Agenda, decisions and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Anest Gray Frazer (Church in Wales), Dilwyn Elis Hughes (UCAC) and Dylan Huw Jones (NASUWT).

To receive any declarations of personal interest.

No declarations of personal interest were received.

To note any items that are a matter of urgency in the view of the Chair for consideration.

None to note.

The Chair shall propose that the mintues of the previous meeting of this Committee held on 8th October, 2020 be signed as a true record  (attached).

The Chair signed the minutes of the previous meeting of this committee held on 8 October 2020 as a true record.

Cabinet Member – Councillor Dyfrig Siencyn

To consider a report on the above  (attached).

That the Scrutiny Committee is of the view that the Business Plan; Governance Agreement 2; the funding model and the operational arrangements are clear and robust to achieve the objectives of the Growth Agreement for the benefit of the businesses and residents of Gwynedd.

Submitted - the report of the Council Leader / Chair of the Ambition Board noting that a package of documents needed in order to reach Final Agreement for the North Wales Growth Deal with the UK Government and Welsh Government had been prepared.

It was noted that the intention was to submit the report to Cabinet on 24 November 2020 and subject to the Cabinet's decision, a report would be submitted to the full Council on 3 December 2020, recommending for the Council:

·                To approve the Overarching Business Plan as the document that sets out the arrangements for delivering the North Wales Growth Deal as the basis for entering into the Final Agreement and acceptance of the Grant Funding Letter with the UK and Welsh Governments.

·                To approve entering into Governance Agreement 2, and specifically, adopt the arrangements for Scrutiny of "Governance Agreement 2: Appendix 3" of this as the basis for completing the Final Agreement and acceptance of the Grant Funding Letter with the UK and Welsh Governments.

·                To authorise that the Accountable Body, Gwynedd Council, signs the letter of the Grant Funding Proposal on behalf of the Partners.

·                To recommend approval of the method used to calculate the cost of borrowing notionally required to facilitate the negative cash flow for the Growth Deal, and the corresponding annual partner contributions required to meet this cost as set out in GA2 (and in paragraphs 5.5 - 5.7 of the report); and

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

Prior to recommending that the Council take these decisions, the scrutiny committee was required to consider whether the Business Plan, Governance Agreement 2, the funding model and the operational arrangements were clear and robust to achieve the objectives of the Growth Agreement for the benefit of the businesses and residents of Gwynedd.

The Chair welcomed the Leader, in his capacity as Chair of the Ambition Board, the Portfolio Director and other officers to the meeting, emphasising that the report was the culmination of many years' work in developing the plan. 

The Chair of the Ambition Board was then invited to set the context and give a brief update on the situation.  He was also asked to comment on Wylfa B and Brexit during his presentation.

During his presentation, the Chair of the Ambition Board noted:

·         That the work culminated in the completion of all the detailed and complex work of putting the package together, in the form required for submission to both Governments, and was presented and adopted by the Board on 23 October 2020.

·         That this was the result of significant work by the Portfolio Office, which was established at the beginning of the year under the leadership of the Portfolio Director, and consisted of a highly capable and enthusiastic team of officers, who laid a very solid foundation for economic  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.