Finance, Resources, and Corporate Committee - Thursday 5 June 2025, 11:30am - West Yorkshire Combined Authority Webcasting

Finance, Resources, and Corporate Committee
Thursday, 5th June 2025 at 11:30am 

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  1. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  2. Cllr Jane Scullion (Calderdale Council)
  3. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  4. Cllr Jane Scullion (Calderdale Council)
  5. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  6. Cllr Jane Scullion (Calderdale Council)
  7. 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. Sarah Eaton, Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  2. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  3. Jocelyn Manners-Armstrong Independent Member
  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. Simon Warburton, Executive Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  8. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  9. Cllr Moses Crook Kirklees Council
  10. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  11. Sarah Eaton, Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  12. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  13. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  14. Cllr Jane Scullion (Calderdale Council)
  15. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  16. Asma Iqbal (West Yorkshire Business Board)
  17. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  18. Ben Still, Chief Executive (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  19. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
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  1. Jo Dent (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  2. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  3. Jocelyn Manners-Armstrong Independent Member
  4. Jo Dent (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  5. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  6. Cllr Moses Crook Kirklees Council
  7. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  8. Cllr Moses Crook Kirklees Council
  9. Cllr Moses Crook Kirklees Council
  10. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  11. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  12. Ben Still, Chief Executive (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  13. 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. Asma Iqbal (West Yorkshire Business Board)
  5. Sarah Eaton, Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  6. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
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  1. Sarah Eaton, Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  2. Satinder Sahota, Interim Assistant Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  3. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  4. Sarah Eaton, Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  5. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  6. Sarah Eaton, Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  7. Simon Warburton, Executive Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  8. Satinder Sahota, Interim Assistant Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  9. Simon Warburton, Executive Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  10. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  11. Satinder Sahota, Interim Assistant Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  12. Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe (Bradford Council)
  13. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  14. Satinder Sahota, Interim Assistant Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  15. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  16. Satinder Sahota, Interim Assistant Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  17. Jocelyn Manners-Armstrong Independent Member
  18. Satinder Sahota, Interim Assistant Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  19. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
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  1. Satinder Sahota, Interim Assistant Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  2. Sarah Eaton, Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  3. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
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  1. Kate Taylor, Director West Yorkshire Combined Authority
  2. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  3. Kate Taylor, Director West Yorkshire Combined Authority
  4. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  5. Kate Taylor, Director West Yorkshire Combined Authority
  6. Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe (Bradford Council)
  7. Kate Taylor, Director West Yorkshire Combined Authority
  8. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  9. Kate Taylor, Director West Yorkshire Combined Authority
  10. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  11. Kate Taylor, Director West Yorkshire Combined Authority
  12. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  13. Ben Still, Chief Executive (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  14. Jocelyn Manners-Armstrong Independent Member
  15. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
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  1. Kate Taylor, Director West Yorkshire Combined Authority
  2. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  3. Jocelyn Manners-Armstrong Independent Member
  4. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
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  1. Kate Taylor, Director West Yorkshire Combined Authority
  2. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  3. Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe (Bradford Council)
  4. Kate Taylor, Director West Yorkshire Combined Authority
  5. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  6. Ben Still, Chief Executive (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  7. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  8. Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe (Bradford Council)
  9. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
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  1. Kate Taylor, Director West Yorkshire Combined Authority
  2. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
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  1. Webcast Finished

Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:00:00
Cllr Jane Scullion (Calderdale Council) - 0:00:23
Thank you so much everybody. Thank you Sarah and welcome and welcome if you're watching
online. Firstly, can I introduce Satinder and Kate for their first ever FRCC. Satinder Sahota
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:00:39
joins us from Birmingham City Council where he also supported the West Midlands Fire Service,
Cllr Jane Scullion (Calderdale Council) - 0:00:43
standing in as our interim assistant director for legal governance and compliance. And we
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:00:51
also have Kate Taylor who joins us from the West Midlands Combined Authority. I'm sorry
to Richard Parker for stealing you where she worked on securing the single settlement and is now our director of finance both
Cllr Jane Scullion (Calderdale Council) - 0:01:05
Both first FRCCs, so please join me in welcome welcoming them. I'm Sarah. Do I have any apologies, please?

1 Apologies for Absence

Sarah Naylor, Committee Services (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:01:14
Sorry, we have apologies from Councillor James Lewis councilor Carol Patterson that Councillor crookies attending as a substitute
and Councillor Denise Jeffrey.
Lovely, thank you.
I know that Councillor James Lewis is up at Nexus
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:01:25
with the Secretary of State,
so I do see why he can't be here.
Any declarations of interest?

2 Declarations of Disclosable Pecuniary Interests

Any interests that need to be declared?
No, thank you.

3 Exempt Information - Possible Exclusion of the Press and Public

Moving on to item three, exclusion of press and public.
Officers have advised that the information contained
in appendix two of Agenda Item 8, corporate risk register,
is to be treated as exempt under paragraph 3 of part 1 to schedule 12a of the Local Government
Act 1972 as it contains information relating to the financial or business affairs of any
particular person, including the combined authority, and further that it is considered
that the public interest in maintaining the content of the appendix as exempt outweighs
the public interest in disclosing the information as publication could prejudice current and
future decision making. If we agree, the press and public will be
excluded should members wish to discuss the content of Appendix 2 when we consider Item
8. I'm not sure how many members of the public
we have with us, but are we content to agree the recommendation that the information is
exempt. We are ready to happy to agree. Thank you

4 Minutes of the Meeting of the Finance, Resources and Corporate Committee held on 19 February 2025

so much. Moving on to the minutes of the meeting from February 19th. Any comments or questions?
Nope. Thank you. Are we content to confirm these minutes as
an accurate record? We are. Thank you.

5 Corporate Performance Report 2024-25

Okay. Moving on to item 5, quarter 3, corporate performance report 2425. This provides an
update on performance against business plan objectives for that year. It sets out the
work undertaken to strengthen performance reporting assessment and management for the
coming year. Sarah Eaton will be leading a short presentation summarising those key points,
including achievements and challenges where mitigations for those challenges are in place.
So over to yourself Sarah.
Sarah Eaton, Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:03:37
I've got these glasses as well now so I'm confused about taking them on and off and trying to do the mic at the same time.
So apologies for that. I can't seem to see with them on or off which is not a great move is it really.
Obviously this committee has been receiving kind of quarterly updates on performance throughout the year.
and I think we've talked the committee through
kind of the work that we're trying to progress around
performance management within the combined authority.
Really because we think this is incredibly important,
especially as we're moving over this next period
into kind of significant delivery of big major programs.
So this is the end of year report for 24 -25.
So there's a bit of a legacy around some of the indicators
that are in here and that kind of strengthened approach will take place from the next quarter.
So what we're looking at is kind of progress that we've achieved over 24, 25 in this current
report. And I think it's fair to say that if you read through this, there's quite a
lot in the report, it's a big report, but I think in some of the things that we've been
tracking over the previous quarters, we can see that there's a strengthening, increasing
confidence in delivery from quarter three to quarter four, so some of the areas that
we were talking about last time around have improved during this last quarter and that
it's in terms of meeting key targets, milestones for the year as a whole.
The themes and the risks arising, and we'll come onto this a little bit later on, continue
to fall broad into two categories really around market force and external influences and kind
of that internal capacity where resources challenges persist really.
And I think if you look at the areas where performance is perhaps not on track, some
of that is an underlying factor in that particular area.
I think because it's end of year in the report, we've kind of summarised some of the wider
kind of activity that's been achieved at the coming year.
So there's been some really great activity from publishing the local growth plan, kind
of supporting a huge number of people to kind of upskill and retrain.
we've done quite a lot of work around refurbishment of things like Halifax Bus
Station so there's some really big achievements over this year which I
think we need to kind of reflect on really because I think it has been a
very busy year. But just moving on in terms of kind of the headline outcomes
really. So what we can see is that from quarter three to quarter four we've seen an
increase in the number of kind of outcomes that have reported as blue from
from 40 to 57, a significant decrease from the number which partly satisfy key requirements.
So they've dropped from 69 to 52. I think that's partly because a number have gone into
that blue category now at the end of year. In terms of Amber Red, we have a slight increase
from last time round and I think it's important to kind of just emphasise that we've been
quite challenging at this end of year in terms of challenging our colleagues around how they
our judging performance and we've put a little bit of pressure on because we are wanting
to get into that mature cycle of really looking at the areas where we're not performing.
It's not a bad thing to be saying that we're not doing everything on track.
I think it's the kind of understanding, mitigating action.
So we want to be clear that in this next period we are getting into a space where we are going
to be challenging our colleagues around delivery.
So we have moved another area into that kind of amber -ed category but we have seen one
we move from quarter three, drop from being red.
So we've got one red activity that's still in there
over this coming period.
And I'll just touch on some of those as we move through.
So just broad light in terms of how that looks across
the missions, what you'll see is that there's actually
a level of consistency across the period
around the particular outcomes that fall
within those missions.
You'll see the kind of mission one,
we've seen an increase really.
we've performed kind of better at the end of quarter four.
So we were kind of in that mid way in quarter two,
quarter three, I think in mission four,
where we'd had some particular issues,
we've got some amber red performance
during quarter two, quarter three,
we've managed to kind of improve some of those activities
over that period.
And we're now kind of in that kind of blue category.
And obviously mission five, we've seen, again,
we've seen an increase in the areas where
we were kind of performing better than we were
in during that middle part of the year.
And I think you sometimes get this with performance
where you get a dip on in quarter two and quarter three
as we kind of identify particular issues
that we're grappling with in terms of delivery.
So just moving on.
Obviously the report's got a lot in there.
I just wanted to focus on a few things for colleagues,
but that's not to preclude any kind of conversation
around anything else that's in the report, really.
But just to say that we've seen a really good kind of strong performance around employment support
And if you're looking at that's kind of really over delivery against target, so
We've enabled nearly 7 ,000 adults to upskill or reskill and that's 160 %
Against against target and that's that's meant that the employment West Yorkshire program has been approved to continue delivery until until March 2026 now
In terms of the work that we're doing
providing support to business, you'll see there that there's been kind of a strong
performance throughout the year around those particular activities that stick
within that within that theme really and that means that we've supported around
3 ,137 businesses through the Growthub and lots of other
activity that has enabled us to kind of you know progress that kind of strong
performance throughout quarter four towards the end of the year.
In terms of housing and regeneration, the Brownfield Housing Fund has secured approvals
to over deliver against a target of 5 ,000 house targets with over 30 % of affordable
homes now to be secured through the programme.
And we've also agreed an extension with the government of around £50 million of the funding
to deliver British Library North and the National Poetry Centre.
So kind of progress in that space has improved, I think,
because of some of those announcements that we got
towards the end of the year.
So that's really good, I think,
in terms of where we were at quarter three.
Just on the highways network,
we've spent approximately 72 million
on improving the road network across West Yorkshire
through the CRTS funding,
and that's resulted in kind of 80 kilometers
of roads renewed.
And as you see there, some other improvements
that have meant that we've kind of maintained that kind of high level of performance across
the period. MASH Transit, you'll see there that in terms of some of the work that's been
developed throughout the period we've really been performing on target on that programme
over this last financial year. Which colleagues will be aware of through various reports that
have been committed to the Combined Authority. Climate and Environment Plan was adopted by
the Combined Authority in April 2025 and we've seen like a number of projects, about two
million pounds worth of funding allocated for 81 projects that have taken place around
green space and kind of nature environment there. And just on the final one there and
I was in decarbonisation, we've launched Urban Energy West Yorkshire initiative which has
so far exceeded targets around kind of retrofit measures in various properties which is I
think is particularly pleasing because a lot of those projects have been developed in kind
of areas where there's particular issues with deprivation and I think that's, we know that
that's going to be a really big issue in terms of supporting people, particularly where they've
got challenges around cost of living, that particular area. So those are some particular
successes I think that we've seen over this recent period.
Just in terms of kind of where we've got outstanding delivery, you'll see there on adult skills
and this is an area where we have been particularly challenging with colleagues,
that we are doing particularly well around some of the activity that's taken place
around the adult skills portfolio.
But what we've actually found, and you'll see a little bit more detail in the report,
that we've not hit the end of financial year target.
And I think this is a bit of a lesson in this particular area of performance,
because what we actually will do is at the end of academic year,
we'll hit the targets for the academic year,
but the work's not necessarily been profiled.
effectively over this coming period.
So I think at the end of the academic year we will see
significant progress around hitting particular targets.
But I think there's a lesson here around the maturity
of the work that we do around forecasting and target setting
and that's something that we need to kind of be looking at.
So some really good progress will hit the academic year
progress but more to be thinking around about how we profile
activity across, particularly across areas that move across
financial year, so there's something around how we kind of
mature our processes there.
I think in terms of foreign investment in West Yorkshire economy there's been a lot
of activity taking place but we've not hit our own targets there for delivering that
investment into the region that we were expecting over that period of time.
So we've seen a drop in performance towards the end of the year and that's something that
we're going to be picking up in terms of our activity over this coming year around our
international strategy.
But again further work to do in that particular area.
and asset management is one that we have identified
as an area that's gone into red.
So that's the area that I talked about earlier
that is still kind of in that category really.
And I think this is about how we strengthen
as a combined authority our approach to asset management.
And I think the closure of Bradford Interchange
kind of demonstrated some of the activities
that we need to be doing over this current period.
I think we've had some resource challenges in this space,
but what we are doing and we have been doing
over the last few months is kind of trying to accelerate
our activity around supporting development work
on that particular area.
So we're doing some work, we've got planned work,
which will take us up to September around condition surveys
around some of our assets.
So there's a lot of work in train to kind of get there,
but at the end of year that was kind of flagging as red.
And then I think the final two areas here
around the electric vehicle infrastructure.
There's been some really positive progress there,
but I think we've not managed to hit all the targets
we've got in place.
And some of that is to do with getting contracts in place
with our local authority partners.
But there's also a delay around in terms of progressing
to the phase two of that program, learning lessons
from phase one so that we can accelerate delivery
over this coming period.
And then I think finally, the last area
that is flagging AMBA,
We've improved from quarter three is around kind of install in 500 or installations around we had an end of March
2025 target has not been achieved. There's been a significant delay around the start of that program
But there's been also introducing of some further guidance, which has meant that we've not we had to pause in terms of some of that work
and
Obviously, that's something that we've been looking to kind of adjust over this coming period
So the 1500 installations by March 26 is on track, but we've obviously had that date around
performance in this current financial year.
And I think again that there's something around how are we kind of being really clear about
how we measure performance across financial years.
I think because when we did this kind of developed the performance indicators around the corporate
plan, we had a one -year corporate plan, and I think what we've moved into around a three -year
kind of corporate plan gives that ability to kind of do forecasting beyond kind of two
years much more effectively. So that's something that we'll be looking at over this coming
period. I just think the themes in terms of mitigating delivery risks as I said at the
beginning they kind of fall into two main categories really around kind of market forces
and external influences and kind of that internal capacity as I said around resourcing which
is flagged throughout the report actually. There's a lot of mitigation strategies in
place that we're looking at and we've been talking about these throughout this year really
but multi -year business and budget planning,
again, is getting us into that space
where we're looking much more around
kind of prioritizing and programming work
over kind of the period.
Workforce planning, which is a significant piece of work
that we're kind of taking forward,
which will allow us to kind of get into the space
of not having those resource kind of issues
on particular programs, really being clear
about how we're mitigating against some of that activity.
Kind of smarter working and kind of workforce agility,
kind of ending cliff edge employment, so how we're moving our kind of resources
around the organisation to kind of be able to kind of hit the priorities that
we're doing is really focused for attention and then a kind of internal
governance and assurance accountability, you know we are taking this
incredibly seriously as I said at the beginning and there's something
around how are we empowering and kind of making our colleagues accountable for
some of this activity. There's a lot of work taking place to try and
and get us into a better place.
I think notwithstanding that, there's
been some really great performance over this period
of time.
So just in terms of 2025, 26 performance reporting,
we're refining the system as we go along.
I think that diagram's quite small
and I can circulate the slide pack for colleagues.
But we are really looking at the process
that we've got in place to manage performance and get
greater oversight of all outcomes across all
of the areas, including those from our corporate services
and what that refresh is going to allow us to do is streamline the process, get greater
accountability across work areas but get more enhanced cross team reporting and I think
that's indicative of some of the work that we're doing which crosses a number of teams,
it's not simply that one team is responsible for delivering a programme, we've actually
got a lot of cross collaboration, it's making sure that we've got a system that can really
kind of enable reporting on that kind of activity across the organisation and kind of an ease
of review by our projects and programmes so we'll be able to cut the data in lots of different
ways because we are investing in kind of the online system that we've got in place.
And what that means for the committee I guess is that shift in approach means that reporting
will be much more analytical coming forward with a greater focus on kind of business partner
model at an officer level so we're hoping to continually improve and that's in line
with the performance management framework that we've got in place where we're looking
to kind of enhance the work that we do over the period. So I'll stop there, may I interest
you in terms of letting people... No, thank you Sarah, that was quite
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:18:38
a good
overview. I think the challenge is, isn't it, as we've always said that what we want
to do is be challenging to ourselves when we're marking our own homework. And I'm really
looking forward to that more analytical approach, especially as we're heading into the single
settlement and focusing on our growth plan and our corridors of opportunity and how we
can align the organisation behind those expected outcomes.
I'll take it up out of this meeting, but there's a couple of things, like for the
international investment, the project successes, there isn't the target.
You say in the paperwork that we didn't achieve it, but it would be good to know how far away
we were, particularly as we've got these new trade deals and what the mitigations going
forward with the new trade deals and so on, how's that going to influence our decision -making
about where our trade missions are, what do we expect, global investment, et cetera.
I know that there's been a restructuring of the focus of the team around the growth plan,
so I'm sure that's probably had a bit of an impact on that.
and also very disappointing about the EV, so frustrating we've got about 4 ,000 we
need 40 ,000 in West Yorkshire so we've got to get a move on with that but let's
end this up to a bit of a conversation I'm sure people have got some thoughts
Jocelyn Manners-Armstrong Independent Member - 0:20:12
Jocelyn any thoughts? Well the one thing that did occur to me and it's not clear
from the paperwork but is the EV issue anything to do with connecting to the
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:20:19
Thank you, Sarah, do we know if that's grid connection or if that's partner's?
Simon?
Thank you.
Simon Warburton, Executive Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:20:29
So the principle issue and the principle body of work actually in establishing EV charging
points is actually around traffic regulation orders.
So every individual installation requires a process to be gone through in terms of traffic
regulation orders that no generally the the level of capacity that we're looking
to provide through localized EV charging is not an impact on the grid clearly
different when we get into bus depots for example no it's it's all about
capacity to manage through TROs in particular.
Could I ask Simon is it possible to have like schemes that then go through the
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:21:13
process rather than one individual installation. Could we approach government with that as
a solution to some of their problems?
Simon Warburton, Executive Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:21:21
So I think it's a very good idea that we put a proposal to government. Currently under
the regulations that guide the preparation of TROs, they are required to be very specific
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:21:44
very localised but it is a blocker within the pipeline definitely.
Thank you. I mean overall it is a good news story Sarah and certainly saying to colleagues
deliver, deliver, deliver. We've seen haven't we in several departments how they've really
particularly in quarter four escalated that delivery so that puts us in a mature position
ready for the single settlement. So thank you very much for that, much appreciated.
Are there any further comments? Yes, Councillor Crooke.
Cllr Moses Crook Kirklees Council - 0:22:13
Thank you, Chair. I mean, I think it's really good reports, really positive, particularly like the National Health Innovation Campus, as a major success.
What I wanted to talk about, the carbon impact reduction bit, seems to be there's been a lack of resource in terms of bringing that, developing that policy area,
and I think it's really important that we keep track of that, particularly given all
of our authorities' commitment and the mayoral authorities' commitment to 2038, if we fall
behind then, you know, particularly this year it's really important we're on top of that
sort of policy area and how that kind of presents us collectively in the public session.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:22:47
Sarah Eaton, Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:22:49
Thank you, sir. So just on that one, that one is where, is a particular issue where
we lost kind of capability in that particular space and it meant that we'd not got the right
skills in place. We have done a piece of work which is looking around how we get ready for
the future around that particular area and some of this is around how we measure and
monitor the impact so that we can demonstrate that reasonably well across the entirety of
our operations really. So I think what we've done is identify a number of areas where we
need to bring that skills in and that's been part of the business planning process to actually
So we feel more comfortable than we did last time around because we actually think we've got an understanding of what the gaps are
But we need to kind of take that work forward
So we're hoping that we'll get better better delivery on that over
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:23:34
this period. Thank you, Jane
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:23:43
I'd like to cook
I think it's an excellent report and it's it's really important that we don't just in some ways rush through it
Cllr Jane Scullion (Calderdale Council) - 0:23:50
that we just pause and think, wow, that is actually
a lot of work this week.
I just wanted to say a little bit about Mission 4
in terms of sustainable West Yorkshire,
because Councillor Crooke's quite right.
There is a lot more that we can do in this space,
and we do need that capacity, and that work
with the private sector in particular,
in terms of how we finance things going forward.
I just wanted to mention, in terms of UK Reef,
which happened in Leeds just recently.
There was a lot of interest in sustainable West Yorkshire.
And for me, the highlights, the pinnacle of my visit to UK Reef
was doing a video interview on West Yorkshire retrofit
experience, achievements, and plans.
And I think given the nature and the scale of the challenge
ahead, some of the things that we've done this last year
really put us in a good position in terms of really pace and scale of some of those
things for the future.
But you're absolutely right that we need to work a bit in a more clever manner really
to think about some of the ways in which we evaluate some of the carbon impact of the
work.
And one of the things we've been talking about in the Climate and Environment Committee has
been very much about, given that a lot of the work
of the combined authorities about transport,
how we bring some of that thinking around transport,
around some of the work of the Climate Committee.
So that's very helpful.
Thank you.
But generally, a really great report.
And the mayor was modest about the biggie, really,
because this is what's just happened
and what's happening now.
I actually think it's really hard to evaluate
is the decision about bus franchising.
That was the biggie.
actually, doesn't necessarily appear quite in the same evaluation tick box, but we have
made progress, we already have.
Yeah, thank you so much for that and moving forward to the year ahead,
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:25:55
now we have the
decision on Tram as well, being able to have that integrated plan, which should hopefully
be reflected.
Asma then Ben.
Asma Iqbal (West Yorkshire Business Board) - 0:26:05
Just an observation really, you've already, Sarah, highlighted the foreign investment
in West Yorkshire as the current investment in the West Yorkshire area.
economy is something that is being looked at. Obviously there's a decline from Q3 and
Q4, however we seem to have strengthened the international collaboration and trade initiatives
which remain consistent amongst Q3 and Q4. I think we just probably need to home in to
see its more focus -based trade missions and international collaboration where we are determining
our outcomes leading to foreign investment within our economy and the regions that we're
visiting and these trade missions I feel probably need a more focused approach in the areas
that we're going so that we can measure to see where we're falling down in so far as
and I think I have that view with a number of trade missions. They look great but it's
It's got to be focus -based and measurable in terms of what we're getting as outcomes.
So culturally and various other reasons, what has been the gaps that mean that it's not
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:27:16
translating into – that's just an observation.
I think that's a really good point and something that I've reiterated to the teams that don't
suggest we go anywhere without expected outcomes.
But it was pleasing today with the Secretary of State for Health to be able to say that
because of the trade mission to Nashville,
Leeds University now has its only relationship
with a US university at Vanderbilt in Nashville
that has come out of that trade mission.
And also the relationships with the businesses of Nashville
and also our businesses here in Leeds
in health tech and life sciences.
We've quantifiable outcomes, but you're absolutely right.
you know, we have to account for every single penny for the public and where we
go has got to chime with our growth plan, our ambitions for our region, our diaspora
where those opportunities are as well to build business links and also to now
because we have these trade links and trade deals negotiated by government to
jump on the back of those whereas previously it was relationship often
Mayor to Mayor that had that trust and confidence. But you're absolutely right to hold us to
account there and we can maybe make sure that there's a greater focus on our expected outcomes
and were those expected outcomes delivered. Obviously some of these relationships will
be long term so it won't be immediate but certainly something that we should look at.
Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. I guess I wanted to welcome the positive comments about the
Ben Still, Chief Executive (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:29:00
performance of the organization over the year, which is good. I'm really pleased that the
report is as positive as it is. However, there is obviously no room for complacency. And
I just wanted to echo Sarah's point that we are moving to a more analytical basis for
this, and we will need to, I think, take papers to FRCC report, FRCC meetings that talk about
how we're going to approach that, because we clearly can't measure everything. There
are some things that we will measure because they are the fundamental outputs or outcomes
that really matter. There are some things where the indicator is more of a proxy for
a wider range of activity, and international is a good example of that. And there are some
areas where frankly I think our teams need to think about what is the job that they're
trying to do and EV is a good example of that. The metrics here are about delivering the
Levi program, not about actually reaching the target that you set out there. And so
how do you strike the right balance between actually what we want to see as West Yorkshire,
which probably involves allowing the private sector to deliver these when it doesn't need
help from the public sector, but influencing where we should,
versus delivering a government program, which
is a different subset of that.
But it might not be the whole answer.
So we're going to move to that space, because ultimately, we'd
like this report to give our internal view as to whether
our level of confidence that we're delivering good value
for money for the taxpayer in the delivery of these outcomes,
not just the achievement of the outcomes themselves.
Thanks.
And certainly having inclusive growth at the heart of what we're doing, it is very frustrating
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:30:41
that we have very few, if any, on street EV parking that is in the back to back communities
and so on. It's often private driveways or new bills, so we've got to make sure that
we democratise this as well, so this is open to everybody in whichever community. And I
know inclusive growth is something, Asma, that you are very interested in.
Okeydoke, any further comments?
Righto.
Can the committee note performance against business plan outputs for 2425 and the planned
activity to address challenging performance?
Thank you.
And the committee notes arrangements for performance reported for 2526.
Thank you so much.
HR management information, item 6.

6 HR Management Information

This report provides detail and analysis on our people measures including information concerning employee sickness
voluntary turnover the EDI profile of the organization and information relating to the fulfillment of
vacancies and
This report concerns quarter 4
24 25 reflecting information between January March
25 and our assistant director of people and transformation Joe dent will take us through the paper
But before you do, Joe, can I just say, I was so pleased to see our sickness levels falling.
That is such a great direction of travel for us as an organisation and hopefully is a suggestion
of a culture where people really are content in their job and see their role as really
important in the whole organisation.
Thank you, Joe.
Thank you, Mayor.
Absolutely.
I'm pleased to report that it's a fairly positive report in terms of the overall metrics across
how we're delivering right now in terms of our turnover, our sickness rates against benchmarks
and against the same quarter last year too. So we're improving on our own metrics, but
we're also improving on benchmarks. Well -being is still the biggest area in terms of that
sickness area. So we are focusing in on that too because that pressure and delivering and
those kind of things will drive pressure in those areas. So that is something we continue
to focus on. I think the other thing that I'm really pleased to report on here is our
EDI measures are also heading in the right direction. We cannot take our foot off the
asked for that because in terms of actually how we progress at that pace going forward
is going to be really challenging. However, the key concern around disability has moved
in the last quarter and that is something we have been particularly focusing on so I
am very pleased about that. So all in all a positive report. I think the main message
from me really is I think this is a good representation
of how we're delivering right now,
and in line with what Sarah's just presented
and what Ben alluded to a moment ago,
what we've been working on, and our key focus is in terms
of that look ahead now, and the planning,
the workforce planning, and the resourcing strategy,
which is something we'd like to share with you
at the next meeting, because that's going to be a case
of how do we continue these really positive,
Jo Dent (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:34:23
measures at pace whilst we actually change the more agility across the
organization, bringing in the skills that we need across the organization and all
the change that we're going to be doing alongside of it. So I think the other
thing to report which is again the positive thing is we had a first senior
leadership team meeting yesterday where we had everybody around the table we
filled all our senior vacancies so that is a really positive measure because in
in terms of our workforce planning,
those people can now take some ownership of it
and we can support them in terms of what does that look like.
They can create what they need to deliver.
So it's all quite positive for me.
I'm not really sure what else to say,
but I'd welcome any questions or comments.
Thank you so much.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:35:09
And we do know that early on in the journey towards mass
transit and bus franchising, there
were real challenges because of lack of capacity.
And recruiting at that very high level, the senior jobs,
There's a real market for those roles, paid a lot of money,
and if you want to come and work in the public sector,
you have to take a financial hit to some degree.
So it is hard to recruit,
but we are hopefully an exciting organisation
to come and work with with great plans and attract top talent.
So it's great to see that all those senior leadership roles
are now filled, and we can get on with that delivery.
Any comments from colleagues?
Yes, Jocelyn.
Jocelyn Manners-Armstrong Independent Member - 0:35:49
On the EDI reporting, we've talked before about getting people to declare and what actions
were being taken about getting more people to declare in various categories. How much
progress has been made on that?
Jo Dent (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:36:05
So quite a lot of progress with regard to disability, but we're not going in the right
direction in terms of all measures. And I think that that's been more challenging.
more recently too.
So we are, we're trying to be sensitive about it
because this is going to be a bit more of a longer game
around building trust with people,
but we have noticed a decline in new entrance
into the organisation, not wanting to let us know
that information.
So we are working on a very personal, targeted level
with people as well as trying to assure confidence more widely. We have network groups which
we involve in that. We work with partners outside of the industry to help us and support
us as well. Obviously any other feedback or comments are very welcome but it's challenging
to be perfectly honest and like I say recent changes or recent rulings have not particularly
helped that. So we're working with the, it's not changed anything for us within our organisation
and that's the message.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:37:26
Can I ask Jo, can we do a bit of a ring round of the mayoral combined authorities because
this may be something that is shared that young people coming into work now
don't want to tell their boss what their sexuality is or whatever so I wonder
whether this is just it's something that is just about our organization or whether
this is more wide -ranging because there will be other MCA's with that detail and
that feedback so it would be helpful if it was just us or and that's
something we would have to absolutely address but it might be just something
societal. Yes, Councillor Crooke. Thank you, Chair. Again on the EDI
Cllr Moses Crook Kirklees Council - 0:38:12
target, and I think it's positive that we're doing better and doing better than most as well in this space, but particularly on minority sexual orientation, we're well ahead of our target, but our target is well below the portion of the population that would be represented as minority sexual orientation. So why are we setting the target well below
where we're already achieving it just makes us look like we're smashing the target when really we're below where we should be still.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:38:40
Cllr Moses Crook Kirklees Council - 0:38:41
A very, very valid point and we're going to review all of the targets and as part of the start of the new quarter we've asked ourselves that very same question.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:38:49
Cllr Moses Crook Kirklees Council - 0:38:49
Thank you.
Councillor Crooke.
Just a related point, we collectively as the authorities in the West Yorkshire Common Authority
have all recognised care experience as a protected characteristic. Could we start collecting
data on that demographic to ensure that we're including people who are care experienced
in our employment? In fact, in general, in our policies across the board, if we're going
to recognise it as a protected characteristic, we should be at least storing data so that
we know where we're at with that group.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:39:17
Councilor do you mean those from the care system or carers?
Ben Still, Chief Executive (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:39:31
Thank you, I've got two two comments and I think partially the answer to
Castle Cook's question is that we set a profile
And it could be that actually we're just ahead in terms of profile in terms of how long it would take us to reach the proportion
Of the population that we needed to we needed to get to and but you're Joe's right
we're looking at all of that.
I wanted to make a, just to underline the point
that the workforce and getting the right skills
for the future and doing so in a way that still allows us
to hit all of those important diversity targets
is a real challenge.
And so when Jo says that she's bringing the workforce
actually to the next FRCC, that's absolutely something
that we as a leadership team are very focused on.
and the mechanisms that we use to bring those people into the organisation is going to be really critical,
as long as mechanisms to more flexibly deploy people within the organisation.
And we're also looking in parallel at how we do that to make sure that we're able to flexibly and more
agilely use the people that we have. Thank you.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:40:34
Thank you. Any further comments?
No. Thank you so much for that, Jo.
Can the committee note the information provided related to the CA's workforce that we note
the recommendations? We do, thank you so much.

7 Public Sector Equality Duty Report 2024-25

Moving on to item 7, Public Sector Equality Duty Report 2425. This provides a summary
of the annual Public Sector Equality Duty published by the CA. The full report for 2425
published March 25 and the appendix 1 contains the full detail of the work
that's been done across teams and working partnership over the last
financial year. The content demonstrates compliance with our obligations under
the Equality Act and outlines the impact that the CA initiatives have had for
diverse communities across West Yorkshire. Can I have Sarah Eaton take us through the
Sarah Eaton, Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:41:35
Thank you, Mayor. So obviously this is a critical report for us in terms of demonstrating our
compliance with the Public Sector Equality Dunes site, but also around our own equality
objectives really, so that's incredibly important in terms of the work that we're doing across
the combined authority. Joe has alluded to some of the work that we're doing perhaps
internally, but also kind of in us making sure that the work we're doing with communities
is representative of the communities that we serve.
So it's an incredibly important piece of work, really.
And I think if people have not had a chance to actually have
a look at the attachment, I think
there's a great range of evidence
there around some of that activity that is taking place
now, which I think is really pleasing to see.
So what we've just wanted to talk a little bit about how
we're starting to embed reporting around EDI
within some of the work that we're doing
and how we're actually collecting data.
So we've moved away from trying to do an annual report that's
picking up activity at the end of the year.
What we started to do is implement some kind
of quarterly feedback through our internal liaison
with colleagues across the combined authority, which
is maximizing that ability to capture data about things
that are happening.
But I think the focus, what we're trying to do,
is shift away from an internal focus much more
to that external focus.
So what you start to see in the document
is that examples of case studies of work that's taking place across the region really and
some of the difference that some of this work is making to people's lives which I think
is really, really important. So it's not just about kind of a compliance issue, this is
about demonstrating, also demonstrating the impact that we're having in communities that
kind of need the support. So there's a couple of examples in the report but not to necessarily
go through those today. I think it's really important that we keep our foot on the pedal
on this work and that we continue to make sure that we're kind of progressing some of
this activity, particularly over the coming period. I think Jo's alluded to some of the
kind of the activity that's taking place in terms of kind of rulings but also more broadly
the wider context in which we're operating and it's more important than ever that we
kind of maintain momentum on some of this activity I think. We need to make sure that
all of our outward facing activities is looking at this kind of approach really. So I think
this again is another area of work that we're trying to progress and we're also building
kind of a dashboard around reporting on EDI activity which will be something that will
play into performance reporting as we kind of progress and kind of move forward. I think
as you'll see towards the end of the report, what we're focusing over the coming year is
finalising the delivery of our current EDI plan but we're also starting work on our next EDI
strategy because that EDI plan is starting to come to an end and that will look at how we continue
to demonstrate impact really but in addition to that we'll continue to work in partnership
really with our local authorities but also with other colleagues around within the ICB and
obviously the work of the Inclusivity Champion is fundamental in this space in terms of being able
to get out and speak to communities around the work that we're doing and make sure that
their voices are heard. So there's other work taking place around how we're improving that
engagement with communities, kind of working with colleagues in local authorities. So I'll
stop there, but a really important piece of work I think for the organisation.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:44:57
Thank you. And can I just reference the work that Adiba does in this space and the way
that she's been able to reach out to communities. She's been so fantastic and really helpful.
Any comments? Asma?
Sarah Eaton, Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:45:06
Just to highlight that you have said the promotion of the Women of West Yorkshire Network and I see a lot of outward work that your
Asma Iqbal (West Yorkshire Business Board) - 0:45:17
Inclusivity Champion is doing.
I think that's brilliant and it's not just one sector based. I've seen that there is the sports cultural side roles as well and I think if we get into every sector and have a presence from an EDI perspective,
I think we just need to be seen as well in these areas where the communities are looking to see that EDI development
So for me you're out there and in the right places
Sarah Eaton, Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:45:43
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:45:44
Thank you and certainly around business really important to us isn't it to to diversify the people that know about us and our offer and
so on
Any further comments?
No, thank you. Okay. Are we happy?
that the committee notes the content of the annual EDI, Public Sector Quality Duty Report.

8 Corporate Risk Register

Thank you so much. Moving on to the Corporate Risk Register. This report provides a snapshot
of the current Corporate Risk Register delivering assurance on key risks that impact the missions
and objectives of the Combined Authority. Appendix 1 provides a public version of the
risk register and a full unredacted private version is attached at Appendix 2. If members
wish to discuss the content of the exempt appendix, please indicate and we'll move into
closed session for that part of the item. Maybe you can keep me on task Ben if we veer
into dangerous waters. The report also updates members on the activity underway in accordance
with the risk management strategy development plan.
Could I ask Satinder Sahota to take us through the paper?
Sarah Eaton, Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:46:51
Satinder, thank you.
Thank You mayor members your requested to consider and note the combined authorities current risk register a hard copy of which is provided
Satinder Sahota, Interim Assistant Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:47:01
for you in a three in addition members you're also requested to
Note the activity set out within the risk management strategy development plan
That plan is accessible at paragraph 11 .1 of your report by way of a link
You'll see from that plan, members, that it comprises four phases.
Each of those phases contains key activities, interim measures and deliverables within those
phases.
For your awareness, we are currently in phase two.
Ordinarily, members, the Combined Authorities Risk Management Arrangement sits with the
Governance and Audit Committee.
However, it's considered important to share the risk register with this committee today
in tandem with the Risk Management Strategy Development Plan.
Due to the cross -cutting nature of risk management, members should also be aware that on 28 April,
the Governance and Audit Committee received an update in relation to the Development Plan
and that update resulted in a helpful and constructive discussion on those themes and
areas set out in paragraph 3 .3 of the report before you.
Finally, Members, as touched on in the report, the risk register is presentationally very
much work in progress. For your awareness, a revised presentation approach will be put
before the Governance and Audit Committee at its next meeting in late July.
Thank you, Mayor, and happy to take any queries.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:48:44
Thank you so much. Is there any way at all – this can be bigger.
It's so challenging, even with my glasses. It's just an extra effort to try and decipher,
because it may just be me, but it is incredibly small.
If there is just a larger sheet and just to blow it up a little bit would be really helpful.
If that's our printer can cope.
Absolutely, there will be a revised approach and the idea is to have each risk on a page.
Fantastic, fantastic.
So we don't necessarily have to do comparisons on the big sheet, we can just do one risk at a time.
Thank you, that's wonderful.
That's really helpful.
So for those with super eyesight,
These might work.
Anybody would like to comment on the risk register?
Yes, Councillor Crook.
Thank you, Chair.
Sarah Eaton, Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:49:39
Can I ask about CRRR006, operator bus service.
The task version is very high.
I don't know why, but one of the commandant's bypasses is concerned about this.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:49:52
Thank you. Simon?
Sarah Eaton, Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:49:53
Yes, absolutely. Thank you.
Simon Warburton, Executive Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:50:03
So we've increased the risk rates largely because we've reviewed the way we've gone about rating its potential impact.
We're worried to come about. It is a risk that we're managing very
Satinder Sahota, Interim Assistant Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:50:16
Simon Warburton, Executive Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:50:22
closely at present and we are alive to the fact that
as we move into a period of transition from a deregulated bus network to a franchise bus
network that there could at points through that change period be incentives or motivations
for actors in the bus market to change their attitude to the ongoing operation of services
through that period. There are contingencies that we have made to manage that and we are
specifically we have specifically established a network continuity programme as part of
the change programme for bus franchising. But recognising just how fundamental the ongoing
provision of bus services is to the vitality of West Yorkshire, we felt that it was important
to raise the rating and therefore ensure that it retains a very high priority across both
members and also our internal leadership team.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:51:38
I've also said to senior leaders, don't take anything for granted. We can't be complacent
in this space because we're working with the private sector who have different agendas
and for some, you know, managed from companies that aren't in the UK, it is quite a potentially
risky moment for us, but I'm reassured in our meetings that we're absolutely on the
right track and it's it's really important to be honest about the risk
and understand the risk while also mitigating as much as we can those
potential risks but thank you for raising that because obviously it's a
really big issue for us it's pivotal to what we promised the public so it's
important that we're not complacent any further comments yes
Satinder Sahota, Interim Assistant Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:52:31
councillor sorry
there's one other that I would just want to quickly raise and I have already
raised it for CRR 012, which is around our environmental risk
and so on around that policy development climate
and environment plan.
Just because as we've buses, it's
Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe (Bradford Council) - 0:52:48
really critical to how we're seen by the public
to be effectively delivering on our targets in the future.
And also possibly just take this opportunity
to say I'm pleased to have that Kirklees has again
been awarded an A CDP score, the highest rating.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:53:04
Thank you so much, Councillor. I blame the Councillors for that. You've led from the front. Congratulations.
Satinder Sahota, Interim Assistant Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:53:16
Would you like to take that one, Sarah?
I've just seen if I can read it as well.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:53:20
Can I double check the climate environment? 4 -1 -2. That's not very high. That's consistent with where we've been.
Satinder Sahota, Interim Assistant Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:53:31
Is that the one you were talking about?
01 2 I think, sorry, CRR is 0 1 2.
01 2, find a new party.
Yes I think it's...
Ah stay high, sorry I apologise.
Yes, no it's just stay consistent.
It's the RSI issue on this.
Exactly.
I think we're, are you content Councillor?
Yes.
Jocelyn Manners-Armstrong Independent Member - 0:53:53
Ben?
Satinder Sahota, Interim Assistant Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:53:55
Just to address that point, it's exactly the same issue that you raised in the paper.
Yes it is.
share answers around partially around resourcing and partially around how we then process the
implications of carbon in a decision model.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:54:09
Okie doke, thank you so much. So we didn't stray out of our guide rails, so that's great.
So can the committee note the corporate risk register and ongoing risk management activities
under the Governance and Audit Committee's oversight.
Yes, thank you so much.
Okay, moving on to the Gateway Review,

9 Gateway Review

item 9 on the agenda.
This report notes the findings and outcomes
of the Gateway Review,
including confirmation of the release of associated funds.
Can I firstly congratulate you and the team
for this incredible piece of work
that was so detailed and so exacting,
and you've done a really great job on this
because government have now acknowledged
that we have passed the Gateway Review and there's some very good and outstanding elements
of the work that we've done. So it wasn't an easy piece of work, congratulations to
all of you and the team. So could I ask Sarah to take us through the
Satinder Sahota, Interim Assistant Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:55:08
paper, Sarah?
Thank you Mayor and I've invited Anna to come down and sit with us really because obviously
Sarah Eaton, Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:55:19
we've attached, given links to the big report and if there's any technical questions around
the evaluation which is incredibly complex. I'm sure Anna will be able to kind of dip
in and answer any comments that people have got. So I think in terms of the process we
fetched a report I think about a year ago now around the Gateway Review. This work started
in early 2023 and it was in two stages of kind of a mid -term review and a final review
and this is a piece of work that was kind of government mandated around and a requirement
of the growth fund, so the West Yorkshire transport fund and obviously gainshare funding.
It's cheaply focused on evidence in economic outcomes of delivery under both of those funds.
The work kind of happens across three main strands really, kind of progress, progress
plus and impact. So the evaluation is looking at a number of things in terms of that kind
of economic outcomes, but it's also supported, I think,
by other kind of evidence around economic forecasting,
capacity, and partnerships, and they're important parts
of the process.
So if colleagues look at the executive summary,
a significant amount of what's been looked at
is not just around what's been delivered,
but kind of the approaches that we've got in place
to ensure delivery.
And I think from my perspective, getting involved
in this piece of work.
The actual evaluation process that
are adopted throughout this process
are particularly stringent.
And it's almost like the purest form of evaluation
that you could possibly have.
So to actually demonstrate some of the economic outcomes
is incredibly challenging.
And as you'll see in the reports,
some of that is down to the approach that's
been used, which is around having counterfactuals in place.
And that is almost like demonstrating
that something would happen on a scheme
that you have not done the intervention in,
and finding schemes that do that is incredibly challenging.
So I think just to say that in terms of the work,
there's been a huge amount of work undertaken by the team
throughout this process.
As we got to the end of the process,
the government said to us that they
were abandoning gateway reviews for combat authorities.
And we just sat back and went, oh no.
Because there have been 15 evidence papers produced
to an organisation appointed by the government, SQW.
And what you've got there is a synthesis of those papers.
So that's not the entirety of the work.
There's a huge amount, not just from us,
but from our partners who have also kind of had to talk
about and kind of evidence the impact
that their schemes has had.
So this has been a huge amount of work
and just thanks to partners really for kind of bearing
with us because this has been additional work on those.
but kind of what you see in the paper is that in relation to the schemes
evaluated under the transport fund there is evidence of economic impact which is
found to be generally modest or inconclusive and again that is because
of some of the methodology. So for example one of the examples that Anna gave
me was you know we could put in a particular roundabout or a road and we
might have housing development that's been attached to the side of that but
because we've not got evidence that the developer would have done something
different if that roundabout hadn't been there and this is really difficult
because some of these schemes run over a period of time, we don't have contact
with the developers because we haven't got the evidence, we can't count some of the
outcomes and so that you can see the challenge in terms of some of these
pieces of work in terms of being able to demonstrate what we've done and the
impact that has been made. So there are outcomes there it's just that in
terms of the kind of how the evaluation works they're not necessarily recognised
in this way and that does reflect the limitations of the methodology which
both SQWM and MHLG have recognised.
So this isn't something that is just applicable to us.
This is applicable across this kind of measurement piece
for us and other combined authorities,
and I think more generally.
You'll see there that in terms of our gains share programme
was subject to impact evaluation,
and that resulted in net benefit.
So there's some really positives in the report
that you'll find.
I think some of those positives I think which are really great
is that the CA is progressing well.
And I think that kind of maturity of our evaluation
approach is really important, not least
because as we move into an integrated settlement,
we are going to have to demonstrate
the impact they're having.
And Anna is doing work around an outcomes framework
that will allow us to kind of mature that approach even
further.
What we have been commended on is our proactive engagement
with the Gateway Review.
We were only one of two combined authorities
that completed in line with agreed timeframes,
and the only CA that undertook kind of working
parallel on two funds at the same time.
So that kind of just demonstrates, I think,
some of the kind of activities that the team has done.
I think also, I think what's reflected in the report
is kind of the mayor's focus on skills
and culturally quality and diversity,
and inclusion is regarded as having had a real positive
impact in the region.
And again, I think that is really, really important
in terms of kind of the wider impact
some of the work that we're doing. Kind of the maturity of our evaluation processes and
capacity seen as positive and I think stakeholders were consistently positive about the way the
CA uses evidence to inform strategy and the quality of that evidence. And they also noted
that kind of the improvements that's been made within the CA around decision making,
particularly around decision making around economic development. So I think generally
speaking over the time period things have improved significantly and that was kind of
the report. So overall the findings are in expectation, in line with the expectations
and I was disappointed with some of the feedback, it's great feedback I think in context, but
work is kind of ongoing now to kind of look at the kind of where perhaps we can improve
and we can build that into this next phase of the evaluation work that we're going to
be doing alongside the development of the outcomes framework. So just in terms of the
the outcome. Because this was kind of the last time that we'll be doing this, we kind
of had a bit of a change of approach towards the end of last year and we had to take part
in an annual conversation and that will be the future approach that will be taken around
some of this activity moving forward. So we had both the Gateway Review and an annual
conversation. And that meeting took place in March and that provided an opportunity
to kind of clarify some of the areas and discuss the approach moving forward. Since that time
we've actually had a letter which you'll see in the paper confirming that we've successfully
kind of passed through the Gateway Review and that has also triggered the payment, the
annual payment for this piece of work. So I think a very challenging process, I think
we've learnt quite a lot through that process and we'll feed back some of that into the
kind of the approach moving forward but I think the positives are that we've managed
to get through that Gateway Review and we've been paid I think for this next year's worth
So I'll stop speaking now.
And if anybody has got any detailed questions,
Anna's obviously here to kind of support.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 1:02:21
Yeah, and thank you, Anna, for all that you've done.
But also, like you say, it was a huge piece of work
which was incredibly detailed.
But actually, we have learned a lot as an organization.
And the fact that we don't ever have to do it again,
it will be in a different way, is also helpful.
But to know what we are focused on
is all of the work that we do.
We do need to have those quantifiable outcomes
and the difference that we're making for the public
and making their lives easier, better,
greater opportunities and access to great transport,
et cetera, et cetera.
So I think whilst a tough piece of work, really valuable.
So thank you, thank you.
I don't quite know what you'll do now it's done,
because I'm sure it was compelling
and that was all you were doing for many months.
I've got plenty to do.
That's good to hear.
Thank you so much, Anna.
Any questions from colleagues on the Gateway Review? No? Thank you.
Okey -doke. Well, the committee notes the findings and the outcome of the Gateway Review, so well done.
And no questions for you, so it was obviously great detail. Thank you.
No, thank you.

10 Treasury Management Performance 2024-25

Okay, moving on to Treasury Management, Performance 2425.
This report provides the committee with a summary of the CA's Treasury Management activity and performance for the Financial Year 2425.
It demonstrates compliance with the CIPFA Treasury Management Code and Prudential Code
and outlines how the authority has managed its investments, borrowing and cash flows
during the year. Can I ask Kate Taylor to take us through this paper? And it's so great
that we've got that fresh pair of eyes looking at our organisation as we change and develop
and mature. So thank you Kate, over to you.
Kate Taylor, Director West Yorkshire Combined Authority - 1:04:07
Thank you, Mayor. This is the first two papers on the agenda today that will be backwards
looking and looking at past performance in there. So this is our Treasury Management
report, looking at how we have performed over the full year of 2024 -2025 against the Treasury
Management Strategy that was approved in February 2024. Drawing attention to Table 3 .2, that
shows a strong performance around investment income, so generating 40 .5 million over the
And just to note, there has been no new external borrowing as well within the financial year.
In summary of paragraph 3 .19, that gives the key highlights.
I'm pleased to report the authorities acted within its limits, maintain strong liquidity
and it's been able to optimise returns on its cash without compromising risk.
There is a section in there that gives an economic outlook for 2526.
We will continue obviously to report to you throughout the year on that.
that will change and we will continue to give further reporting. But this is very much a
kind of report that is telling you what we've done and we've done that safely.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 1:05:12
Kate Taylor, Director West Yorkshire Combined Authority - 1:05:15
And what's your thinking about how it's going to change?
So I think we have, so there's not an exact science on treasury management I think it
would be fair to say. So in terms of investment income in there we need to get stronger around
forecasting I think that'd be fair to say so understanding what cash we are
going to have in the bank and having a really firm strategy around how we're
going to best utilize that ultimately to get returns in there looking at
borrowing I'd say there has been no new borrowing this year looking at the
program going forward obviously has things coming online like mass transit
bus franchising that may move over over the year so I think from what is a I
I guess quite BAU report at the moment Treasury management will become more important from an authority perspective
And and you'll probably see a little bit more activity going on during the year going forward
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 1:06:08
Kate Taylor, Director West Yorkshire Combined Authority - 1:06:12
Super, thank you any comments or thoughts. Yes council Hinchliffe
Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe (Bradford Council) - 1:06:15
Thank you for that and welcome thank you and so
Obviously we looked at this in previous years. Also, we've lived through some very
We have been in a very financially turbulent time in recent years with high interest rates
which impacted on our treasury management.
Now, we did get in revenue over and above what we predicted.
Are we more now in line with our budget on that or is it still becoming a surprise?
So we are over budget.
Kate Taylor, Director West Yorkshire Combined Authority - 1:06:49
We set a budget of £5 million for 2425.
We've achieved 40 .5 so that is significantly over.
There are two, I guess, two bits that sit in there.
One is understanding how much cash that we're going to have.
We are in a competitive bidding round at the moment so actually at the point of setting the budget
we don't always know when cash is going to come in from government which can raise our cash balances.
Integrated settlement will give us an opportunity to be able to better plan that.
And we have big items like the capital program, so linking through into the next report around
actually what you'll see of delivery of the capital program, if we're not spending that
money out, then it's just sitting in the bank and that can give us a higher return in there.
So there are two kind of bits in there and also the markets as well in there.
So and to be honest, that type of return and that over budget is similar in other authorities
have been seeing in there in terms of there at the moment. So I wouldn't say we're particularly
out of line in terms of that. I think, you know, for us it will be controlling what we
can control, which is around the forecasting element, and then working with the Treasury
management advisors around the market. Thank you. And of course in the spending review
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 1:08:02
we're going to know more, aren't we, about our financial input. But also the single settlement
is not more money is it Kate? It's just greater freedoms and flexibility so it's
it's not going to definitely give us a new pipeline of funding but just
hopefully give us the opportunity to use that money better and more efficiently.
Kate Taylor, Director West Yorkshire Combined Authority - 1:08:31
Absolutely yes so yes integrated assessment isn't kind of the golden
bullet I guess to say it will give us money in one pot into functional
pillars it will gave us great flexibility to move that running around
and actually a focus on delivering outcomes and better local decision
making around actually how we're going to achieve that rather than I guess be
mandated to deliver in a certain way in there but it will not yes deliver more
money per se obviously if government spending goes down. Thank you so much any
Any further comments?
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 1:09:06
No?
Lovely.
Thank you so much.
Is the committee happy to note the treasury management position for 24 -25?
Super.
So financial out turn 24 -25, item 11.
This report presents a draft final out turn position on both the revenue and financial
year.
It provides a comparison with the approved budget and quarter three forecast, outlines
key variances and the reasons for them and sets out the proposed treatment of underspends,
Kate Taylor, Director West Yorkshire Combined Authority - 1:09:46
overspends and carry forwards. Kate, can I come back to you to take us through
the paper? So as the Mayor said, this report closes off
the financial year for 2024 -25, although just asking members to note that these rule numbers
will form the basis of the statement of counts that will be subject to audit so it could
be subject to change in there.
On the revenue position, after proposed transfers to reserves, the Riverdale Authority is reporting
a breakeven position.
Within that, there are two significant variances from approved budgets.
So we have just talked around the additional treasury management income, so windfall income
that has come in as a result of the activities there.
There's also additional enterprise -owned income that was unbudgeted and then underspends within
staffing expenditure as well. There is also an adverse variance that is
a 23 .6 million pound pressure that has arisen through review of in year capitalization of
staffing costs in there. That gives us a revenue surplus of 27 .1 million
when those are netted off and that report proposes to transfer those into an earmarked
reserve that will provide the authority future financial resilience against both committed
activities and any future fiscal shocks that may arise and may impact the MTFP as set out
within the report.
Just to note, the capital program has delivered 320 .1 million against its initial budget of
474 .6 million.
Although, just to note, that is only 12 .4 million pound less than the last forecast,
which shows a positive trend in the majority of forecasting that we will look to continue
over this financial year.
The major scheme variances are detailed in the paper.
I'd like to take any detailed questions.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 1:11:30
Thank you.
That's grand.
Any questions?
Yes, Ben.
It's not so much a question as a comment, really, and an observation.
Ben Still, Chief Executive (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 1:11:43
I wanted to thank Damon and, since he's been around a few weeks ago, Kate, because Damon
has kind of really gone through our financial situation and kind of kicked the tires, and
on the processes that we've run within the organization.
And I think as a consequence, you're seeing
greater transparency and greater,
more clarity in the presentation of information,
which I think is a really positive step.
We talked earlier about the workforce strategy.
One of the key things that we're grappling with
in terms of the organization's kind of macro level finances
is that how we handle the decline in revenue income
over time, coupled with a workforce strategy that is requiring greater levels of resourcing.
And that is the kind of conundrum that we're balancing at the moment.
And so I know this is very common to all authorities, but it is absolutely critical for some of
the major delivery milestones that were set as an organization.
So I kind of, I guess, have that theme in mind when we're thinking about both resourcing
a workforce strategy, making sure that we can recruit the skills that we need at the
competitive rates that the market is going to demand, while not setting ourselves up
for a deficit position in the future that's unsustainable.
Great stuff, thank you. Jocelyn?
Jocelyn Manners-Armstrong Independent Member - 1:13:05
I'd like to reiterate what Ben said about the quality of reporting. This is so much
better, and I'm so much happier to see more granularity, especially at the directorate
level and beyond that, that's exactly what we need, I think, to enable us to make properly
informed decisions. So thank you.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 1:13:25
Thank you. So congratulations, Damon, all round for you and the team, as Ben says, for
kicking the tires. No disrespect to the previous incumbent, but it's a whole new world now,
isn't it, with greater responsibilities and maturity and single settlement coming and
greater budgets and more to deliver. So we do need that tight grip and that transparency.
And it's good to see the chair of the scrutiny committee here today, as I'm sure he will
also concur that that extra detail is always helpful for people who need that transparency.
So super. So are we happy to note the 24, 25 draft revenue and capital out -term positions,
impact on revenues, and implications for the medium -term financial plan.
We are lovely.

12 Financial Monitoring and Reporting 2025-26

So, moving on to item 12, financial monitoring and reporting 2526.
This outlines the proposed timetable and framework for financial monitoring and reporting for
2526.
It provides visibility of when in -year financial reports will be produced, reviewed, and submitted
to the Finance Resources and Corporate Committee and Combined Authority, ensuring continued
oversight of the performance against the revenue and capital budgets. Kate, can I come back
Kate Taylor, Director West Yorkshire Combined Authority - 1:14:43
to you to take us through the paper? Thank you.
So now we move into the present and into our current financial year in there. So as we
talked, really effective in -year financial management is absolutely vital. It helps us
understand the drivers of performance, linking into the performance report that Sarah has
reported earlier on there, understanding our financial risks and opportunities, and also
provides assurance that we are using public funds effectively and delivering the strategic
priorities. So this paper sets out a timetable of reporting for both capital and revenue
that you can expect to see effectively over this year. So it is there so you understand
what is coming and continues to evolve as we've talked around those improvements in
reporting. In terms of doing that, we've tried to find a balance between timeliness, the
information that you'll get the insight, governance including our statutory requirements and also
the capacity. Appendix 1 details the areas that we've finance
teams identified as interiors for continuous improvement. We're committed to delivering
these and to ensure that we are fit for future, particularly as we look forward to the new
world of a single settlement and new funding flexibilities within there. You'll also notice
within actually there is a continued focus on providing more transparent
information to yourselves and actually making sure it's information that is
useful and to assist you as I say in decision -making in there. So
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 1:16:14
again happy to take any comments.
Thank you may I just say it's really important that your number one is
improve clarity and accessibility because these reports aren't just for
us they're for councillors, they're for members of the public, we should be open
and transparent and not obfuscate by using jargon, if that is the right jargonistic word
that I've just used. I learned a lesson myself. So thank you so much for that. Any comments
on the approach?
Jocelyn Manners-Armstrong Independent Member - 1:16:49
I think it's very sensible that we've got this plotted out throughout the year so that
activity can take place even at the beginning of the year, even if some of it's provisional
rather than all the concentration of effort being at the end of the year and obviously
very much more stressful and a problem for capacity as we get further on to the year.
So I think this is a very sensible approach.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 1:17:11
Thank you. Good news all round. Great stuff. Any further comments? No? Thank you so much.
Can we recommend the committee notes the proposed financial reporting scope and timetable and
supports the ongoing programme of continuous improvement.

13 Budget Planning 2026-27

We can, thank you. Moving on to Budget Planning 26 -27, this provides
an update on the proposed approach and key activities for the development of the 26 -27
revenue and capital budgets and the associated business planning process across the CA.
Kate Taylor, Director West Yorkshire Combined Authority - 1:17:47
Kate, back to you. Thank you, so now we move into forward looking
and looking forward to 26, 27, and the process that we are looking to put in place to ensure
that the authority meets its legal duty to deliver a balanced budget by the statutory
deadlines. That budget will need to demonstrate how it
supports the delivery of the strategic priorities, meets any obligations placed on us by funders,
and also works towards keeping the organisation on the path to financial sustainability.
To achieve that, the coordination and support, myself as a section 73 officer, to be assured
that that budget is based on sound and robust assumptions and estimates, the budget setting
processes ran as one part of a JICL within the business planning cycle.
26 -27 will be the first year of us receiving an integrated settlement.
There are key interdependencies within that negotiation process that will still be confirmed
with HMG, namely around confirmation of the quantum, so how much money we will get and
the outcomes framework, so what we will need to deliver for that money.
We have, however, targeted approval of the final budget in December 25, which is earlier
than previous years.
That will give ourselves and partners sufficient mobilisation time to be in the best position
to deliver from the 1st of April.
The integrated settlement, as we said, will not deliver additional funding, but there
be greater flexibility. We are looking to bring in learner from the trailblazers, so
West Midlands where I've come from, and Greater Manchester. We'll continue to bring updates
to the committee throughout the year at key points around this process.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 1:19:27
Thank you so much and it's an exciting piece of work and it's very helpful that Greater
Manchester and the West Midlands have been the first adopters so we can actually learn
lessons from them as well and also your experience Kate in the West Midlands is
going to be invaluable as we go forward and work with government to understand
this equation that then will give us the quantum of how much money we're getting
and what we can do with that in parallel with our expected outcomes and our
ambitions. Any comments on this? Yes, Councillor Hinchliffe.
Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe (Bradford Council) - 1:19:58
Just obviously this is a high level timeline isn't it really but I'm just
thinking obviously just to make sure that local authorities are involved as
early as possible in the budget process we're probably already thinking you know
local authorities about next year's budget and therefore it would be good to
start the conversations with the combined authority at the earliest point as well so just
Kate Taylor, Director West Yorkshire Combined Authority - 1:20:25
to make sure we've got that in schedule. Absolutely so I will, I'm getting out over the
next month to meet all of your directors of finance and to start that kind of engagement
and actually Sarah and myself were talking yesterday about actually how we get that engagement
across local authority partners. The other piece as well that we have kind of impressed
upon HMG is we need to go first so that we can then give the information for you to feed
into your budget setting to make sure we've got that sequencing right within the overarching
timetable as well. So absolutely on our agenda.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 1:20:59
Ben. Thank you, Mayor.
Ben Still, Chief Executive (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 1:21:01
Just a follow up to respond to Councillor Inch
I think one of the emerging risks is that because we are aiming for the single settlement
integrated settlement outcome and for that process to start, become live in April 2026,
we're not going to get the number in a meaningful form that is relevant to West Yorkshire next
week. In fact we think that number is probably not going to emerge from
central government until early autumn. So the one of the biggest risks to us being
able to input meaningfully into those processes as you set out Council
Hinchliffe is actually when we get that number back from central government. So
they're aware of that, we're aware of that, it's been an issue for the previous
two trailblazers and we're all working to try and get that sorted as early as we
can. Because we don't want to be held back do we but we can't make a decision
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 1:21:54
on a budget if we don't know what it is yet. Councilor Angeliina. That is just how
government operates so that's what we have as well so so we've had
Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe (Bradford Council) - 1:22:00
that all
the time so we go through a budget process to start the consultation
before we know what the settlements going to be and then we can't pass it
until we know what a settlement is so we just we have to be agile don't we in a
very fast moving world and hopefully your your budgets timeline will sort of reflect that.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 1:22:22
Super good points, thank you, and we'll be keeping up the pressure to support government
to be as swift as possible with that decision.
So can the committee note the proposed approach and timelines and endorse the approach to
budgeting and business planning?
We can, thank you all so much.

14 Financial Strategy and Medium-Term Financial Plan Update

Fourteen, financial strategy and medium -term financial plan update.
This provides an update on progress made in developing the CA's refresh financial strategy and updated medium -term
financial plan for the period 25 26 to
2930 it outlines the key work streams underway
dependencies and planned next steps in advance of formal budget setting for the 26 27
Financial year and back again to Kate
Thank you.
Kate Taylor, Director West Yorkshire Combined Authority - 1:23:12
So finally, this report sets out the work that's been done to date on the financial
strategy and the medium term financial plan.
This is focused on financial resilience, sustainability, capital investment and looking at value for
money.
Just to note this work is ongoing and we'll continue to work with budget holders around
that to ensure that we identify funding gaps and pressures as well as opportunities.
Alongside that we're developing scenarios which we will incorporate with the outcomes
from the spending review next week.
This work is absolutely vital to help me fulfil my statutory duties and we will continue to
update the committee at a later point on the results of this work.
As I say, particularly next week is particularly pivotal for us in terms of understanding what
that looks like going forward in there.
So this is really about noting the ongoing work and the emerging picture and we will
Thank you so much.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 1:24:08
Even at the last minute, I was able yesterday and I am also seeing the Chancellor Friday
to be able to still lobby, even at this last minute, for a good outcome for us at the spending
review.
Any comments?
Thank you.
Is the committee happy to note the progress made on the financial strategy and medium
term financial plan and comments on the priorities being delivered?
We are. Thank you all so much and that is the end of the meeting. I'm very grateful

15 Date of Next Meeting

for your attendance and also your scrutiny of the papers and also a very
good presentation Kate, thank you so much and also Satinder for your contribution
for the first meeting. The next meeting will be confirmed at the CAs
annual meeting 19th of June, subject to the approval of the proposed calendar of meetings
that is normal as we go through for 25 -26. So we'll be able to get that in your diary
as a matter of urgency at that meeting. Thank you all so much. Thank you Sarah. The meeting
is now coming to a close.