To update the committee on the planning for recovery, including the recent investment case submitted to Government and the annual state of the region analysis, including the impact of Covid-19.
Presented By:Julia Goldsworthy
Minutes:
The committee received an overview of the work undertaken to date to respond, support and accelerate economic recovery from the Director of Strategy. An overview of the State of Region report was provided which provided analysis of the region’s economic strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
The committee also received information on the emergency economic response and measures taken at a national, local, regional and sub-regional level. Members were given an overview of regions investment case to Government which set out the key immediate asks of the Government from the West Midlands which totalled £3.2bn of investment over a three-year period. It was also recognised that the West Midlands had secured up to £66m for schemes to drive economic recovery and six areas had been identified to reset, rebuild, recharge, create and safeguard jobs for the West Midlands economy.
The Chair stressed the importance of ensuring that the pursued methods of growth for the region reflected and addressed the inequalities, ensuring a difference was made to communities and local economy. Further to the announcement relating to the £66m of Government funding awarded to the West Midlands, the committee was keen to have sight of the criteria being used to assess approved schemes going forward for approval to Government.
Councillor Cathy Bayton raised concerned that the schemes being progressed did not adequately address the retail and hospitality industry and questioned as to why to the WMCA was seeking funding for a project such as the Creating Grand Central Diagnostics Hub at Birmingham New Street station that they had no responsibility over. The Director of Strategy assured the committee that schemes going forward were in collaboration with a range of institutions across the region and that the WMCA would often play a ‘convening’ role. The Director of Strategy undertook to confirm the delivering body for the diagnostics hub scheme.
Councillor Stephen Simkins indicated that work needed to be undertaken to address the delivery and financial impact the scheme being considered would have on local authorities, which were themselves facing financial pressures. The Director of Strategy understood the committee’s concerns that the schemes taken forward did not address all areas, but the Recharge for West Midlands investment case was focused on projects that could be delivered within the current financial year, would deliver immediate impact in the real economy and would help the Governments priority of ‘levelling-up.
Councillor Cathy Bayton noted that a number of projects within the asks of Government, including the Dudley Interchange and Very Light Rail schemes, were essential projects to support local economic recovery and redevelopment and had previously been supported by the WMCA. The implications of these schemes now losing out on funding to other schemes would be significant. Councillor Angus Lees endorsed these comments. The Chair undertook to speak further with Black Country representatives on this committee about this issue.
Members of the committee stressed the importance of ensuring clarity between those scheme with existing funding commitments and those that were seeking the new funding sources targeted at post-Covid-19 regional economic regeneration.
The committee discussed a number of work areas it wished to purse during the year. These included assessing the extend that projects contained within the Recharging the West Midlands investment case addressed structural needs within the region, ensuring that the brownfield land remediation funding contributed to local housing need, and a tracking document that mapped Government funding allocations against the ‘asks’ made with the regional investment case.
In addition, the Director of Strategy was asked to provide further details on the favourable assessment of achieving zero hunger within the State of the Region report, given the experiences of communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
It be recommended to the WMCA Board that:
(1) The report be noted.
(2) Further work be undertaken to develop the actions and workstreams identified by members into a work programme for the committee for the coming year.