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Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: Virtual Meeting - Zoom

Contact: Eirian Roberts  01286 679018

Items
No. Item

1.

APOLOGIES

To receive any apologies for absence.

Minutes:

Councillor Ian B. Roberts and Colen Everett (Flinthsire Council), Yana Williams (Coleg Cambria), Professor Iwan Davies (Bangor University), Judith Greenhalgh (Denbighshire Council) and Dilwyn Williams (Gwynedd Council)

 

2.

DECLARATION OF PERSONAL INTEREST

To receive any declarations of personal interest

Minutes:

No declarations of personal interest were received.

 

3.

URGENT BUSINESS

To note any items which are urgent business in the opinion of the Chair for consideration.

Minutes:

None to note.

4.

MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING pdf icon PDF 239 KB

The Chair shall propose that the minutes of the meeting held on 5th February, 2021 be signed as a true record.

Minutes:

The Chair signed the minutes of the previous meeting of the NWEAB held on 5 February 2021 as a true record.

 

5.

2021/22 REVENUE AND CAPITAL BUDGET pdf icon PDF 706 KB

Report by Dafydd L. Edwards, Host Authority Statutory Finance Officer.

Additional documents:

Decision:

1.   Approve the 2021/22 Revenue Budget as presented in Appendix 1 to the report.  This includes the one-off virements of £415,000 in the revenue budget to be funded from the
earmarked reserve.

2.  Approve the Capital Budget for 2021/22 to 2025/26 as presented in Appendix 2.

3.  Fund the Gateway Reviews (Assurance) for the NWEAB and Project Sponsor led projects.
4.  Formally request all six local authorities to cooperate in using their funding flexibility
to release revenue funding for the NWEAB. This will mean exchanging the funding designated to the Growth Deal against other capital projects within their capital programmes and ensuring the equivalent value revenue funding is available for the Growth Deal to fund their revenue-type items.

5.  Request the Portfolio Management Office to review the project costs during the year as more information becomes available, further to unforeseen costs now identified in the revenue budget. This review to consider the option of funding part of this expenditure from the individual project’s capital budget.

 

Minutes:

The report was submitted by Dafydd L. Edwards (Statutory Finance Officer - Host Authority) and Sian Pugh (Group Accountant - Corporate and Projects).

 

RESOLVED

(1)     Approve the 2021/22 Revenue Budget as presented in Appendix 1 to the report.   This includes the one-off virements of £415,000 in the revenue budget to be funded from the
earmarked reserve.

(2)     Approve the Capital Budget for 2021/22 to 2025/26 as presented in Appendix 2.

(3)     Fund the Gateway Reviews (Assurance) for the NWEAB and Project Sponsor led projects.

(4)     Formally request all six local authorities to cooperate in using their funding flexibility
to release revenue funding for the NWEAB.  This will mean exchanging the funding designated to the Growth Deal against other capital projects within their capital programmes and ensuring the equivalent value revenue funding is available for the Growth Deal to fund their revenue-type items.

(5)     Request the Portfolio Management Office to review the project costs during the year as more information becomes available, further to unforeseen costs now identified in the revenue budget.  This review to consider the option of funding part of this expenditure from the individual project’s capital budget.

 

REASONS FOR THE DECISION

 

(1)     To set out the proposed budget per expenditure heading and the corresponding funding streams for the year.

(2)     To set out the proposed budget per expenditure heading and the corresponding funding streams for 2021/22 until 2025/26.

(3)     In order to operate effectively within the funding available, the NWEAB requires an annual budget to be approved.

(4)     To authorise the Portfolio Director to incur expenditure in accordance with the approved budget.

 

DISCUSSION

 

The report was submitted, which proposed the 2021/22 Revenue and Capital Budget for the NWEAB.

 

Details were provided about the background and relevant considerations and the consultations held.

 

The Statutory Finance Officer of the Host Authority provided details of the changes and the unexpected situations which had arisen since the Board last discussed the budget, and which had driven the majority of the use of reserve funds, namely:-

 

·         The unexpected substantial one-off costs in relation to developing business cases.

·         The costs of the legal support to those business cases.

 

He explained:-

 

·         That there was sufficient money in the reserve funds to implement this, but that the intention was to try to build the reserve fund rather than using it at the beginning. 

·         That the Portfolio Director, the Operations Manager and the Monitoring Officer of the Host Authority had been challenged on the figures, and that the additional one-off costs were rough estimates at present.

 

He further noted:-

 

·         As the first instalment of the £16m Growth Deal grant had been received on 12 March 2021, that the partners' contributions were on the low side of the range submitted to the Board in October 2020.

·         Following the UK Government's announcement in the Chancellor's Budget in relation to reducing the funding contribution from 15 years to 10 years, that the entire financial position would need to be revisited. The Chancellor's announcement had been unexpected for Welsh Government also,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.

POSITION STATEMENT ON CLIMATE AND ECOLOGICAL CHANGE pdf icon PDF 655 KB

Report by Alwen Williams, Portfolio Director.

Additional documents:

Decision:

1.  To adopt the proposed position statement as set out in section 5.1 of the report on how the Growth Deal projects will deliver against regional, Welsh Government and UK Government aspirations on climate and ecological change, with the following adaptations:-

·         To amend the second bullet point to read "deliver at least 40% less embodied carbon”.

·         To amend the third bullet point to read "deliver at least 10% net benefit for biodiversity”.

·         Delete the final sentence, namely "The Portfolio Management Office will work with project sponsors to deliver the best affordable solution for each project”.

2.  To note that all Growth Deal projects will need to set out to what degree they will deliver against the position statement and any relevant mitigations as part of the business case approval process.

3.  To delegate to the Portfolio Director, authority to determine the appropriate means of implementation and measurement across the portfolio and to note that this will require external expertise to be commissioned to support the Portfolio Management Office.

Minutes:

The report was submitted by Alwen Williams (Portfolio Director) and Robyn Lovelock (Growth Deal Programme Manager).

 

RESOLVED

(1)     To adopt the proposed position statement as set out in section 5.1 of the report on how the Growth Deal projects will deliver against regional, Welsh Government and UK Government aspirations on climate and ecological change, with the following adaptations:-

·         To amend the second bullet point to read "deliver at least 40% less embodied carbon".

·         To amend the third bullet point to read "deliver at least 10% net benefit for biodiversity".

·         Delete the final sentence, namely "The Portfolio Management Office will work with project sponsors to deliver the best affordable solution for each project".

(2)     To note that all Growth Deal projects will need to set out to what degree they will deliver against the position statement and any relevant mitigations as part of the business case approval process.

(3)     To delegate to the Portfolio Director, authority to determine the appropriate means of implementation and measurement across the portfolio and to note that this will require external expertise to be commissioned to support the Portfolio Management Office.

 

REASONS FOR THE DECISION

 

Without a clear position from the Board on climate and ecological change, opportunities to shape project business cases may be lost. This could inadvertently result in Growth Deal projects increasing regional carbon emissions and biodiversity loss.

 

DISCUSSION

 

The report was submitted, which presented a proposed position statement for the North Wales Growth Deal in relation to climate and ecological change.

 

Details were provided about the background and relevant considerations and the consultations held.

 

During the discussion, the following matters were raised:-

 

·         Concern was expressed by some members that the proposed position statement did not go far enough, and that the wording should be tightened, e.g. it should be noted that 'all Growth Deal projects will ...', rather than 'all Growth Deal projects will aim to ...', etc.

·         It was stressed that the NWEAB should lead across North Wales on reducing carbon footprint, and it was suggested that all Growth Deal projects should deliver 50% less embodied carbon (rather than 40%, as noted in the proposed position statement) and deliver a 20% net benefit for biodiversity (rather than the 10% noted in the statement). In response, it was explained that Wales had not set a net benefit target for biodiversity, but it was acknowledged that the current situation was not supportive of the health of ecosystems, and that there was a need to be more ambitious. In the absence of a target for Wales, the DEFRA guidance was followed, which had consulted extensively over several months in England prior to establishing the net benefit of 10%. It was further noted that the target for embodied carbon was ambitious, and that it may be possible to tighten the wording. Attention was also drawn to the fact that the statement noted that projects would be encouraged to exceed these aspirations, but the wording also needed to acknowledge  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

7.

DRAFT NORTH WALES ENERGY STRATEGY pdf icon PDF 586 KB

Report by Henry Aron, Energy Programme Manager and Rhys Horan, Welsh Government Energy Service.

Additional documents:

Decision:

1.  To endorse the draft North Wales Energy Strategy and confirm the Board’s support for the commencement of preparatory work on the action plan.

2.  To agree to receive a further report on the draft action plan.

Minutes:

The report was submitted by Henry Aron (Energy Programme Manager) and Rhys Horan (Welsh Government Energy Service).

 

RESOLVED

(1)     To endorse the draft North Wales Energy Strategy in draft form and confirm the support of the Board for the commencement of preparatory work on the action plan.

(2)     To agree to receive a further report on the draft action plan.

 

REASONS FOR THE DECISION

 

The current strategy provides a high-level vision, priority areas, energy modelling and economic analysis which shall inform the development of the proposed action plan.

 

DISCUSSION

 

The report was submitted, which presented the North Wales Energy Strategy in draft form for endorsement, to garner support for the proposed next steps, and to show that the Strategy was in alignment with the regional commitment to the climate change challenge.

 

Details were provided about the background and relevant considerations and the consultations held.

 

During the discussion, the following matters were raised:-

 

·         It was noted that the NWEAB's Low Carbon Energy Programme Board was a part of this, and that all partners had contributed to the journey to date.

·         The importance of ensuring that this did not detract from the work of the NWEAB was stressed, due to the need to deliver on the Growth Deal projects.

·         In response to a question, it was explained that £15bn of expenditure that was needed to deliver the energy vision was a combination of private and public sector investment. It was unclear as yet what the split would be, but it also included expenditure from individuals, e.g. on electric vehicles, heat pumps, etc.

·         The document was welcomed, and it was noted that it set out clearly some of the current issues, and the options for the future also. 

·         The reference to the contribution that the tidal lagoon could make was welcomed, and it was asked whether consideration had been given to broader advantages than those of energy generation alone. In response, it was explained that full consideration of all the advantages was not outlined in the snapshot given, but the economic advantages, in terms of job creation etc., had been identified and shared. In going forward, this would be important, but the detail was not yet available.

 

8.

COMMERCIAL PRINCIPLES FOR THE NORTH WALES GROWTH DEAL pdf icon PDF 398 KB

Report by Hedd Vaughan-Evans, Operations Manager.

Decision:

1.  To agree the Commercial Principles as set out in section 5 of the report.

2.  To note that the rationale for adopting a specific commercial position will be clearly set out alongside project business cases for the Board to consider.

Minutes:

The report was submitted by Hedd Vaughan-Evans (Operations Manager).

 

RESOLVED

(1)     To agree the Commercial Principles as set out in section 5 of the report.

(2)     To note that the rationale for adopting a specific commercial position will be clearly set out alongside project business cases for the Board to consider.

 

REASONS FOR THE DECISION

 

To provide a clear negotiating platform for the Portfolio Management Office.

 

DISCUSSION

 

The report was submitted, which presented a series of Commercial Principles which, if adopted, would be used by the Portfolio Management Office to negotiate commercial opportunities involving the Growth Deal Projects.

 

Details were provided about the background and relevant considerations and the consultations held.

 

During the discussion, the following matters were raised:-

 

·         In response to a question, it was explained that the £100,000 for external legal support referred to in item 5 above reflected the fact that there would be complex and detailed contractual work at times in relation to the general funding agreements, and that the external legal support referred to in paragraph 6.1 of the report was one element of this. It was further explained that, in approving this report, the NWEAB would not commit to direct expenditure. Nevertheless, there were financial implications to this, but likely to be positive for the Board in terms of the abilities to take advantage of commercial projects in order to have some sort of return. As the Host Authority's Statutory Finance Officer had noted in his observations on the report, this was not yet clear, and further work needed to be done in order to identify the way forward in that regard.

·         It was noted that it was difficult to comprehend all of this properly until genuine examples would be seen, but that the principles seemed fair.

·         It was suggested that Commercial Principle 1 could be difficult to define in terms of distinguishing between commercial returns as a result of this investment and commercial returns as a result of something that the body would do in any case.  However, it was accepted that the details were not currently available.

 

9.

NORTH WALES GROWTH DEAL - PROCUREMENT PRINCIPLES pdf icon PDF 474 KB

Report by Hedd Vaughan-Evans, Operations Manager.

Additional documents:

Decision:

1.  To adopt the proposed procurement principles for the North Wales Growth Deal.

2.  To note the project sponsors will need to demonstrate how they will deliver against these principles as part of the project business case.

 

Minutes:

The report was submitted by Hedd Vaughan-Evans (Operations Manager).

 

RESOLVED

(1)     To adopt the proposed procurement principles for the North Wales Growth Deal.

(2)     To note the project sponsors will need to demonstrate how they will deliver against these principles as part of the project business case.

 

REASONS FOR THE DECISION

 

To provide a clear framework for projects to deliver against the aspirations of the North Wales Economic Ambition Board.

 

DISCUSSION

 

The report was submitted, which presented a series of procurement principles for the North Wales Growth Deal.

 

Details were provided about the background and relevant considerations and the consultations held.

 

During the discussion, the following matters were raised:-

 

·         It was noted that the principles were supported, but in implementing them, there was a desire to see some more prominence given to those principles that bring benefits to North Wales, such as climate and ecological change, supporting the local supply chain, social value, skills, jobs and opportunities etc.

·         It was expressed that it was hoped that the principles would be implemented vigorously and would also be promoted.