Agenda and minutes

Councillor John Clarke, Gedling Borough Council

Ian Curryer, Chief Executive of Nottingham City Council

Councillor Pat Lally, Broxtowe Borough Council

Councillor Simon Greaves, Bassetlaw District Council

None.

To confirm the minutes of the last meeting held on 19 December 2014

The Committee confirmed the minutes of the meeting held on 19 December 2014 as a correct record and they were signed by the Chair.

Discussion item led by Chris Henning, Director of Economic Development at Nottingham City Council

Councillor Neil Clarke, Rushcliffe Borough Council, provided the Committee with the following information:

(a)  a delegation from the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership attended Whitehall on 17 March to meet with Greg Clark, Minister for Cities, to discuss how the Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, Derby and Derbyshire councils can increase functions over jobs, skills and transport in the area;

(b)  the prospectus was well received as it is cross-political party and is a collaborative deal between the authorities;

(c)  Greg Clark said there needs to be greater emphasis on HS2 and the universities so this will be worked on;

(d)  it has been agreed that work by officers on the deal can continue during the pre-election period, with political involvement being reinstated after the election.

RESOLVED to thank all of those involved in the delegation for attending the meeting, and those involved in preparing for the Devolution Deal.

Verbal update by Andrew Muter, Chief Executive of Newark and Sherwood District Council

Andrew Muter, Chief Executive of Newark and Sherwood District Council, provided the Committee with the following information:

(a)  the amendments to the governance review have been completed and the proposal has been submitted to the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) for checking;

(b)  Derbyshire are also in the process of submitting their proposal for checking;

(c)  if the DCLG are happy with the proposals then they will be formally submitted next week.

RESOLVED to publish a press release, agreed with all authorities, when formal submission takes place.

Presentation by Allen Graham, Chief Executive of Rushcliffe Borough Council

Allen Graham, Chief Executive of Rushcliffe Borough Council, provided the Committee with the following information:

(a)  there are currently two challenges – whether current skills are being maximised and identifying future skills and whether they can be met;

(b)  it is important to ensure that the ‘skills chain’ reflects the life cycle of childhood through to retirement to ensure that necessary skills are linked together;

(c)  pathways into work are wider than education through FE colleges and universities;

(d)  a number of ‘hubs’ have been established as mechanisms to help people access work. There is a need to rationalise the offer across the County to simplify the process;

(e)  since 2009/10 the take up and provision of apprenticeships has increased, but the number of 16-19 year olds accessing apprenticeships has remained static. A Commons Select Committee report (Apprenticeships and traineeships for 16-19 year olds 4 March 2015)  indicates this could be due to schools currently being assessed on academic success and targets.  There are currently no performance indicators in relation to how many young people are placed with a good quality employers or apprenticeships;

(f)  there may need to be a workshop for partners to come together to discuss skills in further detail.

The Committee made the following comments:

(g)  skills will be a focus for the Combined Authority;

(h)  skills need to match employment opportunities and it is important to promote sectors that contain small and medium sized enterprises to ensure their needs are met;

(i)  FE colleges need to provide courses which offer the skills to meet the demand of services;

(j)  there are many job vacancies, but a shortage of people with the necessary skills to fill them;

(k)  it could be beneficial to review fees for courses which address the skills shortage;

(l)  businesses also need to invest and be responsible for training and apprenticeships to help people gain necessary skills.

RESOLVED to develop a work plan to address the skills needs throughout the County.

Glen O’Connell, Secretary to the Committee and Acting Corporate Director for Resources at Nottingham City Council

Glen O’Connell, Secretary to the Committee, introduced his report requesting that the Committee agree which members will perform the Chair and Vice-Chair roles for the forthcoming part year that the Committee will be in operation for, as the new N2 Combined Authority will replace the current Committee.

RESOLVED to agree the following roles for the forthcoming part year:

(1)  that Councillor Graham Chapman, Deputy Leader of Nottingham City Council, continue as Chair of the Committee;

(2)  that Councillor Neil Clarke, Leader of Rushcliffe Borough Council, be appointed as Vice-Chair of the Committee.

Reasons for decision

The Chair and Vice-Chair’s terms of office come to an end in May 2015 so appointments to the roles need to be agreed for the part of the forthcoming year that the Committee is in operation for, as the roles will be brought to an end by the establishment of any N2 Combined Authority in December 2015.

Other options considered

No other options were considered as the Committee must agree its Chair and Vice-Chair for the forthcoming part year.

Presentation by Matt Lockley, Economic Development Team Manager, Nottinghamshire County Council

Matt Lockley, Economic Development Team Manager, Nottinghamshire County Council, introduced his report detailing the response from BT in relation to the Better Broadband for Nottinghamshire Programme proposal for contract 2 of the Superfast Extension Programme money, and highlighted the following points:

(a)  the recommendation in the report has been removed in light of the proposal received from BT. A revised recommendation will be discussed during the consideration of the exempt appendices;

(b)  BT submitted its proposal to the County Council on 13 February 2015. 24,737 premises in the City and County were eligible for contract 2, but the response from BT would provide a fibre broadband solution for 10,990 of these premises, some of which are in the City, which is inconsistent with the approach previously agreed by all partners for a focus on the areas of the County with the lowest coverage rates;

(c)  it was agreed that investment in contract 2 would be targeted at the Borough and District Council areas that do not achieve 95% coverage by the end of contract 1 – Bassetlaw, Newark and Sherwood and Rushcliffe. The invitation to tender reflected this prioritisation;

(d)  the BT submission doesn’t respond sufficiently to the priorities as a significant proportion of the total homes passed (THP) (the standard performance measure) are in urban areas, particularly the City;

(e)  the County Council has been negotiating with BT to try and mitigate this as the percentage of THP with access to fibre broadband after contract 2 in the three priority areas is as follows:

·  Bassetlaw – 93%;

·  Newark and Sherwood – 93%;

·  Rushcliffe – 96%;

(f)  the total coverage across the City and County will reach just over 97% once both contracts have been completed, which means that there will be approximately 13,750 premises without access to fibre broadband.

To consider excluding the public from the meeting during consideration of the remaining items in accordance with section 100a(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 on the basis that, having regard to all the circumstances, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information

The Committee decided to exclude the public from the meeting during consideration of the remaining agenda items in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 on the basis that, having regard to all the circumstances, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information, given the commercial details to be discussed.

Matt Lockley, Economic Development Team Manager, Nottinghamshire County Council, introduced the exempt appendices to his report.

Steve Henderson, Regional Director, Next Generation Access, BT was in attendance for part of this item.

RESOLVED to approve the revised recommendations presented at the meeting.

Reasons for the decision

Detailed in the exempt minute.

Other options considered

Detailed in the exempt minute.