Agenda item

Hedd Vaughan-Evans (Head of Operations) to present the report.

 

1.    That the Board consider and note the Quarter 4 Performance Report and updated Portfolio Risk Register.

2.    That the Board approve the submission of the Quarter 4 Performance Report to the Welsh Government and UK Government, as well as the local authority scrutiny committees.

 

The report was submitted by Alwen Williams (Portfolio Director) and the programme managers elaborated on the highlights of the individual programmes.

 

It was noted that the RAG Status of the M-Sparc project (Bangor University) needed to be corrected from amber to green in the report.

 

RESOLVED

 

1.      That the Board consider and note the Quarter 4 Performance Report and updated Portfolio Risk Register.

2.      That the Board approve the submission of the Quarter 4 Performance Report to the Welsh Government and UK Government, as well as the local authority scrutiny committees.

 

REASONS FOR THE DECISION

 

Quarterly reporting on progress against the North Wales Growth Deal is one of the requirements of the Final Deal Agreement. Following the NWEAB's consideration, the reports would be shared with Welsh Government, UK Government as well as the local authority scrutiny committees.

 

DISCUSSION

 

The Chair noted that it appeared that progress was being made in several fields.

 

With reference to the Warren Hall, Broughton, project, disappointment was expressed that the Report of the Roads Review Panel was being used as a reason not to proceed with important schemes such as this, and calls were made for urgent discussions between the Chair and Vice-chair of the Board and Welsh Government.

 

In response, it was explained:-

 

·         That Welsh Government officials had been waiting for guidance from the Minister in relation to his response to the recommendation of the Roads Review Panel, and that further informal feedback had been received from the Government indicating that there was a way forward for the project.

·         That meetings had been scheduled with Welsh Government and Flintshire County Council officials to discuss this further, and it was expected that greater assurances could be given in Quarter 1 2023/24 that the project was progressing in a positive way.

 

It was asked what the impact of the Free Port would be on Growth Deal projects.

  In response, it was noted:-

 

·         That the Free Port was a partnership between Anglesey County Council, Stena Line and other partners as well, and that Stena Line's significant investment in the Holyhead site before the announcement regarding the Free Port was made, and before any work commenced at the port, was an indication of the company's confidence in the initiative.

·         That it was early days in terms of this project.  There were 6 months to make a full business case and a governance and engagement process would be required to gain input during that process.

·         Anglesey County Council would be the accountable body, and the Leader and Chief Executive of the Council would have to ensure compliance.

·         Following the governance process, it was intended to engage with leaders and other principal leaders in the region to ensure that everyone understood the direction and where the impact and opportunity to influence will be, particularly on the cross-border strategies in terms of employment and skills, innovation, net zero and the Welsh language.

 

It was asked whether the shift in managing public money and providing broadband investment in Wales would jeopardise the Growth Deal's digital projects.

  In response, it was explained:-

 

·         That Welsh Government had been doing this historically, with financial support from the UK Government, but that responsibility had largely passed to the UK Government.

·         In practice, that this was a positive move from our point of view as we were close to the detail of what was going on on a day-to-day basis, and we had good contact with the UK Government.

·         That both governments have been careful in ensuring that the region, including North Wales, was close to updates and the opportunity to contribute towards shaping the procurement.

It was noted that the junction affecting the Western Gateway, Wrexham project, was the A483 and A525 Junction 4 (Ruthin Road) and that there were serious problems with that junction.  The King's Counsel opinion stated that the junction had to be improved before the Western Gateway site could be developed, but if the money did not come forward for that from the Welsh Government and the Trunk Roads Agency, the site could not be developed.  The PMO was not aware that the Council had received this legal opinion and had not been provided with a copy.  The PMO has contributed to a draft Masterplan tender brief on the Western Gateway to include the recommendations from the Road Review Panel.

 

In response, it was made clear that no decision on this matter would be requested by the Board at its meeting today.

The Chair asked whether the roads review was going to have a negative impact on the Western Gateway project, and whether that meant there needed to be a discussion with Ministers.

 

In response, it was noted that it was not understood that the King's Counsel's views had been obtained on this, but that discussions were ongoing with Wrexham County Borough Council officers to try to reach a conclusion whether or not it would be possible to carry out the project without upgrading Junction 4.

The Chair asked whether it was therefore suggested that there should be a further report at the next meeting, or whether lobbying on the matter needed to begin sooner, rather than later.

In response, it was suggested to wait and see evidence that the junction had to be upgraded before going back to the Welsh Government.

 

It was noted that it appeared that the Quarter 1 2023-24 Performance and Risk Report would contain a great deal of information, and it was suggested that it would be beneficial to arrange a briefing for members before the next Board meeting to provide a detailed overview of progress on the Growth Deal programmes and projects.

 

In response to a comment regarding the Statutory Finance Officer's response to the report, it was noted that there was no objection to the inclusion of the wording "I am satisfied that the report is a true and fair reflection of the financial position of Ambition North Wales" in future, should that be appropriate.