Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Roger Marsh.

There were no pecuniary interests declared by members at the meeting.

There were no items on the agenda requiring exclusion of the press and public.

Copy attached.

Resolved:  That the minutes of the West Yorkshire and York Investment Committee held on 16 June 2017 be approved and signed by the Chair.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Resources which sought:

·         To appoint an advisory sub-committee of the West Yorkshire & York Investment Committee, the Investment Panel.

·         To appoint members to the Investment Panel.

·         To appoint the chair of the Investment Panel.

It was reported that WYCA had previously considered as part of the review of Leeds City Region governance arrangements the integration of LEP Panels into WYCA’s decision making structure.  It was proposed that the LEP’s Investment Panel be appointed by the West Yorkshire and York Investment Committee as an advisory sub-committee with effect from 1 September 2017. 

The terms of reference and membership for the Panel were attached at Appendices 1 and 2 of the submitted report.  It was noted that there were currently two vacancies in respect of the private sector representatives and a recruitment exercise would need to be undertaken.  It was proposed that this would be included in a wider recruitment exercise for the vacancies across all the new advisory Panels and the Head of Legal and Governance Services has been given delegated authority by WYCA to facilitate this.  It was proposed that the process included any recruitment necessary for the Investment Panel in due course.  Any further appointments would be made by the Committee.  Members asked to be provided with details of the private sector vacancies and recruitment process so that they could circulate these to their contacts in the business community.

Resolved:

(i)         That the Investment Panel be appointed on the terms of reference set out in

            Appendix 1 to the submitted report with effect from 1 September 2017, and

            with a quorum of 4 voting members, to include 1 WYCA member or local

            authority co-optee and 1 private sector representative.

(ii)        That in accordance with S17 Local Government and Housing Act 1989 WYCA

            members be appointed to the Investment Panel, as set out in Appendix 2 to

 the submitted report and other voting members to the Panel as set out in

that Appendix.

(iii)       That Councillor Judith Blake be appointed as Chair of the Investment Panel

            with effect from 1 September 2017.

(iv)       That authority be delegated to the Head of Legal and Governance Services to

            facilitate a recruitment exercise in respect of any private sector vacancies

            arising on the Panel, with any appointments to be made by the Committee in

            due course.

(v)        That members of the Committee be provided with details of the private

            sector vacancies and recruitment process when available.

(vi)       That the Panel meets on the dates set out in the calendar considered by

            WYCA at the Annual Meeting.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Delivery which provided an update on progress made towards the achievement of Key Performance Indicators and on the implementation of the Growth Deal programme.

Members discussed changes which had been made to the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) which had previously been considered by the Committee and the resourcing issues to be addressed in order to deliver projects within the timeframe.        Details were highlighted in Annex A, Leeds City Region Action Plan, which was circulated at the meeting and included targets and milestones.

The Growth Deal Dashboard and Pipeline were attached at Appendix 1 and 2 of the submitted report.  It was noted that the forecast spend was currently £95.34m against the annual target of £100.15m;  this reduction was due to the changes made to forecast expenditure and the shortfall will be addressed through changes in project spend during the year and the development of projects in the pipeline.

The Committee noted the 4 projects currently assessed as red rated and these would be considered at a future meeting.

Resolved: 

(i)         That the changes to the KPIs as detailed in Annex A, which was circulated at

            the meeting, be noted.

(ii)        That the progress towards achievement of the KPIs and the implementation

of the Growth Deal be noted.

The Committee considered a report on proposals for the progression of, and funding for, a number of West Yorkshire plus Transport Fund and Growth Deal projects at Stages 1, 2 and 3 of the Assurance Process.

Members considered the following schemes which were detailed in the submitted report:

Members discussed the WY+TF Transformational Schemes.  It was agreed that in order to build on their success, it would be beneficial for case studies to be prepared for consideration at a future meeting.

The Committee was advised that the following the last meeting, decisions regarding the following two schemes had been exercised through delegation to WYCA’s Managing Director:

Details of both schemes were outlined in the submitted report and summaries of the business cases were attached as appendices. 

Resolved:

(i)      That in respect of West Yorkshire Plus Transport Fund Transformational Schemes - Wakefield South Featherstone Link Road, the Investment

Committee recommends to WYCA that funding of £284k is approved for the Wakefield South Featherstone Link Road scheme to progress through

Decision Point 2 and develop a Strategic Case for the Transformational

Project. In addition, that Investment Committee recommends to WYCA that WYCA enter into a Funding Agreement with Wakefield Council for

expenditure of up to £284K from the West Yorkshire Plus Transport Fund.

(ii)     That in respect of West Yorkshire Plus Transport Fund Transformational Schemes - York Outer Ring Road Dualling, the Investment Committee recommends to WYCA that funding of £295k is approved for the York Outer Ring Road Dualling scheme to progress through Decision Point 2 and

develop a Strategic Case for the Transformational Project. In addition, that Investment Committee recommends to WYCA that WYCA enter into a

Funding Agreement with York Council for expenditure of up to £295K from

the West Yorkshire Plus Transport Fund.

(iii)    That in respect of West Yorkshire Plus Transport Fund Transformational

          Schemes - North Kirklees Orbital Route, the Investment Committee

          recommends to WYCA that funding of £248k is approved for the North

          Kirklees Orbital Route scheme to progress through Decision Point 2 to

          develop a Strategic Case for the Transformational Project. In addition, that 

          the Investment Committee recommends to WYCA that WYCA enter into a

          Funding Agreement with Kirklees Council for expenditure of up to £248K

          from the West Yorkshire Plus Transport Fund.

(iv)    In respect of WYCA’s Portfolio Information Management System, the

          Investment Committee recommends to WYCA that:

·                the Portfolio Information Management System (PIMS)  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Resources in respect of the plan being developed to address the skills shortage in Leeds City Region and to consider progressing the project to the next stage.

It was recognised that there was a Project Management (and Digital Programmer/Data Analyst) skills shortage across the West Yorkshire region and a national shortage of civil engineers.  The Committee debated the challenges faced by WYCA and the District Councils in recruiting and retaining the right people to deliver the schemes and the short and medium term solutions being proposed to address this were outlined in the submitted report.  Members also discussed the importance of continuing professional development (CPD), the need to promote WYCA’s role more widely, collaborative working with partners and apprenticeships including the use of the apprenticeship levy.

Members considered an Action Plan which outlined the work being undertaken and planned actions.  It was suggested that WYCA liaise with the Regional Flood & Coastal Committee who were also experience skills shortages and considering a similar approach to address the issue. 

It was agreed that work would continue to develop the strategy and a progress report would be provided to the meeting scheduled for 9 November 2017.

Resolved:  That a strategy be developed to address the skills shortage in the Leeds City Region and an update be provided to the meeting of the Committee scheduled

for 9 November 2017.