Agenda and minutes

To elect a Chairperson for the 2022/23 Municipal Year

Councillor A Whitcombe (Caerphilly County Borough Council) was elected as Chair of the CCRCD JOSC for the 2022-23 Municipal Year

To elect a Vice Chairperson for the 2022/23 Municipal Year

Councillor R Bevan (Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council) was elected as Vice Chair of the CCRCD JOSC for the 2023-23 Municipal Year

To receive disclosures of personal interest from Members in accordance with the Code of Conduct Note: 

1. Members are requested to identify the item number and subject matter that their interest relates to and signify the nature of the personal interest: and 

2. Where Members withdraw from a meeting as a consequence of the disclosure of a prejudicial interest they must notify the Chairman when they leave.

None received

To receive the minutes of the Cardiff Capital Region City Deal Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee of the 18th March 2022 for information

RESOLVED: The minutes of the meeting of the 18 March 2022 were noted by the Committee

To provide members of the Cardiff Capital Region City Deal Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee (CCRCD JOSC) with the opportunity to review and agree its Work Programme for the 2022-23 municipal year

The Service Director Democratic Services presented the report to Members with the opportunity for them to review and agree its Work Programme for the 2022-23 municipal year

Members commented that holding the JOSC meetings on a virtual basis worked well for this Committee, given the geographical location of the members. Members acknowledged that meeting in person, once per year would be beneficial so members had the opportunity to engage with each other in person.

Following consideration it was RESOLVED:

1. That the Work Programme be reviewed periodically to ensure the items identified for inclusion are relevant and that any additional referrals are incorporated.
2. Consider and determine any other matters that members may wish to

scrutinise over this period.

The Director Cardiff Capital Region City Deal welcomed new members to the Committee and gave them an Overview of the projects and work of the CCRCD which included the following:

• The CCRCD, established in 2017 is owned, managed and directed by the 10 Local Authorities in South East Wales Region who work in partnership with the UK Government and Welsh Government. He CCRCD represents a population of 1.5million. 
• It has a value of £1.2billion with £732million earmarked for the development and delivery of the South East Wales metro.  The remaining £500million sits within the wider investment fund.
• Strict targets have been set by the UK and Welsh Government to increase GVA by 5%, create 25,000 high skilled jobs and leverage £4.6billion in additional investment.

As part of the Overview, members were also presented with the Cardiff Capital Region City Deal’s current investment portfolio which detailed the current roadmap and Investment Programmes.  The plan also details the Governance arrangements in place and the progress on the Corporate Joint Committee

The Chairman thanked the Director for her presentation and invited members to make comments and ask questions

A Member asked how the joint Overview and Scrutiny fit into the work they will be undertaken and what is the nature of the work they will be asking them to review over the next few years as the area of work they are covering is vast and what will be useful for the Committee to prioritise

The Director replied that in previous years the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee has largely looked at investments that the Cardiff Capital Region City Deal has already made.  Going forward, in addition to providing scrutiny on a lessons learned approach, she advised that it would be beneficial if the Joint Committee could look at pre-decision Scrutiny, such as the recent purchase of Aberthaw with a masterplan which has to be developed and delivered.  The Celtic Seas offshore wind project, Cardiff Parkway which is a brand new Rail Infrastructure which covers the South East Region

Members agreed with the Pre-scrutiny approach and that having the checks and balances in place, before decisions are taken and commented that they would like to start with the pre-scrutiny of the Aberthaw project given the long term integrated strategic impacts associated with the project. 

The Director welcomed the comments and invited the Committee to hold a future meeting at Aberthaw to include a site visit so they could see the potential the site has to offer. 

The Chair stated that currently, there is no Green Energy Apprenticeship Framework on offer in Wales, with the closest being in Scunthorpe which he encouraged Members to lobby Welsh Government on changing.  The Head of Business Development & Inclusive Growth advised that there are huge gaps in future skills needs and requirements which the Regional Skills Partnership are picking up with Welsh Government and various training providers.  Alongside the masterplan for Aberthaw, there will also be a skills mapping exercise to ensure we have the right skillsets and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To consider any items which the Chair, by reason of special circumstances, is of the opinion should be considered as a matter of urgency.

None