Issue - meetings

To submit the report of the Council Leader  (attached).

(a)   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 completing the Final Agreement and acceptance of the Grant Funding Letter with the UK and Welsh Governments.

(b)  To approve the provisions in Governance Agreement 2, which involve the non-executive functions, and specifically adopt the arrangements for Scrutiny that have been noted in "Governance Agreement 2: Appendix 3" as the basis for completing the Final Agreement and acceptance of the Grant Funding Letter with the UK and Welsh Governments. 

(c)  Subject to completing Governance Agreement 2, that Gwynedd Council agrees to act as the Host Authority and the Accountable Body and signs the letter of the Grant Funding Proposal on behalf of the Partners through the Chief Finance Officer.

(ch) To approve the method used to calculate the cost of borrowing, which is required in principle to facilitate the negative cash flow for the Growth Deal, and to include a provision within the Council Budget to pay this contribution and the established core and supplementary contributions as set out in GA2 (and in paragraphs 5.5 - 5.7 of the report).

(d) To delegate authority to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Leader, the Monitoring Officer and the Section 151 Officer, to agree minor changes to the documents with the Partners as necessary to complete the agreement.

The Leader submitted a report presenting the package of key documents required to reach Final Agreement for the North Wales Growth Deal with the UK Government and Welsh Government.
He noted that:-

·         The adoption of the recommendations would allow the signing of the Final Agreement with both Governments on 17 December. 

·         In terms of the Growth Deal itself, it had been a long three year journey, however, the North Wales Economic Ambition Board had been established nearly eight years ago, when the local authorities in north Wales, universities, colleges and the private sector came together to address economic development matters at a regional level.  

·         In working together, the partnership was widely recognised as a strong partnership and an example of good practice.

·         The six authorities that are partners on the Board are of several different political hues with very different economic backgrounds, however, the six Leaders were in agreement that the welfare of the people of north Wales was what was important.

·         He wished to thank partnership members, including the universities and colleges and the private sector, who had been a major part of the discussion and of developing the plans.

·         In addition, he also wanted to thank the team of officers under the lead of Alwen Williams, Portfolio Director, and he noted that the fact there was such a good team of officers in the north operating in the economic development field gave him confidence that it would be possible to address the major problems that will face us in the future. 

·         That as statutory officers of the host authority, Dafydd Edwards, Head of Finance and Iwan Evans, Monitoring Officer were instrumental in leading teams of officers across the north in undertaking the financial and legal and governance work, and he wished to thank them also for their outstanding contribution to the work of the Board.

·         The situation of the economy in the north had changed since the plan's projects had been originally developed. Covid had had a very detrimental impact, and the economy had an uncertain future as a result of whatever would emanate from Brexit.   

·         That the Ambition Board was more than the Growth Deal, and it was proposed to look at other streams of financial investments from several directions.    

·         Although it was disappointing that the Westminster Government had provided less money than the total requested at the start, however, signing the Final Agreement before Christmas would release a stream from the £240m, with £16m received every year for the next fifteen years to implement Growth Deal projects over the next 5-6 years. 

Alwen Williams (Portfolio Director) and Sioned Williams (Head of Economy and Community) were welcomed to the meeting, and the Portfolio Director was invited to give a slide presentation.  During the presentation, the following were highlighted:-

·         Growth Deal Portfolio - details were given on the aim, the size of investment for the plan as a whole and the expenditure objectives.

·         Overview of the programmes

·         A List of Growth Deal Projects.

·         Regional benefits

The Head  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10