Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

To invite Councillors to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests and / or Other Disclosable Interests they may have in items on the agenda, and to confirm the nature of those interests.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Leader advised that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee had pre-scrutinised the Redditch Town’s Deal Investment Plan at a meeting held on Monday, 18^th January 2021.  The Committee had concluded their discussions by requesting a biannual update on progress with respect to the plan.  However, the Committee had not made any recommendations on the subject for the Executive Committee’s consideration.

Members were asked to note that three agenda packs had been issued for consideration at the Executive Committee meeting.  Due to the date of the publication of the Additional Papers 2 pack, it had not been possible to provide paper copies of this supplementary pack for Members’ consideration.  However, the pack was available to view on the Council’s website and using the modern.gov app.

The minutes of the meeting of the Executive committee scheduled to take place on Tuesday, 12^th January 2021 will be published on Friday, 15^th January 2021.  As this will occur after the publication of the agenda for the 19^th January 2021 meeting of the Executive Committee, the minutes will follow in a supplementary pack for Members’ consideration.

RESOLVED that

the minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on Tuesday, 12^th January 2021 be approved as a true and correct record and signed by the Chair.

The covering report is attached.  The appendix to the report will follow in a supplementary pack.

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee is due to pre-scrutinise this report at a meeting on Monday, 18^th January 2021.  Due to the limited time between this meeting and the meeting of the Executive Committee, any recommendations from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee will be reported at the meeting of the Executive Committee in a supplementary pack.

The Head of North Worcestershire Economic Development (NWEDR) presented the Redditch Town Deal – Town Investment Plan.  During the presentation of this report the following points were highlighted for Members’ consideration:

·                The Town’s Investment Plan had been circulated in draft form for Members’ consideration.  The final version of the plan would be available in time for Members to consider at the meeting of Council on Monday, 25^th January 2021.

·                The main challenge in drafting the final version of the Town’s Investment Plan was in respect of condensing the length from 20,000 to 10,000 words.

·                The Government had issued guidance in respect of expenditure of the Towns’ Fund when the project had first been announced.  This had provided useful information, including in respect of eligibility criteria.

·                The purpose of the Towns’ Fund was to provide financial support to facilitate a long-term vision for a town that would contribute to economic growth.

·                There were three key areas of focus including urban development, enterprise and the digital economy.

·                The proposals put forward in a Town Investment Plan needed to be based on local data, to have an evidence basis and to demonstrate that they would have a noticeable impact on economic development in that location.

·                The Government had provided specific guidance on the governance requirements in respect of Town Boards.  This included guidance in respect of membership as well as the requirement for the Chair of the Town Board to be a representative of the private sector.

·                The Town’s Investment Plan had to be submitted to the lead local authority, as the accountable body, as well as the Government for approval.

·                In developing the Redditch Town’s Investment Plan, the Redditch Town Board had utilised a number of consultants to help with the development of the plan, assessment of the spatial strategy and public consultation.

·                The objective of the proposals for Redditch was to unlock Redditch and to enable the town’s transformation from a traditional new town to a town suitable for the twenty first century.

·                The consultants that had undertaken public consultation as part of the project were experienced in market research.  This organisation had attempted to engage with a cross-section of the local community.

·                Consultation would continue to take place following approval of the Town’s Investment Plan.

·                Moving forward, there would be two key consultation documents forming the  future engagementstrategy, both at aprogramme level and detailed consultation plans for each of the proposed projects included in the plan.

·                Approximately 700 responses had been received during the consultation process.  This compared favourably with consultation feedback in other parts of the country where towns were eligible to apply for the Government’s Town’s Funding.

·                The Town’s Board had taken into account information provided by the public in response to previous consultation exercises, such as the State of the Area debates, and every attempt had been made to reflect the feedback from the public in the proposals within the plan.  The exception to this had been the request from the public to make improvements to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 70.

To receive and consider any outstanding minutes or referrals from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Executive Panels etc. since the last meeting of the Executive Committee, other than as detailed in the items above.

The Committee was informed that there were no referrals from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on any other Committee for consideration on this occasion.

Members are invited to provide verbal updates, if any, in respect of the following bodies:

a)    Climate Change Cross-Party Working Group – Chair, Councillor Anthony Lovell;

b)    Constitutional Review Working Panel – Chair, Councillor Matthew Dormer;

c)    Corporate Parenting Board – Council Representative, Councillor Nyear Nazir;

d)    Member Support Steering Group – Chair, Councillor Matthew Dormer; and

e)    Planning Advisory Panel – Chair, Councillor Matthew Dormer.

Members confirmed that there were no updates in respect of any of the Executive Advisory Panels on this occasion.