This Bulletin reports the main issues covered at the Assembly Executive Committee of 7 April 2006.

LONDON RAIL CONSULTATION

The Executive Committee agreed the Assembly's response to the London Rail consultation. The consultation, which ends on 31 May, contains proposals to extend the Mayor of London’s rail powers beyond the London boundary.

The draft response is available in the Executive Committee papers (Agenda Item 9, Annex 2 ) and addresses proposals for the Mayor to:

• Propose and buy extra train services, and propose reductions to save costs outside the Greater London Authority (GLA) boundary eg more or fewer trains per hour
• Determine fares for local train services that continue beyond the London boundary
• Pay for station improvements outside London.

The response was agreed, with one vote against.

Outstanding concerns

There remains concern about the Mayor gaining power beyond his electoral boundary, and the Committee only accepted the proposals as they have been reduced in scope from those originally proposed.

Key to the Committee's approval was the suggestion that there be an extra member of the TfL Board to represent the region, nominated by the Assembly.

The Assembly would require TfL to secure, rather than seek agreement for any proposal to change a rail service within the region with local transport authorities.

It was also made clear that the Assembly is opposed to the extension of the Mayor's rail powers as far as High Wycombe and/or Sevenoaks.

The committee also agreed that a joint response with the East of England Regional Assembly should be sought.

UK YOUTH PARLIAMENT GRANT

The Committee has delayed a decision on a grant of £10,000 to support the employment of a regional youth worker until the next committee meeting in June, so that it could consider the proposal in the broader context of stakeholder infrastructure.

REGIONAL ECONOMIC STRATEGY (RES)

The Executive received the draft RES for debate at the next meeting on 16 June. A 12 week consultation period closes on 30 June 2006.

Paul Lovejoy, SEEDA Director of Strategy and Sustainability, gave a short presentation on the draft where he highlighted efforts to more closely align the RES with the South East Plan, including:

• Updating the map of London and the South East, to bring it closer to the Key Diagram in the Plan
• Removing housing figures from the main document while still stressing the need for more homes in the evidence base
• Still supporting airport expansion, although it is conditional on the needs of the regional and national economy, substantial surface access improvements and meeting sustainability tests.

GOSE REPORT

Rolande Anderson, GOSE Regional Director, updated the Committee on topics including:

Local Area Agreements (LAAS)

LAA agreements have been signed off , a stock take is being carried out on the first two phases of LAAs and the results will be shared.

City Summits

There will be city summits in Brighton (on coastal cities) and Milton Keynes (on growth points) in May linking economic growth and social cohesion.

The role of the voluntary and community sector in regeneration

The Government will launch an advisory panel in May and GOSE is collecting evidence of the effect of funding on the voluntary and community sector.

Government Office Review

The Government Office will be taking a more strategic role in future, concentrating on making the relationship between Government and local areas work, influencing the delivery of Government policy and pulling together regional strategies. The review is expected to lead to a 33% reduction in staffing levels.

FINANCIAL REPORT

Assembly Finance and Administration Director Diana Pogson reported to the Committee that Assembly expenditure was below planned levels at the end of the third quarter of the financial year, but the submission of the South East Plan, would involve greater expenditure in the fourth quarter ending on 31 March 2006.

SEEDA REPORT

Pam Alexander, SEEDA Chief Executive, updated the committee on some of SEEDA’s key activities since the last meeting. These include:

• Taking over the Chair of the English Regional Development Agencies on 1 April and leading the RDAs through the first six months of work on the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) in which the development agencies need to demonstrate their own value and contribution to meeting Government departmental objectives
  
  
• Developing cities policy alongside regional policies within the South East. Frameworks will outline initiatives for coastal areas and ‘Diamonds for Growth’.

EU STRUCTURAL FUNDS

A consultation response on the National Strategic Reference Framework for EU Structural Funds 2006-2013 was agreed with two amends. The first was designed to stress the need for adequate infrastructure as part of the model of economic development that invests in success as well as addressing underperformance and disparities.

Secondly, a new point was added stressing the need for skills development in better performing areas as well as under performing ones. Other concerns included the need to focus on quality of life and recognising the English regions’ competitiveness.

The Committee delegated the Leadership Group to agree a technical response to the DTI on the criteria for Assisted Area designation.

STATUTORY CONSULTEE ROLE

The Assembly became a statutory consultee on major planning applications on 24 August 2005. Following a six month review of this role and recommendations agreed by the Regional Planning Committee on 22 March 2006 the Executive Committee endorsed changes to the system including:

• The assessment of applications against the draft South East Plan as well as adopted Regional Spatial Strategy (RPG9, as amended)
• Raising thresholds for minerals and waste applications, in response to the large number received and advice from minerals and waste planning authorities
• Streamlining the process by bringing work in house and introducing standard responses by officers in cases where policy approaches have been previously established by members.

It was agreed that the revised arrangements will be subject to a further review in six months.

REGIONAL HOUSING BOARD

The Committee welcomed the transfer of the Regional Housing Board to the Assembly with effect from 1 April 2006. The transfer has now been confirmed in a letter from ODPM minister David Miliband.

RURAL DELIVERY FRAMEWORK

The Committee noted the Leadership Group's decision to endorse the revised final version of the South East Rural Delivery Framework on behalf of the Assembly. The three-year delivery framework seeks to secure collaboration between partners to deliver measurable actions to address the needs of rural parts of the region.

Jeremy Leggett, Chairman of the South East Rural Affairs Forum (SERAF), will update the next Executive Committee meeting on SERAF's work.

The Framework can be can be downloaded from the Executive Committee section.

SELECT COMMITTEE

The Committee agreed recommendations of the Select Committee on business engagement and corporate social responsibility. These address how SEEDA engages with business to encourage a higher profile, greater proactivity and targeting, and consultation to attract more business participation.

Chairman of the Select Committee, Cllr David Kirk, of Hampshire County Council, said that Committee members had not underestimated the challenges faced by SEEDA and acknowledged the considerable effort being made to engage with business. The full report and recommendations can be found in the Executive Committee papers.

RPC CHAIRMAN'S REPORT

Cllr Christine Field, Chairman of the Regional Planning Committee, reported on its recent work. Major topics discussed included:

• The next steps for the Sustainability Appraisal of the South East Plan
• The Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area.

More information and full papers are available with the Planning Committee papers.

The Committee also received papers from the Joint Europe Committee, the Regional Housing Board and the SEEDA Sustainable Development Committee. These are available in the Executive Committee papers.

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Last updated: 21 August 2007