Agenda item

(a)       That the Committee formally endorses and recommends that the Cabinet and Council approve the Overarching Business Plan as the document that sets out the arrangements to deliver the North Wales Growth Deal as the basis for entering into the Final Deal Agreement and acceptance of the Grant Funding Letter with the UK and Welsh Governments;

(b)       That the Committee formally endorses and recommends that the Cabinet approves the provisions in Governance Agreement 2 relating to executive functions, recommends that Council approves the provisions relating to non-executive functions, and that Cabinet specifically adopts the delegations and Terms of Reference in ‘Governance Agreement 2: Appendix 1’ thereof as the basis for completing the Final Deal Agreement and acceptance of the Grant Funding Letter with the UK and Welsh Governments;

(c)       That the Committee supports the recommendation that the Cabinet formally endorses and recommends that the Council authorises the accountable body, Gwynedd Council, to sign the Grant Funding Offer letter on behalf of the Partners;

(d)       That the Committee supports the Cabinet formally endorsing and recommending that Council approves the method used to calculate the cost of borrowing notionally required to facilitate the negative cash flow for the Growth Deal, and to include a provision within the Council’s budget to pay this contribution and the established core and supplementary contributions as set out in GA2 (and in paragraphs 2.5 - 2.7); and

(e)       That the Committee supports that the Chief Executive in consultation with the Leader, Monitoring Officer and Section 151 Officer, be granted delegated authority to agree minor changes to the documents with the Partners as necessary to complete the agreement.

The Chief Executive presented a report to consider the key documents required to reach Final Deal Agreement for the North Wales Growth Deal with the UK Government and Welsh Government (WG), prior to approval by Cabinet.  The documents were being presented to all partners for approval to formalise their legally binding commitment to the Final Deal Agreement.

Since Governance Agreement 1 had been adopted, Governance Agreement 2 had been developed to include shared benefits and risks along with co-financing arrangements.  In Flintshire, the report had been supported by the Environment and Economy Overview & Scrutiny Committee earlier in the week following all-Member workshops held previously.  The Agreement included provisions for executive and non-executive functions which required separate decisions to be taken by Cabinet and County Council on 17 November 2020.  Feedback from both Overview & Scrutiny Committees would be reported to those meetings.

The Chief Executive provided clarification on the two forms of financial commitment for the Council which involved revenue contributions already built into the base budget and revenue consequences of borrowing capital to facilitate the negative cash flow for the Growth Deal.  The latter would require annual contributions of between £100k-140k from Flintshire to access £240m of capital from both Governments to fund the Growth Deal over 15 years.  This was regarded this as an affordable approach for the Council in the context of the Medium Term Financial Strategy.  The Agreement had the commitment of the leadership of all partners and if signed off by 17 December, would enable capital to be accessed in the current year.

The Chief Officer (Governance) drew comparison between the provisions of the Agreement with those of other existing regional partnerships.  He gave an overview of the governance model including provision for each partner to retain control over the level of resources that it contributed.

The Corporate Finance Manager said that he was satisfied with the financial considerations which he considered to be prudent on a project of this scale to deliver programmes in the early years.  In echoing the Chief Executive’s comments on the financial commitments, he said that the additional annual contributions would need to be built into the 2021/22 budget.

Councillor Dunbobbin paid tribute to Councillor Ian Roberts, the Leader of the Council and his predecessor Councillor Aaron Shotton for all their work on the North Wales Economic Ambition Board (EAB).  In praising the report, he said that more clarity in the wording would help to raise awareness of the benefits.  In speaking about the complexity of the Agreement, the Chief Executive said that a range of information was available on the EAB website and that the presentation given to the Environment and Economy Overview & Scrutiny Committee would be circulated.  He responded to other questions highlighting the commitment of all partners and creation of new projects within the Growth Deal.  On digital connectivity, the Chief Officer (Governance) agreed to circulate information on that area of work by the EAB.

On behalf of Councillor Richard Jones, Councillor Peers sought clarification on the recommendations in the report and was advised that feedback provided to Cabinet would enable precise recommendations to be made to County Council where a full explanation would be shared.

Councillor Peers said that Members could have had a workshop in October as opposed to the briefing sessions that were organised.  He had concerns about the level of scrutiny on such an important topic and questioned the removal of three of the original eight programmes within the business plan relating to skills, business growth and transport.

The Chief Executive confirmed that all pre-existing programmes were included in an amalgamated approach as sought by both Governments.  He said that local and regional workshops held over previous years had been well received and provided opportunity for Member involvement and scrutiny throughout the process.  There had been no requests for more information or engagement at the recent Members’ briefings.  Failure to sign off the Agreement in accordance with the regional timetable could put the projects within the Growth Deal at risk.  Delegated powers would add flexibility to make any minor changes without any material impact on the spirit of the Agreement.

In echoing the comments about the work undertaken by Councillor Aaron Shotton, Councillor Roberts also praised the contributions of the Chief Executive as the regional lead for the work.  He spoke about the importance of the Growth Deal and sought Members’ support in the spirit of regional cross-party working.

Councillor Bateman gave positive feedback on the presentation previously given by the EAB Programme Director.  On the partner contributions, he was advised that the amounts were proportionate to population size.

Concerns were raised by Councillor Heesom about the timetable and the capacity for Members to scrutinise the documents in detail.  As such, he noted the recommendations but felt unable to endorse them.

In response, Councillor Roberts said that the future meetings with the Programme Director would provide the opportunity for challenge.

The Chief Executive reminded Members that the Growth Deal provided an opportunity for additional funding over and above current project commitments.  He said that there had been no major changes to the Agreement since the Member briefings which had all been well received.

The Chief Officer (Governance) highlighted key areas of governance arrangements such as the commitment for a quarterly update report on the work of the EAB and provision for any decision for additional resources by the Council to be made by Cabinet subject to the usual Overview & Scrutiny process.

In response to comments from Councillor Woolley, the Chief Executive acknowledged the importance of publicising the benefits of the Growth Deal and spoke about significant engagement with businesses and Members.

Councillor Thomas reminded the Committee that the Growth Deal would provide major investment for North Wales.  She agreed that more could be done to raise awareness with the public and that links to programmes on climate change and carbon control could be publicised on the website.

The Chief Executive said that signing the Agreement would provide much-needed recognition for North Wales as well as longer term benefits.

Having been moved and seconded by Councillors Dunbobbin and Woolley, the recommendations were carried.

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the Committee formally endorses and recommends that the Cabinet and Council approve the Overarching Business Plan as the document that sets out the arrangements to deliver the North Wales Growth Deal as the basis for entering into the Final Deal Agreement and acceptance of the Grant Funding Letter with the UK and Welsh Governments;

(b)       That the Committee formally endorses and recommends that the Cabinet approves the provisions in Governance Agreement 2 relating to executive functions, recommends that Council approves the provisions relating to non-executive functions, and that Cabinet specifically adopts the delegations and Terms of Reference in ‘Governance Agreement 2: Appendix 1’ thereof as the basis for completing the Final Deal Agreement and acceptance of the Grant Funding Letter with the UK and Welsh Governments;

(c)       That the Committee supports the recommendation that the Cabinet formally endorses and recommends that the Council authorises the accountable body, Gwynedd Council, to sign the Grant Funding Offer letter on behalf of the Partners;

(d)       That the Committee supports the Cabinet formally endorsing and recommending that Council approves the method used to calculate the cost of borrowing notionally required to facilitate the negative cash flow for the Growth Deal, and to include a provision within the Council’s budget to pay this contribution and the established core and supplementary contributions as set out in GA2 (and in paragraphs 2.5 - 2.7); and

(e)       That the Committee supports that the Chief Executive in consultation with the Leader, Monitoring Officer and Section 151 Officer, be granted delegated authority to agree minor changes to the documents with the Partners as necessary to complete the agreement.