Download Jan Britton - Chief Executive Sandwell MBC

West Midlands Combined
Authority:
Seizing the Opportunity
Jan Britton
Chief Executive, Sandwell Council
8 December 2016
1
West Midlands Combined
Authority
• New era for the West Midlands
• Exciting opportunities to be seized
• Government recognises the pivotal role the
region plays in the country’s economy
• Whole region committed to success of the CA
Background
• Provides gateway for devolved power and resources to
regions
• Proposed Devolution Deal signed November 2015
• Annual contribution from government of £40m for 30
years to unlock an overall investment package of £8bn
• Gov’t clear that Devolution Deal = Mayor
• Formal establishment of CA on 17 June 2016
Scale of ambition
Three LEP geography:
• 4 million people
• £80bn GVA
• 20 local authorities
• 90% self-containment
The economic context
Economy Plus
More than the sum of our parts…
• Facilitates the Midlands Engine
• Accelerate combined benefits
- close £16bn productivity gap
• Drive public services reform
- close £3.4bn public spending
gap
Skills and employment
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Proposal across the 3 LEP geography
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Underpinned by an Employment and
Skills Strategy
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CA to chair a CA-wide Area Based
Review
•
Devolved 19+ adult skills funding from
2018/19
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Co-design employment support for
hardest-to-help claimants
Supporting business & innovation
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Integrated national and local support
structure for businesses wanting to
invest
Joint planning and promotion of
regeneration sites
Ring-fenced trade services resources
based on agreed export plan
Design joint approach to enterprise
start-ups
Expert advice offered to develop
Innovation Audit Expression of
interest
Transport
• Devolved multi-year transport settlement
• Responsibility for franchised bus services – to support smart ticketing
• Responsibility for a new Key Route Network
• Commitment to look at reducing congestion on the strategic road network
• MoU with Highways England and Network Rail
• Implement Low Emission Zones
More and better homes
• Accelerating the delivery of current housing plans to
increase the level of house building to support
increased level of growth
• Support for the West Midlands Land Commission
• £200m Land Remediation Fund
• Commitment to consider a Housing Investment Fund
HS2 growth strategy
• Maximising the benefits of the largest
infrastructure project in Europe
• Support for the HS2 Growth Strategy £4.4bn of £8bn CA programme
• Agreement to the city centre EZ
extension
• £97m for Eastside Metro Extension to
Digbeth
• Commitment to consider business cases
for Metro Extensions to Brierley Hill and
Interchange
Public sector reform
Devolution gives us the chance to change public services for the
better and pool our resources and technology to help local people
Government commitment to:
• Engage with outcomes of the Mental Health Commission
• Co-design new approach for troubled individuals
• Consider further devolution of youth justice services
• Support public sector relocations
What’s been happening so far…
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Process of creating WMCA
Negotiation of Devolution Deal 1
Undertaking baseline analysis – economic, infrastructure
Drafting of Strategic Economic Plan and economic
modelling/prioritisation tool
• Establishing three Commissions – Land, Productivity and
Mental Health
• Designing financial mechanisms
• Establishing governance and assurance framework
Land Commission
• Independent Commission
• Examining the land supply issues surrounding
the anticipated growth of the Combined
Authority area
• What are the impediments to residential and
commercial development?
• What new tools do we need to deliver the
growth targets?
Emerging Recommendations
• Delivery rate of new homes needs to increase
significantly to achieve the level of homes
required
• Scale and speed of delivery required
represents significant challenge
• Development of large scale sites requires
years of preparation and promotion
Emerging Recommendations
• Need for a single spatial framework, providing focus,
agreed priorities and pipeline of projects
• Scale of change requires greater range of new
collaborative delivery approaches– alliances,
partnerships and JVs
• Centre of technical expertise to bolster collective
delivery capacity and capability
• Proactively creating the right conditions for
development and investment, building delivery
momentum
In conclusion…
• The Combined Authority and devolution agreement represent
a major opportunity to improve the economic wellbeing of
the region
• Collectively, we need to ensure we maximise this benefit
• A partnership approach across the sectors will be critical to
deliver these aspirations.