Agenda, decisions and minutes

Apologies for absence had been received from Councillor Swift, Councillor Pandor, and Councillor Jeffery.

There were no declarations of pecuniary interests at the meeting.

There were no items that required the exemption of the press and public.

Resolved: That the minutes of the last meeting be approved.

Members considered a report that provided an update on 2022/23 financial performance.

Members noted that the revenue budget was being reforecast based on quarter 2 and inflation as well as the fiscal event on 17 November. The Authority was on course to balance the budgets and some non-recurring saving could be used to counterbalance other increases.

Bus tendered services continued to be monitored and was in line with budget this detail was attached at appendix 1 to the submitted report

Members anticipated the financial statement on the 17 November and called on the Government for financial leadership and to recognise the value of devolved authorities.

An update on progress across programmes at quarter 2 was provided and members noted that due to inflationary pressures all projects had been asked to value engineer which meant that they would be in the design phase for longer resulting in an underspend in the quarter.

Resolved: That the report be noted

That the Committee recommends to the Combined Authority that the projects listed in current Appendix 1 are paused and pipelined.

That the Committee recommends to the Combined Authority the new indicative allocations identified in Appendix 2.

That the Committee recommends to the Combined Authority that the projects identified in Appendix 1 continue to develop to the next identified decision point and the additional development costs to do this are approved.

That the Committee recommends to the Combined Authority that the rebaselined milestones for TF and TCF projects can be approved as set out in Appendices 3 and 4.

That the Committee recommends that the CA approves the recommendations in this report and that no further approvals for the changes requested will be required through the Assurance Framework and that projects continue on their approval pathways and routes to the next decision point.

Members considered a report which set out the Combined Authority’s response to inflationary pressures on transport projects.

Members noted that the Combined Authority had worked closely with partner councils to assess projects for financial viability, deliverability, and strategic fit.

It was proposed that several schemes be paused, pipelined, or developed over longer timeframes to release of costs from the current programmes of around £270m and ease the immediate pressure on budgets.

Members discussed that the schemes would be developed over a longer timeframe would mean that more shovel ready schemes are in the pipeline and ready to proceed once alternate funding opportunities had been identified.

Resolved:

(i)               That the Committee recommends to the Combined Authority that the projects listed in current Appendix 1 are paused and pipelined.

(ii)              That the Committee recommends to the Combined Authority the new indicative allocations identified in Appendix 2.

(iii)            That the Committee recommends to the Combined Authority that the projects identified in Appendix 1 continue to develop to the next identified decision point and the additional development costs to do this are approved.

(iv)            That the Committee recommends to the Combined Authority that the rebaselined milestones for TF and TCF projects can be approved as set out in Appendices 3 and 4.

(v)             That the Committee recommends that the CA approves the recommendations in this report and that no further approvals for the changes requested will be required through the Assurance Framework and that projects continue on their approval pathways and routes to the next decision point.

Members are asked to consider the contents of the report including the Corporate Key Performance Indicator Quarter 2 dashboard and case study detailed at Appendix 2.

The committee considered a report which set out the Key Performance Indicators for quarter 2. A case study from KPI W3 ‘Number of businesses supported to engage with employment and skills programme’ was attached at appendix 2.

Members noted that the 2022-23 Business Plans had been re-visited during Quarter 2, to allow for factors impacting on delivery such as the cost of living crisis, rising fuel costs and new and emerging areas of work. This would inform the budget and business planning process for 2023-24 and a draft Budget and Business Plans would be brought to the Combined Authority Meeting on 8 December.

Resolved: Members are asked to consider the contents of the report including the Corporate Key Performance Indicator Quarter 2 dashboard and case study detailed at Appendix 2.