Agenda item

To consider the findings of the review approved by the Growth Board on 24 September 2019 and to agree any recommendations for implementation or further development. 

The Growth Board considered a report which set out the results of the consultation as part of the review of the Growth Board’s role and functions, together with initial findings and recommendations. Bev Hindle, Growth Board Director and Stefan Robinson, Growth Board Manager, presented the report. Points highlighted to the Board included:

·           There had been around 215 responses to the public consultation – in addition to engagement workshops with the public and councillors. The appendix to the report provides a flavour of the responses received (these have been linked back to the report and its proposals).

·           Themes from the consultation included a clear endorsement of collaboration around meeting the challenges of managing growth, but also that the Growth Board needed to do better, particularly in how it communicated.

·           The Growth Board had evolved, but there is a need to build upon its success in bringing funding into the county and to further improve how it manages growth.

·           A two-phased approach was recommended, with the initial changes (including revised Terms of Reference for the Board) being brought back by June 2020. Longer-term changes relating to wider engagement would be reported back in the Autumn. In developing these proposals, it would be important to retain both flexibility and an ability to respond to changing circumstances.

·           The feedback from the Growth Board Scrutiny Panel highlighted the importance of incorporating environmental and social elements into the Growth Board’s work.

Key points raised during the Board’s discussion of the report included:

·           The process of the review itself had been very useful in helping to explain and demystify the Growth Board’s work, particularly in respect of restating and clarifying what it did, but also what it did not do.

·           The revisions to the Growth Board Terms of Reference needed to reflect inclusive growth and sustainability.

·           The Growth Board had evolved over time but remained a successful vanguard model for collaboration that other areas sought to emulate and which the new Government might wish to use in following its own policy objectives around devolution. 

·           The Growth Board had been very successful in securing significant HM Government funding through the Oxfordshire Housing and Growth Deal and Housing Infrastructure Fund bids and it was important to deliver on the terms of the deal.

·           Whilst successful, it was important for the Growth Board to seek continous improvement and the proposals contained the right balance between short term and medium-term proposals.

·           It was important that the timescales set out in the recommendations were met.

The Chair and members of the Board thanked officers for their work in undertaking the review and developing the proposals.  All those contributing to the review process were thanked for their contributions and input.

RESOLVED: That the Growth Board:

1.      Notes the results of the consultation which have been fundamental in shaping the detailed recommendations to take forward;

2.      Instructs the Growth Board Director and Manager, with the support of the Board’s Executive Officer Group, to develop detailed draft Terms of Reference for the Board which incorporate the key initial changes and return those for endorsement by June 2020;

3.      Instructs the Growth Board Director and Manager, with the support of the Board’s Executive Officer Group, to further develop the longer-term proposals and report back further suggested improvements by Autumn 2020.