Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

To elect a Chair until the next Annual Meeting of the Board.

Resolved to elect Councillor Mark Pritchard as Chair until the next Annual Meeting of the Board.

RESOLVED to elect Councillor Mark Pritchard as Chair until the next Annual Meeting of the Board.

To elect a Vice-chair until the next Annual Meeting of the Board, in the event of a vacancy.

Resolved to elect Councillor Charlie McCoubrey as Vice-chair until the next Annual Meeting of the Board.

RESOLVED to elect Councillor Charlie McCoubrey as Vice-chair until the next Annual Meeting of the Board

To note any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from:-

·       Professor Edmund Burke (Bangor University) with Paul Spencer deputising

·       Yana Williams (Coleg Cambria)

·       Dafydd Gibbard (Cyngor Gwynedd) with Sioned Williams deputising

·       Stuart Whitfield (Ambition North Wales)

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 Chairman for considerartion.

No urgent matters were raised.

The Chair shall propose that the minutes of the meeting held on 8 November 2024 be signed as a true record.

The Chair signed the minutes of the previous meeting, held on 8 November 2024, as a true record.

David Mathews (Land and Property Programme Manager) to present the report.

·         To agree in principle to the change request for the grant recipient for the Former North Wales Hospital project.

·         To delegate the power to the Portfolio Director in consultation with the Chair, Vice Chair, Section 151 Officer and Monitoring Officer to agree the detail of the change requests including any further amendments that may be requied to complete and enter into the Grant Funding Agreement.

The report was submitted by the Land and Property Programme Manager.

RESOLVED

·       To agree in principle to the change request for the grant recipient for the Former North Wales Hospital project 

·       To delegate the power to the Portfolio Director in consultation with the Chair, Vice Chair, Section 151 Officer and Monitoring Officer to agree the detail of the change requests including any further amendments that may be required to complete and enter into the Grant Funding Agreement.

REASONS FOR THE DECISION

The Full Business Case (FBC) for this Project was prepared on behalf of Jones Bros Ruthin (Civil Engineering) Co. Ltd and approved by the Board on 17 May 2024.

The Full Business Case stated that ‘Jones Bros Ruthin (Civil Engineering) Co. Ltd will be contracting this project through its holding company - Jones Bros Ruthin Development Holdings Ltd’.

Initial negotiations identified that Jones Bros Ruthin (Civil Engineering) Co. Ltd was not to be a party to any contractual documents relating to the project.  Consequently, NWH Ltd were introduced by Jones Bros Ruthin (Civil Engineering) Co. ⁠Ltd as the proposed new grant recipient and Special Purpose Vehicle for the project with Jones Bros Ruthin Development Holdings Ltd company acting as the guarantor.

DISCUSSION

The Monitoring Officer confirmed that this modification was highly technical as it stemmed from how companies were structured. It was emphasised that the risks arising in changing a company in an agreement of this nature had been addressed in full by the fact that the guarantor was a proper and substantial company. It was explained that allowing this change allowed the project to reach the process of developing a Funding Agreement as the Full Business Case had already been approved. It was confirmed that the companies had been named parties on the Development Agreement granted by Denbighshire County Council to NWH Ltd.

The Chair shall propose that the press and public be excluded from the meeting during the discussions on the following items due to the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 14 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).

There is an acknowledged public interest in openness in relation to the use of public resources and related financial issues. It is also acknowledged that there are occasions, in order to protect the financial and commercial interests that matters related to such information need to be discussed without being publicised. The reports deal specifically with financial and business matters and related discussions. Publication of such commercially sensitive information could adversely affect the interests of the bodies and the Councils and undermine the confidence of other Growth Deal participants in sharing sensitive information for consideration. This would be contrary to the wider public interest of securing the best overall outcome.

RESOLVED to exclude the press and public from the meeting during the discussion of Item 9 as it is likely that exempt information will be disclosed as defined in Paragraph 14 of Annex 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 - Information regarding the financial or business transactions of any particular person (including the authority holding such information).

There was an acknowledged public interest in being open about the use of public resources and related financial issues.  It was recognised, however, that there were occasions in order to protect public financial and commercial interests, where such information must be discussed without being publicised. The reports related specifically to financial and business matters and related discussions. Publication of such commercially sensitive information could adversely affect the interests of the bodies and the Councils and undermine the confidence of other Growth Deal participants in sharing sensitive information for consideration.  This would be contrary to the wider public interest of securing the best overall outcome.

David Mathews (Land and Property Programme Manager) and Margaret Peters (Land and Property Project Manager) to present the report.

1.    To approve the Outline Business Case for the Parc Bryn Cegin project, subject to Welsh and UK Governments' approval of the assurance process, and Ambition North Wales addressing the matters set out in the report, as described in Section 7, and recommend to the NWEAB that a Full Business Case is prepared for the Board to consider.

2.    To accept that the approval of the Outline Business Case will act as approval for the project change request to reduce the project scope for Phase 1 from 3,000 square metres to 1,856 square metres of proposed new employment units.

3.    To agree the revised process which will see a Full Business Case presented upon the completion of the Joint Venture Agreement and confirmation of Welsh Government funding prior to commencing procurement.

4.    To agree the principles of the Joint Venture proposal as set out and delegate to the Portfolio Director in consultation with the Chair, Vice-Chair, Section 151 Officer and Monitoring Officer to approve and enter into the agreement.

5.    To note the forecast return as part of the Joint Venture Agreement and approve in principle (subject to confirmation at Full Business Case) that the income received is allocated to a reserve to be used to fund the Portfolio Management Office in future years.

6.    To hold further discussions on Phase 2 of the Project following the completion of Phase 1.

The report was submitted by the Land and Property Programme Manager and the Land and Property Project Manager.

DECISION

1.     To approve the Outline Business Case for the Parc Bryn Cegin project, subject to Welsh and UK Governments' approval of the assurance process, and Ambition North Wales addressing the matters set out in the report, as described in Section 7, and recommend to the NWEAB that a Full Business Case is prepared for the Board to consider.

2.     To accept that the approval of the Outline Business Case will act as approval for the project change request to reduce the project scope for Phase 1 from 3,000 square metres to 1,856 square metres of proposed new employment units.

3.     To agree the revised process which will see a Full Business Case presented upon the completion of the Joint Venture Agreement and confirmation of Welsh Government funding prior to commencing procurement.

4.     To agree the principles of the Joint Venture proposal as set out and delegate to the Portfolio Director in consultation with the Chair, Vice-Chair, Section 151 Officer and Monitoring Officer to approve and enter into the agreement.

5.     To note the forecast return as part of the Joint Venture Agreement and approve in principle (subject to confirmation at Full Business Case) that the income received is allocated to a reserve to be used to fund the Portfolio Management Office in future years.

6.     To hold further discussions on Phase 2 of the Project following the completion of Phase 1.

REASONS FOR THE DECISION

To seek the Portfolio Board’s approval of the Outline Business Case for the Parc Bryn Cegin project, and the subsequent project change request.

The Board should note that no grant funding agreement would be required for this Project, as the Joint Venture Agreement would act as a legal contract between Ambition North Wales and Welsh Government. No approval was requested at this stage, but this would be when the Full Business Case would be presented to the Board in due course.

DISCUSSION

The report was discussed.

Elliw Hughes (Growth Deal Programme Manager) and Dafydd Jones (Agri-food and Tourism Project Manager) to present the report.

·         To agree to the change request for the Responsible Adventure project and provisionally include the swing at the Penrhyn site into the project, subject to planning consenting.

·         To confirm that no further funding for the project will be provided from the Growth Deal, with the additional cost associated with the change request to be funded by the Project Sponsor.

The report was submitted by the Growth Deal Programme Manager and the Agri-Food and Tourism Project Manager.

DECISION

·       To agree to the change request for the Responsible Adventure project and provisionally include the swing at the Penrhyn site into the project, subject to planning consenting.

·       To confirm that no further funding for the project will be provided from the Growth Deal, with the additional cost associated with the change request to be funded by the Project Sponsor.

REASONS FOR THE DECISION

Project change requests from Project Sponsors were matters for the Board to decide.

DISCUSSION

The report was discussed.