Agenda item

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 of Economy and Community was invited to present a slide on the specific benefits for Gwynedd, namely:- 

 

·         Improved digital connectivity for businesses, residents and visitors.

·         Access to facilities, equipment, support and specialist research for Gwynedd food and drink businesses by means of an investment at the Glynllifon site.

·         Access to innovative research and support with sustainable farming techniques for farming businesses in Gwynedd. 

·         Supply chain opportunities and jobs as a result of capital projects such as Morlais, Holyhead Port, etc.

·         Opportunities for renewable energy initiatives within the Smart Local Energy Project and an investment in the Low Carbon Energy Centre of Excellence at Bangor University.

·         Investment of £20m in the infrastructure of the Trawsfynydd site for the development of innovative low carbon energy.

·         Opportunities to develop strategic sites as part of the long-term Land and Property programme including the Bryn Cegin site.

 

It was also stressed that the Growth Deal was one programme, and there were other projects that would add value, and would build on this throughout Gwynedd.  

 

The Head of Finance was invited to give an overview of the financial implications.               It was noted:-

 

·         That the grant funding would become consistent from both Governments over the 15 years, however, the expenditure would be accelerated over the first six years. 

·         It would be necessary to borrow to deal with this cash flow, and as the host authority, Gwynedd would facilitate this for its partners by establishing a system that would give a reasonable and consistent contribution over the fifteen years to pay the borrowing costs.  

·         As the timing of the payments nor the interest rates were known as yet, all partners had been given a range and the range for Gwynedd varied between £80,000 - £118,000 per annum. 

·         Governance Agreement 2 ensured that no partner would be able to walk away without paying their share of these costs.    

 

The Monitoring Officer was invited to give an overview of the governance agreement and the legal implications.  It was noted:-

 

·         That Governance Agreement 2 would transfer us to an operational period and to achieve the Growth Deal and the Growth Vision.

·         The agreement created a legal framework that committed every partner to their contributions, and no one could walk away from the agreement except at the expense of also respecting their financial commitments for the future.   

·         That there were governance arrangements within the agreement that support the Ambition Board and provide for matters such as scrutiny and financial management and staffing etc.

 

Members were then given an opportunity to make observations and ask questions.  Individual members submitted the following observations:-

 

·         It was noted that the plan was ambitious, and this was to be welcomed.   There was a tough time ahead of us, and it was good that we had this type of plan to hand.

·         Concern was expressed that so few of these projects were in Dwyfor and Meirionnydd.  The importance of being flexible and brave was emphasised and to do everything possible to assist projects with the potential to bring a high number of jobs to those areas, and it was asked how companies who wish to make an investment in the county could participate in the Growth Deal.  

·         The fact that this was a plan that had been developed in north Wales was welcomed and that it created quality jobs with good wages that will allow young people to live and work in their communities.

·         Reference was made to one of the key principles of the Growth Vision, namely focusing on retaining young people, increasing employment levels and improving skills to achieve inclusive growth, and it was strongly felt that this plan would assist to respond to the concerns of parents that there were not enough quality work opportunities here in the north West.

·         It was noted that there was no work or housing for young people in areas such as Pen Llŷn and concern was expressed that companies that benefit from the Growth Deal will move on in due course and take the grants with them. 

·         It was noted that 2021 would also be a challenging year, however, the Growth Deal would give us a reason to be positive and optimistic, and the venture was wished every success.

·         The importance of doing everything to encourage and assist new businesses was emphasised.

·         Concern was expressed regarding the decision of the North Wales Mersey Dee Business Council to withdraw their membership from the Ambition Board.

·         Concern was expressed regarding the lack of doctors, dentists, vets and carers in Gwynedd.

·         Concern was expressed that the counties in the East would take all the funding and that the North West would not see much benefit.

·         It was noted that it was difficult to get projects in mid-Wales and the importance of collaboration with the Mid-Wales Growth Deal was emphasised.   It was also noted that the road network was a barrier to investment in the south of the county.

·         It was noted that the south of Meirionnydd was one of the poorest areas in Europe, and it was greatly hoped that the situation would be totally changed within 10 years.

·         It was noted that talking of an investment of £1.1b for north Wales was a dream, and it was feared that we would be stood waiting for the £722m from the private sector.

·         Concern was expressed that we had been tied to Deeside and Wrexham, where the largest population resided and the area that would get the most benefit.

·         Pride was expressed that Gwynedd was collaborating as a full partner in the board, and led on this important plan.

·         It was emphasised that it was necessary to reinforce the agri-food industry and it was also noted that the future was low carbon energy and digital schemes.

·         The fact that Parc Cegin, Bangor would be fully used was welcomed.

·         It was noted that there should be a campaign to establish a school of medicine, dentistry and veterinary science as part of Bangor University.

·         Concern was expressed that the growth plans split Wales, and this at a time of national unity, by merging the north with Merseyside, Mid-Wales with Birmingham and the south with Bristol. 

·         It was noted that it was understood that Warrington would be the centre to check paperwork for lorries transporting goods from Holyhead to Ireland following Brexit, and it was asked why this centre would not be established on Anglesey, or even at Parc Cegin, Bangor, considering the proximity of the site to the A55.

·         It was noted that there was no reference in the papers to Arfor, or recognition that Wylfa newydd had ever been underway.

·         It was noted that the vision was to be praised, however, creating a connection with the north of England was opposed, as this would weaken us as a nation.

·         Our representatives were asked to ensure that a fair share of the funding came to Gwynedd.

·         It was suggested that every member who had spoken against the plan should consider what was their 'Plan B', asking if they had £1.1b to spend on job creation for young people in Gwynedd, because without this, how could they vote against the plan?

 

In response to the observations and questions from members, it was noted:- 

 

·         That it was wished that Dwyfor and Meirionnydd would see a benefit. It had been a difficult process to ensure the fair distribution of the projects across all the councils, however, it was believed that this had been managed. There were projects that would cross every geographical boundary e.g. the digital project and community low carbon energy projects, and elements of the agricultural projects would also assist the whole county.

·         In terms of procurement arrangements, the Portfolio Office was working on a procurement strategy that would enable local companies to apply for some of the work that would come from the Growth Deal.  It had to be ensured that the contract was not too large, or presented in a way that would prevent local companies from being able to benefit from it.  Using local companies to the maximum was a fundamental principle for us in the north, and especially in Gwynedd as our purpose as an Ambition Board was to support our local companies first.

·         In terms of investments, part of the vision was to create a more attractive north Wales for investors, not necessarily to invest directly in one of the Growth Deal’s projects, however, as the Growth Deal projects create better resources for investors looking to locate or re-locate.

·         Concerns about companies establishing here and then moving away were understood, however, the purpose of the Growth Deal was not to throw funding at companies to come here to establish, but to create an environment that was appealing to businesses and to assist them. It was added that local businesses craved places to work from. Many new businesses had been established during the Covid period, and every assistance and support needed to be given to them.

·         That the support of the North Wales Mersey Dee Business Council to all the activities of the Ambition Board had been significant, however, they looked at their own activity following Covid and saw that they had to focus their scarce resources to support their members.   However, they continued to be part of the activity, and they had been part of facilitating a virtual conference recently with 200 businesses. The Board also looked at ideas in terms of how to improve engagement with the business sector, and the Business Support Group, namely a collection of very prominent business owners in the north, also did very good work in terms of supporting and scrutinising the Board's work.

·         That the pessimism of some members regarding the plan was not shared.   Risks were involved with everything of course; however, this plan should be confidently embraced.

·         It was not proposed to forget about the county's rural areas, and the 6 authorities were equal in terms of influence on the Board, with considerable trust between the political leaders and everyone's wish was to ensure that any benefit from the plan should be spread fairly across the north.

·         Any development within the Council's area or the National Park Authority was subject to local planning policies, and although it was the Council who set those policies, our ability to vary them was fairly limited due to national policies.   The private sector stated that the process of getting planning permission and consents from other relevant agencies had to be easier, and this message had been conveyed to the ministers several times. There was also room for us to influence if we felt justice was not being done.

·         That our economic, transport and social connections were close with Powys and Ceredigion, and although we had been invited to attend meeting of the Mid Wales Growth Committee we were not recognised as full partners.  This was a matter of concern and frustration, however, it was intended to continue to press them regarding this.

·         It was considered that the partnership across the North had brought the counties of the East closer to us than ever before.   Although it was possible for Flintshire and Wrexham to turn their sights towards Chester and Liverpool, they had chosen to turn towards counties in the West as they were part of Wales and there was an excellent and close connection in particular with the leaders of Flintshire and Wrexham.

·         That the investments we as a Council give to the Growth Plan were some tens of thousands, however, in due course this would bear fruit and would be benefit of hundreds of thousands.

 

RESOLVED

(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.