Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Cllr Steve Mackay, Tim Reid (Church Representative) and Mark Hughes (Parent Governor Representative).

None.

Members of the public wishing to take part should notify the Assistant Director for Legal and Governance in writing or by e-mail indicating the nature and content of their proposed participation no later than 9.00am on the working day before the meeting (in this case 28 September 2022).  Enquiries can be made through the telephone number/e-mail address below.

None.

(previously circulated)

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 20 July 2022 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

In attendance for this discussion:

Julie Snell, Interim Chairman, Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership (WLEP)

Gary Woodman, Chief Executive Officer, WLEP

Luke Willetts, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, WLEP

Steph Simcox, S151 Officer

Simon Geraghty, Vice-Chairman, WLEP

The Deputy Chief Executive introduced the annual update report on the achievements of the WLEP over the last 12 months and outlined the strategic objectives for 2022/23. In addition, an update on the WLEP Energy Strategy had been provided.

During the opportunity for discussion, the following main points were made:

Energy Strategy:

·       In response to a question about how the refresh of the Energy Strategy would impact on District Councils, the Board was advised that there were no plans to revise the 2030 Strategy but to wait for the outcome of Governments National Review.

·       A Member referred to the Burcot Lane housing scheme, which had delivered 61 energy efficient housing units in Bromsgrove and questioned whether there were more plans for North Worcestershire. It was confirmed that there were decarbonisation plans and opportunities to be explored via the Salix Scheme.

·       Paragraph 39 of the Agenda Report was referred to and a Member queried whether there would be any support for landowners to change land use eg to solar or wind farms. In response the Board was advised that a number of options were being investigated and that the WLEP was technology-agnostic and was not wedded to promoting one energy source or solution above others. Locally, significant progress had been made eg Worcester Bosch had produced renewable boilers and Redditch was using a hydrogen waste vehicle.

·       A Member referred to Offenham Geo-thermal Survey and questioned whether there had been any commercial interest. It was confirmed that the Survey had been used to apply for Government feasibility funding. Worcester City and Kidderminster had the most potential, Offenham less so as the extraction costs and risks were very high. At the current time Offenham didn’t have a live project associated with it.

·       Paragraph 35 and 36 of the Agenda Report was referred to which referred FAUN Zoeller, a German-owned Refuse Collection Vehicle (RCV) manufacturer based in Redditch which had been explored to understand the potential for a Hydrogen Economy in Worcestershire. The Hydrogen Consortium had a proposal to develop hydrogen fuel-cell and EV Refuse Collection vehicles to decarbonise the County’s Waste Services. Unfortunately, the proposal had not been adopted to date, primarily due to lack of investment.  However, the WLEP were having further discussions with conversations with FAUN Zoeller at the end of October.

Other Discussion Points:

·       A Member questioned the progress made with dualling the North Cotswold Line. The Vice-Chairman of the WLEP (and Leader of the Council) confirmed that the County Council were hosting a 5 counties partnership (including Oxfordshire, Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, Warwickshire) and that this was a key project that was still moving forward but there would come a point at which it would be for the rail industry and Government to deliver on.

·       Reference was made to a recent announcement that there would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1275.

The Assistant Director for Communities introduced the Report and recapped on the Family Visa and Homes for Ukraine Sponsorship Schemes and talked through the data and detail provided in the Report.

During the discussion, the following main points were made:

·       Modern slavery/exploitation of Ukrainian guests was a concern but a number of checks were carried out on hosts and accommodation to mitigate the opportunity for this happen and for any issues identified to be dealt with quickly.  There were very few issues in Worcestershire but if identified, District Councils were acting quickly.

·       It was confirmed that the Council was working with District Councils to ensure Ukrainian guests had access to sport and leisure facilities.

·       A Member expressed concern about the already very long waiting lists for social housing in district areas and the impact this would have on those guests who may wish to remain in the County long term.  The Assistant Director acknowledged that this was one of the biggest challenges. A Member suggested that it was important to lobby central Government to support local authorities to address these big issues.

·       There were 130 guests in the Family Scheme in Worcestershire.

·       It was confirmed that the £10,500 per person provided to Local Authorities was pooled to ensure that it could be allocated as needed. 

·       Payment of the funding to the Council was done in arrears. Quarter 1 had been received and Quarter 2 was expected soon.

·       In response to a Member question about the number of Ukrainian guests available to work in Worcestershire, the Assistant Director explained that the exact figure was unknown as the skills sets of the guests was an unknown, although in time the District Council Support Workers would be able to identify work age adults.

·       A concern was expressed about other nationals who fearing wars had fled to Ukraine and were now displaced again.

A further update on the situation would be provided in 6 months’ time.

The Scrutiny Panel Chairmen/Lead Members provided an update on recent Scrutiny meetings and activities.

Adult Care and Wellbeing Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Cllr Shirley Webb)

The Panels last meeting had included updates on:

·         Performance and 2022-23 In-Year Budget Monitoring

·         Compliments and Complaints for Adult Services

Children and Families Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Cllr David Chambers, Vice-Chairman of the Panel)

The Panel’s last meeting had included updates on:

·      Supporting Families First which was working well to support families on the edge of care.

·      Performance and 2022-23 In-Year Budget Monitoring - the full-year Worcestershire Children First (WCF) budget was currently £136m of which over half was the ‘demand led’ budgets of Placements and Home to School Transport. There was a risk on placements which could exceed the budget for 2022/23 of around £2m - £3m and this would be mitigated by the £1.9m risk reserve. Close monitoring would be required during the year.

·     Child and Adolescent Mental Health Scrutiny Task Group – the evidence gathering for this work had concluded and a draft report was being worked upon with the aim of reporting to the December meeting of OSPB.

Corporate and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Cllr Emma Stokes)

The Chairman provided feedback from the Panel’s recent meeting and commented on the lack of availability of some Panel members for meetings.  It was suggested that consideration should be given to amending the Constitution to allow substitution of members on Scrutiny bodies.

The Panel planned had to meet informally at Redditch Library in September, ahead of a formal meeting to discuss proposals for the library, however this was being rearranged due to the timescale for Cabinet Reporting and would take place in October instead. 

The Panel received a report onGypsy, Roma and Traveller Services.

With reference to performance information, the Panel was planning to trial Power-BI to review its performance information.

Crime and Disorder (Cllr Richard Udall)

The next meeting of the Board (20 October) was the Annual Crime and Disorder meeting and in addition to the update on Community Safety matters in the County, there would also be an update on the Community Speed Watch Scheme.

S278 Scrutiny Task Group

The work of this Task Group was ongoing.

Due to the period of mourning following the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the September meeting of the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee had been cancelled and the Environment Overview and Scrutiny Panel had been rearranged.

Work Programme and Cabinet Forward Plan

It was noted that Worcestershire Streetscape Design Guide Approval was on the Cabinet Forward Plan for December 2022. Concern was expressed that Cabinet Member briefings were not taking place and if they had been, this issue would have been on Members’ radar and allowed for pre-scrutiny by the Environment Overview and Scrutiny Panel.  The Chairman of this Panel requested that the briefings were reinstated as soon as possible.  The Democratic Governance and Scrutiny Manager agreed to look into this matter.

In response to a Member request, it  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1277.