Issue - meetings

Alwen Williams (Portfolio Director and CJC Interim Chief Executive) and Geraint Owen (Corporate Director, Cyngor Gwynedd) to present the report.

To accept the update on work to establish the North Wales CJC including the transfer of the Growth Deal and progressing on tasks required to carry out the statutory duties of the CJC.

To agree to receive a report from the Portfolio Director at the next meeting of the Corporate Joint Committee providing a further update on the progress of the transition with reference to the Strategic Development Plan.

To authorise the Portfolio Director to agree a revised programme and transfer date with the Local Authorities and Higher and Further Education partners within the target date of 1 April 2025.

To approve an extension of the interim arrangement for the Portfolio Director of the Economic Ambition Board to assume the role of Chief Executive of the Corporate Joint Committee on an interim basis for two days a week up to 31 March 2025 or the transfer date, depending on which comes first.

The report was presented by Alwen Williams, Interim Chief Executive of the CJC and Dafydd Gibbard, Chief Executive, Cyngor Gwynedd.

RESOLVED:

To accept the progress update on work to establish the North Wales CJC including the transfer of the Growth Deal and progressing on tasks required to fulfil the statutory duties of the CJC.

To agree to receive a report from the Portfolio Director at the next meeting of the Corporate Joint Committee providing a further update on the progress of the transfer with reference to the Strategic Development Plan.

To authorise the Portfolio Director to agree a revised transfer programme and date with the Local Authorities and Higher and Further Education partners within the target date of 1 April 2025.

To approve an extension of the interim arrangement for the Portfolio Director of the Economic Ambition Board to assume the role of Chief Executive of the Corporate Joint Committee on an interim basis for two days a week up to 31 March 2025 or the transfer date, whichever comes first.

DISCUSSION

A summary of the report was provided, which presented a further update on the progress made to establish the Corporate Joint Committee and seeking approval to extend the arrangement whereby the Portfolio Director assumes the role of Interim Chief Executive for two days a week up to 31 March 2025 or the transfer date.

The CJC was reminded of the current arrangements, highlighting that the functions and arrangements of the Ambition Board were set out in GA2 which included the governance arrangements and financial support for the Growth Deal. It was explained that the Growth Deal and financial arrangements would transfer to the CJC, and the importance of regional joint working was emphasised so that partners agreed on arrangements for undertaking regional functions as part of establishing the CJC. It was confirmed that a precise transfer model would be agreed with partners as part of the next steps.

The officers detailed the key legal issues being developed in order to execute the transfer as set out in part 3.3 of the report, and they referenced the key areas of focus.

They explained why the provisional target date of 1^⁠st November that had been set for transferring functions from the Ambition Board to the North Wales Corporate Joint Committee was not achievable, and highlighted the key decisions that were required before transferring. They elaborated on the next steps of dealing with the legal, financial and governance arrangements to enable a successful transfer in future.

Reference was made to part 4.6 to 4.8 of the report which summarised the revised timetable which proposed that the Growth Deal be transferred by 1^⁠st ⁠April, 2025 at the latest.

The Chair thanked the Interim Chief Executive of the CJC for the comprehensive report and asked whether there were enough resources available to fulfil the requirements as set out in the report against the revised timetable. In response it was noted that not all the resources were available, and gaps did exist,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5