Agenda item

Cabinet agreed to:

1.  Approve the setting up of a joint committee across the six Berkshire local authorities to exercise executive functions in relation to economic prosperity.

2.  Delegate authority to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Leader of the Council and the Executive Director of Finance and Commercial, to agree and enter into an inter-authority agreement between the six Berkshire local authorities to facilitate decision-making by the Berkshire Prosperity Board Joint Committee (BPB)

Cabinet agreed to recommend to Council:

3.  Approval of the functions and procedure rules for the Berkshire Prosperity Board Joint Committee (BPB) as set out in Appendix 1 be added to Part 3.5 of the Constitution;

4.  Delegated authority to the Monitoring Officer, in consultation with the Leader of the Council, to amend the Constitution to make minor amendments to the functions and procedure rules for the BPB and to amend other parts of the Constitution, including Article 13 – Decision Making, Part 4.2 - Access to Information Procedure Rules and Part 4.4 of the Executive Procedure Rules, to take account of the existence of the BPB.

The Leader of the Council introduced a report on a proposal of the six Berkshire local authorities to set up a joint committee, known as the Berkshire Prosperity Board, to enable funding previously held by the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) to be provided for Berkshire wide prosperity projects.

This report set out details of the proposed governance structure and functions, with proposed delegation to officers to finalise these arrangements to take account of Government guidance and any grant conditions.

Core funded from central government to Local Enterprise Partnerships was  being withdrawn from April 2024 with LEP functions transferring to local authorities where appropriate.  The Leader updated the Cabinet on discussions between local authority leaders in Berkshire about how positive collaboration on relevant issues could continue.  The recommended option the establishment of a Berkshire Prosperity Board to discharge the following functions:

·  Work to a shared vision of inclusive and sustainable economic prosperity through working together to address challenges and meet opportunities.

·  Have a strengthened case to Government and private investors for greater investment into strategic projects across Berkshire.

·  Function as a vehicle to commission the Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) core functions in response to the Government’s review of Local Economic Partnerships.

·  Have a stronger, collective voice in lobbying Government and other agencies using a systems leadership approach.

·  Advantageously position Berkshire in readiness for potential devolution proposals to benefit from additional responsibilities and funding opportunities.

·  Progress joint working on the six identified work themes and be agile in responding to new opportunities as they arise.

The Cabinet were supportive of the proposal in principle and asked about any costs to the Council.  In response it was noted that the Board would operate within existing budgets, utilising any transferred funding from the LEP and external grant monies.

At the conclusion of the discussion the matters relating to executive functions were approved and it was agreed to recommend the non-executive aspects of the report to full Council.

Resolved –

(a)  Approve the setting up of a joint committee across the six Berkshire local authorities to exercise executive functions in relation to economic prosperity.

(b)  Delegate authority to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Leader of the Council and the Executive Director of Finance and Commercial, to agree and enter into an inter-authority agreement between the six Berkshire local authorities to facilitate decision-making by the Berkshire Prosperity Board Joint Committee (BPB)

Recommended to full Council –

(c)  Approve of the functions and procedure rules for the Berkshire Prosperity Board Joint Committee (BPB) as set out in Appendix 1 be added to Part 3.5 of the Constitution;

(d)  Delegate authority to the Monitoring Officer, in consultation with the Leader of the Council, to amend the Constitution to make minor amendments to the functions and procedure rules for the BPB and to amend other parts of the Constitution, including Article 13 – Decision Making, Part 4.2 - Access to Information Procedure Rules and Part 4.4 of the Executive Procedure Rules, to take account of the existence of the BPB.