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Question from: County Councillor Jake Berriman Subject: Growing Mid-Wales scrutiny
Question:
I attended the informal briefing of Members on Monday for the Growing Mid-Wales Joint Overview and Scrutiny sub-cttee, and accepted the open apology offered by officers for the delay in bringing forward this important group as part of the proper governance and oversight of the Growth Deal commenced back in 2015.
Given the repeated problems that Powys has faced with managing large and complex capital projects, such as schools, and the very serious lessons which the Council now needs to learn from the overspent Y Gaer project, what assurance can you give that this committee will have the resources and scope to review, scrutinise and challenge decisions of the Board providing effective oversight and governance?
Can we be assured in advance that the representatives of the joint-committee, including the chair (to be elected from within) have sufficient gravitas, experience and expertise to properly discharge their responsibilities and effectively hold the Board to account?
In light of the Y Gaer findings, do you consider that the draft terms of reference for the joint-scrutiny committee need to be reviewed to more explicit about decision-making accountability and mechanisms for robust challenge?
Minutes: Response by the Portfolio Holder:
Thank you for your question regarding the Growing Mid-Wales Joint Overview and Scrutiny sub-committee (JOSSC), please accept my apology for the delayed response.
As you will be aware from your attendance at the JOSSC, governance and assurance arrangements for taking forward the Mid Wales Growth Deal are in the process of being developed. This will include more detailed proposals on roles and responsibilities. The newly established scrutiny arrangements will be an integral part of the governance structure and it is important that the scrutiny function works affectively. Powys leads on the provision of the Scrutiny arrangements and our senior officers of Caroline Turner and Nigel Brinn will be overseeing this process together with their counterparts from Ceredigion CC.
The Mid Wales Growth Deal is governed by the Governance and Assurance Framework for Welsh City and Growth Deals, managed on behalf of both Governments by the Welsh Cities and Growth Deals Implementation Board. The membership and Terms of Reference within the governance structure is set out in the Inter-Authority Agreement (IAA3 and any subsequent iterations) and will be reviewed and updated as the Growth Deal progresses to ensure that they are fit for purpose and meet the necessary requirements.
The Mid Wales Growth Deal Board will be responsible for the consideration and approval of project and programme business cases within the portfolio, prior to consideration by Governments as defined in the Welsh City and Growth Deals Governance and Assurance Framework, with responsibility for delivery delegated to the relevant programme and project boards.
The JOSSC will play an important role in monitoring the development and delivery of Growth Deal projects and making recommendations to the Board and Council. The terms of reference for the Sub-Committee will be reviewed at regular intervals to ensure they are fit for purpose.
Programme and project assurance will be essential and will follow the Cabinet Office Gateway Process and be supported by the Growing Mid Wales Programme Management Office and related governance structures. This will include developing a comprehensive performance management system and evaluation framework, and project management systems.
The findings and recommendations of the project audit report for Y Gaer will be fully considered and used to review and strengthen the governance and assurance systems for capital projects across the Council including the Growth Deal.
Thank you for agreeing to join the JOSSC and I look forward to hearing from the committee soon.
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