West Yorkshire Combined Authority - Thursday 8 May 2025, 2:00pm - West Yorkshire Combined Authority Webcasting

West Yorkshire Combined Authority
Thursday, 8th May 2025 at 2:00pm 

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  1. Sarah Naylor, Committee Services (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
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  1. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
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  1. Cllr Barry Anderson (WYCA Scrutiny Chair)
  2. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
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  1. Simon Warburton, Executive Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  2. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  3. Cllr Stewart Golton Leeds City Council
  4. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  5. Simon Warburton, Executive Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  6. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  7. Cllr Peter Kilbane (York Council)
  8. Simon Warburton, Executive Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  9. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
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  1. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
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  1. Mr Mike Birch
  2. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  3. Stacey White, Officer (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  4. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  5. Stacey White, Officer (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  6. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  7. Cllr Peter Kilbane (York Council)
  8. Cllr Alan Lamb Leeds City Council
  9. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  10. Stacey White, Officer (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  11. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  12. Ben Still, Chief Executive (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  13. Cllr Matthew Morley Wakefield Council
  14. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
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  1. Simon Warburton, Executive Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  2. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  3. Cllr Peter Kilbane (York Council)
  4. Cllr Alan Lamb Leeds City Council
  5. Simon Warburton, Executive Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  6. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  7. Mr Mike Birch
  8. Simon Warburton, Executive Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  9. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  10. Cllr Barry Anderson (WYCA Scrutiny Chair)
  11. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  12. Cllr Stewart Golton Leeds City Council
  13. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
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  1. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  2. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
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  1. Cllr James Lewis (Leeds City Council)
  2. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  3. Felix Kumi-Ampofo, Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  4. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  5. Cllr Peter Kilbane (York Council)
  6. Cllr Alan Lamb Leeds City Council
  7. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  8. Felix Kumi-Ampofo, Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  9. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  10. Ben Still, Chief Executive (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  11. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  12. Cllr Stewart Golton Leeds City Council
  13. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  14. Asma Iqbal (West Yorkshire Business Board)
  15. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
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  1. Sarah Eaton, Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  2. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  3. Sarah Eaton, Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  4. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
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  1. Sarah Eaton, Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  2. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
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  1. Felix Kumi-Ampofo, Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  2. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
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  1. Felix Kumi-Ampofo, Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  2. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
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  1. Ben Still, Chief Executive (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  2. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
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  1. Ben Still, Chief Executive (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  2. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  3. Caroline Norreys, Assistant Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  4. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  5. Webcast Finished

Thank you so much.
So welcome to today's Combined Authority meeting, taking place on the 80th anniversary of E -Day,
a day when we remember the bravery and the sacrifice of those who secured victory in
Europe.
I know all of us have paid our respects at ceremonies across West Yorkshire.
Today I had the honour of attending the ceremony in Leeds where we paid tribute to the men
and women who played such a vital role in that historic achievement.
As we reflect on the sacrifices made, it's important we also acknowledge the immense
contribution of women from our region during the war.
from factory workers in Leeds to those in the Women's Voluntary Service and from nurses
on the front lines to those in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force and Women's Land Army.
Women across West Yorkshire played a pivotal role in the war effort. Women like Elsie Barlow
from Huddersfield who served in the Air Transport Auxiliary, Dorothy Hall from Leeds who worked
in military communications and Beryl Pritchard from Bradford who led efforts in the Women's
Army to name but a few. Meanwhile many brave soldiers from West Yorkshire who
served in the Royal West Yorkshire Regiment, the Royal Yorkshire and
Lancashire Regiment and the Royal Air Force fought in critical battles like
the D -Day landings, the Battle of Normandy, Monte Cassino, Arnhem and the
Battle of the Bulge. Whether serving on the front lines defending our skies
during the Battle of Britain or working tirelessly on the home front in
factories, farms and other logistical roles, every contribution was vital to securing victory.
It was the collective courage, determination and sacrifice of all of them, women and men
alike that helped shape the world we live in today. On this VE Day we remember their
shared courage and determination and we honour them not just as distant heroes but as our
with the business of today's meeting and we do have extra information about the
people that I've name -checked and some of their work is truly astonishing and
humbling. If you'd like to know more about those women we spoke about please
just ask. Okie doke. Sarah any apologies today? Thank you chair. We have apologies

1 Apologies for Absence

Sarah Naylor, Committee Services (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:02:42
from Councillor Denise Jeffrey, Councillor Morley is attending on her behalf,
Councilman
Claire councillor Claire Douglas and council kill bane is attending on her behalf
councillor she holds worth council Galton is attending
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:03:02
Thank you also the chair the Transport Committee
Councillor Susan hinge cliff is in a meeting and will be joining us later. Thank you. Any declarations of interest?
On any item in the papers?

2 Declarations of Disclosable Pecuniary Interests

No, thank you

3 Exempt Information - Possible Exclusion of the Press and Public

Okie doke, item 3, officers have advised that information contained in appendices 1 and
3 to agenda item 6, bus franchising and appendix 1 to agenda item 8, White Rose rail station,
are treated as exempt under paragraph 3 of part 1 to schedule 12A of the local government
act 1972. This is because they contain information relating to the financial or business effects
of any particular person, including the Combined Authority, and further that it is considered
that the public interest in maintaining the content of the appendices as exempt outweighs
the public interest in disclosing the information, as publication would prejudice current and
future decision making. If we agree the present public will be excluded should members wish
to discuss the content of the appendices when we consider items 6 and 8.
Are we content to agree the recommendation of the information is exempt?

4 Minutes of the Meeting of the Combined Authority held on 3 April 2025

We are. Thank you so much. Okay. Moving on. Minutes of April 3, 2025.
Are there any comments or questions on the minutes?
Yes, Councillor Anderson.
Cllr Barry Anderson (WYCA Scrutiny Chair) - 0:04:36
I think I was here. It says I'm not here. I was. I'm sure I was causing havoc.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:04:43
You always make your presence felt, Councillor Anderson, so I'm sure we can rectify that.
Thank you. So moving on to the mayor's update. I want

5 Mayor's Update

to begin by referring to the crossbow attack in Headingley on the 26th of April. The investigation
remains live so we must be a little careful how we refer to the incident. The events of
that weekend were absolutely horrific and my thoughts were with the victims and the
wider community following this serious incident in Headingley. I continue to be fully briefed
by Counter Terrorism Police who now lead these investigations alongside West Yorkshire Police.
A man who was a key suspect has sadly now died and while officers are currently not
seeking anyone else in connection with this matter, a thorough and extensive investigation
to establish the facts and circumstances will continue.
We don't know yet if this is a terrorist incident. This is why Counter -Terrorism are investigating
to see if that's the case. I know that the public will be very anxious about what happened,
but I want to reassure everyone listening, this is such a rare occurrence.
Now I've spoken with the Home Secretary about the incident and I was pleased the Government
have made their intention clear to tighten current legislation on the ownership and use
of crossbows. It cannot be right that you can buy a crossbow on the internet in the
space of 20 minutes and all they care about is where is it going to be sent and how much
– how are you going to pay. We really have to make sure that these dangerous weapons
have controls that will protect the public. Alison Lowe and I, my Deputy Mayor for Policing
and crime, maintain our focus on the safety of women and girls with our dedicated women's
safety unit identifying and responding to emerging trends that are putting women's safety
at risk. We recently held a very well attended roundtable with regional MPs to update them
on our work to combat violence against women and girls. The roundtable included three rape
crisis centres in the region, along with victims and survivors who were able to share their
stories. The Round Table formed part of our wider work to influence the government policymaking
which continues at pace over the last month and into the future. We held an event on our
mass transit proposals in Westminster, getting 24 MPs including the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves,
from our region and beyond making the case it is time for trams in West Yorkshire. A
in local and national press. I also met with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury earlier
this week alongside my fellow Mayors where I was able to set out our broader ask for
the spending review, so in addition to the tram, making the case for a new station in
Bradford, capacity at Leeds station, revenue for bus services and the quantum of our single
settlement. That came on the back of meetings. I attended with Councillor Hinchliffe, with
Lord Hendy, the Rail Minister, and also with Alex Norris, the Minister in MHCLG, about
the new station in Bradford and wider regeneration, and Heidi Alexander, the Transport Secretary,
about our plans to deliver a fully integrated transport network.
So I believe we're directly influencing departmental submissions into the spending review and into
treasury decision -making as well.
You will be reassured to know I will keep on pushing, we're just over a month to go
until the Chancellor unveils her review to Parliament and by our next meeting we'll know
what she had to say and we will be able to discuss it.
Finally it would be remiss of me not to offer my heartfelt congratulations to Leeds United
for their promotion back to the Premier League and of course to the Bantrums of Bradford
City for the promotion back to League One. Both clubs are hugely important to huge numbers
of people across the region and as you can see from the numbers who turned out in the
city centre to celebrate earlier this week, they will continue in that support.
Sporting success breeds confidence and vitality into places and I know we're all hoping that
that continues long into the future and can I say that Councillor Lewis looked resplendent
on the top of the bus with the team from Leeds United.
And he got the best view in the house, I think.
Okey -dokey, moving on to item six, bus franchising.
Now, with the next item, which is about the next steps for bus franchising,

For Decision

earlier this year, the Combined Authority approved our lotting and depot strategies,

6 Bus Franchising

as well as endorsing the proposal to retire the Metro transport network identity,
and to adopt a new name and brand identity for West Yorkshire's integrated transport
network. This report looks at further areas of development across the franchising programme,
the provision of fleet, the customer proposition and transport branding. Now to remind colleagues,
appendices 1 to 3 to this item are exempt, so I'm going to suggest that once the introductions
to this item are made, we go into private session to discuss these. So if there are
members of the public in the room, I'm afraid I will have to ask you to leave. So in the
first instance, Simon Warburton, would you like to just open up the item and then we'll
go into private session. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. So following on from your
Simon Warburton, Executive Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:10:25
introductory comments, I'm pleased to continue to inform the Combined Authority that all
of the necessary progress is continuing
so that we will be ready for our first critical milestone
with regards to bus franchising,
which of course will be the issuing of
invitation to tender documentation for round one
on the first of October.
And so following on from the strategies
that we brought forward previously,
this is the latest piece of the toolkit that we are bringing forward to ensure that we
are in a strong position for that particular date.
As you've said, Mayor, the paper today deals with three aspects of the work that's underway.
The first element is with regards to fleet strategy where there is a significant body
of work that is underway to set out how we will meet our very, very clear objectives
to establish the most consistent fleet possible through the program and for that fleet to
build out to be fully zero mission
Operation as fitting with our net zero
policies but at the same time throughout the process
continuing to
ensure that there is
consistent provision on the streets to deliver our services throughout the period of
transition and in the
appendix which I'm happy to take further questions on when we move into into
private we set out both the baseline position in terms of of the fleet at
present in West Yorkshire and the mechanisms that we intend to use and the
options within them to to safeguard our position throughout the approach and we
have also included as an appendix an outline business case for our fleet
investment case and we're seeking approval today for that so that we can
then move to a full business case. The second area of work that we've set out
is it is in many ways the central element of our case for bus franchising
Which is the customer proposition?
As you've been very clear on as the combined authority throughout this process
We are undertaking this change so that we can
secure the best possible
customer service
on our streets and
What we've started to set out here
For members and we will continue
To bring further material forward on these is the scope of the work that's now underway
to ensure that we build on the customer services
that we have already been providing for a number of years
to really now embed a fully integrated proposition
across four areas in particular,
our approach to information and pricing
so that we have a very clearly integrated
journey planning and ticketing model.
our move to a one -point customer support model taking the complexity out of the
management of travel issues for our customers and that approach to a
consistent fleet that means that all users of our network in the future will
have the confidence in terms of using vehicles across the fleet and our approach to what
we've what we set out as a as a welcoming waiting environment within our bus stations
at our shelters and stops which which are our first statement for our customers on the
journey and such an important statement around the transport system right across our streetscape
right across West Yorkshire. And then thirdly, very excitingly, we're also introducing for
private discussion with members today the outcome of the work that we've been undertaking
to look at network branding which will then enshrine that customer pledge that we are
looking to make through the customer proposition.
Thank you so much, Simon.
And Councillor Galton, obviously this
is not about the appendices.
We are still in public session.
Thank you, Councillor Galton.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:15:42
Thanks, Mayor.
I was looking at the risks and mitigations section,
and it was quite a general response to the paper.
Cllr Stewart Golton Leeds City Council - 0:15:50
I was just thinking, because the government has committed
to delivering bus franchising at a more accelerated rate than the previous government to the new
combined authorities and mayoral authorities that are emerging. I would have thought that
a lot of them are going to be going down the same route in terms of franchising and in
terms of putting consistency in their fleet operations and I was wondering what we done
around risk mitigation in terms of loads of people turning up to a congested bus market
all trying to order at the same time when the market won't deliver what they want.
And if there is an opportunity for more of that production to be delivered within the
UK, especially given the environment we've got at the moment with tariffs being imposed
from outside, I think it would be really useful to get an understanding about how we're doing
that ourselves or in partnership with others to guarantee that delivery.
Thank you, you'll be pleased to know there's a great piece of work happening.
Simon?
Yes, certainly, thank you, Mayor.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:17:02
Simon Warburton, Executive Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:17:04
So as you will be aware, the Transport Minister, Simon Lightwood, has recently convened a task
finish roundtable activity overseen by a roundtable of the mayor's with the
minister to ensure that the the supply sector is able to meet the
ambitions of the bus agenda across the UK. Alex Clark who leads on our bus
Franchising program has now joined a technical officers group that is supporting
The ministers roundtable and be very very happy
for us to bring updates forward in terms of how that work is progressing and just to
Reassure council Galton that we very much
Share the view and we're working very closely through that mechanism that there are real
industrial strategy opportunities associated with this as well as transport policy opportunities
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:18:10
It's the power of mayors being able to work together to consolidate potentially their
order books and identify a commonality of design of EV vehicle and then you can be more
bespoke and surely that must be able to bring the cost down.
And you can phase it so we're not exactly to your point all chasing the same short small
supply. So thank you for that.
Councillor Lamb. And it doesn't relate to the appendices.
Cllr Peter Kilbane (York Council) - 0:18:38
Thank you, Mayor Noe, just from the public part of the paper. So there's a reference on 3 .3 to the Shadow Board and we talked about it last time this came and had a discussion about political balance members on that Shadow Board. I just wondered if there's any updates on that, please.
Thank you. Simon?
Simon Warburton, Executive Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:19:02
We have started to engage with nominated executive members from local authorities at this stage
through the shadow board. We will continue to look at all of our arrangements around
shadow boards as we then bring forward our governance plans for the annual meeting.
Thank you, super. Okey doke, if everyone is happy we'll stop the live stream and then
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:19:27
we can get into discussion on the appendices. Sarah, could you arrange that for us? And
if I could ask members of the public to please leave. And apologies, thank you for your patience.

6 Bus Franchising

Okay, we're back on live stream. Thank you so much for being patient with us while we're
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:19:53
in private session. And before we agree to the recommendations, is there any further
thoughts members have? Nope. Okey doke. Are we happy to approve what we have been discussing?
We are? Yes, good stuff, thank you. Thank you so much.

7 Mass Transit Spatial Development Framework - Joint Committee

Okay, moving on to mass transit spatial development framework, the joint committee item 7.
This is about the need to create a joint committee to take forward the mass transit spatial development
framework. As I said earlier, there's so much support for our proposals to bring trams back
to the streets of Leeds and Bradford and the paper in front of us is another step in the
delivery of that project. May I ask Mike Birch, our Director of Mass Transit to take us through
the recommendations please, noting that this is Mike's first CA meeting since you joined
the CA. Well I hope it hasn't been too boring for you. But over to you Mike and welcome.
Thank you for the warm welcome.
Thank you to the other members for the opportunity to share with you where we are.
Mr Mike Birch - 0:21:04
Work on mass transit continues at pace with a view trying to get the streets of West Yorkshire
aligned to the mayor's pledge.
Mass transit will progress through the transport and work act process and not the local planning
process.
And whilst the local process is not determinative, the local planning policies do form a strong
support to obtaining consent for mass transit as we go forward.
Currently no local plans in the districts obtain specific reference to mass transit
and the timeframes for those local plan updates unfortunately don't align to the timeframes
for the Transport and Work Act application early in 2027.
So the SDF will provide an important policy document
to help support mass transit consent as we move forward.
So I've invited along today Stacey White from the team
to take us through a little bit of the detail,
conscious that you may have questions,
and it's important that you get access to somebody
that knows the detail.
So over to you, Stacey.
Thank you so much.
And Stacey, it's almost like a task and finish group,
isn't it?
Thank you.
Yes, thank you, Chair, and thank you, Mike.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:22:16
Stacey White, Officer (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:22:18
In 2021, the combined authority along with its five district partners signed a statement of intent that agreed to work collectively across the district, including the development of a planning framework across West Yorkshire.
So since that time, we've been working with our heads of planning to define that, including what is needed for phase one, as Mike just outlined.
But also what's really important to note as well is that beyond phase 1 we also need to
lay the appropriate planning policy foundations to help us develop the phase 1 concept and
roll out that prospect across West Yorkshire in line with the mass transit vision 2040.
So we have commissioned a spatial development framework now and we've agreed with heads
of planning that is appropriate and necessary that that SDF achieves a development plan
document status so that it can carry the necessary weight to take us through that Transport and
Works application but also that it can become capable of adoption within your respective
local plans as well. So as WICA doesn't have statutory planning
We have been also working with our legal colleagues across the district to understand what the
appropriate governance is in terms of overseeing this process.
So the report has three recommendations, the first of which is that our local authority
partners agree to the preparation of a joint development plan document, that the CA endorses
the establishment of a joint committee for this purpose and that the CA requests each
local authority considers initiating the formal resolution processes to agree to prepare that
joint DPD and formation of the joint committee. So in terms of the phase 1 programme, the
main driver as Mike just said is getting the SDF part 1 adopted in time for that Transpartum
which is scheduled for early 2027.
As you've already said, Mayor, the committee will be a task unfinished type committee
whose function is restricted to this use.
So the plan is to disband that committee once there's no longer a need to retain it.
And then I've already touched on this point, but it's really important to note
that whilst there's a clear impetus to get this plan in place to support the phase one
transport and works application, it's also really necessary to develop a robust land
use planning framework that can work alongside our local transport plan at a West Yorkshire
level to help us realise the vision that we've got for the region which is clearly articulated
in our local growth plan. So I'm happy to answer any questions that anybody might have,
but hopefully that's been a useful introduction. Thank you.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:25:20
Thank you. My one big question is this doesn't delay us, does it? And it doesn't set us back
in any way. No, absolutely not. As Mike said, none of
the local authorities will be in a position to have planning policies
Stacey White, Officer (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:25:30
apart from mass
transit in time for that planning application into Transport and Works application. So it's
really important that we progress this and progress it at pace. So we've got a clear
programme, we're confident that we can get a joint development plan document adopted
in time across West Yorkshire to support that phase 1 application but we need our local
authority partners on board to achieve that.
Thank you so much. Any comments? Councillor Lamb.
Thank you, Mayor, thank you for the presentation. It's one of those things that sounds awfully
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:26:04
Cllr Peter Kilbane (York Council) - 0:26:06
adult but it's really, really important. And it's a tricky one for those who are involved
in developing local plans. It's a bit chicken and egg because you can't reference mass transit
until there is a Transport and Public Works Act is my understanding. And that means those
Cllr Alan Lamb Leeds City Council - 0:26:22
that are in the process of updating their plans can't take full advantage of mass transit
at this point because I'd really like to see us being able to make those references in
the local plans, make provision for employment land and make provision for housing land along
the corridors that are identified. So it would be interesting to talk a bit more about what
the opportunities are to do that now and to get those things embedded in the local plans
now or if we just have to wait. But this is going to be a really important document. The
other bit, and it's a point I've made repeatedly, is it's going to be really important that
we keep selling the benefits of mass transit to every part of West Yorkshire, not just
the people who are in the immediate corridors and get the immediate benefits. And so we
need to make sure, it's a similar point to the last item, where we've got the committee
for this I think is crucial at its cross party and that there is good political balance so
that we can genuinely say every part of the authority area is represented, every demographic
is represented, every group is represented. It feels from the paper that it's just going
to be restricted to executive members and I hope Councillor Lewis would join me in attesting
that in Leeds where we do work cross party on this stuff it leads to better outcomes.
We generally and genuinely are able to leave our politics aside and work together to do
the best for Leeds when we're doing development plans. We don't always agree on absolutely
everything but it's a healthy thing to have all those representatives around the table
and I think it's crucial to be able to do that selling job across the district and also
to have good accountability and good policy if we've got representation from the whole
district and all parties. So the paper doesn't allude to that but I'd be grateful if we could
get some clarity and perhaps a commitment that we will make sure the membership of this
committee will be broad and cross party.
Thank you and it was interesting in the event in Parliament that it was MPs from across
the region, not just Leeds and Bradford, but also across party because everybody sees the
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:28:37
economic opportunity of this huge local nationally significant infrastructure project for the
whole region and beyond. So it's an important point but obviously it's also, as you say,
the chicken and egg, it's about the legislation and the planning requirements. If I could
bring that back to you, Stacey. Thank you, Chair. It's a good point about
local plan preparation because it's lengthy in nature and very complex and needs to be
Stacey White, Officer (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:29:06
supported by a clear evidence base which I think is what you're referring to. Where you
are developing any infrastructure schemes that need to be reflected in a local plan,
you need to clearly demonstrate that there's evidence that that is a deliverable prospect.
So there will be a tipping point at some point in the future where we're really confident that we've got support for mass transit,
we've got a business case that has progressed sufficiently and we've got a Transport and Works application at least submitted to the Secretary of State.
In terms of developing support for mass transit in the meantime through your respective local plans, there's nothing stopping us collectively working to develop strategic policy support akin to the region supports mass transit and will endeavour to deliver it across the corridors that has been identified in the mass transit vision 2040.
and that's something that we're actively engaged with our local planning authorities in doing.
So the spatial development framework isn't something that will replace local plans, it's
something that will work alongside and within the local planning system. The challenge is
to get that progressed in advance of the Transport and Works application and that's the hindrance
in terms of the wider local plan process that we just won't be in a position within any
of the districts where we have an adopted local plan in time for 2027. So the benefit
of the SDF means that we can collectively continue to work on developing planning policies
within local plans but alongside that also bring forward a spatial development framework
that provides clear policy support for mass transit.
Thank you and of course once the job is done the committee is no longer necessary. Ben
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:31:02
do you want to say something about membership? Yeah I just wanted to thank you Mayor to respond
Ben Still, Chief Executive (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:31:06
to Councillor Lamb's point and say that let's look at membership and there's a difference
of course between because of the way that this will be a joint committee kind of a voting
potential voting executive members and co -operative members but we'll take it away and have a
because your points are well made.
Okie dokie, thank you. Yes, Councillor Morley, apologies.
It's just on the joint member committee and voting.
Cllr Matthew Morley Wakefield Council - 0:31:30
Obviously it's going to be made up of the five districts.
The question I do ask though is obviously Bradford and Leeds are mentioned already in there and Kirklees.
Colerdale and Wakefield are obviously not there at that point yet, what our plans are.
But a lot of these decisions from this committee will affect what happens in our districts.
Would it make it more viable to have the committee, the quorum for voting to be four instead of three?
So obviously then it couldn't be made without the votes in the room basically.
It's just something I would like to be considered.
Shall we take that away and consider it and just see how that all shakes down with membership and so on as well?
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:32:09
But thank you for raising that because this is not just about Leeds and Bradford.
This is absolutely about Calderdale, it's absolutely about Wakefield and Kirklees.
Okie doke. So are we happy to accept the recommendations
that the CA endorse the approach to preparation of the mass transit spatial development framework
as a joint development plan? We are?
Thank you very much, Sun. Okay.

8 White Rose Rail Station

So moving on to Item 8, White Rose Rail Station. And apologies to our member of the public
that this is going to be like the okey cokey that some people are in and some people are
out because this does have an exempt appendix to this item.
It provides an overview of the current situation relating to the construction of White Rose
Rail Station which has been paused for just over 12 months.
It also sets out the planned next steps in terms of working towards project remobilisation.
Before we move forward again, appendix 1 contains exempt information and once introductions
have been done we go into private session to discuss the exempt item
appendix so if I can Susan is still on her call so if I could come to Simon
Warburton to provide further high -level details thank you mayor and so as
members will be aware it has been a long -standing strategic priority
Simon Warburton, Executive Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:33:35
of both
leads and West Yorkshire to deliver a new rail station at White Rose to act as
a gateway for both the White Rose Business Park and indeed the wider
commercial developments within that locality to act as a rail gateway to to
the retail center and of course to the wider South Leeds area so following
planning approval of a scheme in November 2021 a funding contribution was
agreed through the the combined authority of 22 million pounds can bra
comprising a combination of lip tip new stations for and also chance
Transforming cities fund bonding with the breakdown set out in paragraph 3 .5
of the report
and the project was then mobilized and managed by
Monroe case so that's the
the developer and owner of the White Rose business park
As part of an innovation at the time for private sector development in the railway
to be supported by a an initiative which have been brought forward by
network rail entitled entitled project speed and
Since then the project has faced a range of challenges and we do
Set those out in greater detail for members in the private
appendix
which ultimately resulted in
in Monroe Cay being required to bring the construction of the scheme to a halt in spring
2024.
Since then, we have been working with Monroe Cay and looking to draw partners into to help
to identify a remobilization route.
route and we've set the
the broad tenet of what that
remobilization route
would look like
from paragraphs
3 .15
onwards
so now having
Identified that route and also reached an initial
Resolution
position with partners which again is
set out
in the private appendix
We believe that we are ready to look to move forward again subject to the discussion of
the proposals that we've set out in the appendix. Thank you, ma 'am.
Thank you so much. It has been a frustrating process but I'm hoping with this next step
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:36:39
that we have an aspiration for the station to be open by 2027 and that would be a great
for the people of West Yorkshire. Councillor Lamb, it's not to do the appendices yet.
I've got a couple of questions once we go into the private session but I think there
are a few things that it's important to say while we're in the public session.
Cllr Peter Kilbane (York Council) - 0:37:00
The starting point is how important a scheme this is for this part of Leeds and there are
Cllr Alan Lamb Leeds City Council - 0:37:06
about 8 ,000 or so jobs that are close to the proposed station and it would open up potentially
thousands more to come in the same area. Given where we are today, what's proposed is the
right thing to do. But in parallel to that, we have to understand how we got to where
we are today, and it's not a pretty picture, frankly. I think the model which was innovative
at the time, I'll fess up and say it was the government of my colour at the time, and I
There's some merits in the way of leveraging private financing to put it, but leaving,
I think part of the learning is leaving a private sector company or anyone who's not
the rail network to deliver a big rail infrastructure project has proved to be not a good move.
There's a wider issue that we need to look at as a combined authority for Council Scullion
and those of us that have been immersed in the governance and audit committee, there
is a real concern about the capacity of this authority to oversee its governance and financial
arrangements and so I think it's crucial that as part of agreeing this today that we also
commit to it suggests in the paper I think scrutiny might want to have a role. I think
we should absolutely insist that scrutiny has a role in looking at how we got here given
the level of big infrastructure projects that we're undertaking, it is crucial that we learn
the lessons from this and do it thoroughly, openly, transparently to make sure we don't
get to a position like this again, because what we're agreeing today is getting control
back of the project. The bit we don't know is how much is it going to cost to then deliver
Deliver the final scheme and we can get into more of that in the private session
The other bit I think it's important to talk about here is
What are we going to do to make sure the rail sector itself is on the hook to help us deliver?
This so that it doesn't just sit with the combined Authority and and what assurances can you give that we're going to
Do everything possible to make sure that that happens?
Thank You councillor
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:39:35
Simon Warburton, Executive Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:39:35
Yes, thank you. I think Councillor O 'Neill makes very important points around us continuing
to challenge how the right model is established for the delivery of
Mr Mike Birch - 0:39:49
rail infrastructure in
Simon Warburton, Executive Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:39:52
West Yorkshire and it's something that's also been raised recently. I'm sure Councillor
would say herself if she was here at the transport committee in terms of the pace
at which we're getting the right response from the rail industry around
a number of our accessibility projects as well and that of course is why you've
identified in your representations to ministers around Great British Railways
that a new local infrastructure delivery model has to be one of the
three key tenets of that future Great British Railways model because a number of different
models have been tested over the years around the country and there continues to be real
challenges both in terms of pace of delivery and also in terms of scheme inflation. We
prior to the meeting with Councillor Anderson and there is fully an intention for the Scrutiny
Committee to want to understand the lessons that we learned and I think that's very important
and really welcome that the Scrutiny Committee wants to play that role with us because I
think both as officers and members that there's an important job to do here.
With regards to them moving forward, yes, absolutely.
So we've been engaging with both the department
and Network Rail throughout the process.
The station project is incredibly important
to Network Rail in the context of the completion
of the Trans -Pennine route upgrade.
And therefore, they have a stake
and are therefore staying close at the table with us.
We are very keen that Network Rail plays ideally
the lead role in the delivery of the station
as we move through remobilization.
And then from a department perspective,
Mayor, you've raised the issue with the Rail Minister,
and I think we've had a very positive indication from him
that he understands the challenges that we face here,
that if we can get to a steady position as we'll discuss in private that he's then very
much open to the department working with us to look at what an appropriate partnership
funding model would look like.
Thank you so much. Councillor Anderson.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:42:36
Just briefly on the discussions that we've had. Can we just, I just
Cllr Barry Anderson (WYCA Scrutiny Chair) - 0:42:39
want to get this
on above the line so it might be recorded in the minutes that we need to get a meeting
in place as quickly as possible with scrutiny to agree the terms of reference as to what
we're going to work in and which areas legal are concerned might get into commercial confidentiality
which shouldn't necessarily be discussed by scrutiny. So we need to know what our limits
are so we can put our technicals into and where we need to back off and leave to the
appropriate professionals to make the decisions as well.
So just making it clear.
And the final thing as well, in terms of time scales,
because if you are going to meet this July date,
which as we've discussed is hopeful going to do so,
that we meet, that Scrutiny gets its meetings in quickly,
so we don't hold you up in terms of making
your final recommendations.
Thank you, and I do appreciate that ambition
and not to hold up the changes that we need to implement
in order to get up and running again by 27.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:43:49
As I say, this is not ideal, absolutely,
and the initial conversations about this partnership
with 2017, I think, which feels like
a whole different world, doesn't it?
But the statutory relationship between mayors and GB Rail,
I think, couldn't come soon enough,
that we don't feel like we're outside the door
of people making decisions about our communities that we can really influence the priorities and phasing.
Councillor Galton.
Thank you, Mayor. I think it's unfortunate in terms of the name of the station, to tell you the truth,
Cllr Stewart Golton Leeds City Council - 0:44:24
because there's a danger that it's become a symbol of the inability of publicly generated schemes to actually deliver.
and so it's really welcome that there is this solution being brought forward now because
we do want devolution to be seen in a positive light and for devolved authorities like ours
to be the enablers of things to happen. So I think it's really useful that this is sorted
out as soon as possible because as I said with the name that it has it sort of exemplifies
Yorkshire and our ability to act for ourselves and I would agree with the comments that have
been made that the national government and any new national organisations like Great
British Railways need to be responsive rather than say well this is your problem because
you've got devolved authorities now, the only way that you deliver anything these days is
through proper partnership and this will be a real test case. So I wish you luck.
Indeed and thank you for the support. Okie doke. So now we will go into private session.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:45:43
So I'm afraid our member of the public, sorry, up and down. And if we could go off live stream please.

8 White Rose Rail Station

Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:46:03
Superb. Can we now take a vote, please, that the Combined Authority gives approval to funding
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:46:16
to close out legacy issues to enable the project to move forward towards remobilisation as
set out in exempt appendix? We can, thank you. That a further report is provided to
the CA to set out a project plan and funding strategy for scheme completion.
We can? Yes, thank you very much.

9 Work and Health

Okay, moving on to item 9, Work and Health. This is to the member of the public, not exempt, so please settle in.
The next item provides an update on our Work and Health programme, working in partnership with health colleagues, DWP and local authorities
to support people back into work and prevent people from falling out of work.
The team have been working incredibly hard with colleagues to establish these
programs and ensure we get into delivery as soon as possible. We know there are
too many people who want to work but can't because of poor health and where
if we're to achieve our ambitions as a region and help to put more money back
into people's pockets we need to change that. So first can I come to Councillor
Lewis as chair of the economy committee to introduce the item and then over to
Felix Kumiampofo, director of inclusive economy skills and culture. Thank you.
Councillor Lewis. Thank you Mayor and I think it's really an important bit of work we're
Cllr James Lewis (Leeds City Council) - 0:47:37
doing with the NHS. I think it's exciting we've both got an accelerator and a
trailblazer in West Yorkshire but I mean the reason we're doing this is we know
to get to 80 % employment in West Yorkshire, that's 115 ,000 people that need to move into
work and our estimate around why those people aren't in work for health reasons is around
97 ,000 of those. So it is a really important part of the work we're doing with the health
service and the DWP and ourselves on employment. I think a lot of us have had a long history
my sculpture of delivering really successful employment and skills schemes
and being able to put all this in one place, I think it's good things. Shall I pass over to Felix at
this point as well. Thank you Felix. Thank you Mayor, thank you
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:48:27
Councillor Lewis. Members will know we've been coming to you over the last few meetings to make sure you're fully updated on where we are with this programme.
Felix Kumi-Ampofo, Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:48:37
just by way of very quick context, we were grateful recipients of funding from central
governments through various sources, about £11 million by the ICB, which the ICB is
accountable for, for what we call an accelerator, and £10 million to the Combined Authority
for Trailblazer and £16 .2 million for Connect2Work. The paper you've got is for quite a few reasons.
particularly on the trailblazer bits of this.
And in West Yorkshire, we have a track record,
a very good track record of working in partnership.
We have a long standing partnership across all
of our stakeholders to work on this policy space together.
So we're running this as one program.
And outside of meetings like this,
we do not use the language of trailblazer
or accelerator or whatever else,
is simply focusing on the interventions.
The paper you've got then focuses on
the program business case that we've put together
for the trouble is a bit of that,
which is focusing in particular
on four areas of intervention.
One is how we support employers
to be able to then support people
into employment and to stay in work.
Employers are reporting to us for various reasons
that it's increasingly difficult for them
and so they're not falling over themselves, so to speak,
to create employment opportunities
where they feel they might need to invest even more
to support people to stay in work.
So we're working to understand the type of investments
and incentives that will encourage and enable employers to be able to do this.
There's also a package of work looking at what the right package of incentives should look like
to again support residents, to support individuals, to get closer to the labour market and into work
and how we can hardwire some agency into this so residents actually are exercising some amount of choice in this as part of the deal.
We are also looking at how we work with the voluntary sector.
There are a lot of voluntary sector partners who are really working at a local level and who are recipients of people who are referred to them because they are able to offer certain types of support.
that's really crucial.
And we again look into how we work with them,
use the funding here to scale up what they do
so they can support more people
and where they are innovative practices
or their practices that we know actually work
that we can support that as best we can.
And then finally there's some funding
to go into employment West Yorkshire,
which is a framework for how we support people
who come through the door sometimes referred
the job centre to be able to get into work.
It's important to note that what we're trying to do is essentially twofold.
To support people who are in employment, who may be at risk of falling out of employment,
to stay in work with the right level of support,
and then to support people who are out of employment, economically inactive,
to hopefully get them back into work.
This is very expensive upfront investment.
It could be deemed that way, but in the long term,
in the medium term, this pays for itself
because people are able to get back into work
and to improve their lives, their wellbeing,
their prosperity, and their families.
So the NDX check -out obviously benefits in return.
So there are a series of recommendations in this paper.
I'm happy to go through them but I'll take your cue.
Thank you so much.
It's such an important piece of work.
We've got to work at speed.
It's 20 million extra money from government but we've only a year.
So we've got to turn things around quite swiftly.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:52:57
So thank you for the speed at which the team are working.
Any comments? Yes, Councillor LAND.
Thank you, Madam.
So two parts of this.
So I think everybody I'm sure will support the sentiment
on what's being delivered,
or what we're trying to deliver here.
Cllr Peter Kilbane (York Council) - 0:53:15
Part of, there's two concerns,
this won't be a surprise to Felix, anyway.
One is the aspect of how you measure the number of people
that are currently not working, that get back into work,
is quite easy to do.
The challenge is how do you measure the people who are at risk of leaving the workforce?
And if you can't measure it, you can't fix it.
And it's a very difficult thing.
And whether I just haven't read it well or it's not presented well in the papers,
it doesn't set that out for me how we're proposing, A, to measure it and, B, to deal with it.
The second point is really around how we're going to,
I personally think the fastest and quickest way
to have a big impact here is to directly grant fund
employers to be able to do things to keep people in work
and also to take people.
If all we're going to do is create a big bureaucracy
of people that are working with people,
I wonder if that will have the impact that we want.
And the final point is what is the combined authority going to do to set an example to
everybody else? So, again, I prewarned Felix of the question.
How many people have we employed as a combined authority in the last 12 months and how many
of those were people who were outside of the labor market for health reasons? And do we
Cllr Alan Lamb Leeds City Council - 0:54:47
have a target to address? We have targets for lots of recruitment. So are we going to
set the standard as a combined author.
Lots of things we're doing,
lots of posts being created directly and indirectly.
What are we gonna do to set an example to everybody else?
Thank you, and certainly government
has set us very high standards as well, and numbers.
We will be matching those numbers at speed.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:55:14
But your challenge about our organisation
is something that really figures in everything that I do,
that we just can't talk the talk.
We have to also live it as an organisation, whether that's around EDI, whether that's
about flexible working, and the values that we all share also have to be reflected through
us when we're expecting others to sign the Fair Work Charter, do the right thing.
I would say we are in a really good position with the membership of the Fair Work Charter.
There are businesses there that have signed up to be better and to do the right thing.
I believe they are going to be our first port of call.
They're going to be great partners in this space as we support them to take on people
who potentially are coming back into work after poor health, etc.
I am pleased to see that waiting lists in the NHS are falling and you are more able
now to get a doctor's appointment with this investment that we're seeing.
It may not be hitting your surgery, given your response,
but it does feel like that backlog is being tackled
at the centre whilst we're also being empowered
to do initiatives and interventions in the regions.
But I wonder, Felix, if you'd like to answer
a bit of the substantial stuff.
I will do my best with the help of Ben,
as well for one part of it.
Felix Kumi-Ampofo, Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:56:45
You're absolutely right on the point you make about the challenge involved in measuring,
particularly inactivity, but also people who are at risk of becoming inactive. This is
absolutely not an exact science. The best information we've got, I suppose, comes from
two sources. So for economic inactivity, the information we use is from the O &S. Peter
is looking at me, so I cannot get this wrong,
otherwise you'll have words.
It's from the Liverpool survey, which the ONS put out.
It's an international benchmark.
But the ONS themselves do admit openly in public
that their data for a few years now
is not as good as it could be.
So it is absolutely possible that the data
that we're working with is not as accurate
when it comes to economic inactivity as it could be,
but we are working with the exact same data
that everybody else is working with
and there's nothing we can do about that.
However, the bit about people who might be at risk,
who might be at work and at risk,
we have much more robust information
and not necessarily us, but our health colleagues,
because the evidence is very clear
that people who are at risk of falling out of the labour market do present
with certain symptoms before then.
And those symptoms sort of congregate around three or four areas.
Probably I'll not remember them all, but they are often musculoskeletal conditions
or chronic conditions that are related to that.
They might be often cardiovascular or mental health and wellbeing related.
And when people experience such symptoms related to any of these,
they present our various health facilities with these
and they are signposted to certain places.
So our health colleagues know who these people are, know where they are,
and at that point where they are signposted, the services that we are supporting
or scaling up, they're swinging to action because people are signposted to those services
to receive the support that we are putting in place.
So we have stronger numbers at the risk end,
by the economic activity end,
it's survey -based, it's national data,
it's as good as we can get it,
but we know that it's not the best information.
Thank you, and colleagues, I'm so sorry, it is 20 to four,
so I'm going to now unfortunately press gang people
into shorter responses and shorter questions.
Ben?
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:59:26
I was just going to say we could talk for a long period of time about what the organization
is doing in this space.
I'll limit my comments to two, Councillor Lamb, in terms of what the organization is
doing.
The first is that the programs that Felix is talking about and the subjects of this
Ben Still, Chief Executive (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:59:43
paper, as Felix has said, are as much about stopping people from falling out of the workplace
and going into that kind of state of economic inactivity.
And we do quite a lot within the organization, as you would expect, to support people that
are finding work challenging and dealing with the range of university and other issues that
might affect their ability to continue to work.
So rather than kind of give you an answer at length this afternoon, I think the right
thing to do is we are looking to bring forward a workforce strategy because the organization
is facing both challenges in terms of our ability to recruit in the current marketplace
and a need for a range of skills as well as trying to increase the diversity of the organization
going forwards. And so I think this deserves a substantive
item on the CA agenda in a meeting going forward rather than trying to deal with it at pace
today. That's a great recommendation. Thank you.
Councilor Galton, brevity.
Thanks, Chair.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 1:00:48
I'll try.
Cllr Stewart Golton Leeds City Council - 1:00:50
Yes, one of the things that is apparent
is this is an area which it hasn't all of a sudden become
an issue.
So we know that there are organisations
and there are strategies out there that we're already
trying to tackle this.
So I think it's interesting to understand
how we will enable the concern to be scaled up in the responses
that we hope to create through this programme because I appreciate that there are going
to be some professional capacity issues because there are shortages of professionals. There
are issues without getting appointments on the NHS to be seen for a health condition
for instance. So I hope that some of the reportage comes out of that. One of the most valuable
things as well about things like the Poverty Truth Commission for the Council in Leeds
in terms of understanding poverty so that we can better address it is that first person
evidence coming forward. So part of this I hope is us gathering what those barriers and
blockages are for people as they express them themselves so that in the longer term after
this year is up we can take them on more effectively in our strategies. And thirdly I would like
to see how flexible we are in terms of the responses to get people back into employment
in looking at things like disability and entrepreneurship as options as opposed to always relying on
employers to be forever more accommodating because that still might not be the best environment
for some people to thrive economically and they might be better off setting up their
incorporated in the work. Thank you Councillor Galton and your points
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 1:02:38
are ministered and heard. Thank you. Yes, Asma.
Just quickly on the, you looked at the measures and women in
Asma Iqbal (West Yorkshire Business Board) - 1:02:53
leadership in organisations drop out of work and a lot of it is around understanding of menopause
and similar leadership on the board,
on recognition of those.
So I hope that part of what you're doing
will also pick up on leadership
and how that impacts on women dropping out of employment.
Thank you, very good point.
Okey dokey.
Thank you very much.
So are we happy to approve the recommendations
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 1:03:22
on working health?
Thank you so much.
And we can then move on to the state of the region.
Now I am afraid we're going to have to whiz through this, particularly because this is
the last time we'll see it in this iteration.
We're developing it further, aren't we?
I know that Peter is going to talk to this, but initially Sarah Eaton, if you'd like to
open up the recommendations of the item, please.
Thank you, Mayor and Peter's here in case we get any technical questions on kind of the documentation.

10 State of the Region

Sarah Eaton, Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 1:03:54
So I am gonna quickly whiz through.
So I think colleagues will be aware that when we developed the West Yorkshire Plan,
we developed at the same time a series of key performance indicators that would kind of track the progress over time.
And State of the Region is a really good opportunity for us on an annual basis to kind of take stock of kind of where we're moving in
and identify kind of both challenges and opportunities
that we're facing across the region.
So what this paper does, I'm pleased to say,
is present the latest summary of the state of the region.
And as you'll read in the paper, it's
actually an executive summary this time around.
We've not done a full comprehensive report.
And that's primarily because last year we've
done an awful lot of work around the local growth
plan in terms of the evidence base.
And we've also done work around the local transport plan
and the evidence base for that.
So this is a summary of the kind of full comprehensive report and kind of an update
There is a series of kind of key messages in here which kind of give headlines of the report
But I hope colleagues about the opportunity to kind of have a read of that
I'm not intending to kind of go through those those key messages this time round
but I think the important point to make is that obviously
evidence and
Making evidence -based decisions is really really important to the CA and I think you'll you'll have seen that with them kind of items on
local growth plan where we've developed our priorities and kind of really looking at where
we want to kind of prioritize our investments moving forward.
So data is increasingly becoming quite important in terms of what we do.
So as you'll see in the report, what we're proposing to do, we have done a review already,
is to kind of develop and kind of amend the approach next time round.
And what we'll be looking to do is kind of bring forward a report that kind of moves
beyond kind of explaining where we are and kind of outlining where we are to kind of explanation and talks about measuring the impact.
Now that's going to be really important as we kind of progress work on the integrator settlement and the development of an outcomes framework.
And this work will need to align with that so that we kind of really well placed to kind of move into that space from 2026 onwards.
So this is the last time that you'll see a report of this kind of nature.
What we will do, however, is kind of bring forward the new format back report and talk
about what that might look like at a future meeting there so that we can kind of discuss
that because I think it is really important that we keep our eye on the evidence basis
that we're developing as we progress and move forward.
So I'll stop speaking there. Peter is here just in case anybody's got anything that they
really want to pick up as part of the conversation.
Thank you. I know this is a big piece of work. We want to be data -led
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 1:06:31
organization, evidence -led
to make our decisions. We need the proof that what we're going to be doing is responding
to real -time challenges. Anybody got any comments on the state of the region? No? Thank you.
I'm so sorry, Peter, that you came and no one wanted to ask you a question. But it's
pretty straightforward in the report and I'm sure you'll have time to reflect on the data
and everything. And going forward, Sarah, do you just want to tell us what it's going
to look like? How are we going to gather data?
So we'll kind of follow the same process. We've still got the key performance indicators.
We do need to do some work to align that with the outcomes framework that we're developing
Sarah Eaton, Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 1:07:13
for the integrated settlement. So there may be some kind of analysis across to make sure
that we're kind of measuring the right things and that's going to enable us to kind of take
some of the decisions over this next period. But we will be bringing, once we've kind of
got a little bit more into that process, we'll be bringing something that kind of explains
what this approach might look like. Thank you so much. So can the Combined Authority
note the contents of the report and approve proposals for future development and reporting
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 1:07:40
arrangements for State of the Region 2025? We can? Lovely, thank you. Right, moving swiftly
on. Thank you so much, Peter, for taking time. Corporate Plan 2428. This is to approve documents

11 Corporate Plan 2024 - 2028

that established the CAs corporate process priorities for delivery until 2028. The appendices
to the report to be approved are the corporate plan 2025 -28, an associated delivery plan
and the summary business plans for the combined authority 25 -26. Sarah Eaton, may I ask you
to talk us through the recommendations? Thank you, Mayor. So I think colleagues will be aware that
Sarah Eaton, Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 1:08:16
kind of earlier in the year at the end of January we brought forward
details around our budget and draft corporate priorities as part of a kind of a new approach to kind of multi -year kind of business planning
and so some of the kind of content of the corporate planning it should be familiar because it's taking forward some of the
Decisions that we kind of agreed on earlier on in the year
It also builds on kind of the approach that we developed last year where we started to kind of align a kind of activity
with the West Yorkshire plan
and what we've done since that time is kind of update our priorities and actually kind of create more of a forward look.
So what we're trying to do is really kind of think ahead of the game and we've moved away from looking at a corporate plan on an annual basis to looking, really starting to look around a four yearly basis.
So what this corporate plan does is kind of give you that forward look really, which I think is really important in terms of being able to kind of plan our delivery.
So to support the corporate plan we've also got delivery plans which start to
kind of highlight some of the activity that will be kind of progressing over
this next period of time. The intention is to kind of update this on an annual
basis we know that things do move and change and we don't want it to kind of
be just static it's really important that this kind of takes on board some of
their activity that we kind of are doing in year as well. It does give a sense
in the direction of travel I think and supports in kind of delivering across the organisation.
In addition to kind of the plan, what we've done is spent quite a bit of time refining
some of our key performance indicators and again that's going to be really important
in terms of allowing us to kind of measure progress and performance over this next period
of time. We had a significant number of performance indicators aligned to the last corporate plan
which make it quite challenging to see the wood for the trees. This has given us a real
opportunity to kind of start to kind of really focus on our performance as we
kind of progress and move forward and I think alongside the corporate plan what
we've also done since January is take the opportunity to kind of update kind of
the plans on the page that you've got in front of you there which now take on
board some of the detail that we've kind of been exploring over the last couple of
months so I'll stop talking now. I think there are some some tidying up
issues that we've got to do we've got to kind of include the forwards and kind of
the document and we've got to make sure that we've kind of got detail in there
about your key appointments Mayor in that document as we kind of move forward.
So we may well be coming forward to colleagues as well to update on things
like photographs but I think generally speaking the content within the plan is
kind of here with you today for kind of approval.
Thank you and that long -term vision I think is really important. It
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 1:10:52
takes us up to my next election so hopefully we all
delivered exactly what we said we would. So any comments? Great stuff. And we are happy
to approve the content of the corporate plan 2025 -26 and associated delivery plan. We are.
Thank you all so much. So moving on swiftly to project approvals.
The first project approval provides details of one project recommended to progress through

12 Project Approvals

the insurance process. That's our investment zone. Can I ask Councillor Lewis as chair
of the economy committee and then Felix to talk us through the recommendations, please.
Councillor Lewis. Straight to Felix. Thank you.
Felix.
I'll be very quick on this one. This first one about the investment zones, you would
Felix Kumi-Ampofo, Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 1:11:43
know we're giving funding from central government to deliver this programme. It's absolutely
central to our local good plan, focus on health, health tech and digital tech, two of our priority sectors.
The approval you've got in front of you is for us to be able to invest with NEADS Beckett University on a sports incubator.
This will help us put in some capital equipment and provide some revenue support so that innovators, inventors, entrepreneurs
can go in there, make use of the facilities and get the support they need to develop their
products and their ideas and to register their businesses and launch. So that's what this
is looking to do to grow that sector.
It's a terrific project and are we happy to approve? We are, brilliant. Thank you.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 1:12:35
One of the best sports universities in the whole country, if not Europe. Brilliant.

12 b) Project Approvals - Investment Priority 6 (IP6) - Creative Industries, Culture, Heritage and Sport

Moving on to the second approval, which is Creative Industries, Culture, Heritage and Sport.
And obviously close to my heart, Creative Health, Felix.
Thank you very much. We know that there's a lot of creative health related activity in West Yorkshire.
Felix Kumi-Ampofo, Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 1:12:58
We have, as a combined authority, tried to provide as much support as we can.
and this approval we are seeking from you is to enable us to actually play a more convenient
system leadership role. This funding will go towards mapping the activity that is in
the system so we actually understand better what is going on, we have a better understanding
of what the gaps are and where greater support will be needed and what good work is underway
that we might want to shine a light on and scale up in some way.
It will also allow us to develop a bit of a strategy around how we develop this going forward
and it makes us ready for when opportunities come for us to develop this further.
The final point I'll make is the first paper that I presented on work and health,
a lot of this activity is directly aligned to that.
It's not fully aligned, but it's directly aligned to that.
So we'll make sure that at a point where after we've done this mapping and strategy work,
activities begin to come out of this exercise. We are fully aligning that wherever is possible.
So we are not talking about disparate activities.
Thank you and are we happy to approve the recommendations? Thank you so much. Brilliant.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 1:14:14
Okeydokey, moving on to governance arrangements. This report asks the CA to consider a number

13 Governance Arrangements

of governance arrangements, which I would like Ben Still, our Chief Executive, to take
through, please.
Thank you, Mayor. So there are three issues in this paper. The first is the competition
and member remuneration of the governance and audit committee. Members
Ben Still, Chief Executive (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 1:14:39
will recall that
we've expanded membership to include independent members and we've therefore asked our independent
remuneration panel to look at those levels of remuneration and that report is in this
for your consideration and recommendation to approve that.
The second item in the paper is around the monitoring officer role.
And I don't want to preempt what the mayor is about to say.
But we need to have one.
And the one that we've got with a heavy heart, this might well be her last meeting.
So we have to have another.
And this is for the combined authority to endorse the appointment of an interim monitoring
officer, Satinder Sahota, who has sat behind you in the seats over there.
And I'll leave further comments on that to the mayor.
And the final element of the paper is an update.
In a previous CA meeting we indicated that to support the officer governance arrangements
and to support us both as the organization becomes more complex in terms of its governance,
it's delivering a wider range of complex and challenging infrastructure schemes including
mass transit that we will bring independent experts in to support us in that work.
This is to say that we are looking at that process will bring the results of that to
the process of identifying and recruiting individuals. Thank you.
Thank you so much. Any comments? Great. So are we happy to approve the
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 1:16:24
recommendations
of the independent remuneration panel on remuneration for governance audit committee members as
set out in paragraph 3 .2 in appendix 1 and approve the appointment of Satinder Sahota
as interim monitoring officer with effect from 15th May and that the Combine Authority
notes non -exec directors recruitment is underway to advise officer leadership boards.
Happy to approve. Thank you all so much. Final but one item minutes for information.

14 Minutes for Information & Summaries of Committee Meetings

This updates members with details of minutes from other committees as well as summaries
from formal meetings that have been published on the CA's website.
Now this brings us to the end of the meeting. But before we close, can I just give my personal
thanks to Caroline, who has kept us safe and whilst I wouldn't say there were times when
there weren't challenges, because I like to run things at speed, but I'm not a lawyer.
So it's good that we had you to help us make the right decision. And your final meeting
It's my understanding. You've led our legal and governance function and held the role
of Monitoring Officer since joining in 2016 and before that played an integral role in
the creation of the CA in 2014, working with government on the legislation and acting as
Legal Advisor to the Shadow Authority during 2013 and 14. So it's all your fault. You've
You've played such a leading role in so many of our big devolution agenda items,
transitioning from a mayoral authority to a mayoral strategic authority.
We're the single settlement and mature and respected by government and a lot of that
is thanks to you. You also held the role of most senior legal advisor,
guided and supported officers, members, ensuring good governance runs through
all of our decision -making. Honestly, everybody around this table wants to
thank you Caroline for your service. You've definitely given me wise counsel
over the last few years and I'm sure there will be people once the meeting is
finished would like to give you their congratulations as well. But members, the

15 Date of Next Meeting

date of the next meeting is the 19th of June 2025. It'll be our annual meeting
and we'll revert to the normal start time of 11am.
But I'm sure there might be a couple of people that want to say something about Caroline,
and maybe Ben you'd like to just add your thoughts.
Yes I would. I mean, I can't really express my gratitude to Caroline
Ben Still, Chief Executive (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 1:19:10
over all of the years.
They say that no one is irreplaceable, but genuinely Caroline you have been there at
every kind of challenging moment we've had in this organization as we have grown and
evolved and faced all the challenges that have been involved in that.
And as the Mayor says, you have just delivered sensible, wise counsel and just kept us on
the straight and narrow.
And it's a you leave extremely kind of a challenging role to be filled substantively.
I'm sure Satinder is going to do a brilliant job as an interim. We're currently in the process of doing the substantive recruitment.
But you will set the standard. You've just been absolutely brilliant and you will be sorely missed. Thank you ever so much.
Caroline, do you want to say anything?
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 1:20:05
Gosh, I think I might quit while I'm ahead. I'm going to drop myself in. Thank you both for those really kind words. It does mean a lot.
Caroline Norreys, Assistant Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 1:20:14
I have a great team in terms of my legal and governance team behind me.
So my successor will take that on.
And yeah, exciting times.
And just thank you to everybody who's been here and supported me and I've really enjoyed that work together.
So yes, I won't hold the meeting up any longer, but thank you.
Thank you, Mayor.
Thank you. Enjoy the next adventure.