Councillor Alan Moir (East Dunbartonshire Council); Councillor Paul Edlin and Councillor Colm Merrick (East Renfrewshire Council); and Councillor Allan Stubbs (North Lanarkshire Council).

 

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

 

There was submitted the Minute of the meeting of this Joint Committee held on 12 December 2022.

DECIDED: That the Minute be approved.

There was submitted a joint revenue budget monitoring report by the Treasurer and the Strategic Development Plan Manager for the period to 3 February 2023. 

The report intimated that by 31 March 2023, the forecast position for Clydeplan was a projected underspend of £137,000 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.

Under reference to item 3 of the Minute of the meeting of this Joint Committee held on 12 December 2022, 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.     

The report intimated that the revenue estimates, outlining the projected net expenditure and proposed requisition for 2023/24, and indicative figures for 2024/25 and 2025/26 had been presented to the meeting of the Joint Committee held on 15 December 2022. Estimates at that time had been based on a 3% pay inflation assumption and these were replicated in the report as option 1. Members had requested that the Treasurer submit a report to this meeting of the Joint Committee providing options with figures greater than 3%. It was noted that this report focussed only on those options as information on the financial context and outlook had been detailed in the report to the December meeting.

The report, and Appendix 1 to the report, provided detail on three options; the requisitions for Clydeplan dependent on the option chosen; the impact of each option on the projected level of reserves; and the assumptions that the budget had been based on.

DECIDED: That option 3, as detailed in Appendix 1 to the report, be approved.

There was submitted a report by the Treasurer relative to the annual audit plan 2022/23 for the Joint Committee which outlined Azets planned activities in their audit for the 2022/23 financial year, a copy of which was appended to the report. 

The report intimated that Azets had submitted an audit plan which outlined the approach to the audit of the Joint Committee’s 2022/23 annual accounts to assess whether the accounts provided a true and fair view of the Joint Committee’s financial position and also whether the accounts had been prepared in accordance with proper accounting practice, the Code of Practice on Local Authority Accounting in the UK 2022/23.

The audit plan outlined the responsibilities of the Joint Committee and Azets; the assessment of key challenges and risks; and the approach and timetable for completion of the audit. It was noted that the risks identified here were included in the audit plans of many bodies which Azets worked with and their inclusion was not a reflection of any specific risk within the Joint Committee.

The report advised that the statutory deadline for the approval of the audited accounts for 2022/23 was 30 September 2023 and that the annual audit report was planned to be reported to the meeting of this Joint Committee scheduled to be held on 11 September 2023.

The report noted that the proposed audit fee was indicated at £5,780 for the current financial year and represented an increase above the 12.5% uplift fee set by Audit Scotland for 2022/23. Within the terms of the Audit Scotland appointment, local audit teams had discretion to vary the fee by up to 10% above the level set depending on the level of identified audit risk and this proposed higher fee reflected the additional work required in the first year of a new audit appointment.

Adrian Kolodziej, Senior Manager, Azets, presented the annual audit plan to members. 

DECIDED: 

(a) That Azets annual audit plan 2022/23 be noted; and

(b) That the proposed audit fee of £5,780 be approved.

There was submitted a report by the Strategic Development Plan Manager relative to Clydeplan’s Annual Report 2022, a copy of which was appended to the report. 

The report intimated that Clydeplan’s Minute of Agreement required that an annual report be prepared setting out the work of the authority for the previous calendar year.

The annual report 2022 provided a summary of the work undertaken by Clydeplan during 2022 under the broad headings of Clydeplan Joint Committee; Glasgow City Region; Planning (Scotland) Act - Regional Spatial Strategies and National Planning Framework 4; Glasgow City Region Green Network Partnership; annual accounts and audit report; and the priorities and issues affecting the future work of Clydeplan. 

DECIDED:

(a) That the annual report 2022, as set out in the appendix to the report, be approved; and

(b) That it be agreed that, in accordance with the practice of previous years, an enhanced version of the annual report be produced in order to promote the work of the Joint Committee.

Under reference to item 4 of the Minute of the meeting of this Joint Committee held on 12 December 2022, there was submitted a report by the Strategic Development Plan Manager relative to the adoption and publication of National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) and the new duties arising from the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 in relation to regional planning.

The report intimated that in terms of the Minute of Agreement, Clydeplan’s remit was ‘to prepare, monitor and keep under review the Glasgow and the Clyde Valley Strategic Development Plan (referred to herein as the Strategic Development Plan) for the Strategic Development Plan area on behalf of the Member Councils’. It was noted that, as a consequence of the adoption and publication of NPF4 on 13 February 2023, the Chief Planner had advised that ‘Strategic Development Plans (SDP) and associated supplementary guidance will cease to have effect and as such no longer be part of the development plan’. A copy of the Chief Planner’s letter dated 8 February 2023 was appended to the report.

The report advised that the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 stated that ‘a planning authority, or two or more such authorities acting jointly, are to prepare and adopt a Regional Spatial Strategy’. The Scottish Government had indicated that they expected work on Regional Strategies to commence once they published guidance which was anticipated in late 2023/early 2024.

The report further advised that the Planning Authority must adopt a RSS as soon as reasonably practicable after section 5 of the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 came into force and that this was still to be formally enacted; must keep their adopted RSS under review, and if they consider it appropriate, may at any time prepare and adopt a replacement strategy; and must renew their adopted RSS at least once in every period of 10 years.

The report noted that a further report would be brought to a future meeting of the Joint Committee in terms of the implications for the Joint Committee’s future work programme and governance.

It was proposed that the report on the implications for the Joint Committee’s future work programme and governance be submitted to the next meeting of the Joint Committee to be held on 12 June 2023 and that officers preparing this report be requested to meet with the Convener and Vice Convener prior to the report being submitted to the Joint Committee for consideration. This was agreed unanimously.

DECIDED:

(a) That the adoption and publication of NPF4 by Scottish Ministers be noted;

(b) That it be noted that, as a consequence, the current Clydeplan Strategic Development Plan of July 2017 ceased to have effect and as such would no longer be part of the statutory Development Plan; and

(c) That the report on the implications for the Joint Committee’s future work programme and governance be submitted to the next meeting of the Joint Committee to be held on 12 June 2023 and that officers preparing this report be requested to meet with the Convener and Vice Convener prior to the report being submitted to the Joint Committee for consideration.

DECIDED: That it be noted that the next meeting of the Joint Committee would be held at 11.15 am on 12 June 2023 and that members be advised if this meeting would be held remotely using MS teams or would be an ‘in person’ meeting.