Agenda item

Dafydd Gibbard, CJC Lead Authority Chief Executive for the Corporate Joint Committee  and Alwen Williams, Ambition North Wales Portfolio Director, and Interim Chief Executive of the North Wales CJC to present a further update on progress to establish the Corporate Joint Committee (CJC), and to respond to its statutory functions and undertake the proposed transfer of the North Wales Economic Ambition Board’s functions into the CJC.

1.    To accept the report on the progress update on work to establish the North Wales Corporate Joint Committee and respond to the tasks that are required by its statutory functions (Appendix 1 to the report).

2.    To accept the updated plan along with ⁠the proposed date from 1 November for transferring the North Wales Growth Deal to the North Wales Corporate Joint Committee.

3.    To approve the interim arrangements to release the Portfolio Director’s time for two days per week to undertake the Interim Chief Executive role until 31 October 2024. (All employment and associated costs would continue to be covered by the North Wales CJC).

4.    Ask for a further report on progress in the transferring and monitoring proses of the timetable.

The report was submitted by Alwen Williams, Interim CJC Chief Executive.

RESOLVED:

1.          To accept the report on the progress update on work to establish the North Wales Corporate Joint Committee and respond to the tasks that are required by its statutory functions (Appendix 1 to the report).

2.          To accept the updated plan and the revised date of 1 November for transferring the North Wales Growth Deal to the North Wales Corporate Joint Committee.

3.          To approve the interim arrangements to release the Portfolio Director’s time for two days per week to undertake the Interim Chief Executive role until 31 October 2024. (All employment and associated costs would continue to be covered by the North Wales CJC).

4.          To ask for a further report on progress in the transfer process and monitoring of the timetable.

DISCUSSION

It was questioned whether the resources and funding of the Corporate Joint Committee went into the procurement work for progressing the Investment Zone for Wrexham and Flintshire.  In response, it was noted: -

·       That an agreement had already been reached to set aside £100,000 of the Joint-committee's budget to facilitate the work of going through the Gateways to deliver the Investment Zone.

·       As we faced a General Election on 4 July, there was an additional arrangement in place and an agreement by Flintshire Council and Wrexham Council to provide up to £25,000 each of funding for any work directed towards the development of the scheme should the new government not follow through on the Investment Zones process.

It was further questioned whether there was any doubt about the future of these policies.  In response, it was noted: -

·       No government had given an indication that there would be a new arrangement in place, but assurances were needed on this once the government was in place.

·       As a result of following the process of going through the Gateways to prepare the application to confirm the Investment Zone, a proportion of the £160 million being provided for the Investment Zone would be a proportion that could be used for administrative costs, so it would be possible to apply for the development costs from those funds once the Investment Zone was approved.

The Leader of Flintshire Council noted that he was disappointed that the Investment Zone was coming through the Corporate Joint Committee and would prefer that there was a body set up between Flintshire and Wrexham and their partners, such as Airbus, to manage the project.  He further noted that it had been asked at two meetings of the Joint-committee where the resources would come from, as this was an Investment Zone for Flintshire and Wrexham, and he suggested to perhaps look at the costs of various projects located in specific geographical areas.

It was noted that it was understood that the operating resource for the Joint Committee by secondment from the Welsh Government had now come to an end, and it was questioned how much of a blow this was to our ability to proceed with the establishment of the Joint Committee.  In response, it was noted:-

·       That the secondment was terminated earlier than planned due to a personal decision to return to the Welsh Government which was why they were now revisiting the structures to have a more sustainable structure in place to support the transition work.

·       That the Executive Project Board met every Monday and the different work streams met separately as well, and this had set some structure around the work and the tasks that needed to be accomplished.

·       That work was underway to see if either permanent or additional temporary resources could be obtained to fill the operational gap.

The Monitoring Officer explained that any decisions regarding the transfer of staff to the Corporate Joint Committee were entirely subject to the date of transfer of the Growth Plan to the CJC.  As such, if the transfer date progressed to the 1st of November, that was the first date the staff could also transfer.