There were no declarations of interest intimated prior to the commencement of the meeting.

There were submitted the Minutes of the meetings of this Joint Committee held on 12 September and 24 October 2022.

DECIDED: That the Minutes be approved.

There was submitted a joint revenue budget monitoring report by the Treasurer and the Strategic Development Plan Manager for the period to 11 November 2022. 

The report intimated that by 31 March 2023, the forecast position for Clydeplan was a projected underspend of £99,236 and further detail was provided in section 4 of the report.

The report noted that there had been no budget adjustments since the start of the financial year.

DECIDED: That the report be noted.

There was submitted a joint report by the Treasurer and the Strategic Development Plan Manager relative to the revenue estimates of the Glasgow and the Clyde Valley Strategic Development Planning Authority (Clydeplan) and the Green Network Partnership, including the requisition of the constituent authorities for financial year 2023/24 and indicative planning figures for 2024/25 and 2025/26, as detailed in the appendix to the report.     

The report intimated that both Clydeplan and the Green Network Partnership budgets were presented together in recognition of their shared activity and resources. 

The report advised that the financial environment in which the Joint Committee and constituent authorities operated continued to be characterised by significant demand and cost pressures, compounded by constrained grant support. It was anticipated that the Scottish budget, to be announced on 15 December 2022, would again reflect a settlement for local government which potentially did not meet the levels required to maintain spend under the current high inflationary climate.

The report further advised that the requisition for Clydeplan was proposed at £67,500 per constituent authority. This maintained the gross requisition at 2022/23 levels with a requisition discount of £39,500 applied in recognition of the high level of uncommitted reserves. Further, that the allocation basis for the Green Network Partnership was a per capita allocation which differed to Clydeplan. The proposed net requisitions for 2023/24 and beyond had been discounted to reduce the level of reserves held within the Green Network Partnership to a reasonable level. 

The report provided information on the assumptions that the budget had been based on and a financial overview for Clydeplan.

In relation to the budget assumption ‘provision of inflation on employee costs has been included at an average 5% for 2022/23 and 3% for subsequent years’, it was proposed that the figure of 3% would not be sufficient for subsequent years and that the Treasurer be requested to submit a report to the next meeting of this Joint Committee providing options with figures greater than 3%. This was agreed.

DECIDED: That the Treasurer be requested to submit a report to the next meeting of this Joint Committee providing options with figures greater than 3%.

Under reference to item 4 of the Minute of the meeting of this Joint Committee held on 12 September 2022, there was submitted a report by the Strategic Development Plan Manager advising that the Scottish Government had laid the revised draft National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) in Parliament on 8 November 2022 and requesting that the Joint Committee consider the Clydeplan Core Team staffing implications in support of the future delivery of the Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) and wider city region joint working agenda.

The report intimated that NPF4 was a long-term plan for Scotland to 2045 that set out where development and infrastructure was needed and that for the first time, once approved, would form part of the statutory Development Plan along with the Local Development Plan. In a regional context, the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 set out a duty for one or more local authorities to prepare an RSS, though unlike its predecessor, the Strategic Development Plan, the RSS would not form part of the statutory Development Plan. 

The report noted that the revised draft NPF4 had been laid in the Scottish Parliament for a period of parliamentary scrutiny and that there had been two sessions of evidence given to the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee on 22 and 29 November 2022. The next stages would be a debate by the Scottish Parliament and vote with a view to being ‘approved’ by Parliament, likely to be within the next few weeks and then Scottish Ministers would ‘adopt’ and ‘publish’ NPF4 as soon as practically possible, likely to be January/February 2023.

The report provided detail on the draft NPF4 consultation; the three parts of the revised draft NPF4; Regional Spatial Strategies and guidance; the Delivery Programme and the Strategic Development Plan Managers observations.

The report advised that the Clydeplan Core Team was the Joint Committee’s staffing resource which, on behalf of the eight constituent members, would lead the development of the RSS. The Core Team staffing structure was detailed in the report and it was noted that the Clydeplan Manager also had line management responsibility for the Green Network Development Officer, the Green Network Communications Officer and the Green Network Grassland and Wetland Development Lead. Both the Clydeplan Manager and the Assistant Manager had indicated their intention to retire in April 2023 and December 2022, respectively. 

The report proposed that a review of the Clydeplan Core Team staffing structure be undertaken, led by the Chair of the Clydeplan Steering Group, to consider how the organisation could best support the new planning legislation and regional joint working agenda with a report being submitted to a future meeting of this Joint Committee. This was agreed.

DECIDED:

(a) That the publication of the revised draft NPF4 and timetable for parliamentary scrutiny be noted; 

(b) That the Scottish Government’s timetable for the preparation of RSS guidance be noted; and

(c) That given upcoming retirements, the staffing structure of the Clydeplan Core Team be reviewed to take account of the implications of the new regional and local planning duties arising from the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 and the wider city region joint working agenda and that a further report be brought back to a future meeting of this Joint Committee.

There was submitted a report by the Green Network Development Officer providing an update on progress towards delivery of the Green Network ‘Blueprint’ and other strategic work relating to the Glasgow City Region Green Network.

The report intimated that the twin and interlinked climate and ecological crises had never had a higher public and political focus and that this was reflected in the emphasis placed on them in the revised draft NPF4 and the suite of supporting guidance and strategies. Nature Networks, Active Travel Networks and overarching Green Networks were cited as an effective response to the crises in these documents, particularly when considered at a landscape scale, and the Glasgow City Region Green Network was ideally placed to support partners in meeting new requirements and, where appropriate, developing a consistent regional approach.

The Green Network Development Officer gave a presentation providing further detail in relation to the Strategic Environment Partnership (SEP); Blueprint delivery projects and the Glasgow City Region.

DECIDED: That the report and presentation be noted.

DECIDED: That it be noted that the next meeting of the Joint Committee would be held at 11.15 am on 13 March 2023 and that members be advised if this meeting would be held remotely using MS teams or would be an ‘in person’ meeting.