Agenda and minutes

None.

The minutes of the meeting held on 25 July 2018 were approved as a true and accurate record, subject to the following amendments:

·             Item 3 ‘ Public Services Board – Single Integrated Plan Annual Report 2017/18 – The Thee Lead informed the Committee that these figures were just from the Partnership work completed and did not include Health Board only work.

Members commended the Scrutiny Team upon the level of detail in the Minutes, in which they found the level of information helpful to reflect back upon in the future.

Reference was made to the debate at Council when the nomination to the Cardiff Capital Region City Deal Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee had been approved. The Scrutiny Adviser clarified that the Committee had been advised in its April meeting as part of the Work Programme Update that a report was expected regarding arrangements for the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee and Members had discussed the potential nomination to the Joint Committee. Subsequently, Committee Members had been sent an email giving them the opportunity to request a special meeting of the Committee to formally consider and debate the Committee’s nomination, prior to the Council meeting. All Members expressed their support for the nomination of this Committee’s Chair to be submitted to Council for consideration and approval, and this was subsequently supported and adopted by Council in September.

The Chair presented a brief overview to the Committee upon the first meeting of the Cardiff Capital Region City Deal Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee which took place on 15^th October 2018.

He advised that immediately before the first Joint Committee meeting, an overview of the Cardiff Capital Region City Deal was presented by Kellie Beirne - Programme Director, Elizabeth Weale – Solicitor – Operational Manager and Hrjinder Singh – Accountancy Manager. Members nominated by each of the 10 local authorities, their Deputies and Scrutiny Officers were in attendance for the Briefing which included: the Purpose of the City Deal; Governance Framework; the Decision Making Process, and; a comprehensive report from the Accountancy Manager which explained how the deal was funded, the finance from each local authority, the 5 year plan and assurance.

The Chair advised that there was a £1.2 billion fund, with £74 million being invested in the Metro system. A fund of 64 Million had been set up by Central Government for Regional Projects, and there were plans to approach this with a view to future funding bids being submitted by the City Deal.  The City Deal related in the main to projects that impact upon the whole City Deal geographical area e.g. the South Wales Metro which impacts upon that footprint and travel to work, and for leisure and tourism. Given the high level of investment within the City Deal and the number of key projects, this was an important role for the Joint Committee to scrutinise.

Members asked the following questions, which were answered by the Chair of the Committee, in the capacity of the Member nominated to the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee by Newport City Council:

·             As the Project is the first of its type in Wales, members queried how the funding would be spread across the 10 Authorities, and were there any Terms of Reference to state how everyone gets their fair share of the £64 billion fund. The Chair explained that the £64 Billion fund had been set up by Central Government for Regional Projects and that to date they had not been approached for Welsh projects for this funding, so the City  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

a)       Forward Work Programme Update (Appendix 1)

b)       Actions Arising (Appendix 2)

c)       Information Reports

d)       Scrutiny Letters / Public Service Board Minutes (Appendix 3)

a)     Forward Work Programme Update

The Scrutiny Adviser presented the Forward Work Programme Update and advised the Committee of the topics due to be discussed at the next two committee meetings:

Wednesday 9 January 2019, the agenda items;

·         Well-being Plan Mid-Year Performance

Wednesday 6 March 2019, the agenda items;

·         Violence against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (VAWDASV) Strategy;
The Committee requested that appropriate Partner Representatives e.g. Police, Public Health / PSB, be invited to attend for this item alongside the Newport City Council Officers indicated.

·         Education Achievement Service (EAS) Business Plan

She also advised that two Regional Reports that had been scheduled to be considered at the meeting today had been included for reference within the Committee’s Work Programme Update and would be rescheduled subject to the availability of the report from Regional Officers.

The Committee requested that the start time of the Well-being Plan and Well-being Assessment Briefing scheduled for 21 November be amended to 5pm.

The Scrutiny Adviser referred to the postponement of the Briefing upon NORSE and Newport LIVE, due to the high level of apologies received when it had been scheduled for 27 September.  Members requested that the Briefing be rescheduled between January and April 2019.

Members requested that Briefings be held on a Wednesday at 5pm and not the same week as Meetings of Council, to avoid two consecutive late night meetings.

A Member proposed that the Wastesavers Partnership be added to the Committee’s Forward Work Programme. Following discussion, the Committee requested a Briefing on an Overview of the Wastesavers Partnership be added to its Forward Work Programme to be arranged by April 2019, before considering whether    to include the topic in the Committee’s 2019/20 Forward Work Programme.

b)     Action Sheet

The Scrutiny Adviser presented the action sheet to the Committee and advised that as indicated in the table, four actions had been addressed and the information had been circulated to the Committee. She advised that the remaining action relating to the Single Integrated Plan - Nitrous Oxide Update would be chased and provided shortly and remain on the Action sheet until Members received the information. 

c)     Information Reports

There were no Information Reports to bring to the Committee’s attention.

d)     Scrutiny Letters

Members noted the Minutes of the Public Services Board held on 2 October 2018 and the response within the Minutes to the Committee’s comments upon the Single Integrated Plan - Annual Report which had been sent to the Public Services Board by Scrutiny Letter.