Agenda and decisions

Apologies for absence were received from Jonathan Browning, Councillor Steve Eling, Councillor Paul Moore, Councillor Peter Nutting, Tim Pile, Councillor Roger Lawrence and Stewart Towe.

·         The Mayor congratulated Councillor Dennis Harvey who had been awarded an OBE for political service in Warwickshire and Phil Loach who had been awarded the Queen’s Fire Service Medal for distinguished service in the Queen’s New Year Honours.

·         The Mayor congratulated Birmingham City Council and all those that had been involved in the successful bid to host the Commonwealth Games in 2022.

·         The minutes were agreed as a correct record, subject to amendments to the list of those in attendance and to minute no. 115 (‘Devolution Deal Update’) to reflect the undertaking given by the Police & Crime Commissioner to participate in discussions with the Mayor regarding proposals to contained within the Devolution Deal for the Mayor to become responsible for the powers currently exercised by the Commissioner from May 2020.

·         The resolution passed at the last meeting to submit the Midland Metro Wednesbury to Brierley Hill extension Transport & Works Act Order to the Secretary of State for Transport in accordance with the approved project delivery schedule, to refresh powers of compulsory acquisition in respect of land and interests in land required to implement the scheme, subject to a confirmation by Government of funding for the scheme, was re-affirmed.

The forward plan was noted, with the addition of a report on ‘One Public Estate’ to be added to the agenda for the meeting on 9 February.

(1)       The proposed approach to the Cohesion & Integration portfolio was noted.

(2)       The draft next steps set out in the paper were noted.

(1)       The consolidated revenue budget monitoring position as at 30 November 2017 was noted and the transfer into earmarked reserves of £4.8m as a result of the change in 2017/18 of the Minimum Revenue Provision policy was endorsed;

(2)       The draft West Midlands Combined Authority consolidated revenue budget summarised in section 4 of the report was approved for consultation and scrutiny. This included:

(a)       the budget requirement for transport delivery 2018/19 - 2020/21 comprising of three elements:

(i)         £114.1m a year to be funded from the existing transport levy mechanism;

(ii)        a transfer from earmarked reserves of £1.0m a year for 3 years; and

(iii)       the investment of £0.6m into the continuation of the Apprentice Concessionary Fare for the remainder of the 2018/19 Year and development funding to progress new stations work within the West Midlands Rail Franchise.

(b)       the West Midlands Combined Authority Operational budget requirement for 2018/19 of £11.8m to be funded by the continuation of the £25,000 Non-Constituent Authority contribution and a Constituent Authority contribution that comprised of three elements:

(i)         the continuation of the £0.25m membership on an equal shares basis that totalled £1.75m;

(ii)        a £0.17m fee on an equal shares basis totalling £1.19m with regard to the delivery of outcomes of the West Midlands Combined Authority Commissions that were consistent with the plans taken through the WMCA Board prior to the 2018/19 financial year; and

(iii)       a fee of £1.71m representing costs already incurred and funded by the Constituent Authorities in 2017/18 within the Transport Levy and funded on the basis of population in relation to corporate services that supported the West Midlands Combined Authority Operational budget that were to be accounted for under the Operational budget.

(3)       It was agreed that the WMCA Board was not minded to approve the Mayor’s budget, including a Council Tax Precept of £10.80 that comprised of:

(a)       £2.00 in relation to the costs of the Mayoral Office and Network Resilience responsibilities;

(b)       £8.80 in relation to the funding of the West Midlands Combined Authority Investment Programme to provide funding for cycling, park and ride facilities at key rail stations and Sprint bus priority schemes within the West Midlands Combined Authority’s Investment Programme,

subject to the outcome of the scrutiny process and consultation and objection deadline of 8 February 2018, as set out in section 6.3 of the report.

(4)       The West Midlands Combined Authority Medium Term Financial Plan, as set out in paragraph 7.2 and table 8 of the report, was endorsed.

(5)       The Transport Capital Programme, as set out in section 8 and table 9 of the report, was approved for consultation and scrutiny.

(6)       The planned spend on the Investment Programme over the 3 year period, as set out in section 9 of the report was noted.

(1)       The progress update was noted in relation to the £8.0bn Investment Programme agreed by the West Midlands Combined Authority on November 2015 and funded by:

(a)       £2.0bn of funding generated by the West Midlands Combined Authority; and

(b)       £6.0bn of other funding sources, including Constituent Members internally generated funds, Central Government grants and 3rd party contributions.

(2)       The current funding position of the Investment Programme 18 months after the establishment of the West Midlands Combined Authority was noted.

(3)       In relation to the £2.0bn funding intended to be generated by the West Midlands Combined Authority:

(a)       The inclusion of the intended Mayoral Precept for 2018/19 included within the West Midlands Combined Authority Draft Budget and Mayoral Council Tax Precept was noted.

(b)       The continued work with Central Government on providing the power to introduce a Business Rates supplement as envisaged in the first Devolution Deal was noted, taking account of proposals for levying within local arrangements, particularly in relation to Business Improvement Districts.

(c)        The work planned in the final quarter of the 2017/18 financial year for Finance Directors to agree an approach that confirmed the contribution of locally generated Business Rates to fund the Investment Programme was endorsed.

(d)       An approach whereby the West Midlands Combined Authority was consulted with prior to any future changes to Business Rates income forecasts, such as the development of Enterprise Zones, was endorsed; and

(e)       The delivery of a process with Leaders of Constituent Authorities, Chief Executives and Finance Directors to rank and sequence the Investment Programme based on the current assessment of when funding streams would be realised was endorsed. This should then align to specific project approvals only where funding had been or was likely to be secured.

(4)       Authority was delegated, in relation to the wider funding of the Investment Programme, to the Director of Finance in consultation with the Portfolio Lead for Finance & Investments to work with Constituent Authority Finance Directors to confirm and establish accountable leads for each element of the Investment Programme, together with plans and dates by which funding would be secured.

(5)       A governance review to confirm the appropriate programme governance to be implemented to provide assurance to the WMCA Board, based on the updated review of programme delivery and funding, was endorsed.

(1)       Delegated authority was given to the WMCA Section 151 officer together with the WMCA Monitoring Officer, subject to consultation with the appropriate Portfolio Lead, to approve the amendment to statutory regulations which amended the WMCA borrowing powers as set out in the report, subject to:

(a)       The additional borrowing powers sought being fully aligned to the WMCA’s statutory functions as detailed within the West Midlands Combined Authority Orders.

(b)       Each Constituent Authority approving a complementary paper through their Cabinet to provide approval to the WMCA for these new borrowing powers; and

(c)        The two WMCA officers detailed above to enter into the agreement with HM Treasury, subject to consultation with the appropriate Portfolio Lead, based on confirmation of (b) above from each of the seven Constituent Local Authorities.

(2)       The WMCA borrowing cap was approved as agreed with HM Treasury as follows:

2018/19          £487.5m

2019/20          £662.9m

2020/21          £867.3m

(3)       Delegated authority was given to the WMCA Section 151 officer together with the WMCA Monitoring Officer, subject to consultation with the appropriate Portfolio Lead, to approve the amendment to the Key Route Network as detailed within the report, after receiving confirmation that the amendments had been approved by each Constituent Authority.

The report on the Commission on Gangs and Violence was noted, and the on-going participation in the Commission and the implementation of the report’s recommendations was agreed.

The minutes of the meeting were noted.

The minutes of the meeting were noted.

The minutes of the meeting were noted.

The date of the next meeting was noted.