The South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee met to receive an update on a consultation about a development plan, and to consider the appointment of advisors to a private sector advisory board. Also on the agenda were an update on the committee's compliance with the Welsh Language standards and an update on the committee's financial position.

Strategic Planning Development Manual Consultation

The committee was scheduled to receive an update on the development of the South West Wales Strategic Development Plan (SDP).¹

The committee heard that:

The South West region continues to engage with Welsh Government Officers on the draft SDP Manual to ensure the final version of that guidance serves to help facilitate an SDP that can deliver on CJC, Council and National Parks’ corporate objectives.

The committee was told that a formal consultation on the final version of the manual was now not expected until Spring 2025. The report pack says that it is:

generally accepted and reasonable to assume that the preparation of the first tranche of SDPs from commencement to adoption is likely to take in excess of five years to complete and will certainly require the allocation of both financial and staff resources.

The report pack says that the committee considered that:

Preparing a Delivery Agreement without sufficient financial and staff resources would therefore appear to be an academic exercise.

SWWCJC Private Sector Advisory Board (PSAB) - Appointments

The committee was scheduled to consider the appointment of 14 advisors to the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee Private Sector Advisory Board (PSAB). The committee heard that the advisors had been chosen following an advert for advisors that ran for 2 weeks from 8 July 2024. The report pack suggests that the PSAB should also support the SWWCJC to:

develop a Business Engagement Strategy and associated framework.

Welsh Language Standards - Compliance Update

The committee received an update on the measures taken to ensure the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee (SWWCJC) complies with the Welsh Language Standards, including a table showing the committee's progress against the standards.

Quarter 2 Financial Monitoring 2024/25

The committee was scheduled to be told that the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee (SWWCJC)'s predicted outturn for 2024/25 showed a surplus of £120,700. The report pack shows the contributions that were expected from the four local authorities in the region:

The report pack says that under the current legislation, the National Park Authorities are only financially obligated to support the strategic planning aspects of the Corporate Joint Committees. It says that it was not considered appropriate to raise a levy upon the National Park Authorities in 2024/25 because there was likely to be limited activity in terms of the Strategic Development Plan.

Welsh Government Transport Grants – Local Authority applications for funding

The committee was scheduled to note that each of the local authorities in the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee (SWWCJC) intended to submit bids for funding from various Welsh Government Transport Grant streams. The report pack provides summaries of each of the bids that were scheduled to be submitted.