Agenda item

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 Deal Officers would be arranging a meeting with a view to bidding in future.

·             Members asked how the Joint Committee would ensure projects were not Cardiff centric and that any of the proposed projects benefit the Newport area.  The Chair confirmed that the purpose of the project was to benefit the region as a whole, explaining that any projects in the region should benefit the other Authorities and therefore have a positive impact.

·             A Member asked for information about what would be scrutinised by the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee. The Chair clarified it was not possible to scrutinise all the projects as there would be 2 meetings in this financial year and no more than 4 meetings in the next financial year, and the focus would be on risk.  As initial development of its Forward Work Programme the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee had requested:

-        A site visit to the Semi-Conductor facility in Newport;

-        To scrutinise the Cardiff Capital Regional City Deal Business Plans;

-        A report upon the South Wales Metro System;

-        Briefings upon planned projects.

It was advised that the ten local Authorities’ responsibilities were set out in the Joint Working Agreement signed by each Local Authority.
 

·             Given the high level of funding and number of complex projects being operated under the City Deal, Members stressed the importance of ensuring Members of the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee had a good understanding of projects and finances. In order to scrutinise thoroughly and ensure funds are spent effectively Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee Members should be offered Financial Training, independent financial advice should be provided to the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee and advice and support could be sought from Wales Audit Office.

Conclusions:

1.     The Committee noted the update provided by the Chairperson following the first meeting of the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 15 October 2018 and recognised the importance of the joint scrutiny of the City Deal.

2.     The Scrutiny Adviser agreed to circulate the training slides to Members of the Committee, and the Minutes of the Joint Scrutiny Committee once they become available.

3.     The Committee would receive further updates following future meetings of the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee.