Venue: Committee Rooms 6/7, Leeds Civic Hall, Calverley St, Leeds, LS1 1UR
Contact: Scrutiny Unit, Legal & Governance Services
Note: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbIjctJhxBw
Items
No. |
Item |
1. |
Apologies for absence
To note apologies for absence
and confirm the quorum of 11 members is met.
Minutes:
Apologies for absence were
received from Councillors Zafar Iqbal, Manisha Kaushik, and Olivia
Rowley.
The meeting was confirmed as
quorate, with 12 members present out of 11 needed for
quorum.
|
2. |
Declarations of Disclosable Pecuniary Interests
Minutes:
There were no declarations of disclosable pecuniary
interests.
|
3. |
Possible exclusion of the press and public
Minutes:
There were no items requiring the exclusion of the press
and public.
|
4. |
Notes of the inquorate meeting held on 22 September 2021 PDF 306 KB
Minutes:
That the notes of the inquorate meeting held on 22
September 2021 be noted and entered as public record of what was
discussed.
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5. |
Scrutiny and governance arrangements PDF 228 KB
Minutes:
The Committee considered a report of the Statutory Scrutiny
Officer outlining membership changes since the last meeting and
amendments to Scrutiny Standing Orders section on substitute rules
to be proposed to the Combined Authority on 9 December.
The Chair welcomed new members Councillors Tony Hames and Tony Wallis,
representing Wakefield Council, to the committee.
Resolved: That the report be noted.
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6. |
Chair's comments and update
Minutes:
The Committee received a verbal
update from the Chair on his activity since the last meeting and a
number of matters, including:
- The three Scrutiny
Chairs have written a joint letter with Mayor Tracy Brabin to the
Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing & Local
Government, Michael Gove, asking him to consider lowering statutory
quorum requirements for combined authority scrutiny and allowing
remote or hybrid meetings.
- Meeting with Mayor
Brabin 1-1 to discuss the economy scrutiny workplan and the
committee’s plans for the year. The Mayor outlined her own
plans and expressed support for scrutiny’s critical friend
role. The Chair reiterated that non-partisan nature of scrutiny and
his desire that it focus on outcomes and performance rather than
making policy or acting as an opposition to the mayor. The
committee’s concerns on rural issues, housing/planning,
mayoral powers and mayoral economic pledges were also
discussed.
Resolved: That the Chair’s verbal update be noted.
|
7. |
Economy Scrutiny Work Programme PDF 134 KB
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Committee considered a
report of the Statutory Scrutiny Officer outlining the 2021/22 Work
Programme which was based on the discussion held at the previous
inquorate meeting and subsequent conversations with directors and
heads of service.
The Chair confirmed he would
like to go ahead with a workshop in February focusing on Inward
Investment strategy and activity, with a focus on Channel 4 as a
case study.
Members suggested that the
COVID economic recovery item involve some discussion on the growth
of the green sector, in particular solar and renewable energy, and
difficulties in recruiting people with the right skills.
Resolved:
i)
That a virtual workshop focusing on Inward
Investment strategy and activity, with Channel 4 bid as a case
study, be arranged for mid-February 2022.
That the appended 2021/22 Work
Programme be approved.
|
8. |
COVID-19 Economic Recovery Plan PDF 303 KB
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Committee considered a
joint report of the Director of Economic Services and Director of
Policy & Development providing an overview of the current COVID
Economic Recovery Plan, considered and approved by the Combined
Authority at its last meeting, and a general update on current
economic data and trends.
Discussion took place, and points were raised, around the
following topics:
- Business support
schemes – advice, planning and
networking: Business Growth Managers,
based in the partner councils, act as ‘business GPs’
and a first port of call for businesses to receive a diagnosis
before being directed to the right place amongst a suite of support
avenues. Many businesses would benefit from a level of support for
long-term planning e.g. growing sustainably, finding people with
the right skills etc. A peer learning and networking for businesses
is currently in operation, where more experienced businesses can
advise growing ones. There are other programmes which target that
level of support, in advice, or finding premises/staff, rather than
just funding.
- Access to
funding: This remains one of the biggest
challenges and barriers facing both new and growing businesses and
existing and established businesses. Most of the schemes and
programmes seek to provide funding in some capacity from smaller
cash grants to larger capital loans. A lot of the COVID stop-gap
schemes were delivered through LEPs and combined authorities’
business support schemes and teams. Another issue is banks, which
are private entities, and began restricting credit and loan
facilities at the height of the pandemic crisis. Some work was
undertaken by local stakeholders, like the LEP Chair Roger Marsh to
lobby banks to be more understanding. Ultimately, the newer and
smaller ‘challenger’ banks saw a market opportunity to
provide this funding and this caused the bigger banks to respond.
There is a need to explore locally owned and managed sources of
funding, to lower reliance on international banks.
- Entrepreneurship
Programme – target audience and
promotion:
There is a concern that self-employment options are pushed for
target delivery reasons in place of more stable and long-term
employment options, which can be harder to find and attain. There
are well understood ‘success factors’ to
entrepreneurial routes and the programmes seeks to target people
who have multiple factors, but just need support on one or two.
Schools are often resistant, but for many students, the subjects
they excel in might be the right to be successful in business
– with the right support and advice, no different to any
other career. More success is gained convincing schools when
business skills are more strongly related to taught subjects, such
as maths and accounting/audit, or English literature/language to
advertising/marketing.
- Fair wages and
working conditions: Although different
people have different requirements in work, and flexible (or
‘gig) work might suit many, there are reports that some
employers exploit self-employed status for their workers. It is
difficult to identify exactly which companies are engaging in such
practices, but work is underway on a ‘Fair Work
Charter’ and fair pay promotion ...
view the full minutes text for item 8.
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9. |
Date of the next meeting - 19 January 2022
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