Agenda and minutes

[To receive any apologies for absence and notification of substitutions]. 

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Val Evans, Cllr Anwen Muston, Cllr Jacqueline Sweetman and Cllr Jasbinder Dehar. 

There were no substitutions. 

[To receive any declarations of interest]. 

Cllr Phil Bateman MBE (Chair) declared that he represented Wolverhampton on the Birmingham Airport Board, and he was also the Chair of the Ashmore Park and Phoenix Nursery Schools.

The Leader of the Council declared his Membership as the WMCA Board, for the City Learning Quarter item on the agenda. 

[To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 6 February 2024 as a correct record].

Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting held on 6 February 2024 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

[To receive a presentation from the Executive Director of Economy, and the CLQ Programme Director]. 

The Leader of the Council commented that he was pleased Scrutiny Board had asked for an item on the City Learning Quarter.  It would unlock potential for the residents of Wolverhampton.  Construction work had commenced. 

The Executive Director of Economy gave a presentation on the City Learning Quarter, a copy of which is attached to the signed minutes.

A Board Member asked for the systems that were in place to run the project and to mitigate against overspends and to ensure it delivered on time. The Executive Director of Economy responded that Governance was important.  There would be regular updates to the Council’s Audit and Risk Committee.  The most recent had been in November, this helped to provide assurance.  Cabinet also received reports as part of the overall governance structure, which included a number of other boards and Committees.    

The Vice-Chair commented it was important to keep the governance arrangements of the project under review and ensure lessons were learnt from other major projects. He was thankful to the Government for the funding the project had received.  He asked for more specifics on the Central Library phase of the works.  He was concerned that issues could be encountered when works commenced on the old library.   He was hopeful that the project would succeed. 

The Head of Project and Works responded that one of the key parts for the library works was to fully understand the building.  A drone survey had been completed on the roof and they had also reviewed documents relating to historical maintenance.  A specialist historical architect was working on the project.  A clearly defined scope of the external and internal parts of the building had been completed.

The Leader referred to the City Investment Board which also scrutinised the project.  He raised the concerns of inflation, which had cost the project considerably.  He did however believe the project to be groundbreaking and would give key opportunities for the City.

A Member of the Board asked for clarification on who the Programme Director was for the City Learning Quarter and whether the project had detailed planning permission. She raised the importance of the Grade 2 listed library and the need for sensitive development in its vicinity.  She asked how often the financial monitoring reports would be considered and by which Committees and Boards.

The Executive Director for City Economy responded that the Programme Director was Mark Bassett, who had submitted his apologies for the meeting. Specialist historic advisors were ensuring that the historical value of the Central Library was respected.  Full planning permission had been granted and construction had commenced on site.  There was a fortnightly financial report which went to the Financial Co-ordination Group and was escalated as appropriate throughout the Governance structure.  The Head of Project and Works confirmed that the design was now fixed and was as per the photos in the report. 

Two Members of the Board asked if Board Members could receive monthly financial reports on the project due to issues on major  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

[To receive a presentation on the Physical Activity Strategy]. 

Four Officers jointly gave a presentation on the Physical Activity Strategy, these were, the Director of Public Health, Head of Partnerships (Public Health), a Senior Public Health Specialist, and the WV Active Service Lead.  A copy of the presentation is attached to the signed minutes. 

A Board Member raised the issue that having to booking certain classes online for WV Active was disenfranchising people who struggled with their website booking system.  She was not able to book the class by visiting a centre.  She praised the staff at Central Baths who worked well under pressure. 

A Board Member praised the investment in the gym equipment, which had made a significant difference in the number of users in the WV Active gyms.  Increase in membership was good, but it was important that this did not put people off, if classes and equipment became hard to access due to demand.  Some classes could potentially need to be increased as people could sometimes struggle to find spaces.

The Director of Public Health commented that he wanted WV Active to be as inclusive as possible and so other booking methods could be explored.  The variety of offer was important for WV Active to be successful.  This is how it differed to the commercial sector.  The huge increase in Membership had caused some problems that needed to be overcome. 

The Vice-Chair commented on the importance of the Physical Activity Strategy.  Wolverhampton had quite high physical inactivity and were one of the worst areas for child obesity when comparing national figures.  He referred to the new swimming pool at Smestow School, which he also hoped would receive some community use.  Out of the 14,000 members in WV Active, he asked how many were Wolverhampton residents.  He also asked what the average length of WV Active Membership was for individuals.  The Director of Public Health offered to provide the figures. 

A Member of the Board commented that she was aware of a number of residents in her areas that had really appreciated the extra investment in the equipment at the WV Active sites.  She praised the report and was pleased to read the efforts being made to increase opportunity for Wolverhampton residents.  Anything to improve life expectancy and improve equality in the area of life expectancy was welcome.  She hoped the membership figures would stay high. 

The Director of Public Health raised the importance of partnership working and working at a system level to improve health outcomes. 

A Member of the Board commented that education was important to help people realise the benefits of healthy living.  Schools needed to promote healthy living.  Dentistry and diet were key components in addition to physical activity.  Children needed to fully understand how to live a healthy life.  She praised the presentation the Board had received. 

The Director of Public Health responded that education was important and relaying the different types of physical activity.  The benefits of physical activity to mental wellbeing could also not be underestimated. 

There was a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

[To consider the Scrutiny Work Programme]. 

The Vice-Chair remarked that since the Scrutiny Board agenda had been published there had been an update to the Scrutiny Board agenda for the 16 April 2024.  There would now be an item on RAAC (Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete) in Council buildings following a motion that had been agreed at Full Council.  He hoped the Leader of the Council would attend the meeting.  He was particularly interested in how the communications had been handled regarding RAAC in part of the roof at the Civic Centre. 

Resolved: That the Scrutiny Work Programme be agreed. 

[To consider the latest Forward Plan of Key Decisions]. 

The Board received the Forward Plan of Key Decisions. 

The meeting closed at 7:27pm.