Agenda and draft 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.

The Chairperson welcomed everyone to the meeting.

There were no declarations of interests received.

The minutes of the meeting held on the 21 February 2024 were approved as an accurate record.

The Committee were provided with a report with the purpose of reconstituting the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee, which included setting out the administrative and governance arrangements for the forthcoming civic year.

The Monitoring Officer for the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee made reference to the proposals within the circulated report, which would form part of the reconstitution.

It was raised that the term of the current Chair of the Swansea Bay University Health Board was coming to an end, and a new Chair had been appointed. This change would need to be reflected in the documentation relating to the Co-Opted Members of the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee.

RESOLVED:

That the appointment of the members of the Corporate Joint Committee identified at paragraph 5 of the circulated report be noted.

That the co-option of the members of the National Park Authorities to the Corporate Joint Committee for all matters (save for strategic planning given their voting status) in a non-voting capacity for the civic year 2024/2025, be approved.

That the creation of the Sub-committees identified at paragraph 9 of the circulated report, and the proposed representatives appointed to the Sub-committees detailed 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 Corporate Joint Committee Sub-committees for all matters

(save for strategic planning given their voting status) in a non-voting capacity for the civic year 2024/2025, be approved.

That the establishment of the Governance and Audit Sub-Committee for the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee 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, be approved.

That the establishment of an Overview and Scrutiny Sub-Committee Committee for the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee as set out in paragraphs 23-29 of the circulated report, be approved.

That the timetable for future meetings for the South West Wales

Corporate Joint Committee and its associated committees as set out in paragraph 30 of the circulated report, be approved.

That the renewal of the appointment of co-optees, identified at

paragraph 32 of the circulated report, for the civic year 2024/2025, be approved.

That the renewal of the appointment of the advisors, identified at

paragraph 34 of the circulated report, for the civic year 2024/2025, be approved.

Members received an update in regard to the programme of works associated with the Regional Transport Plan (RTP).

The Committee were reminded that the Implementation Plan and Case for Change had been produced and submitted to Welsh Government; the next step was to produce the initial draft of the RTP.

It was explained that in the early stages, Officers has raised concerns with the timescales, provided by Welsh Government, for the development of the RTP; the purpose of this report was to highlight the change in the timescales of producing the initial draft of the RTP.

Officers stated that the initial timeline specified that Corporate Joint Committees were required to submit their first drafts to Welsh Government by 29 May 2024; with the final draft to be submitted by 31 October 2024. Members were informed that the amended timeline would include a consultation phase in May/June 2024, and a policy update submitted to Welsh Government by July 2024. It was added that Officers were currently still working towards the original deadline for the submission of the final draft to Welsh Government (31 October 2024).

It was mentioned that some of the timescales associated with the Regional Transport Plan may be slightly altered again, due to the announcement of the 4 July General Election.

Officers were thanked for their continued work with progressing and developing the Regional Transport Plan for South West Wales.

RESOLVED:

That an amendment to the programme of works for the South West Wales Regional Transport Plan initial draft stage, as identified in the circulated report, be approved.

The Committee received an update in regard to the Welsh Language Standards Compliance Notice.

It was highlighted that Officers received the Compliance Notice from the Welsh Language Commissioner on 24 April 2024, with exclusions of two standards which were detailed as follows:

·       WLS 145 Promotion – To produce, and publish on the organisation website, a 5-year strategy that sets out how the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee proposes to promote the Welsh language and to facilitate the use of the Welsh language more widely in the area

·       WLS 146 Promotion – Five years after publishing a strategy in accordance with WLS 145, assess and publish the assessment findings on the website.

It was asked if the Corporate Joint Committee could receive updates regarding the progression of the promotion of the Welsh language. The Chief Executive of the Corporate Joint Committee would seek advice on whether this meeting would be the appropriate forum, as the wider aspects of the promotion of the Welsh language within the Region, were delegated to other institutions in terms of responsibilities. However, it was noted that future update reports would be provided to the Committee in regard to the implementation of the Corporate Joint Committee Welsh Language Standards.

RESOLVED:

That the Welsh Language Standards Compliance Notice be noted.

That delegation be granted to the Chief Executive to review and

implement the Compliance Notice to demonstrate the acceptance of the Welsh Language Standards applicable to the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee.

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.