SWWCJC, if Option 2B was to be approved. It was noted that the draft budget for 2025/26 was demonstrating an estimated expenditure of £710.3k. Officers explained that they had looked at options to try and standardise the levy charge on the constituent authorities, to keep it the same as what was charged in the 2024/25 financial year; if this was to be considered, Officers will be required to utilise the reserves to fund that. As previously, mentioned Officers would be seeking to do this over a three-year period as follows:

·       £153.5k in 2025/26 financial year.

·       £167.7k in 2026/27 financial year.

·       £182.2k in 2027/28 financial year.

It was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Members were presented with an update on the Corporate Plan (2023-2028) proposed priorities for the year 2025/26.

It was highlighted that Members approved the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee (SWWCJC) Corporate Plan 2023-2028 in October 2022; which contained three Wellbeing Objectives, otherwise known as priorities. Officers confirmed that the Wellbeing Objectives remain unchanged; therefore, there was no requirement to further consult with the public.

Although the Wellbeing Objectives remain the same, it was stated that the required actions to deliver those priorities had been revised and were detailed within the circulated report.

It was explained that the activity relating to the SWWCJC will be significantly increasing over the next 12 months, and Officers anticipated that further activities will come to light through the year; the Chief Executive of the SWWCJC will keep Members fully briefed on any matters arising. The importance of having the funding in place to react and respond to changes in activity level was expressed.

RESOLVED:

That the proposed Corporate priorities and associated actions for 2025/26, be approved.

Officers provided an update on the Regional Energy Strategy Delivery and were seeking approval for funding in relation to one of the projects within the workstream.

Members were informed that the Local Area Energy Plans (LAEPs) were the framework to deliver the Regional Energy Strategy. Since the development of the LAEPS, it was noted that Welsh Government had funded, for 24 months, the appointment of a Regional Energy Team consisting of an Energy Project Manager plus two Energy Project Officer posts; detail of the Regional Energy Teams progress was captured in Appendix A of the circulated report.

Reference was made to Appendices B, C and D of the circulated report, which contained updates on the individual priority schemes:

·       Project Outline of the South West Wales Solar Together Initiative (Appendix B) – it was highlighted that this was the project in which Officers were seeking funding for; a sum of £27.5k in the 2025/26 financial year and a small amount in this financial year to cover the cost of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). Officers added that the procurement route was being managed through Carmarthenshire County Borough Council as the lead body with an MOU with other authorities; a Market Engagement Prior Information Notice (PIN) was activated on 7 January 2025 to establish how many potential service providers of this type of scheme exist.

·       Project Outline of the Behavioural Change Project
(Appendix C)

·       Cross-boundary Sharing of Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Infrastructure Pilot between Local Authorities and wider Public Sector (Appendix D) – it was mentioned that this project had some overlap with the regional transport work.

RESOLVED:

·       That Members the progress updates on the Energy workstream be noted.

·       That funding for the Solar Group Purchasing initiative (detailed in Appendix B of the circulated report - Project Outline of the South West Wales Solar Together initiative) be approved.

Members were presented with the Draft Regional Transport Plan (RTP) for the South West Wales region.

Officers highlighted that they were seeking approval, from the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee, to commence the public consultation process for the Draft RTP. It was stated that the proposed timeframe for the consultation was around eight weeks, starting in early February 2025.

Reference was made to the Draft Regional Transport Delivery Plan (RTDP) which consisted of a list of schemes that aligned with the RTP. It was noted that further work around scoring and evaluating the schemes needed to be carried out; the prioritisation tool, detailed at Appendix 5 of the circulated report, would assist Officers with this. The Committee was informed that this process will help to produce a robust prioritisation of the schemes to aid the bidding process over the next five years. It was added that Officers will be working in parallel with the public consultation, to try and understand what the priority of those schemes would be.

It was mentioned that Officers had received positive indications from Welsh Government in terms of the progress that the region was making to deliver the RTP; Welsh Government have provided some initial comments, which will form part of the feedback from the consultation.

A discussion took place in regard to the array of consultation events and plans that were proposed in order to try and encourage as much engagement as possible; this included public and stakeholder events. Officers explained that they would also be reaching out to the business community, through the appropriate bodies that represent their interests. The results from the previous consultation highlighted that there was limited engagement from younger people; Officers were working with schools and colleges to try and improve engagement for the upcoming consultation.

Members were informed that although discussions were taking place with Welsh Government in regard to funding, Officers were yet to receive final clarity on funding or the mechanisms by which the funding will be distributed for the RTP from 2026 onwards.

Reference was made to the risks associated with this work; failure to approve the final version of the RTP and submit it to Welsh Government by the summer of 2025, could result in the grants (from 1 April 2026) being delayed.

Officers explained that future reports would be brought back via the usual reporting mechanisms of the SWWCJC; which included the Regional Transport Sub Committee, the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and the SWWCJC. However, it was noted that in May 2025, the finalised list of schemes would be presented to the Cabinet of each Local Authority, before being brought to the relevant SWWCJC meetings; this was due to the fact that the powers to deliver the schemes were held within the Local Authorities.

Following the overview from Officers, Members thanked Officers and acknowledged the significant amount of work that had gone into this process thus far.

RESOLVED:

·       That the verbal progress reports from officers, on the Regional Transport Plan development workstreams,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

The South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee Forward Work Programme was noted.

Any urgent items at the discretion of the Chairperson pursuant to Section 100BA(6)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

There were no urgent items received.