Councillor Alan Moir (East Dunbartonshire Council), Councillor Colm Merrick (East Renfrewshire Council), Councillor David Wilson (Inverclyde Council), Councillor Kenny McLean (Glasgow City Council), Councillor Tom Fisher (North Lanarkshire Council) and Councillor Gurpreet Singh Johal (West Dunbartonshire Council).

 

There were submitted the Minute of the meeting of this Joint Committee held on 11 September 2023 and the Minute of the special meeting of this Joint Committee held on 26 September 2023.

DECIDED: That the Minutes be approved.

There was submitted a joint revenue budget monitoring report by the Treasurer and the Head of Economy & Development Services, Renfrewshire Council for the period to 10 November 2023. 

The report intimated that by 31 March 2024, the forecast position for Clydeplan was a projected underspend of £174,000 and further detail was provided in Appendix 1 to the report. In light of this significant in-year underspend position projection, the report advised that a supplementary requisition discount of £15,000 per constituent authority was proposed for 2023/24 resulting in an under-recovery of budgeted requisition income of £120,000 and the consequential projected outturn position and impact on uncommitted reserves was detailed in Appendix 2 to the report.

During consideration of this item, the Convener referred to the briefing note by the Director of Regional Economic Growth, Glasgow City Region issued to members prior to the meeting relative to a revised governance structure for the oversight of the development of a Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) for the Glasgow City Region (GCR).

 

The Director of Regional Economic Growth then spoke to the briefing note which provided detail on the background and the growth of City Regions; the governance review; the proposed way forward; local democratic accountability for the new RSS; staffing and the budget.

The Director referred to the proposed way forward detailed in his briefing note which was: that a Glasgow City Region Spatial Planning Committee be established as a sub-committee of the Glasgow City Region Cabinet; that membership consist of Planning Conveners or equivalent from each of the local authorities; that the chair be decided by its membership; that this Committee would oversee the development of a RSS for the GCR for approval by the eight member authorities; and that the Directors/Heads of Service with responsibility for Planning of each Council would attend meetings in support of members. 

The Director further advised that a report on this matter would firstly be considered by the Glasgow City Region Chief Executive’s Group on 1 February 2024 and then by the Glasgow City Region Cabinet in February 2024. Following this, a report would require to be considered by all eight member authorities proposing (i) that Clydeplan be wound up; (ii) that a new Spatial Planning Committee be established; and (iii) that the requirement for the agreement of all members be formalised before an RSS could be presented to Cabinet. 

 

Following discussions around membership and the governance arrangements of any newly formed Committee it was noted that a report relative to the decision taken by the Glasgow City Region Cabinet in February 2024 would be submitted to the next meeting of the Joint Committee on 11 March 2024.

DECIDED: 

(a) That the revenue budget monitoring report be noted; 

(b) That the supplementary discount proposed in the report be approved; and 

(c) That the proposal detailed in the briefing note by the Director of Regional Economic Growth, Glasgow City Region be agreed, in principle, and that it be noted that the decision taken by the Glasgow City Region Cabinet in February 2024 would be submitted to the next meeting of the Joint Committee to be held on 11 March 2024.

There was submitted a joint report by the Treasurer and the Head of Economy & Development Services, Renfrewshire Council 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 2024/25, as detailed in the appendix to the report.

The report advised that the Minute of Agreement required the Treasurer to submit a financial plan to the Joint Committee setting out estimated expenditure and associated requisitions for the following three years. In light of current potential governance changes the report requested that the Joint Committee agree to waive this requirement for the current year.

The report further advised that the Revenue Estimates presented in Appendix 1 to the report included requisition discounts resulting in a 36% reduction in the net requisition for 2024/25. 

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

DECIDED: 

(a) That the Revenue Estimates for 2024/25, as set out in Appendix 1 to the report, including the planned use of reserves be approved; and

(b) That the requirement for a three-year financial plan be waived in 2023/24.

DECIDED: That it be noted that the next meeting of the Joint Committee would be held at 11.15 am on 11 March 2024 and it be agreed that it be a hybrid meeting in the Council Chamber, Renfrewshire Council, Renfrewshire House, Paisley.