Agenda item

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.

The Cabinet noted that the Joint Committee had approved the B&CSA and all Section 151 Officers of the constituent authorities had been consulted on the contents.   

The Council was being asked to approve a budget contribution of £10,500 as a minimum to cover the costs of administering the Joint Committee. 

It was essential that the local authorities contributed to the development and approval of the LIS working in collaboration with the LEP, which was seen as a natural development of the Productivity Strategy and Delivery Plan for which the Joint Committee already had delegated authority. It was therefore appropriate to formally extend this authority to the development and approval of the LIS to the Joint Committee on behalf of the constituent authorities.  

The matter having been debated and the options and/or alternatives and other relevant factors (e.g. financial, sustainability (including carbon impact), risk management, equality and legal considerations and Public Health impact) set out in the Chief Executive’s Report and/or referred to above having been considered:

it was MOVED by Councillor Hart, SECONDED by Councillor McInnes, and

RESOLVED that the Cabinet recommends Council to:

(a) note the progress Report, setting out the work of the Heart of the South West (HotSW) Joint Committee since its establishment in March 2018;

(b) agree to delegate the development and endorsement of the HotSW Local Industrial Strategy (LIS) to the HotSW Joint Committee (noting that final approval of the HotSW LIS rests with the HotSW Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and the Government);

(c) agree the Budget and Cost-sharing Agreement attached as Appendix B to the Report;

(d) note that in accordance with the Budget and Cost-Sharing Agreement the Council will be asked to make an annual budgetary provision to meet the support costs of the Joint Committee in line with the 2018/19 contribution; and

(e) approve the sum of £10,500 as the Council’s contribution for 2019/20 noting this total budget will only cover the basis cost of servicing the Joint Committee and that, an in-year request for additional budget in support of its work would be subject to approval of a business case and only made in the event that other funding sources could not be identified.