Agenda item

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Policy, Strategy & Communications providing an overview of how delivering inclusive growth has progressed since it last came before the committee and the emerging work and priorities of the newly established Inclusive Growth and Public Policy Panel.

The following were in attendance for this item:

·         Ian Smyth, Head of Economic Policy

·         James Flanagan, Lead Policy Manager (Public Sector Reform)

In response to questions, the Committee learned that:           

·         The Inclusive Growth and Public Policy Panel is still in the early stages of coordinating and determining the regional picture with regards to inclusive growth activity and identifying areas of focus and cooperation.

·         The Panel's current working principle is to avoid duplication and instead identify good local programmes to assess the possibility of upscaling them for adoption across the region.

·         Another working principle of the Panel is in fostering cooperation and focusing on cross-cutting policy work streams. The Panel was given a particular mandate by the LEP and Combined Authority to consider, and work across, all policy areas with the hope of embedding inclusive growth in the policy framework and appraisal.

·         One particular priority the Panel identified early on is the correlation between deprivation and air quality and has sought to approach it as a 'joined up' cross-cutting area of work through the 'Healthy Streets' project which aims to create more accessible streets for pedestrians, promote air quality and health and reduce the number of cars.

·         Another example of a cross-cutting, cross-regional community focused area of work is the 'Inclusive Growth Corridors' project, which aims to connect deprived areas to growth opportunities that will emerge as a consequence of HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail. Further information on inclusive growth corridors can be circulated to interested Members.

·         Panel members and Combined Authority officers are approaching inclusive growth activity with the principle that they are programmes / projects being delivered with communities and not as actions being done to communities.

After discussion, the Committee concluded that:

·         The holistic approach in focusing on cross-cutting policy areas and including many organisations and partners regionally was a welcome and necessary principle. 

·         Inclusive growth policy and project activity should itself be inclusive and cooperative to avoid duplication and inter-regional competition. The Combined Authority should take care to ensure current emerging policy and activities link with the inclusive growth activity in local councils and with the work of other local partners e.g. any health inequality related policies should take into account current work by West Yorkshire Health Partnership. 

·         It is important to define inclusive growth in order to clearly identify and measure outcomes through the policy framework. The policy framework should also take into account secondary outcomes such as a reduction in asthma levels – not just in the number of deaths.

·         There is an opportunity through the cross-cutting 'joined up' inclusive growth policy work to more strongly link together policies which have been disjointed in the past, for instance linking planning and development to environmental impact, air quality, health and accessibility. 

·         The holistic approach could also be extended to and embedded within service delivery, not just policy development. Members suggested that service delivery teams could seek to 'cross-sell' services and support across Combined Authority / LEP activity e.g. 'Enterprise in Education' Coordinators who network within local schools could help introduce young people to other inclusive projects in due course and support that are not only skills / education focused.

·         While it noted the complexities around attaining inclusive growth and that the Inclusive Growth and Public Policy Panel's ambition to see early progress and impact, inclusive growth activity should take care to avoid overlooking certain areas and communities and maintain a focus on sustainable, long term outcomes.

Resolved: 

i)     That the report be noted and the Committee's feedback and conclusions be considered further. 

ii)    That more information about the 'inclusive growth corridors' project be circulated to interested Members and be considered in more detail at a future meeting.