Venue: Committee Room 5, Guildhall, Swansea. View directions
Contact: Michelle Roberts, Scrutiny Officer
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Disclosure of Personal and Prejudicial Interests. Minutes: None |
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Regional Working Inquiry Impact/follow up Report PDF 256 KB Additional documents:
Minutes: Cllr Rob Stewart (Leader) and Phil Roberts
(Chief Executive) provided an impact report and attending the Panel meeting to
discuss progress with the recommendations agreed by Cabinet on 18 August 2018
resulting from the Regional Working Scrutiny Inquiry. Since the inquiry concluded
the following changes have taken place: ·
The
details of the Welsh Government proposals for improved collaboration and the
operation of Joint Committees are becoming clearer ·
WLGA
have been involved in detailed discussions with Welsh Government ·
A Bill
is likely to be published in November ·
The
Chief Executive has held informal discussions with the Minister and with senior
civil servants with a view to preparing a regional proposition following
discussion with neighbouring councils. The inquiry has: ·
raised the profile of
the issue in question ·
helped to inform and
provide clarity on the Council’s approach to regional collaboration Progress with Recommendations Rec 1 Partially
Completed - The senior management review has provided additional
capacity. The Chief Executive has been
re-appointed as CEO of ERW. The Leader and Chief Executive have held informal
discussions with the Minister and with senior civil servants with a view to
preparing a regional proposition following discussion with neighbouring
councils. Progress Rec 2 Completed - All
three main collaborations (ERW, Swansea Bay City Deal and the West Glamorgan
Partnership) have undertaken systematic reviews to ensure that resources are in
place and barriers removed. Progress Rec 3 Partially Completed - The reviews of the existing arrangements have
informed the developing strategy for collaboration and the preference for a
four council footprint in South West Wales as a basis for future partnership
arrangements. Progress Rec 4 Completed – All
partnerships have been reviewed and improved governance arrangements are in
place. Progress Rec 5 Completed – The Leader
and Chief Executive are taking the lead in all partnerships and in the
communication with scrutiny. Progress Rec 6 Partially Completed – All partnerships have been reviewed but there remain some anomalies in
the administration arrangements between them. Progress Rec 7 Partially Completed – separate
reviews have been undertaken on all partnerships but with common themes on governance,
management and value for money. Any regional proposition will need to address
the need for rationalisation or amalgamation. Progress Rec 8 Not Completed - whilst the use of Skype is increasing the
level of technological capability and capacity varies between councils. A regional collaboration proposition will aim
to address this and seek funding from Welsh Government to do so. Progress Rec 9 Completed - third sector and
private bodies are included in social care and economic development collaborations. Progress Rec 10 Completed - extensive and
regular representations have been made on all three partnership areas. Progress Rec 11 Completed - All partnerships
have undertaken detailed reviews. A
progress report was agreed at Council on 25th July 2019. The following points were noted from the
discussion: The Panel heard
that since the inquiry concluded in 2018, there has been some movement in
relation to regional working in Wales. This includes clearer details from Welsh
Government on the proposals for improved collaboration and the operation of
Joint Committees, the WLGA have been involved in detailed discussions with
Welsh Government and a Wales Bill detailing these and other changes is now
imminent. The Panel were
pleased to hear that the Chief Executive has been holding informal discussions
with the Minister and with senior civil servants with a view to preparing a
regional proposition following discussions with neighbouring councils. The Panel heard
that reviews of the existing arrangements have
informed the developing strategy for collaboration and the preference for a
four council footprint in South West Wales as a basis for future partnership
arrangements. It was explained that the
most logical footprint for Swansea is that of the City Region area, which
includes the four Local Authorities of Neath Port Talbot, Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire
and Swansea. Although, this would not
include Health for the moment because considerations around this are rather
more complex. The Panel felt that it is
very positive that we have clarity amongst the four local authorities about the
way to move forward. Councillors
recognise that these four authorities have experience of delivering projects together
and have many common strategies, especially around economic development and
education improvement. The Panel were pleased to hear that separate
reviews have been undertaken on all three regional partnerships and are pleased
to hear about the common themes of governance, management and value for money
being looked at in particular. It was explained
that little progress had been made in relation to our recommendation about improving modern technology in order to
reduce travel to meetings. That
whilst the use of Skype is increasing the level of technological capability and
capacity varies between councils. A
regional collaboration proposition will aim to address this and seek funding
from Welsh Government to do so. The Panel agree that standardisation and investment in the infrastructure across Councils in
Wales is needed to move this forward and we agreed to write to the Minister in
support this proposition. The panel were interested to hear about the
lessons that have been learnt from our current collaborative activities and how
this learning will be of benefit to us in future collaborative activities,
especially the need for good programme management, clear and strong governance
and sharing of responsibility. The panel heard that in November 2019 the
Wales Bill is likely to be published and this will outline the new powers and
responsibilities for local councils. It
will create challenges and benefits. The
general power of competence will be hugely important and it will sweep away
unnecessary bureaucracy around continuous audit introducing peer review
instead. Councillors agreed financial
resources must come along with the new powers and responsibilities to ensure
they can truly be met. The Panel were pleased to hear that the
inquiry had helped to raise the profile of regional working and that it has
informed and began to provide clarity on the Council’s approach to regional
collaboration. The Panel agreed to sign off this Inquiry as complete. The Panel agreed:
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