Issue - meetings

Claire Incledon, Deputy Monitoring Officer (interim), to present the report.

To recommend the following changes to the Terms of Reference for the CJC:

• That the requirement to produce a quarterly progress report is replaced with bi-annual reporting.

• That the sub-committee have the delegated power to consider and make recommendations to the CJC on regional transport funding and scheme commitments.

It was highlighted that the terms of reference stated that the Sub-Committee must review its terms of reference annually, and that any amendments must be recommended to, and approved by, the Corporate Joint Committee.

It was explained that the terms of reference included powers delegated to the Sub-Committee, and that the Sub-Committee must apply those rules and procedures as adopted in their terms of reference.

The context was provided for the first recommendation. It was noted that the strategic nature of the Sub-Committee's role was to review and make recommendations on policy development on a regional basis. To monitor this progress, the Sub-Committee provided performance and management reports to the CJC in the form of quarterly reports, which included regular updates on resource management and policy development.

It was explained that officers were of the view that the requirement to produce a quarterly report under the current terms of reference created a great deal of work within a short period of time, and therefore felt that it undermined its purpose as the Sub-Committee only met quarterly. Members were asked to consider the option to revise the terms of reference, where they adopted six-month reporting as a more sustainable way of reporting on performance and progress to the CJC.

It was explained that the second recommendation related to the recent delivery of the Regional Transport Plan, which included new ways of working through the modernisation of grants. It was noted that the Regional Transport Fund supported the development of the programme of plans to deliver the Regional Transport Delivery Plan by prioritising plans and grant funding.

Furthermore, it was explained that the current role of the Sub-Committee was to make recommendations on Regional Transport plans and policies. It was highlighted that the work of the Sub-Committee during the first transitional year of grant programming had shown a gap in the functions of the Sub-Committee. It was explained that while the Sub-Committee Members were involved in the process of prioritising schemes and allocating grants, the Sub-Committee had no powers to make recommendations to the Corporate Joint Committee. Members were asked to consider amending the terms of reference to include the power to make recommendations to the CJC on funding and scheme commitments.

The officers were thanked for their work, and the importance of revising the terms of reference was highlighted so that the Sub-Committee could make recommendations to the CJC. It was noted that any recommendations would have to be reported and approved by the CJC at the meeting on 23 January.