Decisions

The minutes were noted.

The date of the next meeting was noted.

The minutes were noted.

The minutes were noted.

The minutes were noted.

The minutes were noted.

The minutes were noted.

The minutes were approved.

The minutes were noted.

(1)       Progress in relation to awarding Adult Education Budget funding through grant making and procurement processes was noted.

(2)       Authority to carry out further procurement activity in-year was delegated to the Director of Productivity & Skills, in consultation with the Section 151 and Monitoring officers and the Portfolio Lead in line with the approach outlined in section 3.1 of the report.

(3)       The proposed changes to national funding policy as set out in section 4 of the report were agreed.

(1)       The progress that had been made in developing a regional approach to supporting inclusive growth was noted.

(2)       The Inclusive Growth Framework, Decision-Making Toolkit and policy tests were noted, and their application within local and regional initiatives was encouraged.

(3)       The WMCA and its Inclusive Growth Unit support the WMCA Board and partners to promote and embed inclusive growth over the next 12 months.

The report and the intention to establish an internationally significant National Centre for Construction and Development Excellence in Wolverhampton was endorsed.

(1)       The results of the bus byelaws consultation exercise was noted.

(2)       The next stages of work in completing a ‘Regulatory Assessment’ of proportionality and impact of the byelaws, taking account of stakeholder feedback and input from legal services, was supported.

(3)       The preparation and submission of the formal application to the relevant government department seeking approval for the byelaws to be made was approved.

(1)       The full business case for the delivery of the Regional Transport Co-ordination Centre was approved.

(2)       The allocation of up to £19.5m from the Transforming Cities Fund, comprised of £1.5m agreed at the WMCA Board meeting in November 2018 and an indicative £18.0m allocated in March 2019, to enable delivery was confirmed.

(3)       The intention for the revenue costs for the core team and operation of the Regional Transport Co-ordination Centre to be absorbed within existing WMCA resource levels was noted.

(4)       It was agreed that the delivery of highways investments for each local authority would be subject to grants being provided from the Transforming Cities Fund, which would be determined and governed by the WMCA/Transport for West Midlands and approved by each local authority’s formal approval processes. This would seek to present opportunities for revenue savings to be examined with each Local Authority to ensure that they are manageable within local authority budgets.

Martin Reeves, Chief Executive of Coventry City Council was appointed as the West Midlands Combined Authority Returning Officer.

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

The forward plan of items to be reported to future meetings was noted, subject to the addition of a report on the Social Economy Task Force being considered at the next meeting.

The minutes were agreed as a correct record.

·         The Mayor welcomed new members to the WMCA Board and thanked those members who were no longer a member of the WMCA Board for their past service.

·         The Mayor introduced Ian Martin, the WMCA’s recently appointed Director of Investments & Commercial Activity.

·         The Mayor thanked all those who were involved in the previous week’s successful launch of the Local Industrial Strategy.

·         The Mayor indicated that the 2019/20 Portfolio Lead responsibilities would be announced in the forthcoming week.

Jonathan Browning (Coventry & Warwickshire LEP), Councillor Shaun Davies (Telford & Wrekin), Councillor Patrick Harley (Dudley), Tim Pile (Greater Birmingham & Solihull LEP) and Councillor Qadar Zada (Dudley).