Agenda item

The Committee considered a report and verbal update on the relevant monitoring indicators and performance to support the work of the Place, Regeneration and Housing Committee and was asked to note the latest updates to these indicators, and consider any decision within the context of the indicators

At the Place, Regeneration and Housing Committee meeting on 20 April 2022, it was agreed that the Research and Intelligence team would provide ongoing updates on the relevant indicators from the State of the Region report.

State of the Region 2022, due to be published in September 2022, will examine the full range of equality, diversity, and inclusion implications, building on the Women and Girls report published in 2021. The main report will be supplemented by a series of interactive dashboards, which will allow users to drill down into the available data for each indicator.

The report will assess performance against around 40 indicators linked to the seven corporate objectives of the Combined Authority. The key indicators for this committee are:

·       Healthy life expectancy – healthy life expectancy at birth in West Yorkshire is below the national average

·       Net additional dwellings – 2020/21 saw the lowest growth in net additional dwellings since 2014/15

·       Housing affordability – house prices are more affordable in all areas of West Yorkshire, relative to the England average

·       Rented housing costs – median rents for two-bed dwellings in Leeds are higher than the England average

·       Gigabit capable internet coverage1 - West Yorkshire outperforms the average with regard to gigabit capable internet coverage

·       Take-up of superfast (or above) broadband services – Take up levels are greater in West Yorkshire than the UK average

·       Mobile coverage (4G and 5G) – West Yorkshire’s 4G coverage is above the national average

·       Building energy efficiency2 - West Yorkshire homes with an energy performance certificate are less likely to have an efficiency rating of C or above compared to the national average

·       Households in fuel poverty – Households in West Yorkshire are more likely to be exposed to fuel poverty than the England average

It was requested that Healthy life expectancy in West Yorkshire data be shared with members.

Members expressed concerns about the escalating cost of living crisis and what can be done to raise the sense of urgency in a very clear way as this needs to be on the radar as a crisis.

To have the opportunity to understand the strengths and weakness and respond to the situation on the ground more detail is required to correctly understand the different elements. Officers said that more detail can be provided if members felt this would be helpful.

The Chair said this was a serious situation and asked that the Place, Regeneration and Housing Committee be informed of the outcome of the Combined Authority meeting and what realistically can be done as people are struggling and that for many households there is no money left after bills have been paid.

The Chair also asked that comments and discussion from the Place, Regeneration Committee be fed back to the mayor’s office and Combined Authority as an urgent item.

Officers responded to say that a report to provide information about the latest economic and business intelligence within West Yorkshire, focussing primarily on the issues relating to the cost-of-living crisis across the economy and the upcoming increase in energy crisis is to be discussed at the Combined Authority meeting scheduled for 9 September 2022.  The report will set out the current and upcoming work at the regional and local levels to address the crisis and will outline key asks of the government. The Combined Authority will be asked to note the latest intelligence around the West Yorkshire Economy and the current proposed activity taking place locally and nationally and the proposed next steps for action and to approve in principal proposals to help people through the cost-of-living crisis.

The Mayor is to launch a public transport scheme which will set the maximum single day bus fare to £2.00 to apply from 4 September 2022 to help with the cost of travel and assist with the cost-of-living crisis.  Members commented that this was good but that in rural areas of West Yorkshire there are no buses and that a lot of work to be done.

It was questioned if the focus on energy efficiency has now risen to the top of the agenda and if more can be done on green economy. Officers said that this was a good point and that as European funding has now come to an end the ReBiz (Resource Efficiency & Circular Economy) programme will offer businesses free efficiency audits and consultancy advice, business-support and up to 40% capital grant funding. The programme can help businesses reduce energy consumption, increase environmental performance, realise carbon savings, and increase recycling and reuse activities

Resolved:

(i)             That the contents of the report be noted.

(ii)            That the comments of the Committee and feedback be noted.