Agenda and minutes

The Chair will welcome attendees to the meeting and make opening remarks.

The Chair welcomed board members to the meeting and outlined the agenda items for discussion. The Programme Management Office confirmed the meeting was quorate.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from the following board members: - 

·       Cllr D Millard

·       Cllr J Webb

·       Cllr K Carmichael

·       M Asif

·       S Shingadia

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 23 Nov 2023 as a correct record.

Minutes of the last meeting

Minutes of the previous meeting were agreed by board members. In regard to attendance, PMO were asked to include A Reynolds.

Action Log

See attached action log for updates. 

To receive any declarations of interest from board members relating to any item on the agenda.

The Chair asked board members to raise any declarations of interests. None were forthcoming. The chair asked board members to raise any declarations during discussions should they need to.  

To receive an update on:

·       Board Membership

·       Scrutiny

Board Membership

As set out in the Town Deal Board Terms of Reference, review of Town Deal Board membership is scheduled to take place annually. The Programme Management Office confirmed the review will commence in the upcoming weeks, where board members will be asked if they wish to remain a member.

It was agreed for the Programme Management Office to contact members who have not attended the last 2/3 meetings to ask if they wish to remain a member and that they attend the next meeting/ send apologies. Should the member not respond, it was agreed by the Chair and Board Members that they are removed from the board.

In regard to young person’s representatives, the Programme Management Office attended the last Shape Forum meeting held on 8^th Feb and reported that the young people in attendance were happy for project leads to attend for consultation, feedback or engagement.  It was suggested that this platform is used to engage with young people.

The Chair suggested reaching out to market traders to seek their interest to join the board.

It was noted SCVO have offered to support the Programme Management Office for all three Town Deal Boards to help identify voluntary and community groups for Board membership or for consultation around particular projects.

Scrutiny

Board Members were reminded a report is presented to Scrutiny on a quarterly basis. The last report was presented on 8 February. Scrutiny have provided feedback on a number of areas which will be discussed during project updates. Overall, Scrutiny look for information on projects that are completed, in progress with budget pressures and how projects plan to mitigate pressures and what risks they are facing.

To receive an update on project progress and monitoring information for the period of Oct – Dec 2023.

Project Updates:

·       Canal Network Connectivity

·       Satellite Education Hub

·       Britannia Park

·       Blackheath Bus Interchange/Rowley Regis Connected

Canal Network Connectivity

An update was provided by the project leads. This included a recap of the project details and photos of completed works to date. A presentation was shared showing results from towpath surveys conducted following improvements, benefits noted by towpath users following improvements and general feedback from users.

The chair thanked the project leads for their update and asked board members if they wish to comment/ ask any questions.

A comment was raised regarding the compliments that had been received by residents using the upgraded towpath in Cradley Heath/ Old Hill.

The project leads were asked if the plan to utilise underspend to fix the footbridge in Old Hill is still going ahead. The project leads confirmed this is planned for the end of 2024.

Board members were informed the contractor employed 6 local people through the council’s employment and skills team as a consequence of this scheme of works.

A comment was raised in relation to the survey results, that it's promising in terms of usage with 4 out of 5 people are using the upgraded towpaths for health and wellbeing and 1 in 5 are using for connectivity/ getting to work. The project leads were then asked if there will be counters installed to see how many people are using the towpaths.

The project leads confirmed counters have been installed on some towpaths. The implications to this are that they are installed on lamp posts, so if users do not pass that specific point, they would not be counted. As a result, a consultant was commissioned to carry out a survey to get data which was presented to board members at this meeting.

A question was asked if dog bins and lighting would be installed on towpaths. Board members were advised dog bins are costly and no funding is available at this time. Installation of solar lighting were discussed previously for this scheme and remains an option for the future.

The project lead acknowledged there are a lot more towpaths that would benefit from improvements in Sandwell, so if opportunities for investment arise, they would be interested.

A compliment was shared regarding the survey work and asked how benefits would be tracked overtime. Board members were informed in other survey works, metrics have been applied to the number of users spoken with, to provide a financial value of benefits.

In regard to investment to improve other towpaths in Sandwell, Board members were informed of some of the terms and conditions set by Government that can impact how accessible funding is.

Action: Andy M and James D to discuss legislate/funding issues around towpath improvements.

Action: Andy M/ James D to email James M MP regarding legislate/funding issues around towpath improvements.

Satellite Education Hub

An update was provided by the project lead. This included an update on progress since the last board meeting, updated milestones and timeline for the project which is subject to Sandwell College's Governance meeting in March 2024.

Board members were informed the overall cost  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

To receive an update on the forward plans.

The Press and Media forward plan was shared with board members in advance of the meeting. Comments included the need to ensure strong communication is published for the Britannia Park project and Blackheath Bus Interchange project.

To receive any other business raised by members for discussion.

Action: Agenda Items for the next meeting to include Britannia Park Project and Social Value.

Action: Potential meeting to be scheduled following consultation for Blackheath Bus Interchange project

The Chair will make closing remarks and close the meeting.

The Chair thanked board members for their attendance and contributions to the meeting.

Meeting closed at 11:56.