Councillor Alan Moir (East Dunbartonshire Council); Provost Jim Fletcher (East Renfrewshire Council); Councillor Jim Clocherty (Inverclyde Council); Councillor Agnes Magowan (North Lanarkshire Council); Councillor Tom Begg (Renfrewshire Council); and Councillor Jonathan McColl (West Dunbartonshire 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 13 December 2021.

DECIDED: That the Minute be approved.

There was submitted a report by the Clerk relative to the Clerk and Treasurer of the Joint Committee.

The report advised that Ken Graham, Head of Corporate Governance, and Clerk to the Joint Committee retired from Renfrewshire Council on 28 February 2022. Mark Conaghan had been appointed as Head of Corporate Governance with effect from 1 March 2022 and would be Clerk to the Joint Committee from that date.

The report further advised that Alan Russell, Treasurer to the Joint Committee, had been appointed to the position of Chief Executive, Renfrewshire Council, on 12 November 2021. Alastair MacArthur had been appointed as Director of Finance & Resources and would be Treasurer to the Joint Committee with effect from 16 February 2022.

DECIDED: That it be noted that Mark Conaghan would be Clerk to the Joint Committee with effect from 1 March 2022 and that Alastair MacArthur would be Treasurer to the Joint Committee with effect from 16 February 2022.

There was submitted a joint revenue budget monitoring report by the Treasurer and the Strategic Development Plan Manager for the period 1 April 2021 to 4 February 2021. 

The report intimated that, at the end of period 11, gross expenditure was £33,000 underspent and income was £29,000 over-recovered, resulting in a net underspend of £62,000.  The projected year-end position was an underspend of £79,000, mainly due to the reduction in premises costs due to the move from West Regent Street to John Street; reduced spend due to COVID-19 and working from home arrangements; and an over-recovery in income.

DECIDED: That the report be noted.

There was submitted a report by the Treasurer providing an update in relation to the audit plan for 2021/22.

 

The report intimated that Audit Scotland submitted the annual audit plan, which outlined the timescales and planned activity by Audit Scotland, to the Joint Committee in March of each year. Owing to delays caused by the past two years’ audit timetables, the audit plan for 2021/22 was not yet ready for publication and would therefore miss the Joint Committee’s reporting cycle. 

The report advised that the annual audit plan for 2021/22 would be circulated to members of the Joint Committee when available.

The report further intimated that, given the local government elections in May of this year, the unaudited annual accounts 2021/22 would be presented to the meeting of this Joint Committee to be held in June 2022.

DECIDED: That the report be noted.

There was submitted a report by the Strategic Development Plan Manager relative to Clydeplan’s Annual Report 2021, 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 2021 provided an overview of the work undertaken by Clydeplan during 2021 under the broad headings of Clydeplan Joint Committee; Glasgow City Region; Planning (Scotland) Act - Regional Spatial Strategies and National Planning Framework 4; Glasgow and the Clyde Valley Green Network Partnership evolution; annual accounts and audit report; and the priorities and issues affecting the future work of Clydeplan. 

DECIDED:

(a) That the Annual Report 2021, 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.

There was submitted a report by the Strategic Development Plan Manager relative to the Clydeplan Development Plan Scheme and Participation Statement 2022/23, a copy of which was appended to the report.

The report intimated that as part of the requirements of the Planning etc (Scotland) Act 2006, planning authorities were expected to publish a Development Plan Scheme and Participation Statement and review it on an annual basis. Clydeplan published its first Development Plan Scheme and Participation Statement on 31 March 2009, with subsequent revisions published annually in March. The document would be published on the Clydeplan website as well as being sent to Scottish Ministers.

The report advised that the Development Plan Scheme and Participation Statement 2022/23 reflected the current position in respect of the recent Planning (Scotland) Act 2019, enacted in July 2019, which removed the statutory requirement to prepare a Strategic Development Plan, replacing it with a duty on local authorities to prepare a Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS). The RSS would not form part of the statutory Development Plan which would now comprise the National Planning Framework and the Local Development Plan. 

The report further advised that in support of the development of National Planning Framework 4, the Scottish Government had required that local authorities prepare and submit an indicative RSS by June 2020. Local authorities self-determined what their indicative RSS comprised and how they would collaborate in its production. 

The report noted that guidance and regulations would be produced, informed by the process of producing an indicative RSS, to enact the duty to produce an RSS, most likely sometime in 2022, following approval of National Planning Framework 4 which was anticipated to be in the summer of 2022. Clydeplan and Glasgow City Region were committed to supporting the development of both the National Planning Framework 4 and RSS guidance.

DECIDED:

(a) That the Development Plan Scheme and Participation Statement 2022/23, as set out in the appendix to the report, be adopted; and 

(b) That the Strategic Development Plan Manager be authorised to make the document available online on Clydeplan’s website and on social media and submit it to Scottish Ministers.

Under reference to item 4 of the Minute of the meeting of this Joint Committee held on 13 December 2021, there was submitted a report by the Strategic Development Plan Manager relative to the Joint Committee’s response to the Scottish Government consultation on the Draft National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4), a copy of which was appended to the report.

The report intimated that under the terms of the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019, the requirement for Strategic Development Plans in the four largest city regions had been removed and replaced with a requirement for all local authorities, working together as they saw fit, to prepare Regional Spatial Strategies setting out strategic development priorities. This part of the Act was not yet in force and was anticipated once NPF4 had been approved by the Scottish Government.

The report advised that, once approved by the Scottish Government, NPF4 would form part of the statutory Development Plan with the current Clydeplan Strategic Development Plan no longer being part of the Development Plan.

The report further advised that the Draft NPF4 consultation closed on 31 March 2022 and the proposed response by the Joint Committee was appended to the report. It was noted that the Glasgow City Region’s Regional Partnership would consider the endorsement of the Joint Committee’s response at its meeting to be held on 17 March 2022. 

The Joint Committee considered the response appended to the report and the further detail provided in section 6 of the report.

DECIDED: That the Joint Committee approve the response to the Scottish Government’s consultation on NPF4.

There was submitted a report by the Clerk relative to the date of the next meeting of the Joint Committee.

The report intimated that at the meeting of the Joint Committee held on 12 June 2017, it was decided that meeting dates be agreed for the five-year term from 2017 to 2022 and that in 2022 meetings be held at 11.15 am on 14 March and 13 June 2022.

The report proposed that the meeting of this Joint Committee scheduled to be held at 11.15 am on 13 June 2022 be rescheduled to 11.15 am on 27 June 2022.

DECIDED: That it be agreed that the meeting of this Joint Committee scheduled to be held at 11.15 am on 13 June 2022 be rescheduled to 11.15 am on 27 June 2022.