Agenda and minutes

The Mayor welcomed everyone to his first meeting as South Yorkshire Mayor and hoped everyone enjoyed the long bank holiday weekend.

Members noted apologies from representatives of the non-constituent member councils.

Members noted that there were no formal announcements.

The Mayor noted that it would be the last MCA Board meeting with Dr Smith as Chief Executive of South Yorkshire MCA. He thanked Dr Smith for his service and for leading the organisation on behalf of SYMCA and the people of South Yorkshire.

The Mayor went on to say he was humbled to have been elected by the people of South Yorkshire last month and will do everything in his power to make South Yorkshire healthier, wealthier, happier, and more confident.

To determine whether there are any additional items of business which by reason of special circumstances the Chair is of the opinion should be considered at the meeting; the reason(s) for such urgency to be stated.

None.

To identify where resolutions may be moved to exclude the public and press.  (For items marked * the public and press may be excluded from the meeting.)

None.

To identify whether there are any items of business that apply only to the South Yorkshire Members of the Mayoral Combined Authority, ie, where it would not be appropriate for non-SY Members to have voting rights.

The Mayor asked the Chief Legal and Monitoring Officer to explain and advise.

The Chief Legal and Monitoring Officer noted that there were no non-constituent members present at the meeting and stated that by convention they do not have voting rights unless specifically allowed as an exception which is not an issue for today’s meeting.

Declarations of Interest by individual Members in relation to any item of business on the agenda.

Cllr Houghton declared an interest in programme approvals relating to Barnsley.

Cllr Fox declared an interest in programme approvals relating to Sheffield.

Mayor Jones declared an interest in programme approvals relating to Doncaster.

Cllr Read declared an interest in programme approvals relating to Rotherham.

M Swales declared an interest to the item entitled ‘appointment of an interim Chief Executive/Head of Paid Service’. He advised that he would leave the room and the meeting for this item.

None.

None.

Q1. G Henshaw (South Yorkshire Free from Fossils) introduced himself, asked his question and supporting statement.

‘Is the mayor going to make contact with the members of the South Yorkshire Pensions Authority (SYPA) to explore how the £10.5billion of SYPA funds could be better invested to support South Yorkshire businesses and link with the policies promoted by the Mayor?’

The Mayor stated that there had already been some initial conversations about this, and he will continue to build on these with a number of pension funds and institutional investors in the coming weeks and months. The Mayor agreed to update Mr Henshaw and the public on these when he is able to.

ACTION: The Mayor to contact Mr Henshaw with an update when one is available.

Q.2 G Arthur (South Yorkshire Freedom Riders) introduced himself, asked his question and gave a supporting statement.

‘Will the mayor investigate returning the elderly travel concessions that elderly travel pass holders had before April 2014?

Those concessions for the elderly were free train travel in South and West Yorkshire between 9am and 11pm and an extension of free travel on buses from 9am instead of the national condition of 9.30am. The cost of the free train travel for the year 2014 was budgeted at £329,000.

The return of free train travel would bring us back into line with Liverpool and West Midlands. An interim measure would be to investigate a £10 annual charge as used in Manchester?’.

Mr Arthur added that the passes alleviate stress on the NHS and social care and encourage people to get out and engage in their wider community He asked if the pass could include train travel including into West Yorkshire. and questioned whether it was necessary for there to be a curfew of 11pm. He added that he believed there was not an adequate amount of public consultation about the changes.

The Mayor responded by stating that the Freedom Riders were one of the first groups he spoke to when he announced his candidacy, and he would be happy to do so again. He added that he wants our public transport network to be fit for purpose, accessible and affordable for everyone. The Mayor noted that the reinstatement of free rail travel for the elderly was an affordability issue noting that the MCA was considering other options. He added that there has been market research conducted and the results of this will be brought forward to a future MCA Board meeting, but he will discuss the issues raised by with colleagues.

ACTION: The Mayor to discuss the market research that was conducted by MCA with colleagues and update Mr Arthur following this.

On the issue of allowing elderly concession pass holders to travel before 9.30am during weekdays, The Mayor noted that the restriction to off peak during the working week is specified nationally in the Transport Act. The Mayor noted that funding was not made available by Government to extend this.

Q.3 F Postlethwaite (Better Buses)  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on the 21 March 2022 be agreed to be a true and accurate record.

The Chief Executive introduced and summarised the paper, noting that the South Yorkshire Mayor has made immediate progress in implementing his priorities since his election success, particularly in his engagement with local communities.

The Mayor added that he was grateful to leaders for their support when creating the manifesto.

RESOLVED: That the Board noted the content of the report.

The Director of Corporate Policy introduced the paper and explained the fund to the meeting.

The MCA noted it is the lead authority for this work and must submit a plan to national government by early August. This plan must set out how the MCA intend to manage the funding for each area and how we will assess and approve any applications for funding.

The paper proposes that the South Yorkshire Mayor and MCA Chief Executive hold discussions with each local authority Leader and Chief Executive to determine priorities and how they will be weighted in the investment plan submitted. Board noted that there is a large role for the MCA to play in terms of engagement with local communities, and business groups, and their views need to be considered.

Cllr Houghton noted that whilst the funding is welcome it is not the level of funding we would have got if we were still in the European Union, noting the need to keep pressure on central government in regard to all the funding offered and ensuring it continues for longer than 3-years.

RESOLVED: That the Board:

i)               Note the guidance and actions required in its capacity as lead authority.

ii)              Will have further discussions to discuss and agree the Government priorities for the SPF ad additional principles to be applied locally.

iii)            Agree that the Chief Executives should oversee an inclusive process to develop an investment plan to be presented in draft to the MCA Board in July, following agreement to the framework and set of principles and priorities.

iv)      Endorses the submission of a plan for the Multiply programme into Government and delegate leadership of this plan to the Education, Skills and Employability Board.

The Corporate Director of Public Transport introduced the paper and summarised the key issues.

Board noted that whilst the restrictions introduced as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic have ended, passenger numbers on public transport are still only at three-quarters of those prior to the pandemic. Despite an extension to recovery funding until October, there remain many services in South Yorkshire that are commercially unsustainable.

Cllr Read commented that it is vital that we do this until October but that it is not a sustainable solution forever. He added that it was vital that all parties – central government and bus operators – are committed to creating a good bus service for South Yorkshire and ensuring it is funded properly.

Cllr Houghton noted that currently we are looking at a cliff-edge in October unless central Government come up with a solution. He added that it is vital we get the message out to the people of South Yorkshire about the challenges we are facing and continue to pressure Government for the solution.

Mayor Jones stressed that we would see social exclusion if there was a reduction in bus services and this is not an option for the people of South Yorkshire. She stated that this is not levelling up but driving down the region.

RESOLVED: That the board:

i)               Approves a policy decision to prevent near-term reductions in bus services in SY by intervening with additional financial support.

ii)              Approves the variation to the operational bus services budget by up to £1.9 million

iii)      Approves the delegation to the Director of Public Transport in consultation with the Mayor and Chair of TEB to enter into arrangements to secure services.

The Corporate Director of Public Transport introduced the paper and summarised it and the asks of it.

The Zoom Beyond Concession was brought in last year to support extending the benefits of young person’s travel from under 18-year-olds to under 21-year-olds. This will end on the 20^th June and this paper seeks to extend the scheme.

Cllr Read stated that he was pleased that we can continue this and offered his support to the scheme.

RESOLVED: That the Board:

i)      Approves a policy decision to extend the Zoom Beyond concession.

ii)     Approves the variation to the budget to accommodate costs incurred in 2022/23.

iii)   Approves the production of replacement cards to be issued to currently eligible participants.

iv)   Delegates the negotiation of revised rates of reimbursement with bus and tram operators to the Corporate Director of Public Transport.

The Deputy Chief Executive summarised the report and the recommendations within it.

The Board the requirements for the MCA to set out an integration plan for the LEP and submit this to Government by the end of July, or at the latest the end of January 2023.

RESOLVED: That the Board:

i)       agrees the process to be undertaken to complete the integration plan, including considering an option for business engagement to be put forward to Members by the LEP.

ii)      agreed the timeline and engagement plan for development

The Chief Financial Officer introduced the report and the recommendations within it.

The Mayor welcomed the programme approvals and noted that we are having a spotlight this week on Net Zero and this heavily relates to that work.

RESOLVED: That the Board has considered and approved:

i)      The progression of “Sheaf Valley Cycling Route” project to full approval and award of £2.3m grant to Sheffield City Council (SCC) subject to the conditions set out in the Assurance Summary.

ii)     The progression of “A630 Bus Improvements” project to full approval and award of £1.6m grant to Doncaster Borough Council (DBC) subject to the conditions set out in the Assurance Summary.

iii)   The progression of “Goldthorpe Station Access” project to full approval and award of £0.55m grant to Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council (BMBC) subject to the conditions set out in the Assurance Summary.

iv)   The progression of “Elsecar Active Travel Scheme” project to full approval and award of £0.57m grant to Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council (BMBC) subject to the conditions set out in the Assurance Summary.

v)    The progression of “D0037” project to full approval and in-principle approval for an investment of £3m to a Sheffield based business subject to the conditions set out in the Assurance Summary.

vi)   The progression of “Housing Retrofit” project from Outline Business Case (OBC) to Full Business Case (FBC) subject to the conditions set out in the Assurance Summary.

vii)  The Local Transport Fund Grant (£5.66m); the award of grant to South Yorkshire Supertram Ltd for the tram element of funding (£4m); and the earmarking of the bus element to the protection of priority services (£1.66m).

viii)The approval of 12 Project Change requests

ix)   That delegated authority be given to the Head of Paid Service in consultation with the Section 73 and Monitoring Officer to enter into legal agreements for the schemes covered at 1-4 above.

x)    The delegated authority to be given to the Head of Paid Service in consultation with the Section 73 and Monitoring Officer and the Mayor and Chair of the Business Growth Board to enter into legal agreements for the scheme covered in point five, subject to the satisfactory conclusion of due-diligence and negotiation of an appropriate investment method.

The Chief Legal and Monitoring Officer introduced this report and the recommendations within it.

Board noted that MCA Audit, Standards and Risk Committee had regular problems with achieving quoracy and the MCA was being asked to approve a reduction to the number of members from ten to four. The proposal was developed as a result of a recent effectiveness review and in consultation with the Chair of the Audit, Standards and Risk Committee.

Cllr Read asked for this to be a year trial.

The Mayor offered his thanks to the people on those committee and the work that they do.

RESOLVED: That the Board:

i)      Noted the appointment of second rotational Member appointments, required to ensure the Authority has a majority of constituent Members.

ii)     Approved the elected member nominations for the Audit and Standards Committee and approved a 12-month trial of a 4 elected Member committee.

iii)   Approved the continuing appointment of the existing two independent members for the Audit and Standards Committee pending a new recruitment process.

iv)   Approved the elected member nominations to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

v)    Approved the appointment of Mayor Oliver Coppard to the Transport for the North Board.

vi)   Approved Cllr Read as substitute member for the Transport for the North Board.

vii) Endorsed seeking two Transport for the North Scrutiny Committee members from Sheffield, Barnsley or Doncaster.

The Chief Financial Officer briefly introduced the paper and recommendations.

The report recommends the adoption of revised Financial Regulations and Contract Procedure Rules for the MCA Group and ensures that these core Constitutional documents reflect the latest changes in the regulatory environment whilst also supporting the integration process.

The Mayor offered it out to questions or comments from members.

RESOLVED: That members:

1. Approved the adoption across the Group of the revised Financial Regulations

2. Approved the adoption across the Group of the revised Contract Procedure Rules

M Swales left the room and the meeting for this item.

The Deputy Chief Executive introduced this paper and the recommendations within it.

The paper seeks approval to appoint M Swales as Interim Chief Executive Officer and Head of Paid Service and Combined Authority Returning Officer with effect from the 1^st July 2022.

The Mayor offered it out to questions or comments from members.

The Mayor noted that he looked forward to working with M Swales.

RESOLVED: That the Board:

i)               Approved the appointment of M Swales on an interim basis from 1^st July 2022.

ii)              Delegate to the Deputy Chief Executive in consultation with the Monitoring Officer and S73 Finance Officer the arrangements for this appointment.

RESOLVED: That members noted the decisions and delegations made.