Agenda and decisions

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor George Adamson (Cannock Chase), Councillor Adrian Andrew (Walsall), Councillor Peter Bilson (Wolverhampton), Jonathan Browning (Coventry & Warwickshire LEP), Councillor Tony Jefferson (Stratford-on-Avon), Tim Pile (Greater Birmingham & Solihull LEP) and Stewart Towe (Black Country LEP).

·         The Mayor welcomed Councillor Steve Trow to his first meeting, and thanked Councillor Steve Eling for all of the work he had undertaken supporting the WMCA.

·         The Mayor noted that this was the last meeting that Jerry Hutchinson, Chief Executive of North Warwickshire Borough Council, would be attending prior to his retirement. He thanked him for his contributions to the work of the WMCA.

·         The Mayor noted that this was the last meeting Councillor Roger Lawrence would attend as Leader of the City of Wolverhampton Council and paid tribute to the work and achievements he made, particularly in respect of public transport improvements across the region.

The minutes were agreed as a correct record.

The forward plan of items to be reported to future meetings was noted.

(1)       The Final Draft Statutory Order received from the Home Office on 9 January 2019 was noted.

(2)       The WMCA’s consent to the laying of the Order in Parliament was confirmed.

(3)       The WMCA’s acceptance of the proposals set out in the report to provide additional constitutional provisions and deliver a Chief Fire Officer Framework of accountabilities in order to provide the necessary assurances required following receipt of the Final Statutory Order was confirmed, subject to the approval of constituent councils.

(4)       The Chief Executive and Monitoring Officer of the WMCA were given delegated authority to approve the draft Order received from Government in agreement with the Chief Fire Officer and Chair of the Fire & Rescue Authority, should there be any further non-material changes before the Order was laid.

(5)       A commitment to reviewing governance arrangements within the next

Mayoral term was confirmed.

The recommendations were not approved.

The financial position as at the end of January 2019 was noted.

(1)       The implementation of a new £70m investment fund targeted towards the residential sector as detailed within the report was approved.

(2)       A £70m extension of the existing £70m Commercial Investment Fund (total £140m) targeted towards the commercial sector as detailed within the report was approved.

(3)       The characteristics of each fund as summarised in Section 3 were approved.

(4)       It was agreed that the funds were to be operated by West Midlands Development Capital as outlined within the report, subject to the WMCA and West Midlands Development Capital coming to an agreement on fee levels as detailed in Section 4.

(5)       Authority was delegated to the WMCA Head of Governance and the Director of Housing & Regeneration to agree the fee payable to West Midlands Development Capital for fund management services, following the extension to the commercial funds, as detailed in Section 4.

(1)       The update on early progress and delivery plans of the WM5G project was noted.

(2)       The governance structure for the WM5G project as set out in the report was confirmed and approved, and permission was granted for the Joint Venture to be established and the Delivery Entity to commence operations.

(3)       The principles against which the governance, assurance, financial delegations and procurement of WM5G Ltd would be developed were confirmed and approved.

(4)       It was confirmed that the WMCA representative on the Joint Venture would have delegated authority to act on behalf of the Authority on any matters relating to the functions of the Joint Venture.

(3)       The Head of Governance was authorised to enter into all necessary agreements to give effect to the proposals set out in this report, as negotiated by the same and/or the Director of Public Service Reform as Project SRO.

(1)       The progress being made on delivering the Wednesbury to Brierley Hill Extension was noted.

(2)       The benefits the scheme would deliver to the Black Country and surrounding areas was noted.

(3)       The increase in the estimated outturn cost for the project to £449.5m, which delivered a Benefit Cost Ratio of 2.03:1 calculated in accordance with WebTAG was noted.

(4)       Dudley and Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Councils’ commitment to provide land, works and support services to the project which served to avoid costs of between £12m and £15m was noted.

(5)       The commitment of £207m of Transforming Cities funding made by the WMCA in December 2017 was noted.

(6)       The commitment of funding as set out in Section 8 of the report was approved, in particular:

·         confirming the commitment of £103m Investment Programme funding

·         confirming approval for Prudential Borrowing up to £157.1m.

(7)       Authority was delegated to officers as set out in Section 10.0 of the

report.

(1)       The aims set out in Section 4 that detailed the positive impact Park & Ride would have within the West Midlands wider Integrated Transport Strategy was agreed.

(2)       The policies set out in Section 4 (Table 1) to govern the future development, funding and management of Park & Ride was agreed.

(3)       The principles set out in Section 5 for taking forward a site by site review of potential schemes to implement charging and space booking infrastructure for Park & Ride was agreed.

(4)       The principles set out in Section 5 for the development of any currently uncommitted future Park & Ride proposals was agreed.

(5)       The progression of a development framework and funded implementation plan for future Park & Ride by Transport for West Midlands in partnership with the local authorities was approved.

(6)       It was noted that the proposed approach followed the direction of the 8 February 2019 WMCA Board in respect of developing options for potentially introducing parking charges at existing Park & Ride sites.

(1)       The balanced programme and indicative allocations of Transforming Cities Fund 2 resources as set out in section 6 was approved.

(2)       The approach for developing and managing the Transforming Cities Fund 2 allocations as set out in section 7 was approved.

(3)       The interrelationship between the recommendations detailed above and the funding challenge relating to the Investment Programme and existing HS2 Connectivity Package schemes, as detailed within the Financial Implications, was noted.

(1)       The scope of the proposed Future Mobility Programme as described in Section 7.0 & 8.0, which would be confirmed in the final grant agreement to be entered into with the Department for Transport, was approved.

(2)       The delegation of authority to officers as set out in Section 9.0 of the report was approved.

(3)       The timescales and funding mechanism set-out in Section 5.0 as a ring-fenced Capital and Revenue top-up to the Transforming Cities Fund was noted.

(4)       The proposed further bid for additional funding from the remaining national allocation of £70m for Future Mobility Zones, which if successful would build on foundations laid by the first round of funding, was noted.

(1)       Approval was granted (noting the required consultation with operators) to introduce a local travel concession commencing on 7 July 2019 for women in the West Midlands most affected by the 2011 Pensions Act which accelerated the increase in the state pension age from 2016.

(2)       The forecast costs for the selected scheme option, which was funded from within the overall Transport Delivery budget, was approved.

(3)       Agreement would be sought on the recommended scheme option 1 from those presented in the report and it was agreed that eligibility would be based from the Pensions Act 1995 (applicable if the scheme was to be extended beyond its proposed 15 month period).

The minutes were noted.

The minutes were noted.

The minutes were approved.

The minutes were noted.

The minutes were noted.

The minutes were approved.

The minutes were noted.

The date of the next meeting was noted.

In accordance with s100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the following item(s) of business as it is likely to involve the disclosure of exempt information as specified in paragraphs 3 and 5 of the Act.

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

(1)       It was noted that the report had been considered, and the broad contents endorsed for submission to the WMCA Board, by the Programme Board, the Housing & Land Delivery Board and Housing & Land Delivery Steering Group.

(2)       The key operational principles proposed in the report of the Housing and

Land Single Commissioning Framework, as agreed by the Programme Board and the Housing & Land Delivery Board, were approved.

(3)       Authority was delegated to the Director of Housing & Regeneration, the Director of Finance and the Head of Governance, in consultation with the portfolio holder for Housing & Land, for the drafting and approval of the detailed Housing and Land Single Commissioning Framework, subject to it being consistent with the key operational principles, weighting and criteria proposed in the report.