Issue - meetings

To receive and approve the Report of the Chief Executive (CX/18/1) with proposals for the Governance arrangements relating to the Local Industrial Strategy, together with the Minute 265 (a-e) of the Cabinet held on 12 December 2018.

The Report is attached.

The Council considered the recommendations of the Cabinet held on 12 December 2018 relating to proposals for the Governance arrangements relating to the Local Industrial Strategy.

The Leader of the Council MOVED and Councillor McInnes SECONDED that the recommendations of Cabinet be approved and that Governance arrangements relating to the Local Industrial Strategy, as set out at Minute 265 of the Cabinet, be endorsed.

The motion was put to the vote and, nem con, declared CARRIED.

Report of the Chief Executive (CX/18/1) with proposals for the Governance arrangements relating to the Local Industrial Strategy, attached.

(Councillors Atkinson and Connett attended in accordance with Standing Order 25(2) and spoke to this item).

(Councillor Davis declared a personal interest in this matter by virtue of being the Exmoor National Park representative on the Joint Committee).

The Cabinet considered the Report of the Chief Executive (CX/18/1) with proposals for the Governance arrangements relating to the Local Industrial Strategy, circulated prior to the meeting in accordance with regulation 7(4) of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012.

The Cabinet noted that in January 2018, the HotSW Joint Committee had been formally established by the Councils and organisations involved since 2015 in the devolution partnership.  The Report summarised the progress made by the Committee over recent months in key areas of activity and set out actions proposed in the coming months.

The achievements of the arrangements were detailed including influencing Government, a list of ‘asks’ of Government being set out in Appendix A to the Report, approval of the HotSW Productivity Strategy with three strategic themes to improve productivity, endorsement of the Delivery Plan (which incorporated current as well as future, planned activity, a communications document to summarise the Delivery Plan was used with local MPs, Ministers and senior Government officials, work to influence the 2019 Spending Review and the anticipated launch of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, housing and a HotSW Housing Summit being held and a Housing Sector Task Force of strategic leaders and officers to develop a proposition to Government, work to secure a growth corridor study following discussions with the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC), the Brexit Resilience Opportunities Group, the establishment of the South West Peninsula Shadow Sub-National Transport Body (covering Somerset, Devon, Cornwall, Plymouth and Torbay) which would  develop a sub-national Transport Strategy to work with Government to deliver investment in  major transport infrastructure and the establishment of an independent Scrutiny Committee for the Local Enterprise Partnership.

The Report also outlined the next steps for the Joint Committee / LEP partnership to develop an investment framework for the Delivery Plan and review the roles and functions of both bodies through a governance review to acknowledge the revised and enhanced focus given to LEPs by the Government.

The inclusion of the HotSW LEP area in the second wave of areas to benefit from working with the Government to develop their Local Industrial Strategies (LIS) was a considerable achievement for the Joint Committee and the LEP, which would allow close working with Government to agree the long term transformational opportunities and focus on the foundations of productivity. The Joint Committee was ideally placed to provide both collective and Council level input into the development of the LIS, although final approval rested with the LEP.

The Joint Committee had monitored its budgetary position to provide assurance it was operating within budget.  The Report included a summary of the Committee’s current budget position for 2018/19, the Budget and Cost Sharing Agreement (B&CSA) and an indicative budget request for 2019/20 to Constituent Authorities.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 265