To receive apologies for absence, including notifications of any changes to the membership of the Board.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Atiya-Alla, Brown and Kennedy.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Board held on  9 March 2022.

The Minutes of the meeting of the Board held on 9 March 2022 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairwoman.

1.         To review the evidence base in respect of the emerging revised Economic Strategy and to consider what action needs to be taken to improve Torbay as a Place, including job creation, educational attainment and sustainability.

2.         To review the action taken to address the impact of Covid-19 on the residents of Torbay.

(Note:  Alan Denby, Divisional Director for Economy, Environment and Infrastructure, Carl Wyard, Economy and Enterprise Manager - TDA and Councillor Long, Cabinet Member for Economic Regeneration, Tourism and Housing will be in attendance for this item.)

The Board considered and noted the report which laid out details of the Council’s Covid recovery and repositioning plan and set out areas of focus for the Council and partners across Torbay, including the business community, to help mitigate against the predicted economic impact of the pandemic.

The Board asked questions in respect of the following which were responded to at the meeting by the Cabinet Member for Economic Regeneration, Tourism and Housing, Councillor Long, Alan Denby, Divisional Director for Economy, Environment and Infrastructure, and Carl Wyard, Economy and Enterprise Manager – TDA:

·                     The number of people undertaking NVQs was below national standards; what was the reason behind this and what was being done to improve opportunities for people to undertake further learning if they do not want to go to university.

·                     Education was an important step to improving lifestyle and getting better jobs; how do we help older people to access education opportunities.

·                     What was the impact of the demise of the construction company Midas on building projects in the bay and how would these also be affected by inflation increases.

·                     Was there capacity within the construction industry locally to support the projects vacated by Midas.

·                     How would the £2.3m from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund be spent to improve educational and employment opportunities within Torbay.

·                     How successful had the Kickstart programme been and what challenges had arisen from this.

·                     What steps were being taken to support Community Wealth Building.

·                     Was there a matrix to measure the success and benefits of Torbay projects.

·                     How could more people be helped into full-time and higher valued employment.

·                     Following more 30-40 year olds visiting Torbay during the pandemic, how could the Council encourage younger visitors to continue to come for breaks and how could the season be extended to encourage more visitors all year round.

·                     What percentage of the new Prosperity Funding was to improve numeracy skills.

·                     What steps would be taken to provide training for the older generation i.e. would training be taken out to those that most needed it rather than requiring them to attend South Devon College.

·                     Given the number of empty building sites not yet developed would there be a boom in house building and were there sufficient skilled construction industry workers for this.

·                     What action was being taken to ensure that the appropriate courses were being taught to fill the skills gaps.

·                     How would local businesses be consulted on the Economic Strategy, how often would the report be reviewed and would this be added to the Council’s policies on the website.

·                     How did Torbay’s visitor figures compare with those of neighbouring areas.

·                     Had the decline in hotel accommodation affected visitor numbers.

·                     Clarification of the total UK Shared Prosperity Funding allocated for Torbay was needed.

·                     How was the Build Torbay Project being monitored.

·                     What opportunities were there for businesses to work more closely with schools and South Devon College to help develop career pathways to encourage people to train and work in Torbay.

The Divisional Director for Economy,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 50.

To consider the submitted report on the above.

The Overview and Scrutiny Co-ordinator thanked the Members of the Board for their work over the past twelve months and the Democratic Services Team leader, Teresa Buckley, presented the Annual Overview and Scrutiny Report for the 2021/2022 Municipal Year and outlined the proposal to establish a new Sub-Committee of the Board for Adult Social Care and Health and the draft Work Programme for 2022/2023. 

Resolved (unanimously):

1.         that the Overview and Scrutiny Annual Report for 2021/2022, set out at Appendix 1 to the submitted report, be approved and submitted to the Council meeting on 17 May 2022;

2.         that an Adults Social Care and Health Overview and Scrutiny Sub-Board be established, as a Sub-Committee of the Overview and Scrutiny Board, to be chaired by the Scrutiny Lead for Health and Adult Services, with Terms of Reference and membership as set out in Appendix 2 to the submitted report; with the Adult Social Care and Health Overview and Scrutiny Sub-Board to consider appointing additional non-voting co-opted members who will help provide expert advice and support to the Board;

3.         that the Overview and Scrutiny Board reviews the effectiveness of the Adult Social Care and Health Overview and Scrutiny Sub-Board in six months time;

4.         that the Children and Young People’s Overview and Scrutiny Board be renamed as the Children and Young People’s Overview and Scrutiny Sub-Board to reflect that it is a Sub-Committee of the main Overview and Scrutiny Board;

5.         that the Initial Overview and Scrutiny Work Programme for 2022/2023 as set out in Appendix 3 to the submitted report be approved, subject to (a) the expansion of the scope of the highways review to include lessons learned from the Network Rail bridge replacement and resurfacing works at Torwood Street, to see how we can work differently with our key partners and utilities on major highways projects; and (b) the Chairman of the Business Forum being invited to the June meeting to give their views on the Economic Strategy, and kept under regular review by the Overview and Scrutiny Co-ordinator and Democratic Services Team Leader; and

6.         that the Council be recommended to amend the terms of reference for the Overview and Scrutiny Board as follows:

remove ‘8. To consider all matters and issues arising from the Council’s power of scrutinising local health services in accordance with the Health and Social Care Act 2001, the National Health Service Act 2006 and Health and Social Care Act 2012.’ as this will now fall under the Terms of Reference of the new Adult Social Care and Health Overview and Scrutiny Sub-Board.