Agenda and minutes

The Chief Legal and Monitoring Officer welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Cllr Colin Ross was nominated and seconded and took the Chair.

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and noted apologies as above.

As new Members had joined the Committee, the Chair asked all to introduce themselves.

No urgent items were declared.

The Chair advised that the Mayor had been called to an urgent meeting regarding the future of Doncaster Sheffield Airport (DSA) and was unable to join the meeting for the item on Mayoral Scrutiny.

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The Board noted that SYMCA’s Scrutiny Officer had circulated a Centre for Governance and Scrutiny publication to Members prior to the meeting called, “Considerations for Improving Citizen Participation in the Scrutiny of Combined Authorities in England”.

ACTION: The Scrutiny Officer to research how to improve public participation and provide a report to Members at a future date.

RESOLVED: that the minutes of the previous meeting held on 23 March 2022 be approved.

The Chair confirmed that the outstanding items on the Action Log had been completed.

The Deputy Chief Executive informed the Committee that with regards to the Brownfield Housing Fund, the Mayoral Combined Authority (MCA) had approved an Open Call to seek additional schemes to ensure delivery.

RESOLVED: that the Action Log be noted.

The Committee reviewed the latest Forward Plan of Key Decisions.

In response to questions around the proposed 12 hour bus lanes included as part of the Southwest Bus Corridors scheme, the Deputy Chief Executive advised that approval had only been given to develop the Outline Business Case. The South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority would look into any concerns or complaints as part of the consideration. The Full Business Case was expected to be submitted for approval in November 2022.

The Deputy Chief Executive also confirmed that the Skills Bootcamps had not been taken forward.

ACTION: The Deputy Chief Executive to circulate information on the Government’s criteria for Skills Bootcamps to the Committee.

RESOLVED: that the Forward Plan of Key Decisions be noted.

Mayoral Scrutiny

The Chair suggested that Members pose any urgent questions to officers who could provide a response in the Mayor’s absence.

Members queried the progress on the Mayor’s target to appoint a lead on improving health inequalities within 100 days of taking office.

The Deputy Chief Executive informed the Committee that the Mayor was currently in discussions regarding an action plan and intended to release a statement on his 100^th day in office. The Director of Corporate Policy added that once in post, this role would work with partners to identify the key actions required.

In response to Member’s concerns around mental health, the Director of Corporate Policy advised that the Working Win programme supports people suffering from mental health issues to remain in or return to work. SYMCA was limited by its devolution deal which did not include powers over healthcare. The Mayor was also keen to work closely with the Integrated Care Partnership.

Bus Cancellations

The Director of Public Transport Operations informed the Committee that the MCA Board had approved the use of £5.1m of reserves to protect school bus services until July 2024. A detailed analysis of all schools affected had been undertaken and various options had been explored. Some services would be replaced on a like for like basis but where this was not possible the existing commercial bus network would be utilised. The Committee noted that SYMCA was currently in the process of tendering services; the deadline for operators to submit bids was 5 August 2022. Contracts would be awarded the following week.

Members questioned the accuracy of data displayed on digital bus stops. The Director of Public Transport Operations stated that SYMCA was reliant on information provided by commercial operators.

ACTION: The Director of Public Transport Operations to provide information on the indicative levels of inaccuracy of data displayed on digital bus stops to the Committee.

South Yorkshire Retrofit

The Deputy Chief Executive reported that, in relation to the Retrofit Taskforce, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs had recently asked MCAs to take responsibility for developing a Nature Recovery Strategy and that SYMCA were in the early stages of working through the details. The Committee noted that retrofitting was only one element of a wider sustainability and environmental agenda. The committee were informed that one of the main challenges to retrofitting was funding, which the SYMCA could not meet on its own; noting that the cost to retrofit all South Yorkshire homes EPC rated D or below would be circa £6bn.

ACTION: Democratic Services to add Retrofit Taskforce to the Work Programme.

DSA

The Chair requested an update on the situation at DSA following the announcement by Peel Group that it may no longer be commercially viable. The Chief Legal and Monitoring Officer informed the Committee that work was ongoing between SYMCA, DMBC and other partners. Officers were working to ensure that Peel Group was exploring all available options as DSA was vital to the local and regional economy. The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35.

The Head of Policy introduced a paper on the Launch of the Data and Intelligence Hub. The Committee were informed that the aim was to provide a single source of data and to improve access to information.

The datasets gave an insight into how South Yorkshire was performing across several domains such as transport, environment, and inequality. It was anticipated that the Data Intelligence Hub would also be used as a tool to support decision making.

Members queried whether an application programming interface was available for the Data Intelligence Hub to enable other organisations to link in. The Committee were advised that the Data Intelligence Hub was still evolving but the intention was to offer an application programming interface in the future and to also improve the narrative. The Director of Corporate Policy added that the Data Intelligence Hub was being built in phases and it was still in its first iteration. It was hoped that it would encourage engagement with members of the public.

RESOLVED: that Board members: 

1.    Note the progress made;

2.    Consider how they would like this resource to be deployed;

3.    Advise on how the MCA can work with partners to build an inclusive data and analytics community in South Yorkshire across age, sector and personal circumstance.

The Chair advised that virtual workshops would be arranged for Members to consider the Work Programme for the coming year and requested that the Committee reconvene for an additional, single item meeting on Mayoral Scrutiny.

ACTION: Democratic Services to arrange an additional, single item meeting on Mayoral Scrutiny.

As there was no further business to discuss, the Chair thanked everyone for the productive discussions and closed the meeting.