Issue - meetings

To consider report of the Deputy Chief Executive

The Deputy Chief Executive introduced the item to the committee and outlined the salient points within the report.

The following questions were raised by the committee and responded to in detail by the officers in attendance.

·         Confirmation was sought on whether the funding was dependant on the current Government still being in power after a Parliamentary Election in 2024

·         This was introduced on 1^st October and the report was published on 6^th November - Can you confirm how much officer time has been spent on this project so far

·         Three priority areas for the spending have been highlighted, how well do you fell they fit with the current priorities

·         Confirmation was sought on whether the funding had to be spent in the town centre as defined by the current boundary

·         If this funding is made available, could other funding streams that had been earmarked for the town centre be spent elsewhere in the County Borough

·         The report highlights the Town Board – is there any further information available in relation to the how recruitment and appointments will carried out

·         Who will be responsible for evaluating the Town Board, this will be very difficult if Central Government and the Senedd are overseeing the project

·         There is mention of a UK Task Force and a Regional Partnership Board, can you confirm how you think this will work

·         Page 7, 4.2 states that ‘Once Board structure is in place, capacity funding will be made available for Spring 2024 for Boards to build their vision and priorities to write their Town Plan. However, until more detail is available nobody has any idea how to set up the Board

·         Clarity was sought on the where the current town centre boundary sits

·         Can the Board determine a new boundary or make changes to our existing boundary

·         The Report states that there is a vast number of representatives who can sit on this new Board, however until we have clarity about the number of seats on the Board no decisions can be made to move forward

·         When do we expect to get further guidance on setting up the Board

·         Have we requested further information in relation to setting up of the Board

·         Clarity was sought on whether a report would be put to Full Council and whether that would come once further guidance had been received

It was confirmed by the Deputy Chief Executive that a briefing paper will be sent to all Councillors confirming to the current situation in relation to the Long Term Plan for Towns programme.

The Chair stated that CRF and SPF funding have all been severely delayed and thought that it is unlikely that further guidance would be received before Christmas.

·         The report stipulates that the Town Board is run by a Businessperson or a Community Leader (which is not a Councillor) then Local Authorities to bring together local partners to form part of the Board. From our understanding it looks as though the Local Authority will not have a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 451