Transcript

Transcript

Okay, ladies and gentlemen, welcome, gosh, with these new, gosh, welcome to the April meeting of the Lancashire Combined County Authority. It's great to see everyone and to our two visitors. Lovely to have you. Apologies for absence. Well, we haven't got any apologies. Item two on the agenda is the disclosure of petunary and non-petunary interests for items on the agenda. Has anybody got anything they want to declare? No? So, item three, membership update. We just need to note the changes to the district leaders' representation on the Lancashire Combined County Authority. Councillor Stephen Atkinson has stood down and Councillor Michael Vincent has been nominated to replace him and he's now attending with Alistair Bradley as well. So, welcome, Michael. Thank you, Michael. Okay. The minutes of the meeting held on the 11th of March. It's good to see recorded in there the progress that's been made in a lot of areas, but particularly, I think, in the work relating to the governance review, which I understand will be shared with various district officers, etc., once it progresses to an appropriate point. Is that right, Denise? Yes. Yes, I've just agreed with Chris. Yes, I've just agreed with Chris that we'll have a conversation with the district representatives to update them and then we can be updated to leaders and members of the LCCM. Okay, that's great. Thank you. So, everyone happy with the content? Yeah. So, we just need, I wasn't with you, so I just need somebody to propose and to second it. Yeah, I'm happy to propose the minutes. Thanks very much, everyone. Okay. So, the first item, substantive item on the agenda is the 25-26 transport grant funding. There's a positive paper in there, which I'm sure everybody's just read, but I think I shall ask Phil to introduce as chair of the Transport Advisory Board. Okay. Thank you, Chair. Yes, so this is, I think, I was going to say, this is good news. This is the sort of, this is what happens when you are a combined authority. So, a sum of money, which I think, in fairness, it's fair to say, shows some extra funds, really, which probably, you know, which reflect, which is where we, where we wanted to be in that kind of world of being considered to be, you know, a combined authority. We're on some sort of journey. So, there's a sum of money there. Well, it's 86 million in total, which reflects a number of features, active travel being one of them, obviously, and the getting buses back is another one, and then the normal transport thing. So, I think it's, it's just a really positive story. And as I said, I think it's, it's kind of what we, it's like, what we, it's why we've done, it's why we've done what we've done. And I think I'll hand over now, Matt, for a little bit of technical stuff from Matt over there. Matt, cheers. Hello. So, the paper asked for approval to, to receive these, this breakdown of 86 million, and for the first year, whilst we're still in transition, so our transport powers are in transition for this year and next year with each of the upper tier authorities, and move the money back to existing authorities, because we've already got our, each of our own priorities, whilst we mobilise the transport function and agree a set of strategic charges, set of strategic transport priorities going into the coming year. And that's what the paper seeks approval for. Also seeks approval for the principle of, if additional money funding was to come in throughout the course of the year, to do, to adopt the same principle and delegate that authority to the Section 73. So, yeah, effectively funding is going to be, deliver vital public bus services, ensuring we've got a service fit for, fit for our residents, promoting, walking, wheeling, fostering a healthy, safer community, safety enhancements on the transport network, ensuring it's safe and accessible network, and deliver, development delivery of future transport projects that drive economic growth across the region as a whole. Thank you. Anybody got anything that want to comment on, add? Other than to say it's great to get onto real stuff, as opposed to governance, which you seem to be doing for quite a long time, but yeah. So, any questions, comments? So, there's, let's double check, there are five recommendations in there, I won't read them all out, but are we happy to, to support those? Okay, great, thank you very much, thanks a lot. Okay, item six on the agenda relates to the Adult Skills Fund, which actually was a sort of key element of the devolution deal when we signed it, so I'm going to ask Councillor Alan Vincent, as Chair of the Skills Advisory Board, to introduce the paper. Well, like with our last item, this is real stuff. We are finally dealing with real stuff. The devolution of the Adult Skills Fund to Lancashire forms, I would say, a very significant part of the devolution deal. The devolution of the Adult Skills Fund is an opportunity to better align skills provision to the local labour market needs, and that clearly will benefit both residents and employers right across Lancashire. As part of the preparatory work and to enable the secondary legislation to be laid, the Combined County Authority is required to submit a number of documents to the Department for Education by the end of May, including a local strategic skills plan for the fund. The plan was produced following consultation with over 30 local stakeholders, including upper and district authorities, skills and employment advisors and providers and employers. The Skills Advisory Board actually met earlier today, the timing of which was a little tight, but we were asking them for any further comments or recommendations that they might want to make. There were some comments, and the comments were around really the importance of fitting in a role for the ICB, because clearly the health and the employment and skills agenda are intrinsically linked, and it's important that the ICB engage with that agenda wholeheartedly and in a real way. So we would recommend, obviously we want that to happen. We also, they wanted to note that they would like to see a reduction in duplication and overlap of these schemes, so that we had a one Lancashire approach and that people weren't competing with each other effectively in various districts. But we'd already taken that into account, I think. But it's just to reinforce that that's felt to be important by those who are in this sector. And finally, Karen Buckley, the leader of FIILD, wanted to sense check the UK SPF money and wanted us to take on board any good practice that has been shown by the use of that money in this particular area. And in particular, she wanted to recommend that we have a look at the multiply scheme, which, as we've been running it for three years before the districts started to take over, we are familiar with it, and we do think it's a good scheme, and we will take into account any learning that needs to be had from that scheme, because it was a scheme that worked very clearly, and hopefully it will work again in future if we get any funding for it. Having said all that, I will now pass on to our expert, Michelle. I think Alan's covered most of it, actually. So, yeah, as Alan said, default funds are a significant part of the Lancashire deal around adult skills. As per the paper, we've had an indicative figure from DfE of £41 million per annum, with an additional £3 million for future courses for jobs, which is a ring-fenced pot for Level 3 qualifications, which we can align with our priority sectors. Figures will be confirmed annually in January by the Department for Education on a rolling cycle, so we'll find out in January exactly how much we will be offered, although we are aware there has been a few percent cut this year to the Adult Skills Fund budget that's just been announced, so we'll need to take that into consideration in our planning. They've set the deadline of the 31st of May for us to submit a strategic skills plan and to also undertake a self-assessment against several readiness conditions, which are set out in the paper. Much of that is working with the support services across the three upper-tier local authorities. So, we've commenced discussions with the different bodies to take that forward around, for example, procurement, internal audit, legal, and so on and so forth. So, that is now coming together, so we'll be able to submit that self-assessment. As Alan referenced, we've got the strategic skills plan, which was developed last year in consultation and with a steering group, including a number of partners, covers the strategic and funding context, labour market drivers, so it's mapped across to our Lancashire Skills and Employment Strategic Framework, the Local Skills Improvement Plan, which the Chamber leads on, and also now the growth plan as well in terms of our key sectors, and also describes the intended commissioning approach and so on. A key message from other combined authorities, because we talked to quite a number when we were developing our plan, was evolution, not revolution. So, land the fund, tweak around the edges, and then develop with partners and colleges and so on across Lancashire. But there is opportunity to make a few tweaks to the funding rules in the first year, including looking at some innovative approaches that we can test building on, multiply, and the community engagement we did through that. And also, I think, just to reference, you know, we've said focus provision into Lancashire. So, currently, under the Department for Education, there's a long tail of providers of around 200, of which 80% of provision is delivered by 18 providers. So, there is an opportunity to reduce down that tail and invest into Lancashire to make sure we're getting impactful provision. So, yeah. So, any comments on the paper before we move to the recommendations? Any questions, comments from anybody? Happy with the plans? Lots of engagement. I think that tail is quite neat looking at. It's a very long tail. Yes, we don't want to manage 200 miles. No. So, they're not seeing anything else from anybody. So, there are three recommendations there. I think we'll just take them all in one go. Are we happy to support those? Yes. Okay. Great. Thanks. Thanks, Michelle. Thanks for all the work. Sorry, Alan. Just one issue, which we might want to look at, but not today, but just behind the scenes, as it were. We have had two or three instances, or we are having two or three instances coming through now, where, because of speed of requirement of a decision, if the government give us two weeks' notice, for example, as they did in this case, to do something fairly involved, that might become an issue with how quickly we can have a meeting, how quickly our next meeting is to get that through within the time frames that are being given to us. So, I think we might want to look at an urgency framework so that we have a method by which, if we have an urgent decision that needs taking, we can do that in the most open and transparent way that we possibly can within those set of circumstances. So, it's just something that we might want to have a look at in future. Yeah. Good point. I think we'll take that as an action, I think, because we do need that. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Michelle. Right. Item seven on the agenda is the UK Rural Prosperity Funding and UK Shared Prosperity Funding for 2526. I'm not sure who's – so, right, okay, Jo Ainsworth, who leads on this from an office perspective, is just going to outline the key points from the paper for us. Thank you. Rural Prosperity Funding is a top-up of UK SPF, but it's fully capital, and it's to support new and existing rural businesses to develop products that have wider economic benefit. Our proposal for this year is just over 653,000 is passported back to the individual districts that make up the allocation for this one year, and that Blackpool, who are leading on the UK SPF reporting and monitoring, pick this up as well as it's part of the same system. Thank you. Any other comments? Anyone got any issues with that process? It seems to work okay, in which case we're fine. We're happy with that. Okay, I'm happy to approve all the recommendations in the paper. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, and I'll move on to the admission of the Lancashire Combined County Authority to the Lancashire Pension Fund. And I think on Section 151, the authority is going to present that paper to us. Thank you, Chair. You couldn't go through the whole meeting without one governance paper, could you? So I'll bring you back to a governance paper, if that's right. So this paper, members, it sets out asking to ask Lancashire Pension Fund to join as an admitted body, so that its staff can become members of the pension fund. It's something we would clearly have to do from a recruitment and retention point of view. There is a slight quirk to this in the fact that if the guidance had come out, had more time to do it, we would have been obliged to go into this anyway, as a public sector body. So when the revised guidance come out, that is likely to be the position. However, in the short term, we would have to ask the pension fund to admit us, and the paper just sets out the process for doing that. It has the agreement of all the councils behind it, that one of the recommendations, if you're happy to ask the pension fund to allow them in as an admitted body, is for the monitoring officer to go away and seal the actual document. As I said, it's quite procedural, Chair. Yeah, thank you. Anybody got any questions, comments? No? In which case, just to confirm everyone's happy to sign up, both those recommendations, including sealing, because I like the idea of sealing these documents. It's also quite ceremonial. Okay. Right. We'll move on to item nine then, which is the arrangements for the appointment of independent chairs, which I recall a couple of meetings ago that we kind of touched on this, and now we've got, had some work undertaken around the background to it. So I'm just going to ask Josh, who's been leading on that, to take us through the paper. Thank you, Chair. Yes, the CCA has already agreed the principle of independent chairs for those two committees, and the principle of giving them some form of allowance. So this is just to bring the detail through. We've taken it through the IRP as well to get their opinions on the proposed allowance. We have looked elsewhere. We've tried to do some benchmarking, but there aren't actually that many places that are doing what we're doing. Certainly, I can't find anywhere that's got an independent chair of scrutiny. But we've found approximate benchmarks for sort of £2,000, which is what we're proposing and what the IRP are suggesting as well. Now, the timetable for this process is in the report, as are the job descriptions, if you like, for the two posts. So they're there for the combined authority to consider. Thank you. Thank you. Anybody got any comments, questions? How often will they be meeting? How often will they be likely to meet? It's four times a year for each committee. So, yeah. Okay, I'm just wondering whether it's going to be attractive to people, but we will see. We will see. Okay, anybody got any questions, comments? Content to sign that on? Okay, right. In which case, thank you. Thanks, Josh. Okay. Item 10 on the agenda is the Business Board update, which Mo is going to give for us. Thank you, Chair. The main item from the Business Board, well, I have an ask as well, Chair, so not to take anybody by surprise, but it does involve money. The first thing is, as colleagues know, and there is already a paper included about, you know, where the Business Board has been focused on the growth plan and the consultation. Obviously, we announced it at the convention, which was fantastically received. And we've had some very, very positive engagement to that and some really positive input into that. And the good thing is that it's sort of validated the actual plan, because there's nothing substantive that is going to, you know, change in that sense. And I think there is an ask on endorsement from this board. But we're going to include some of the key points that have been suggested to sort of embellish further the plan. So, really, that is a key piece of work, which the Business Board has been very actively sort of across and working towards. So, what we're aiming for is that growth plan then becomes an actual formal plan come the next board, which will then be published. And that will become the sort of the key axis upon which we really drive then a delivery plan. And I think one of the things that the Business Board is keen to see happen beyond this plan is to now start to identify. And I think some of the conversations from colleagues prior to this segment have been very much in that line, whether it's SPF, whether it's skills, that we now all transport, that we now try to identify what is deliverable. What can we really sort of now shape up, which can be really sort of worked to a point at which we can actually do the deal? And as you'd expect from a Business Board, these are all dealmakers. So, we're very now pushing towards to say, right, this is a macro picture. This is our ambition. This is a £20 billion ambition. But today, up until a certain point into the next year, up until a mayoral election, what can we actually get on the table? What can we actually put forward as a viable proposition or viable propositions that can then be investable and that can be actually things that we can actually deliver in this interim period and in this short, in the medium term? So, that's something that we're now keen to work on and develop, our thinking around to say, right, what are the projects that really we can? And, you know, we've already identified some of the key projects, whether it's transport, infrastructure, skills. You know, as Michelle has said, we need to be, as well, brave and innovative in this space. This is our opportunity to be thinking outside the box, to be looking at new thinking. You know, on the skills front, you've got the sort of skills levy thing. There is a real opportunity for us to be, you know, innovative in how we're now, you know, we've got 55,000 plus businesses, 780,000 people employed. We're not reaching them. That's a fact. You know, we're not truly connected to those businesses, those employers. We need to reach them. We need to, you know, see where the demand and the need is and then be more orientated. You know, we've got a great skills pledge and, you know, Michelle and I have spoken about it. So, that's a fraction of that business community is involved in that endeavor. So, one of the things that we're embarking upon through the business board is we need to now take the board on the road. We need to start to go, you know, we're starting in the north with the Electek Group, who have done an amazing job up there, you know, as a business cluster, really driving some great innovative thinking and outcomes to start to really connect with those business groups, clusters, small, big, micro, or the entire sort of economic sort of, you know, bedrock of our county. And like that, we want to take this approach across the county. So, we're starting to really properly galvanize, but also at the same time start to really present that ambition, that sort of clear, consistent approach towards the opportunities and where we need that business voice and business connection. So, one of the things we're now looking to work on is to take that approach and galvanize that. And as we have our final plan, you know, now in our hands and then we develop these projects, those are the things that we can clearly speak to. Because one of the things that the business board is very conscious of is we do not want to speak to hypotheticals. This is not about hypotheticals. This is not about a sort of a vision without a plan. So, this is about saying, yes, we are here. Yes, we are very committed to this journey. And these are the things that we're looking to execute. And these are the things that we need your support and your input into. So, that's something that we're now actively working on. We're going to develop and start. And there are projects like Silicon Sans, like these projects, which we really now need to push. Because, look, the AI frontier is one to grab. And we have a blank canvas there to really go after it. Every other region will be after it. This is the prize on a global setting. And what do we do in that? And there's a skills agenda there. There's an actual, you know, capital investment in infrastructure. There is innovation and R&D. You know, we're not in that space yet. And we need to up our game in that R&D and innovation space. So, these are all things that we want to start to sort of show that these are real-term opportunities linked to this greater vision. So, the ask, having done a compelling pitch, hopefully, is that one, as colleagues will know, in the LEP days, we were part of a LEP network. And we paid towards it. I mean, I have experience of this because I was the chair of the GM LEP. Yeah, great. But they've morphed into this other sort of business board network. I've spoken to, you know, Andy and colleagues. I don't see the value of being in that membership at this moment in time, to be honest with you. It is okay, but it's not really serving a purpose for us. So, there's 25 grand that we invest into that, you know, as part of what was the LEP. So, what we're hoping to, you know, get your sort of approval on is that we use that money and then look to have another 25K from you to help us. We use really get out there and connect with that business community, but at the same time, secure our brilliant expert PR and comms teams to really set out a very strategic comms approach, which is business-centric. You know, you've got things like UK Reef. You've got, you know, this tariff conversation. We're not responding to that as an actual economic authority. We're not in that conversation. We need to be. We need to be in that. We need to champion some of the amazing things through the business voice, and that's the sort of thing. So, what we're looking for is that sort of support to do that, and then we'll obviously garner, and look, on the business board, we have some incredible businesses who have their own PR machines. We need to use them. We need to start to multiply our reach, like GM does. You know, this is the machine that starts to set a self-fulfilling prophecy. So, that's an ask, and, you know, something for the board to consider, but hopefully I've sort of given a summary of, you know, the sort of work. And, again, thanks to colleagues who have put a lot of time in our offices, who have really sort of, you know, this is a seminal piece of work, and a plan that will sort of really now help us. You know, I always say there's no such thing as an immaculate plan, but an immaculate execution. Thank you, Chair. Okay. Thanks very much. Anybody got any comments, questions that they want to raise? I have an observation. Lynn and I were both at the business board last week, and I just want to sort of reinforce, really, how invested the members of the board were in the growth plan, really invested in it, really keen for it to succeed, and keen for that business voice to remain paramount, regardless, basically. And we support that, obviously we support that, because it needs to speak to the right audience for it to be able to get that wider investment, which I think is what you're trying to do with the proposal for, you know, going out and actually engaging directly with businesses. So, yeah, it was good to see. Phil, did you want to say? Yeah, I think two things, really. I mean, one was just really to pick up the point that Mo mentioned, really, about, I suppose, this sort of issue of tariffs and such like. I mean, without going into the detail of it, the one thing it does strike me, that, I mean, I was going to say if I was the Prime Minister, but thanks goodness I'm not. But rather than try to second guess what the President of the United States is going to do, one of the things you would do, I think, is build up your own sense of resilience. And in that field, that really ties in with a number of the strands of work that we've been dealing with. So, I mean, I noticed that the time is now, and in some respects the time is now, in the sense that if ever there was a need for an increasing development, really, of the country's resilience and abilities in the world of defence and nuclear and, I guess, food production and such like, then it probably is now. So, that's just really an observation. The other thing, I mean, if somebody needs to suggest, I'm happy to support Mo's request, really. That seems to me eminently sensible, and it will be eminently not sensible to say no and then for him to then have to pass that message back to his business board colleagues who are all g'd up and ready to go. So, happy to move that. Thanks, Phil. Anybody else got any observations to make? Lynn and then Alan. No, just to say happy to second that, I think. If we weren't kind of touching on what Philippa said about attending at the business board last meeting and hearing that discussion, particularly around the tariffs, was incredibly interesting. And we were already having those discussions about how we get them even more out of the business board and their expertise and in terms of, you know, increased representation on the economy board. I think it's vital that expertise is continued and we utilise that in the most efficient way, which we will do when we discuss the growth plan, et cetera, at that board. So, yeah, just thanks for all that you do if you've passed that plan for us. Thank you. Thank you. I used to concur with everything that's been said. It's seed money and we will get incredible value for it because, as Mo's pointed out himself, the business board members have resources that we don't have and have access to resources we don't have. And the whole point of working together in partnership is that everybody makes use of everybody else's resources to make the world a better place or our world a better place. OK. Thank you. Anybody? Anything else? So, I think it's yes, yes to your two requests. Job done, yeah. All right. Thank you very much for that. OK. Item 11 on the agenda is urgent business and we do actually have a piece of urgent business, which Mark is going to introduce. I can, yeah. Thanks, Chair. And this is a paper for the appointment of some external auditors. Members will recall at the previous meeting you asked us to go away and work up a proposal through the public sector audit appointments framework. Finance colleagues have been away and looked at a number of proposals and would like to recommend that we use KPMG for a three-year period. The money's already earmarked within the budget provision. There is an attraction to using KPMG in the early years in the fact that they already were with Blackpool and we're doing all of our accounting through Blackpool systems and things. So, there are some synergies there and the three-year contract allows us a good time to review that because you would hope that the CCA is in a different position and may need a different audit arrangement in three years' time. But it seems to make sense for the first three years and we would recommend that to members if you're OK with that. OK. Thank you. Any comments? I think you've got agreement to that. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Thanks very much, everybody. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Nice and thank you. Thank you.