Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting and paid tribute to Cllr Andy Roberts who had recently passed away following a short illness. The Chairman invited everyone present to stand for a minute’s silence in Andy’s memory.

Apologies were received from Board Members Cllr Emma Stokes and Tim Reid, as well as from Councillor Simon Geraghty (Leader of Worcestershire County Council and Vice Chairman of the Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership (WLEP) Executive Board.

Cllr Tom Wells, Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Performance Board (OSPB), declared an interest as he was the Representative for South Worcestershire Local Authorities on the WLEP Board. Cllr Wells joined the witnesses from the WLEP to be available to respond to questions as appropriate.

Cllr James Stanley, Vice-Chairman Chaired Item 5 (WLEP Annual Report 2022/23).

Cllr Matt Dormer advised the Board that he was a substitute member of the WLEP Board (for Redditch Borough Council), although he believed he had only attended one meeting.

Members of the public wishing to take part should notify the Assistant Director for Legal and Governance in writing or by e-mail indicating both the nature and content of their proposed participation no later than 9.00am on the working day before the meeting (in this case 5 September 2023).  Further details are available on the Council's website.  Enquiries can also be made through the telephone number/e-mail address listed in this agenda and on the website.

None.

(previously circulated).

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 26 July 2023 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

In attendance for this item were:

Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership (WLEP)

Paul Walker, Chair

Gary Woodman, Chief Executive

Luke Willetts, Deputy Chief Executive Officer

Steph Simcox, S151 Officer

Witnesses

Cllr Tom Wells, WLEP Representative for South Worcestershire Local Authorities, and Leader of Malvern Hills District Council

Cllr Ben Hurdman, Vice Chairman of Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Wychavon District Council

Cllr Marjory Bisset, Joint Leader of Worcester City Council

The Vice Chairman Cllr James Stanley chaired this Agenda Item and introduced the guests from the Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership (WLEP), and from the District Councils.

The WLEP Chief Executive (CE) summarised the main points from the Agenda report. LEPs had existed for some time and in Worcestershire since 2011. The WLEP Strategic Plan set out key performance indicators up to 2025 and the refreshed economic strategy (the Plan for Growth) extended to 2040, therefore provided a long-term economic view.

The WLEP was involved in a long list of the work, which focused around the three themes of innovation, business environment and skills and these areas encapsulated much of the partnership’s work.

The Government’s policy on LEPs was changing and in August it had confirmed that core funding would be withdrawn from LEPs and functions transferred to upper tier local authorities (Worcestershire County Council for the WLEP) from April 2024.  However in Worcestershire, the good relationships in place meant that the way forward would be informed by discussion with partners and stakeholders. Importantly, it was highlighted that the business community valued the support and engagement provided rather than the actual source of funding.

There had been several changes to the WLEP Board including the new Chair.

The Chairman commented that the report was helpful in setting out the journey of the WLEP to date. Questions were invited and the following main points were made:

·         Several members had questions about the future of WLEP and how it would work, and the WLEP CE explained that the letter from the Government on 4 August (included at Appendix 1) referred to further guidance but this had not yet been received. The technical guidance already published stated that LEP functions would move to upper tier authorities although LEPs may choose to continue to operate and if upper tier local authorities continued using LEPs as a vehicle to continue delivery of these core functions, they were free to do so. The Government would therefore provide some revenue funding to support local authorities from 2024/25 to maintain delivery of functions and guidance would follow. The WLEP Board wanted to keep the current structure together by use of various funding sources to maintain the partnership structure and this was supported by the Council.

·         The WLEP Chair believed that improved relationships between local government and businesses was a direct result of the WLEP and it was therefore vital to sustain the partnerships and dialogue, regardless of the form it took, in order to continue to help the sector to grow.

·         The WLEP Chair also explained that the success of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1338.

Cllr Tom Wells took the Chair.

Member Updates

The Chairman explained that updates from Scrutiny Chairmen and the Lead member for Crime and Disorder would not be required since no meetings had taken place during August.

There were no Scrutiny Task Groups currently and whilst scrutiny officer resources were limited, there was some scope, therefore the Chairman invited suggestions which would then be discussed at the Board’s October meeting.

The Chairman invited suggestion for possible Task Group’s. Initial discussion by Board members identified the topics of:

Challenges for those with sight loss in accessing council services – a recent walkabout of Worcester city centre with the organisation Sight Concern had prompted questions about general access to services and Councils’ engagement with Sight Concern.

West Mercia Police staff morale

Traffic calming – to review the Council’s current policy including use of chicanes and speed bumps which had success in other countries, and use of 20 mph speed limits in residential areas.

It was agreed that an email would be sent to all councillors from the OSPB Chairman and Vice-Chairman to invite suggestions for the next scrutiny task group. 

Scrutiny Chairmen were also asked to seek suggestions from Panel and Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee members, and a reminder of the criteria used to determine a topic’s suitability for scrutiny, would be circulated.

Work Programme

The next Board meeting would be the annual crime and disorder meeting.

It was confirmed that Royal Mail and post offices had been added to the Work Programme for the Economy Overview and Scrutiny (O&S) Panel.

Regarding scrutiny of the Budget 2024/25, Board members were reminded of the areas for early budget scrutiny proposed by the Leader during his discussion with the Board in July, which Scrutiny Officers were now scheduling for September (December for home to school transport) with follow-up as required:

·         Cost pressures relating to Adult and Children’s Social Care placements.

·         Home to school transport.

·         Contract and pay inflation.

The Chairman of the Environment O&S Panel reported that his Panel had already written to the relevant Cabinet Member/s with Responsibility with comments around funding suggestions, and encouraged other Board members to do the same.

The Chairman thanked everyone for attending the meeting.