Agenda and draft minutes

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Apologies had been received from Steve Burns, Paul Evans and Katherine O'Connor.

Julie Whittaker declared an interest in item 10, Northlight Project.

Alan Cavill declared an interest in item 10, Energy HQ.

Resolved: that the minutes of the meeting held on 21 July 2020 be approved as an accurate record

There were no matters arising that were not covered on the agenda.

Any other matters would be covered in later items.

Resolved: that the following items would be reported to the LEP Board

·  The government had signed off the quarterly report submitted in August, with no queries

·  Feedback from the interim evaluation report

None.

The next meeting will be held at 1.30pm on Wednesday 24 February 2021. Venue/virtual details to be confirmed.

The programme of meetings 2021-22 is set out below:

13.30 Wednesday 02 June 2021, Exchange Room 9, County Hall

13.30 Wednesday 08 September 2021, Exchange Room 9, County Hall

13.30 Wednesday 17 November 2021, Exchange Room 9, County Hall

13.30 Wednesday 02 March 2022, Exchange Room 9, County Hall

The next meeting was scheduled for 1.30pm on Wednesday 24 February 2021. Venue/virtual details to be confirmed.

The programme of meetings for 2021-22 was noted as below:

13.30 Wednesday 02 June 2021, Exchange Room 9, County Hall

13.30 Wednesday 08 September 2021, Exchange Room 9, County Hall

13.30 Wednesday 17 November 2021, Exchange Room 9, County Hall

13.30 Wednesday 02 March 2022, Exchange Room 9, County Hall

The Committee is asked to consider whether, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, it considers that the public should be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following items of business on the grounds that there would be a likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the appropriate paragraph of Part I of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 as indicated against the heading to the item.

At this point the Growth Deal Management Board approved that the meeting move into Part II, Private and Confidential, to consider the remaining agenda items as they contained information defined as confidential or exempt in accordance with the relevant paragraph of Part I to schedule 12A to the Local

Government Act 1972 as set out in each report or presentation. It was considered that in all circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information.

At this point the Chair agreed to take item 11 as the next item, due to a meeting clash for the Finance Officer.

The Board considered a report (circulated) showing the fund's position as at July 2020.

Resolved: the Growth Deal Management Board:

i.  Noted the spend as at November 2020, together with the spend to be made in 2020-21

ii.  Noted the forecast of funding balanced to the funding available as set out in the report

iii.  Noted the potential for slippages in the programme and mitigations available to ensure spend remains in line with government requirements

Georgia Siora, Managing Director, Warwick Economics & Development, presented the 2020 Interim Evaluation report, highlighting key messages and recommendations to consider for the future.

The committee considered the report and made the following observations:

·  Consideration should be given to the level of resources in the programme team, particularly around lower level support to the strategic work

·  The contribution from independent appraisers could be included in the evaluation, with particular reference to the added value, as well as a comparison with other areas

·  It was commented that the impact of covid-19 on the programme and particularly the outputs would not be clear for some time; however, there were also positive impacts which could be captured

It was noted that the next Evaluation report would be available in July 2021.

Georgia was thanked for her presentation.

Resolved: that the report be noted, and feedback provided to the LEP Chief Executive

Anne-Marie Parkinson, LEP Programme Manager, presented the programme update report.

It was highlighted that there were 52 projects within the programme, 99.99% of the funding has been allocated and 100% of the projects had received LEP approval.

There were no concerns in terms of meeting the targets or locally agreed forecasts; however, it was expected output forecasts would reduce as a consequence of the impact of COVID-19. LEP Officers would continue to liaise closely with projects to establish a clearer picture.

No queries have been raised in relation to the last quarterly reporting submitted to Government in August 2020.

An update was received on the Northlight Call Centre Project; it was noted that there had been some delay on completing the legal documentation, and the pre-let agreement had not yet been signed. The Board agreed that this slippage was unsatisfactory and instructed the Programme Manager to request the legal documents and pre-let agreement to be signed by the end of November.

The committee considered the Local Grant Funding agreement for the Eden of the North project, and it was approved.

The committee considered the Change Request from the Lancashire Energy HQ. It was noted that Option 2 had been recommended by the Skills and Employment Advisory Panel. The Change Request was approved.

Resolved: that:

i.  The Local Grant Funding Agreement be approved for the Eden of the North project

ii.  The Change Request is approved for the Lancashire Energy HQ project

iii.  The LEP Programme Manager to request the legal documents and pre-let agreement for the Northlight project to be signed by the end of November