Agenda and decisions

To receive any apologies for absence.

To receive any declaration of personal interest.

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

The Chair shall propose that the minutes of the meeting held on 13 March 2026 be signed as a true record.

Hedd Vaughan-Evans, Portfolio Director to present report.

1.     To note the Q4 performance report and the updated Portfolio Risk Register.

2.     To approve the submission of the Quarter 4 Performance Report to the Welsh and UK Governments, along with local authority scrutiny committees.

Dewi A. Morgan, Head of Finance (CJC’s Statutory Finance Officer) and Sian Pugh, Assistant Head of Finance to present report.

·       To note the Growth Deal’s out-turn position for 2025/26 noting that, due to the underspend, £60,990 of the earmarked reserve would not be used, and that a smaller amount of £867,731 would be used from the North Wales Growth Deal grant, to show a neutral position for the year.  

·       To note the Growth Deal's reserves position.

·       To note the Growth Deal’s capital end of year review as of 31 March 2026.

·       To note the Investment Zone's out-turn position for 2025/26.

·       To note the Regional Skills Partnership’s out-turn position for 2025/26.

Hedd Vaughan-Evans, Portfolio Director to present report.

To agree to establish a Cost Inflation Reserve for 2026/27 and provide an initial £3.96m of Growth Deal funding to this reserve.

To approve the criteria set out for the Cost Inflation Reserve and the delegated decision matrix.

Iain Taylor (Investment Zone Programme Manager) to present report.

Appendices 1-3 are exempt, for the attention of Committee Members only, in accordance with Paragraph 14 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972: Information relating to the financial business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).

1.     To note progress on establishing and implementing the Investment Zone Innovation programme in close partnership with Wrexham University, AMRC, Bangor University and Net Zero Industry Wales.

2.     To note the process for developing the projects contained in this report and that they have been agreed as suitable Innovation projects for the Investment Zone to support by the North Wales Innovation Board.

3.     To approve the project proposal submitted by Wrexham University to a value of £3,645,364 and delegate authority to the Chief Executive in consultation with the Monitoring Officer, Section 151 Officer, the Chair and Vice Chair to agree and enter into a Grant Funding Agreement between the North Wales Corporate Joint Committee and Wrexham University.  

4.     To approve the project proposal submitted by Bangor University to a value of £1,300,000 and delegate authority to the Chief Executive in consultation with the Monitoring Officer, Section 151 Officer, the Chair and Vice Chair to agree and enter into a Grant Funding Agreement between the North Wales Corporate Joint Committee and Bangor University which specifically reflects an agreement to implement any recommendations arising from the North Wales Corporate Joint Committee Project Review of the Growth Deal Digital Signal Processing Centre (DSP) Project.  

5.     To approve the project proposal submitted by Net Zero Industry Wales £260,000 and delegate authority to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Monitoring Officer, Section 151 Officer, Chair and Vice-chair to agree and enter into a Grant Funding Agreement between the North Wales Corporate Joint Committee and Net Zero Industry Wales on behalf of the local Industrial Decarbonisation Partnership (including CHANGE and the Deeside Decarbonisation Forum).

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 defined in Paragraph 14 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972: Information relating to the financial business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).

While there is a public interest in transparency and accountability, this is outweighed at this stage by the need to protect commercially sensitive information given that disclosure would likely prejudice ongoing negotiations and the authority’s ability to secure best value and protect the proper use of public funds.

A vote was taken on the proposal to exclude the press and public, and Councillor Nia Jeffreys abstained her vote on this item.

Elliw Hughes, Growth Deal Programme Manager to present report.

To approve the change request and the updated Outline Business Case for Venue Cymru, giving Conwy County Borough Council an additional six months to address the outstanding issues, and to submit a Full Business Case for consideration by the Sub-Committee.

Elliw Hughes, Growth Deal Programme Manager to present report.

1.     To note the progress and outstanding matters since the approval of the Business Justification Case in March 2026.

2.     To reaffirm approval of the Business Justification Case for the Sustainable Dairy Development Element of the Glynllifon Rural Economy Hub project subject to the approval of the Welsh and UK Governments of the assurance process undertaken, and that Grŵp Llandrillo Menai addresses the matters identified in the report and secures all necessary internal approvals for the project.

3.     To delegate to the Portfolio Director, in consultation with the Chair, Vice-chair, Monitoring Officer and Section 151 Officer to agree and confirm the outstanding matters in the report before the funding is released. If there is an expectation to re-procure the project, then the Business Justification Case will be resubmitted for consideration.

4.     To note that a funding agreement has already been entered into with Grŵp Llandrillo Menai for the Glynllifon Rural Economy Hub project following the approval of the Sheep Milk Wales Business Justification Case, and that this agreement will include the delivery of this element of the wider project if this Business Justification Case is approved by the Sub-committee.

5.     To note that there will be one more Business Case approval to deliver the outstanding elements of the project

David Mathews, Land and Property Programme Manager to present report.