Venue: Hybrid - Chamber, County Hall, Carmarthen, SA31 1JP / Microsoft Teams Meeting
Contact: Chloe Plowman - Email: c.plowman@npt.gov.uk
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Appointment of Chair and Vice Chair for South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee Minutes: RESOLVED: That Cllr Rob Stewart
(Swansea County Council) be appointed Chair, and that Cllr Darren Price
(Carmarthenshire County Council) be appointed Vice Chair of the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee. |
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Welcome and Chairs Announcements Minutes: The
Chairperson welcomed everyone to the meeting. |
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Declarations of Interests Minutes: There
were no declarations of interests received. |
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Minutes of Previous Meeting Minutes: The
minutes from the meeting held on 19 March 2025, were approved as a true and
accurate record. |
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Reconstitution of the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee (SWWCJC) Additional documents: Minutes: Members
were provided with a report with the purpose of reconstituting the South West
Wales Corporate Joint Committee (SWWCJC), which included setting out the
administrative and governance arrangements for the forthcoming civic year. The
Monitoring Officer for the SWWCJC referred to the proposals within the
circulated report, which formed part of the reconstitution. The
Committee was informed of a change to the membership of the Overview and
Scrutiny Sub Committee, which was that Councillor Tony Wilcox would be the
representative for Pembrokeshire County Council, instead of Councillor Marc
Tierney. Another
change highlighted was that Jan Williams will be the Co-Opted Member to
represent Swansea Bay University Health Board, instead of Steven Spill. A
discussion took place in regard to the Public Sector Advisory Board (PSAB). The
circulated report detailed the list of advisors who had been appointed to the
PSAB, following approval at the meeting of the SWWCJC on 3 December 2024; it
was proposed that these advisors be re-appointed. Officers explained that
during the course of the next few weeks the PSAB will appoint its Chairperson,
who will automatically be Co-Opted to the SWWCJC. Following
on from the above, the Monitoring Officer for the SWWCJC put forward the
following amendment to recommendation (j), detailed in the circulated report,
which was supported by Members: RESOLVED: ·
That the
appointment of the Members of the South West Wales
Corporate Joint Committee (SWWCJC), identified at paragraph 5 of the circulated
report, be noted. ·
That the
co-option of the Members of the National Park Authorities to the SWWCJC for all
matters (save for strategic planning given their voting status) in a non-voting
capacity for the civic year 2025/2026, be approved. ·
That the creation
of the Sub-Committees (identified at paragraph 9 and in line with the terms of
reference in Appendix A of the circulated report) and the proposed
representatives appointed to the Sub-Committee, set out at paragraphs 9 and 10
of the circulated report, be approved. ·
That the
co-option of the members of the National Park Authorities to the SWWCJC
Sub-Committees for all matters (save for strategic planning given their voting
status) in a non-voting capacity for the civic year 2025/2026, be approved. ·
That the
establishment of Governance and Audit Sub-Committee for the SWWCJC, as set out
in paragraphs 14-19 of the circulated report, be approved. · That the designation of the Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council Standards Committee as the Standards Committee of the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee, ... view the full minutes text for item 5. |
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Comments, Compliments and Complaints Policy Additional documents: Minutes: The
Committee were provided with a Comments, Compliments and Complaints Policy for
the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee
(SWWCJC). Officers
acknowledged the need for a policy of this regard to be put in place in order
to have a systematic approach to dealing with, and recording, any comments, compliments
or complaints. A discussion
took place in regard to the involvement of the public in Corporate Joint
Committee processes, and what work was being undertaken to encourage their contribution.
The Chairperson noted the importance of using communication channels to promote
the work being undertaken by the SWWCJC and emphasised the significance of the delivery
aspect of the work, as this would be imperative to gaining public engagement. Following
on from the above, it was confirmed that Officers will also be developing a Public
Participation Strategy for the SWWCJC; this will be on a similar footing to
those that were in place for Local Authorities. It was explained that one of
the requirements of the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021, was for
Local Authorities to create a strategy pertaining to how local people can
become involved in decision making processes. Officers stated that the Public Participation
Strategy would set out how the SWWCJC will engage with the public in respect of
the decision making processes and how they can make an
impact to the work being undertaken. RESOLVED: That
the Comments, Compliments and Complaints Policy for the South
West Wales Corporate Joint Committee be approved. |
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Swansea Bay City Deal - The Future of the Programme/Portfolio Management Office (POMO) Minutes: Members
of the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee (SWWCJC) were presented with
an overview of the review that was currently ongoing pertaining to the Swansea
Bay City Deal and the future of the Programme/Portfolio Management Office (POMO). The
Chief Executive of the SWWCJC provided the background in terms of the need for
the review; referencing that there were links, and the potential for effective collaboration,
between the Swansea Bay City Deal and the SWWCJC. It
was explained that the POMO provided support to the Swansea Bay City Deal and
had been instrumental in many ways such as setting up the required governance structure
and assisting to deliver the programme of work. Officers
highlighted that the funding for POMO had been provided from a top slice of the
government grant available for the City Deal which was noted to be 1.5%; this
will be exhausted in the 2025/26 financial year, if all posts in the structure
were to be filled. Members were informed that the funding was also supplemented
by contributions from all eight partners, which was noted to be £50k; this
ended in March 2023, and there was no agreement to continue funding the Office
beyond the 2025/26 financial year. It
was stated that given this information, it was necessary to undertake a review
of the structures that were currently in place across the region; the information
contained in the circulated report provided an update on the current position
of the review. Members
were informed that the options and findings of the review will be reported to both
the Swansea Bay City Region Joint Committee and the SWWCJC, for Members
consideration. RESOLVED: That
the report be noted. |
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Strategic Development Plan Update Minutes: The Committee were updated on the development of the Strategic Development
Plan (SDP). Officers explained that Welsh Government have mandated the requirement
to prepare and adopt an SDP within each of the four Corporate Joint Committee regions
in Wales. It was added that within the South West Wales region there were six
local planning authorities, including the four Local Authorities and two
National Park Authorities, who were collectively responsibly for preparing the SDP. Reference was made to the letter that was sent to Welsh Government,
indicating Officers concerns regarding the requirements to deliver the SDP in
the absence of appropriate financial resources. Members were informed that the
response from Welsh Government at that time stated that there was no additional
funding available; however, any spare funding left over from the development of
the Regional Transport Plan (RTP) could be utilised for the Strategic Planning workstream.
Officers explained that there weren’t any resources available from the RTP budget
to assist in developing the SDP. It was highlighted that Officers were in the process of collectively
securing agreement in Wales to write to the new Minister responsible for Planning
in Welsh Government, to reiterate the regions position and request for funding.
However, it appeared that the position across Wales had changed; Cardiff Capital
region had prepared their delivery agreement and submitted to Welsh Government
for approval, and North Wales were in process of preparing their delivery
agreement. Following on from this realisation, it was determined that there was a
need to provide options to the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee (SWWCJC)
in terms of moving forward with this workstream. The circulated report provided
two options for consideration. It was noted that the first option was to make progress
and prepare a delivery agreement for submission to Welsh Government; clearly indicating
that the region would not be prepared to progress further until sufficient funding
and resources had been made available. Officers highlighted that the second
option was to hold the current position and confirm that the region wasn’t prepared
to progress further until sufficient funding and resources had been made
available. Members were informed that the SDP Manual, which Welsh Government had
been in the process of preparing for Corporate Joint Committees, had still not
been made available to the local planning authorities. Officers confirmed that the two options, detailed within the circulated
report, were presented to the Strategic Planning Sub Committee on 19 May 2025; Members
of the Sub Committee had endorsed Option One, which was to progress with the preparation
of the delivery agreement. Members emphasised the importance of understanding Welsh Government’s plans in terms of future funding and the need for continuous lobbying. It was acknowledged that there was also a need to remind Welsh Government that Corporate Joint Committees should be fully funded and should not be an additional burden on Local Authorities. The Chairperson explained that there had been some recent success with the Ministers in terms of obtaining additional funding; and that the Welsh Local Government ... view the full minutes text for item 8. |
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Forward Work Programme Minutes: Members
were informed that Forward Work Programme Workshops would be arranged for the
South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee and each of the Sub Committees, in
order to inform the programme of work for the civic year. The
Forward Work Programme was noted. |
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Urgent Items Any
urgent items at the discretion of the Chairperson pursuant to Section 100BA(6)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended). Minutes: There
were no urgent items received. |