Venue: Virtual Meeting - Zoom
Contact: Eirian Roberts 01286 679018
No. | Item |
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APOLOGIES To receive any apologies for absence. Minutes: Apologies were received from Ian Bancroft (Wrexham County Borough
Council), Annwen Morgan (Isle of Anglesey County Council) and Dafydd Gibbard
(Gwynedd Council). |
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DECLARATION OF PERSONAL INTEREST To receive any declarations of Personal Interest Minutes: No
declarations of personal interest were received. |
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URGENT BUSINESS To note any
items that are a matter of urgency in the view of the Chair for consideration. Minutes: None to
note. |
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MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING PDF 318 KB The Chair
shall propose that the minutes of the meeting held on the 10 December 2021 be
signed as a true record. Minutes: The Chair
signed the Minutes of the meeting held on 10 December 2021, as a true record. |
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QUARTER 3 FINANCIAL REVIEW PDF 115 KB Dewi Morgan,
Host Authority Statutory Finance Officer and Sian Pugh, Host Authority Group
Accountant to provide the North Wales Economic Ambition Board (NWEAB) with
details of the actual revenue expenditure and income for the third quarter of
the 2021/22 financial year as well as projected full year out-turn against its
annual budget. Additional documents: Decision: To receive
and note the NWEAB Joint-Committee’s Third Quarter Review for 2021/22. To receive
the Joint-Committee's approval
to transfer any underspend in 2021/22 to the earmarked reserve that will be available
for future years. Minutes: The report was submitted by Dewi Morgan (Statutory Finance Officer) and
Sian Pugh (Group Accountant - Corporate and Projects). RESOLVED To receive and note the
NWEAB Joint-Committee’s third quarter revenue and capital review for 2021/22.
To receive the Joint-Committee's approval to transfer any underspend in 2021/22
to the earmarked reserve that will be available for future years. REASONS FOR THE DECISION A forecast underspend of
£297,140 against the revenue budget in 2021/22 was noted. It was noted that any
underspend at the end of the financial year may be transferred to the earmarked
reserve. It was noted that there was a further slight slippage on the capital
programme as a result of a delay with the final business case on one of the
projects DISCUSSION The
report was submitted, and the Joint-Committee was thanked for their welcome to
the new Head of Finance at Gwynedd Council. It was noted that the purpose of
the report was to report on the budget for quarter 3 noting the actual
expenditure against the budget. It
was noted that the Finance Department estimated an underspend of £197k on the
Portfolio Management Office. It was noted that this had increased by £69k since
the last quarter, mainly because the expenditure on the Employee Expenditure
heading and the Transport Procurement and External Support heading was
estimated to be lower. It was noted that an underspend of £18k remained under
the Joint-Committee heading. In
terms of projects, it was noted that this expenditure must be considered in the
context of the decarbonisation grant of £500k and the community renewal fund of
£80k shown under the equivalent income budget and approved during the year. It
was highlighted that the underspend on the business case development, external
legal support and assurance headings was also increasing as a result of
slippage on the capital programme. It was explained that the Finance Department
was revisiting the borrowing costs calculated back in October 2020 and would
report back on this at the next meeting. It
was explained that income sources for 2021/22 included partner contributions,
ESF Grant, North Wales Growth Deal Grant, Decarbonisation Grant, Community
Renewal Fund and the reserve fund. It was noted that the department estimated
an underspend of £297k for 2021/22 and that there would be £620k in the reserve
fund by the end of the financial year. In
terms of the capital review, it was noted that there had been two changes since
the last review, namely minor amendments in the Digital Signal Processing
Centre project to agree the Final Business Case approved in December as well as
a slippage anticipated on the Morlais project. It was noted that there was a
slippage of £16.81 million in 2021/22, £41.39 million in 2022/23 and £18.93
million in 2023/24. It was explained that the North Wales Growth Deal grant
would be used to fund the Capital Programme for the first two years and that no
external borrowing would be needed until 2023/24. During the discussion, the following matters were raised:- ... view the full minutes text for item 5. |
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NORTH WALES GROWTH DEAL - QUARTER 3 PERFORMANCE REPORT PDF 250 KB Hedd
Vaughan-Evans, Operations Manager to present the Quarter 3 (October-December) Growth Deal report and
updated Portfolio Risk Register. Additional documents:
Decision: To note the Quarter 3 Performance Report and updated
Portfolio Risk Register. To approve the submission of the Quarter 3 Performance Report to Welsh Government and UK Government as well as the local authority scrutiny committees. Minutes: The report was submitted by Hedd Vaughan-Evans DECISION To note the Quarter 3 Performance Report and updated Portfolio Risk
Register. To approve the submission of the Quarter 3 Performance Report to
Welsh Government and UK Government as well as the local authority scrutiny
committees. REASONS FOR THE DECISION In
December 2020, the NWEAB and the Welsh and UK Governments agreed the Final Deal
Agreement for the North Wales Growth Deal. Regular reporting on progress
against the North Wales Growth Deal is one of the requirements of the Final
Deal Agreement. DISCUSSION The report was submitted, noting that reporting on progress over the
last quarter against the Growth Deal was one of the requirements of the Final
Deal Agreement. It was explained that, following the Board's consideration, the
reports would be shared with Welsh Government, UK Government as well as the
local authority scrutiny committees. The quarter highlights were explained, noting that the Growth Deal's
first Full Business Case had been approved back in December, namely the Digital
Signal Processing Centre with Bangor University. It was noted that two other
projects had completed their Gateway 2 assurance reviews successfully, namely
the Former North Wales Hospital, Denbigh project and the Llysfasi
Net Zero Farm. It was noted that an update on the 2021 Portfolio Business Case had been
submitted to both Governments as part of the annual award of funding process.
It was outlined that the new 'Ambition North Wales' brand had been launched
together with the new website. It was noted that recruitment activities had
been completed also, with the last three posts in the team filled from January
2022. Members were guided through the projects, giving an update on the work
that had been carried out over the last quarter. It was noted that the risk
register had been updated in full with a number of adaptations recorded in the
document which included amended risk descriptions, scoring and amended
mitigation measures. Attention was drawn to three residual risks which had
changed, the first - capacity risk, had reduced now that the PMO's recruitment
activities had been completed, the second - public sector investment, and third
- expenditure objectives. It was explained that the second and third had
increased as a result of a number of project change requests being considered. Observations arising from the discussion ¾
It was noted that
phosphate was having an impact on a number of specific projects in Flint and
Wrexham and it was asked what impact this would have on other projects. It was emphasised
that a number of projects were under threat, and it was noted that it needed to
be identified as a risk for the portfolio and a further discussion would be
needed at the next meeting. ¾
It was also noted that
there was a need to look at flood risks, as there were implications for all
projects, and as a result there was a need to map out all the projects. ¾ Thanks were given for the good work undertaken ... view the full minutes text for item 6. |