Agenda for Mayoral Combined Authority Board on Monday, 20th September, 2021, 10.00 am

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Sheffield City Region, 11 Broad Street West, Sheffield S1 2BQ

Media

Items
No. Item

1.

Welcome and Apologies

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Minutes:

Mayor Jarvis MBE welcomed everyone to the meeting.

 

Apologies for absence were noted as above.

2.

Announcements

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Minutes:

Members noted that the Mayoral Combined Authority (MCA) was now officially called the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA).  Today marked the first official meeting under the new name.  The formal integration of the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive and the MCA was well underway.  This would enable to better invest in and manage the 102 million passenger journeys that were made in South Yorkshire each year, and to deliver on the mission to create a stronger, greener and fairer South Yorkshire.

 

Through the work undertaken with local council partners in the MCA, the Local Enterprise Partnership and Dame Sarah Storey, the Active Travel Commissioner, the submission made to the Government’s Sustainable Transport Settlement process had set out an ambitious £660m programme of investment.  It was envisaged that the investment would turn around the public transport system, which was not currently considered fit for purpose.  It would provide a 5 year funding pot for transport which would bring together a host of previously ring fenced, short-term, discrete and narrowly focused funding allocations.  Mayor Jarvis MBE provided assurance that the period of discussion, negotiation and debate with the Treasury and the Department for Transport would be entered into with a view to seeking the maximum funding possible, and to ensure that the Chancellor was aware of the SYMCA’s priorities ahead of the Government’s Comprehensive Spending Review.

 

Members noted that the number of COVID-19 cases, hospital admissions and deaths were higher in comparison to the same time last year.  Over 250 people were currently hospitalised within South Yorkshire due to the pandemic, and the number was slowly increasing.  Mayor Jarvis MBE urged everyone to continue to be cautious and to continue to wear face masks in public transport settings.

 

The red carpet premiere of the new film ‘Everyone’s Talking About Jamie’ had recently been held in Sheffield. The film had been shot by a Sheffield company, and it was based on a production from Sheffield Theatres.  Mayor Jarvis MBE had supported the South Yorkshire Cultural and Creative Industries Summit and he had promoted the £1m of funding that was being put into the sector.

3.

Urgent Items

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.

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Minutes:

None.

4.

Items to be Considered in the Absence of Public and Press

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.)

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Minutes:

None.

5.

Voting Rights for Non-constituent Members

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.

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Minutes:

It was noted that Non-Constituent Members were welcome to participate in the discussion of every item on the agenda.

6.

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

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

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Minutes:

Mayor Jarvis MBE declared an interest in the matters to be considered at agenda Item 14 entitled ‘Programme Approvals’ which may relate to the Barnsley central constituency.

 

Councillor Sir Houghton CBE declared an interest in the matters to be considered at agenda Item 14 entitled ‘Programme Approvals’ in relation to any schemes relating to Barnsley, by virtue of being the Leader of Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council.

 

Mayor Jones CBE declared an interest in the matters to be considered at agenda Item 14 entitled ‘Programme Approvals’ in relation to any schemes relating to Doncaster, by virtue of being the Mayor of Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council.

 

Councillor Wood declared an interest in the matters to be considered at agenda Item 14 entitled ‘Programme Approvals’ in relation to any schemes relating to Sheffield City Council.

 

In respect of the decisions related to agenda Item 14, to the extent that any declarations of interest mean that the meeting would not be quorate due to a Member disclosing a non-pecuniary interest in the item by virtue of being the Leader of the recipient Local Authority, the Monitoring Officer has granted a Dispensation under Schedule 3 of the Members Code of Conduct (Paragraph (B)(i).

7.

Reports from and questions by members

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Minutes:

None

8.

Receipt of Petitions

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Minutes:

J Carpenter from Sheffield Climate Alliance, which would be renamed as South Yorkshire Climate Alliance, presented a petition which contained 197 signatories entitled “Make our buses free during COP26”.  J Carpenter read out the following statement which accompanied the petition:-

 

“Transport is the largest source of climate pollution in the UK, accounting for over a third of annual omissions.  We need radical change to how people travel, cutting greenhouse gas emissions in order to avoid catastrophic climate change and helping to reduce air pollution, road congestion and obesity.  To do this, we need our public transport systems to become more effective, serve all our communities and be far cheaper.  Then people are more likely to choose public rather than private transport.  COP26 takes place in November 2021 in Glasgow where World Leaders will meet for the 26th time to discuss the climate emergency which threatens us all.  We need to put the pressure on to make sure they take the decisions needed to avert catastrophe.

 

We, the undersigned, call on the South Yorkshire Mayor and the Combined Authority to take the measures necessary to ensure that busses across South Yorkshire are fare free for everyone during the two weeks of COP26 (1 November – 12 November 2021).  This would highlight to everyone the need for radical action to tackle this climate emergency”.

 

Mayor Jarvis MBE welcomed the petition received from Sheffield Climate Alliance and their commitment to improving the bus network for people and the planet.  The Combined Authority had pledged to make major transformations to the bus network and public transport through millions of pounds of investment in the network.  A total of £6m had been invested to extend reduced fares for 18 – 21 year olds.  A total of £660m was sought from the Government through its City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS), subject to negotiation with the Treasury and DfT a substantial part of this would put buses at the heart of the transport system by allowing millions of pounds to be invested to tackle local congestion hotspots, to give buses priority on the roads and to make sure that the transport interchanges and bus stops were fit for purpose.  Although this was hugely ambitious, Mayor Jarvis MBE believed that the Bus Services Improvement Plan would provide the basis for the forthcoming submission to the Government for Enhanced Partnership funding, to which it was intended to run a thorough public consultation.

 

Mayor Jarvis MBE commented that he would like nothing more than to make the bus travel free during COP26, but that the minimum estimated cost of approximately £2.6m of revenue funding was extremely difficult.  He provided reassurance that the SYMCA would look at the wider issues of affordability, concessions and services through the Bus Services Improvement Plan and the Enhanced Partnership proposal.

9.

Public Questions

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Minutes:

The following public question was received from N Slack:-

 

“It is becoming clear that the ‘assurances’ given to the Mayor by the University of Sheffield, over the closure of the Archaeology Department, are not worth the breath expended in the expression of them.  Evidence that students are choosing to take up Post Graduate courses in other Universities, rather than Sheffield, is continuing to accrue and the reason given by these students is the lack of a full Archaeology Department in Sheffield.  As a result the Post Graduate courses will be under subscribed and no doubt this will be used as an opportunity to eliminate these surviving elements as well.  This will lead to the loss of, not only skilled and experienced staff that bring prestige to the University, the City of Sheffield and the region beyond but also the students with exactly the sort of skills and employment opportunities the region needs.  He included an example of the recent impact of the University of Sheffield Archaeology in the New York Times article:- 

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/11/world/europe/bronze-age-coffin-golf-course.html

As a side note, this move could also create obstacles to the economic development of the region when a lack of staff for the archaeological investigations, that must be delivered before redevelopment of so many sites these days, are delayed with the consequent knock on effect for the region’s employment prospects and the developers themselves.

 

Will the Mayor engage further with the University of Sheffield to safeguard these jobs, and retain the skills and the international impact of this department for the future reputation of the University as something other than a big business with their eye solely on profit and willing to sacrifice their educational imperative for money?”

 

In response, Mayor Jarvis MBE acknowledged the enormous cultural, intellectual and economic contribution of the University of Sheffield.  The University was a strong advocate in the city for arts, culture and heritage, sponsoring many of the brilliant independent festivals that make the city and the wider region a vibrant place.  He was grateful to the University of Sheffield, as an anchor institution, which contributed to the advancement of the region.  He shared the concerns raised by N Slack, whilst recognising that the University of Sheffield, like all Higher Education Institutions, operated in a competitive commercial environment.  He would raise the issue again with the University of Sheffield, to ensure that the vital contributions that the department had made to the region were not lost.

10.

Minutes of the meeting held on 26th July 2021 pdf icon PDF 345 KB

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Minutes:

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting held on 26 July 2021 be agreed as a true record.

11.

Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) pdf icon PDF 151 KB

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Minutes:

A report was presented which provided an update on the workpackage one (WP1) outputs that would be used to develop the initial Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) submission in October 2021.  The outputs produced by WP1 related to improving the region’s bus services and by incorporating them into the initial BSIP, they would support the recovery of the bus system post-COVID.

 

Given the tight timescales for submission of the BSIP and with the submission date falling between the MCA meetings in September and November 2021, it was agreed that submission of the BSIP was delegated to the MCA Chief Executive in consultation with the South Yorkshire Leaders and the Mayor.

 

Councillor Sir Houghton CBE emphasised the need to ensure that the long and short term aims were correctly integrated.

 

A Leaders’ workshop would be convened to discuss the matter further.

 

RESOLVED – That the Board considered the content of the report and the outputs from WP1 which would shape the next stages of work, to provide a view on the preferred approach to the initial Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP), as set out in Section 3 of the report.

12.

South Yorkshire Digital Infrastructure Strategy pdf icon PDF 126 KB

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Minutes:

A report was submitted which presented the Final Draft South Yorkshire Digital Infrastructure Strategy.

 

In 2020, the consultant Arcadis had been commissioned to provide support to the MCA and partners to prepare a South Yorkshire Digital Infrastructure Strategy.  The SCR Housing and Infrastructure Board had developed the Final Draft Strategy and had recommended its approval.  The LEP Board had also endorsed and supported the Draft Strategy.

 

Mayor Jarvis MBE expressed his thanks to the Members and officers from across the South Yorkshire councils for their input into the Draft Strategy.

 

The South Yorkshire Digital Infrastructure Strategy sought to address the following key challenges:-

 

·        Over the next 5 year period, a total of 160,000 premises within South Yorkshire had not been scheduled to receive ‘gigabit-capable’ broadband by the industry.

·        A gigabit broadband connectivity would be rolled out throughout South Yorkshire, to build upon the success of the Superfast South Yorkshire broadband programme.

·        To ensure that local businesses were aware of and to exploit the 5G opportunities, and to ensure a more consistent regional approach.

·        To address the affordability and digital poverty of the broadband services.

 

RESOLVED – That the Board:-

 

i)        Considered and approved the Draft South Yorkshire Digital Infrastructure Strategy.

 

ii)      Delegated to the Head of Paid Service in liaison with the Housing and Infrastructure Board Co-Chairs to sign off the final designed document.

 

Requested that the Housing and Infrastructure Board prepared a Delivery Plan for the Digital Infrastructure Strategy.

13.

Final Accounts & Annual Governance Statement (AGS) pdf icon PDF 152 KB

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Minutes:

A report was presented which sought approval of the Annual Statement of Accounts and the Annual Governance Statement for 2020/21.  The Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 required the MCA to prepare an Annual Statement of Accounts, and to undertake an annual review of the effectiveness of systems of internal controls through the publication of an Annual Governance Statement.

 

Members noted that the auditor’s findings had led to an unqualified opinion, with no matters to report on the value for money statement.  The SCR Audits and Standards Committee had endorsed the Accounts.

 

The Board noted the national issue in relation to pensions, and additional testing was currently underway by the auditor.  Subject to the additional testing, it was envisaged that the Accounts would be approved by the end of September 2021.  In the event of any further matters arising from the additional testing, it was proposed to revert to the Board with the Accounts.

 

RESOLVED – That the Board:-

 

i)        Approved the Annual Statement of Accounts.

 

ii)      Approved the Annual Governance Statement.

 

Noted that should any late adjustments be required to the Accounts, the documents would be resubmitted to the Audit and Standards Committee and the Board.

14.

Programme Approvals pdf icon PDF 145 KB

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Minutes:

A report was presented which requested the progression of twelve schemes, early release of development cost funding subject to conditions to be set out in the Assurance Summaries, and approval of two project change requests.  The report also requested delegated authority to enter into legal agreements for the Community Renewal Fund with the local authorities and partners due to a delay in the decision announcement by Government and the acceptance of grant from the Superfast South Yorkshire programme with delegation to the thematic boards to develop programme ideas for their respective areas and approve programme ideas in line with agreed board delegation limits.

 

Mayor Jarvis MBE welcomed the host of schemes coming forward for approval, and he acknowledged the huge amount of effort that had been undertaken across a number of the thematic boards to reach this point. 

 

RESOLVED – That the Board considered and approved:-

 

i)        Progression of “iPort” project to full approval and award of £5.46m grant to South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive subject to the conditions set out in the Assurance Summary attached at Appendix A1 to the report.

 

ii)      Progression of “Stations Access Package” to full approval and award of £6.17m grant Doncaster Borough Council subject to the conditions set out in the Assurance Summary attached at Appendix A2 to the report.

 

iii)     Progression of “Gene Therapy Innovation and Manufacturing Centre” to full approval and award of £1.5m grant funding to the University of Sheffield (UOS) subject to the conditions set out in the Assurance Summary attached at Appendix A3 to the report.

 

iv)     Progression of “Project D0001” to full approval and award of £2m loan and £5.16m grant subject to the conditions set out in the Assurance Summary attached at Appendix A4 to the report.

 

v)      Progression of “Magna Tinsley OBC” to FBC and the release of development cost funding of up to £845k to Sheffield City Council subject to the conditions set out in the Assurance Summary attached at Appendix B1 to the report.

 

vi)     Progression of “Unity OBC” to proceed to FBC and the release of development cost funding up to £50k to Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council subject to the conditions set out in the Assurance Summary attached at Appendix B2 to the report.

 

vii)   Progression of “Nether Edge Wedge OBC” to proceed to FBC and the release of development cost funding up to £1.38m to Sheffield City Council subject to the conditions set out in the Assurance Summary attached at Appendix B3 to the report.

 

viii)  Progression of “Broom Road Cycleways OBC” to proceed to FBC and release of development cost funding up to £211k to Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council subject to the conditions set out in the Assurance Summary attached at Appendix B4 to the report.

 

ix)     Progression of “Doncaster Housing Retrofit SBC” to proceed to OBC subject to the conditions set out in the Assurance Summary attached at Appendix C1 to the report.

 

x)      Progression of “Glassworks – Enhanced Capital Contributions SBC” to proceed to OBC for Gainshare funding to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

15.

Budget and Business Plan Development 2022/23 pdf icon PDF 174 KB

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Minutes:

A report was submitted which provided an outline on the process for developing the budget and supporting business plan for the new financial year.  The report noted the challenging environment in which the process was taking place, the policy decisions that would drive the financial strategy, and the need for engagement with partners.

 

Members would be provided with the detailed budget assumptions at the next Board meeting scheduled to be held in November 2021.  It was noted that some of the decisions to be taken by the Board during the Autumn months would have a significant impact on the financial plan moving forwards.  Work continued to progress around the investment strategy in particular the co-design and co-development with partners. 

 

Mayor Jarvis MBE was pleased to observe that the paper was presented to the Board at this early stage, which started the business plan and budgeting process.

 

RESOLVED – That the Board:-

 

i)         Noted the budget and business planning process being undertaken within the MCA.

 

ii)       Noted the significant uncertainties shaping the process.

 

Noted the proposed approval timeline.

16.

Delegated Authority Report pdf icon PDF 95 KB

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Minutes:

A report was presented which provided an update on the decisions and delegations made by the MCA, and the decisions and delegations made by the Thematic Boards.

 

RESOLVED – That Members noted the decisions and delegations made.