Agenda and minutes

The Chairperson welcomed everyone to the meeting.

The following Officer declared and interest at the start of the meeting:

The minutes of the previous meeting, held on 11 October 2022, was approved as an accurate record.

It was noted that the date of the March 2023 meeting had changed to a later rescheduled date of 30 March 2023, and that this would be reflected in the Forward Work Programme.

The Forward Work Programme was noted.

The Committee was provided with the Statement of Accounts for the year ended 2021/22.

Officers explained that earlier in the year, the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee agreed to set a zero budget for 2021/22 and raised no levy; this was during the time in which the arrangements for the Corporate Joint Committee were being established. It was noted that the consequence of this, meant that there weren’t any transactions for the year 2021/22; however, it was a requirement to produce a Statement of Accounts and confirmation of the financial position during the year.

Members were informed that, once the Statement of Accounts were approved, Audit Wales would be able to conclude the year 2021/22.

RESOLVED:

That the Joint Committee receive and approve the Statement of Accounts for 2021/22.

O.Enoch reaffirmed his interest as left the meeting for this item only.

The circulated report set out a number of budget options for consideration, for the year 2023/24, for the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee; Members would need to consider how the Committee would be developing the substantial workloads within the various work streams going forward.

Officers referred to the initial presentation of the budget, which was included in Appendix A of the circulated report; this provided a full budget evaluation for the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee, if it were to start developing and undertaking work in relation to the four main work streams. It was noted that it entailed employing staff and commissioning certain pieces of work; this evaluation formulated a potential cost of £1.5million, which was considerably more than the current years spend.

Following on from the above, it was stated that the potential cost of £1.5million raised concerns when in discussions with constituent Local Authorities, as this would put extra pressures on their budgets; due to these concerns, Officers carried out a piece of work which formulated different options in regards to setting the budget for the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee for 2023/24. Details of the options were highlighted as follows:

·       Option 1 – To agree to prioritise the work of the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee and levy accordingly.

·       Option 2 – To do minimum in 2023/24 and downsize the budget, with limited work being carried out in each of the work streams; however, still progressing the lower level work such as the Regional Transport Plan (RTP), as there would be an element of budget supporting the Plan going forward. It was mentioned that Welsh Government support of additional funds would be essential in developing certain activities. The circulated report identified that this option set out a budget of around £617k, which was marginally above this year’s budget.

·       Option 3 – Suspend all activities of the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee. It was noted that in order to do this, Welsh Government would have to amend legislation; however, it was something that could be considered for future years (2024/25 onwards), as the budget pressures were likely to continue going forward.

Members were informed that they were required to set a draft budget, before then considering their final decision and formal approval in January 2023; one the draft budget was approved Officers would notify constituent Local Authorities of the indicative budget.

A discussion took place in regards to the proposals for activities in regards to Option 2, which was detailed in Appendix C of the circulated report. The following was highlighted for each of the four work streams:

·       In March 2022, it was noted that the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee approved the South West Wales Regional Energy Strategy; Wales Energy Services were going to be funding this work. Officers were content that although there would be minimal budget provision for this work stream, the work can progress  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Members received a presentation in regards to the Strategic Development Plan (SDP).

The SDP was noted to be a statutory requirement and written into the legislation as the primary planning output of Corporate Joint Committees; it will have the same status for Local Authorities and their decision making, as the Local Development Plans (LDPs) and the Future Wales National Plan has. Officers explained that all planning applications, for Welsh Local Authorities, will need to be considered against its LDP, the Future Wales National Plan and the SDP once it had been produced; future LDPs must align and be consistent with the SDP framework. It was added that the purpose of the SDP was to move the planning agenda onto a regional basis, and tackling those issues that were cross boundary and wider than local significance.

Members were informed that there hadn’t been any substantive progress so far on the SDP, this was due to minimal budget that was set for the current of 2022/2; however, cross boundary collaboration on projects was advancing, in order to inform LDPs within the region. It was noted that the work that was currently being undertaken will provide evidence for that SDP; some of the current work projects included defining what was described in Future Wales as the ‘national growth area’ for South West Wales, and looking into future growth projections.

In addition to the above, it was highlighted that Welsh Government had produced a guidance manual on SDPs, which was currently out for consultation for informal comments; Officers were going to be providing feedback on the manual as a region. It was mentioned that there will be a full consultation on the manual in summer 2023.

The following points were noted to still yet to be agreed in terms of the SDP:

·       How to engage with Welsh Government on this matter going forward

·       The timescales of the work, having regard to factors such as resources

·       The budget of the work

·       The staff resource and management of the whole process

A discussion took place in regards to the issues and risks associated with the SDP:

·       No budget identified to deliver the SDP – subsequently there will be no work to progress it

·       No existing resources within Planning Authorities – conversations had taken place, and there weren’t any spare resource to divert from existing work streams in order to deliver the SDP

·       Staff recruitment issues – there were currently issues with recruiting and finding experience planners for Local Authorities, this will be similar for when recruiting for the SDP

·       Council’s risk going over LDP end dates – each Local Authority was working on delivering their replacement LDPs, which could clash with the work of the SDP

Officers highlighted three main points for consideration which were engagement with Welsh Government, timescale for South West Wales SDP and the budget implications, as detailed within the circulated presentation.

It was noted that over the next 12 months, there will need to be ongoing dialogue with Welsh Government around the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

Copies of the Draft Corporate Plan 2023-2028, along with an Integrated Impact Assessment, had been provided in advance of the meeting.

It was stated that in addition to duty to prepare a Regional Transport Plan (RTP), and a Strategic Development Plan (SDP), the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee was also subject to a number of public sector duties; this included the requirement to set Well-Being Objectives and to have regard to the Equality Act 2010. Members were informed that the Corporate Plan was intended to evolve as the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee develops.

A discussion took place in relation to the proposed vision statement for ‘South West Wales 2035’; the content of which was informed by the Regional Economic Development Plan and the Regional Energy Strategy, together with an acknowledgement of those statutory requirements in respect of Regional Transport Planning and Strategic Development Planning.

In addition to the above, Members were briefed on the three well-being objectives that were proposed. It was noted that the first objective referred to the Regional Economic Delivery Plan and Regional Energy Strategy, the second objective referred to producing the RTP, and the third objective referred to producing the SDP.

Members were also informed of a proposed Equality Objective which was noted to be a statutory requirement. It was noted that this objective referred to delivering ‘A more equal South West Wales by 2035’.  

A further report, which took the form of an intended appendix to the Draft Corporate Plan, had also been provided in advance of the meeting; this appendix scoped out the formulation of the actions/steps/measures that were intended to support the delivery of the three well-being objectives. It was noted that this appendix could now be iteratively updated by Officers as a result of Members resolutions at this meeting in respect of budget options; in this regard, this appendix will be tabled again at the next South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee in January 2023. Pending Members approval, it was mentioned that the final version of the appendix will be inserted into the Draft Corporate Plan ahead of its publication for consultation.

RESOLVED:

(a)That Members receive and note the content of the Draft Corporate Plan (together with associated appendices) and approve its publication for a six-week public consultation exercise in January/February 2023;

(b)That further to (a) above, any consultation responses received will be reported back to Members with a view to informing a final version of the Plan ahead of its formal adoption (scheduled for March 2023);

(c)That delegated authority be provided to the Chief Executive to make any typographical, factual and / or editorial amendments to the Draft Corporate Plan ahead of its publication.

A copy of the Duty Report had been provided in advance of the meeting. Members were advised that the Corporate Joint Committee was subject to the requirements of Section 6 of the Environment (Wales) Act 2016, in the same way as its constituents Councils were.

It was noted that the Duty Report seeks to reflect the importance of embedding the Biodiversity and Resilience of Ecosystems Duty within the corporate governance of the Corporate Joint Committee.

Members were informed that there was a requirement to publish the report by 31 December 2022.

RESOLVED:

That Members note the content of the appended Section 6 Report and endorse its publication by the 31 of December 2022. It is further recommended that a copy of the Appended Report be sent to the Welsh Government.

The circulated report provided detail on the proposal to agree co-option status with National Park Authorities.

It was explained that the role of National Park Authorities was limited within the Corporate Joint Committee to the strategic planning work; Officers had been looking into alternative ways to involve the National Park representatives in the other matters that the Corporate Joint Committee will be dealing with in future.

The proposal contained within the circulated report was seeking to extend a co-opted, non-voting status to the Leaders from the National Park Authorities, in order for them to have a presence at the other various meetings associated with the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee, including the Sub Committees; this will allow them to speak and give views on various matters, however they will still not be able to vote on any matters outside of strategic planning.

Clarification was made in relation to paragraph seven of the circulated report; the National Park Authorities would not need to be given co-opted status on the Regional Transport Planning Sub Committee as they had voting rights at this meeting.

A discussion took place in relation to the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee Overview and Scrutiny Sub Committee that was recently established; it was proposed that co-opted, non-voting status be extended to one representative from each of the National Park Authorities, in order for them to attend these meetings as they progress.

Subject to approval today, the Monitoring Officer for the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee will make contact with the National Park Authorities to agree the representatives and discuss the co-option agreements.

RESOLVED:

Members agree that co-option (non-voting) status be granted to Pembrokeshire National Park Authority and Brecon Beacons National Park Authority, to the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee (for areas other than strategic development planning) as set out in paragraphs 6, 7, and 8 of the circulated report.

There were no Urgent Items received.