Agenda and minutes

The Chairman, Graham Cowley, welcomed all to the meeting.  Apologies for absence were noted from Dr Michele Lawty-Jones.

Alan Cavill declared an interest in Item 7 – Amuseum Appraisal Report as this is a Blackpool Council scheme.  It was agreed that Alan could be present for the initial presentation and to answer any questions fellow Committees Members may have before leaving the room for debate and consideration of the recommendations.

Resolved:  The minutes of the Growth Deal Management Board meeting held on 21^st March 2018 were approved as an accurate record and signed by the Chairman.

None

Anne-Marie Parkinson, Growth Deal Programme Manager, presented a report (circulated) regarding updates to various Governance Documents, specifically:

·  Growth Deal Implementation Plan (GDIP)

·  Growth Deal Monitoring and Evaluation Sub Group Terms of Reference

·  Growth Deal Monitoring and Evaluation Framework

Resolved:  The Growth Deal Management Board approved the refreshed Governance Documents as presented.

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 LEP Board approved that the meeting move into Part II, Private and Confidential, to consider the remaining report as it 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 the report. It was considered that in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information.

Anne-Marie Parkinson briefly introduced the Amuseum Appraisal Report and Kirsten Powell from the independent appraisers Ekosgen who attended the meeting to present the findings of the appraisal.

The Growth Deal Management Board received a presentation, in Part II, containing an update on the scheme including costs, economic case, nature and scope of the benefits, estimates of the economic impact, forecast return on the investment and details of the schemes operating arrangements.

Alan Cavill provided some additional technical information to the Committee and at this point was asked to leave the room to enable the non-conflicted Committee Members to consider the recommendations.

Resolved:  Following consideration of the independent appraisal findings and presentation and all technical information presented, the Committee:

(i)  Approved the deferring of the funding recommendation to the October Growth Deal Management Board meeting.

(ii)  Requested that the Project Sponsor respond to the issues raised within both the appraisal report and independent review summary document; and

(iii)  Authorised the Growth Deal Programme Manager to provide the additional conditions and requirements of the Committee to the Project Sponsor and requested that these conditions must be satisfied at the October Growth Deal Management Board meeting.

Alan Cavill re-joined the meeting at this point.

Anne-Marie Parkinson presented a report (circulated) which contained Growth Deal Programme and Project Updates.

In addition to receiving the information contained within the report a further update was provided on the alternative scheme Chorley Borough Council had requested be considered in replacement to the Shady Lane project. The GDMB agreed that the alternative scheme for this project could not be considered and  therefore the Shady Lane allocation of £1.5m would return to the programme.  Of that £1.5m, it was proposed that £0.7m would go to the AMRC so that, combined with all other funding for AMRC, the AMRC project would be fully funded to the requested £20m.

This proposal would leave £0.8m unallocated within the programme.

Resolved:  The Growth Deal Management Board

(i)  Noted the contents of the report.

(ii)  Approved officers to continue discussions with Warwick Economics and Development (WECD) in terms of the extension of the evaluation programme.

(iii)  Noted the updated conditions relating to the North West Burnley Growth Corridor as attached at Appendix B to the report.

(iv)  Recommended for approval at the next LEP Board meeting that a further funding approval of £2.1m Growth Deal funds be allocated to the AMRC NW project, subject to confirmation from Burnley Borough Council that the £2.1m allocation is not required by the North West Burnley Growth Corridor Project.

(v)  Noted that the Shady Lane Project would not proceed and agreed to allocate £0.7m of the £1.5m allocated to the Shady Lane Project to the AMRC, thereby fully funding the AMRC to the requested £20m and leaving £0.8m of unallocated funds within the programme.

(vi)  Noted the Blackpool Conference Centre Marketing Report as attached at Appendix D to the report.

Jo Ainsworth, LEP and Special Projects Finance Manager, presented a report (circulated) which provided a Growth Deal Finance Summary including an update on the financial aspects of the Local Growth Fund.

Within the report, the spend as at 31^st May 2018, the current position with regard to payment made during 2017/18, the risk of slippage in the existing 2018/19 to 2020/21 profile were noted. 

In addition it was highlighted that financial spend continues to be closely monitored with any slippage reported to the Committee for action.

Resolved:  The Growth Deal Management Board

(i)  Noted the spend to date, together with spend to be made in future years.

(ii)  Noted the forecast of funding to be balanced to the funding available as set out in the report; and

(iii)  Agreed that consideration be given to the continued profiling of funding forecasts being as accurate as possible, with the Committee managing existing projects in order to recoup any slippage and ensure new projects remain on track in line with their spend profile.

Oral report

Neil Stockley, Atkins Independent Appraisers, and Phil Barrett, Director of Community Services, Lancashire County Council joined the meeting at this point.

The Growth Deal Management Board was provided with an oral update on the M55 St Annes Link Road scheme and the Business Case.

The update included the current position with landowners, highways engineering, position of Lancashire County Council, design and implementation and section 106 agreements.

Resolved:  The Growth Deal Management Board

(i)  Noted the oral update provided on the M55 St Annes Link Road scheme.

(ii)  Agreed a meeting would take place between Phil Barrett, Anne-Marie Parkinson, and Legal officers in order to capture the combined activities required by all concerned parties.

It was noted that the recommendations regarding the AMRC project would be referred to the LEP Board for approval.

None

The next meeting will be held on 3^rd October 2018 at 13:30 in Committee Room 'D', County Hall, Preston.

It was noted that the next Growth Deal Management Board meeting was scheduled to be held on 3^rd October 2018 at 1:30pm in Committee Room 'D', County Hall, Preston.