Issue - meetings

To note the outcome of the reports to the Corporate Joint Committee (CJC) held on 23rd January 2026 and the next steps for the Strategic Development Plan.

To note the outcome of the reports to the Corporate Joint Committee (CJC) held on 23rd January 2026 and the next steps for the Strategic Development Plan.

The report was submitted by the Regional Strategic Development Planning Officer.

RESOLVED

To note the outcome of the reports to the Corporate Joint Committee (CJC) held on 23rd January 2026 and the next steps for the Strategic Development Plan.

REASONS FOR THE DECISION

Responsibility to prepare the draft Delivery Agreement rests with the Strategic Planning Sub-Committee. The sub-committee has co-ordination and planning functions regarding each step towards delivery of the SDP.

DISCUSSION

The Regional Strategic Development Planning Officer presented a report summarising the outcome of the Corporate Joint Committee meeting held on 23 January 2026 and the steps leading to the recommendation to formally submit the Strategic Development Plan Delivery Agreement to Welsh Government for ministerial approval. It was explained that the report sets out a comprehensive audit trail which brought the Sub-Committee up to date and evidenced the stages the Delivery Agreement had progressed through. Reference was made to the background section of the report, which included signposts to the meetings at which the Sub-Committee had previously considered the Delivery Agreement and the basis on which recommendations had been made.

It was reported that September 2025 had been a key milestone, as the Sub-Committee had considered a draft version of the Delivery Agreement and its appropriateness to be submitted to Welsh Government for formal approval, subject to confirmation that the Corporate Joint Committee could set the 2026 to 2027 budget and identify the additional funding required to commence the Strategic Development Plan and sustain delivery across the five year programme. It was noted that the Corporate Joint Committee had subsequently endorsed the same conditional position on the 19th of September 2025, recognising the financial concerns raised, and that the Delivery Agreement could not progress further until the 2026 to 2027 budget had been set.

It was explained that, through the autumn budget-setting process, work had been undertaken with the Chief Finance Officer and finance officers to identify options which aligned with the previously stated requirements, namely that the additional resources required for the Strategic Development Plan should, where possible, be found from within currently available resources and should not place a substantial additional burden on local authority budgets through a significant increase to the levy. It was reported that the budget-setting process had identified a means of meeting the year one funding requirement without creating an additional levy pressure attributable to the Strategic Development Plan, and it was noted that the levy increase for 2026 to 2027 had been limited to an inflationary uplift of 3.5%.

It was stated that the estimated average annual funding requirement for delivery of the Strategic Development Plan over the five-year programme was approximately £655,000 per year. It was noted that the year one budget had been set at £597,000, reflecting the anticipated requirement for the first year rather than seeking the full average amount, and that the budget would be reviewed and set annually through the normal budget cycle.

It was reported that the ability to set the year one budget without a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5