Agenda and decisions

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Adrian Andrew (Walsall), Jonathan Browning (Coventry & Warwickshire LEP), Councillor Shaun Davies (Telford & Wrekin), Councillor Steve Eling (Sandwell), David Jamieson (Police & Crime Commissioner), Councillor Tony Jefferson (Stratford-on-Avon), Councillor Peter Nutting (Shropshire), Tim Pile (Greater Birmingham & Solihull LEP), Councillor Bob Sleigh (Solihull) and Stewart Towe (Black Country LEP).

·         The Chair welcomed the recent announcement of a Skills Deal with the Government that would result in over £100m of investment to support skills within the region, including apprenticeships for SMEs, digital skills and more experience and careers skills support for young people.

·         The Chair congratulated Tim Johnson on his recent appointment as the new Managing Director of the City of Wolverhampton Council.

The minutes were agreed as a correct record.

The plan of items to be reported to future meetings of the WMCA Board was noted.

(1)       Councillor Kath Hartley was appointed as chair of Transport Delivery Committee for 2018/19.

(2)       Councillor Roger Horton and Councillor Tim Huxtable were appointed as vice-chairs of Transport Delivery Committee for 2018/19.

(1)       The development of a Governance Review and Scheme to enable the proposed amalgamation of the functions of the West Midlands Police & Crime Commissioner into the Mayoralty for the elections to be held in 2020 was agreed.

(2)       A further report on the Governance Review and Scheme would be submitted to the WMCA Board on 14 September 2018.

(1)       The key findings from the ‘West Midlands State of the Region 2018’ report was noted.

(2)       The ongoing development of the key indicators was approved, so that they not only provided consistent reference to the Strategic Economic Plan, but also incorporated existing and evolving work, including evidence from the WMCA Productivity & Skills Commission, Inclusive Growth Unit, Local Industrial Strategy activity and Office of Data Analytics.

(3)       Delegated authority was given to the WMCA Programme Board to maintain a regular review of portfolio dashboards and responsibility to escalate to the WMCA Board where there were proposed actions for decision/matters of concern arising from them.

(1)       The revised membership and remit of the WMCA Environment Board was agreed.

(2)       Progress over the last nine months and emerging priorities was noted.

The financial position as at the end of May 2018 was noted.

(1)       The minutes of the meeting held on 4 June were noted.

(2)       The reduction of £8.3m in relation to Investment Programme commitments made by West Midlands Combined Authority was noted.

(2)       The out-turn against the Investment Programme for 2017/18 was noted.

(3)       The previous decision to exclude Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council from the Collective Investment Fund was revoked following WMCA acquiring the necessary borrowing powers.

(4)       The value of the Collective Investment Fund was increased from £60m to £70m following WMCA acquiring the necessary borrowing powers.

(5)       The principle of applying the Investment Programme Assurance Framework to Investment Programme schemes only was agreed.

(6)       The Investment Programme-related revenue expenditure for 2017/18 was noted.

The minutes of the meeting held on 11 June were noted.

(1)       The minutes of the meeting held on 21 June were noted.

(2)       The Director of Finance was authorised sign the letter of representation for WMCA and the West Midlands Integrated Transport Authority Pension Fund.

(3)       The annual accounts of the WMCA and the West Midlands Integrated Transport Authority Pension Fund were approved.

(4)       The Audit Findings report presented by Grant Thornton was noted.

(5)       It was noted that Grant Thornton proposed to issue an unqualified audit opinion on the accounts.

(6)       Subject to there being no further issues raised by Grant Thornton, the Mayor and the Director of Finance were authorised to sign the accounts on behalf of the West Midlands Combined Authority.

The minutes of the meeting held on 4 July were noted.

[In accordance with s100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business as they are likely to involve the disclosure of exempt information as specified in paragraph 3 of the Act.]

The public and press were excluded for the remainder of the meeting.

(1)       Authority was delegated to the Director of Housing & Regeneration in consultation with the Portfolio Lead, the Director of Finance and the Monitoring Officer, to submit the final HIF Business Case to Government in August 2018, securing the investment agreed ‘in principle’.

(2)       The accelerated timetable the WMCA was working to for submission of the full HIF Business Case relative to other areas was noted, so that it received a positive investment decision in September 2018 in support of the Commonwealth Games.

(1)       It was agreed that a package of support be developed and implemented, including a financial support scheme that followed the NET Phase 2 principles which provided support to businesses directly affected by the construction of the extension to the Metro network.

(2)       The business support package (including financial support) approved by the WMCA Board was limited to the impact of works undertaken by the WMCA pursuant to its powers to construct Metro works under the Transport and Works Act.

(3)       Authority was delegated in principle to the Managing Director, TfWM and Director, West Midlands Metro to draw up and publish detailed scheme rules and defined boundaries within which the scheme would be operated.

(4)       It was noted that the overall cost of providing the business support and financial assistance was estimated to be £3.7m, which equated to approximately 0.25% of the programme cost.

(5)       Overview & Scrutiny Committee was requested to consider the report further, particularly in respect of the number of businesses likely to be covered by the scheme, the determination of the capping level, the calculations used for determining support, and the scheme’s funding arrangements.