Agenda item

Alwen Williams, Portfolio Director and Hedd Vaughan-Evans, Head of Operations to present a report  that set out the proposed principles and process for identifying a preferred way forward when projects are withdrawn from the North Wales Growth Deal.

To agree with the principles and proposed process as noted in the report as a basis to the process for identifying the preferred way forward when projects are withdrawn from the North Wales Growth Deal.

To agree that the Board, following the withdrawal of any project from the Growth Deal, receives a further report to recommend the parameters and scoring criteria for any horizon scanning exercise on a case by case basis.

The report was presented by Alwen Williams, Portfolio Director and Hedd Vaughan-Evans, Operations Manager.

DECISION

To agree with the principles and proposed process as noted in the report as a basis to the process for identifying the preferred way forward when projects are withdrawn from the North Wales Growth Deal. It was agreed that the Board, following the withdrawal of any project from the Growth Deal, would receive a further report to recommend the parameters and scoring criteria for any horizon scanning exercise on a case by case basis.

REASONS FOR THE DECISION

The North Wales Growth Deal had a change management process in place to ensure potential changes to the scope of the Growth Deal and the projects were captured, assessed and, where relevant, considered by the Board. The report outlined the principles as well as the proposed process to identify the preferred way forward when projects were withdrawn from the North Wales Growth Deal.

DISCUSSION

The report was submitted noting that it outlined the principles for alternative projects when projects would be withdrawn from the North Wales Growth Deal.  It was noted as follows:

1.    Principle 1: Before considering new projects, the Board will initially consider applications from existing projects for additional funding, on a case by case basis.

2.    Principle 2: As part of the horizon scanning exercise, all options should be considered as part of the process to identify the preferred way forward.

3.    Principle 3: The preferred way forward must deliver against the business case targets of the portfolio and seek to deliver a comparative level of benefits for the project that is withdrawn from the Growth Deal.

4.    Principle 4: The preferred way forward must deliver against the relevant business case of the programme and get to grips as much as possible with the void left as the project is withdrawn from the Growth Deal.

5.    Principle 5: Any new projects in the preferred way forward must be able to demonstrate the regional impact in the same way as existing projects.

It was stated that the principles were supported by a process and the three key stage process was highlighted. In terms of the first stage - Horizon Scanning - the need to agree on criteria, scoring and weighting was noted, highlighting the need to include targets for jobs, investment and delivery criteria. It was explained there would be a public call for projects and an initial hard gate assessment would be carried out by the Portfolio Director to remove any proposals that do not meet a required level of outcomes.

As the second stage - Longlisting and Shortlisting - it was noted there would be an assessment of the longlist against criteria to agree and identify a shortlist. Additional information would be requested from the projects in order to submit a short list assessment to the Ambition Board to identify the way forward.

The final stage would involve approving and developing business cases. It was noted that a recommendation would be proposed to the Ambition Board prior to the commencement of creating a business case.

Observations arising from the discussion

¾     In terms of giving an opportunity to existing projects to receive more funding as a result of projects being withdrawn from the Growth Deal, an enquiry was made as to what would be the next steps for these plans? It was noted that the Board would consider these applications before proceeding to the horizon scanning exercise. 

¾     The plan was welcomed and it was enquired how realistic it was to have new projects that would meet the specific requirements of the schemes. It was noted that the projects would possibly not be similar ones but rather a collection of smaller schemes. 

¾     It was noted that specific projects were the decision of the Board but they needed to reach the targets noted in the Growth Deal.

¾     It was agreed for the report to be submitted to the Business Delivery Board.