Agenda item

Gloucestershire Economic Growth O&S Committee (7 September) – verbal update from Councillor Paul McCloskey

Police and Crime Panel (9 September)   - verbal update from Councillor Helena McCloskey

The Gloucestershire Health and Care O&S Committee are not scheduled to meet until 13 September. 

Councillor P McCloskey provided a verbal update on the recent meeting of the Gloucestershire Economic Growth Overview and Scrutiny Committee.  He explained that the committee were responsible for reviewing the decisions of the Gloucestershire Economic Growth Joint Committee, and the overall impact and delivery outcomes of the Gloucestershire Strategic Economic Plan, as well as making recommendations to the Gloucestershire Local Enterprise Community Interest Company (Gfirst) and Gloucestershire Economic Growth Joint Committee on issues and improvements. 

At a recent meeting the committee had considered the following:

The Low Carbon Economy of Gloucestershire, its value and potential: Stroud District had proposed that be added to the Scrutiny Committee Work Plan. Once the standard template had been completed, it would be sent to the committee for ratification.

Tourism: the committee received a presentation from Cotswolds Tourism and Forest of Dean Association which covered what they do, economic benefits, as well as the benefits of working in partnership.  Both Cotswolds Tourism and Forest of Dean Association had been keen for Cheltenham & Gloucester to join the partnership. The rationale being that they already interacted with trade shows for foreign tour operators and could encourage more visitors to the UK to visit Gloucestershire.  They presented figures from 2015 which demonstrated the economic benefits, including;

•       Gloucestershire welcomes over 18 million day visitors a year

•       2 million staying visitor trips (equating to 6.2 million visitor nights)

•       Total visitor related spend of £1 billion 

•       An estimated actual employment of 25,250

•       8% of all employment

•       Economic impact to the local economy - £1.5 billion (an increase of 7% from 2014)

They quoted figures that £1 spent by them on tourism marketing generated £43 for the local economy. One of the key strategies was ‘Destination Management Plans’ which were a means of ensuring each destination presented itself in the best way to visitors. A Tourism Task Group would be established and a pdf of the presentation would be sent to members by email. 

Pub is The Hub: The task group that had been established a couple of years ago, led by Barry Kirby and had worked across the 4 rural districts (i.e. excluding Cheltenham & Gloucester) and had now produced a final report.  The next stage was to identify two or three possible locations that might benefit and run a pilot. ‘Pub is a Hub’ was a not-for-profit organisation that had expanded across the country over the last 15 years.

2050 Vision Workshop: The committee had decided to have a review of the impact of Brexit on Gloucestershire.  A workshop had been arranged for the 30 September 2016 which Councillor Steve Jordan would attend as Leader of the Council, but Councillor McCloskey questioned how other members could get involved. 

The Chairman thanked Councillor P McCloskey for his update.  He too was a new member on the group, though in his capacity as a County Councillor and despite having a very large remit, he felt the group did some very important work. 

Councillor Hay, as the second County Council rep on this group, explained that he had previously chaired, what was at the time, Gloucestershire Tourism, when Gloucestershire was included in the ‘Heart of England’.  When the regions had become more important, the decision was taken to move Gloucestershire into the South West as it was seen as a gateway to the South West and ultimately we moved away from regions and focussed on destinations.  The Cotswolds was an internationally recognised brand, as was the Forest of Dean, but this had caused tensions and Cheltenham and Gloucester had competed with one another, which had not been helpful.  Following the presentation by the two DMOs it was clear that everyone was on board with an integrated approach, which would attract not just tourists but students and employers.

Councillor Hay explained that ‘Pub is the Hub’ had previously focussed on rural areas and he and others had long been championing urban areas.  ‘Pub is the Hub’ were now happy to look at urban areas and pilot something so that details could be passed to local planners about how these assets could be protected.  Unfortunately listing as a community asset was not always the best option and it was important to start considering these different options when a pub was still buoyant. 

Councillor Hay reiterated that he and Councillor Harman attended these meetings as County Councillors, though they did provide a Cheltenham perspective at times, but Councillor P McCloskey’s role was also important.

Councillor H McCloskey, the council representative on the Police and Crime Panel gave a verbal update to the committee.

She had taken part in interviews for the independent member of the PCP.  The Panel were required to have two and each could serve for a maximum of 4 years but could be appointed for a second term.  Four candidates were interviewed and the successful candidate was the retiring member, Martin Smith, though the Panel had been very impressed with another candidate and had enquired about whether they could appoint a third, but were advised that this was not permitted.  Martin Smith’s appointment would be officially confirmed by the Panel at their meeting on the 20 September.  

Confirmatory hearings for two appointments made by the PCC had been held on the 9 September.  The first, Chris Brierley, formerly a journalist with the BBC, as Deputy PCC and whilst the appointment was confirmed by the Panel, they expressed their disappointment that legislation relating to this appointment, did not require the normally accepted methods of selection to be followed.  It was highlighted that the role of the Deputy would automatically cease at the end of the term of office of the PCC.  

The second hearing concerned the appointment of a new Finance Officer.  The PCC and Chief Constable had agreed that, as with the  Monitoring Officer, this role could be shared and as such, the existing Police Finance Officer was appointed.  The Panel were assured that the shared Monitoring Officer had worked well for some time and that there was no conflict of interest, and as such, the Panel confirmed this appointment also. 

Councillor H McCloskey provided the following responses to questions from the committee:

• Chris Birerley would no longer be working as a journalist, which some felt was a brave decision given that the role of Deputy would come to end when the PCCs term did.  There was no job description for the role of the Deputy PCC and even if there were, the Panel had been advised that under the legislation, they had no right to scrutinise the Deputy.  
• When asked by the Panel about why he felt the need to appoint a Deputy, the PCC explained that he found that he was only able to accept 2 out of 5 invitations to events and meetings and that by appointing a Deputy, the office of the PCC could be represented xxx. 
• The decision to share a Monitoring Officer and Finance Officer was largely based on the fact that the PC allocated 98% of his budget to the constabulary. 
• The Panel had to formally write to the PCC and confirm the appointments and planned to highlight their concerns about the process and they also planned to write to the Home Office and express concerns that the legislation would permit this.        

Members were uncomfortable with the fact that the legislation, as it stood, allowed for the appointment of the Deputy to circumnavigate the usual selection processes and agreed that the Panel should convey the concerns to the Home Office.  There was a suggestion from a member that it was issues such as this that made the proposition of a directly elected Mayor unattractive to some authorities. 

The Chairman explained that the Health and Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee were not scheduled to meet until the 13 September and as such, there was no update for this meeting.  He thanked Councillors P McCloskey and H McCloskey for the updates they had provided.