Agenda item

Hedd Vaughan Evans, Head of Operations, to present the report.

 

1.    To note the Quarter 1 Performance Report and updated Portfolio Risk Register.

2.    To approve the submission of the Quarter 1 Performance Report to Welsh Government and UK Government, as well as the local authority scrutiny committees.

 

 

The report was submitted by Hedd Vaughan-Evans (Head of Operations) and the programme managers elaborated on the highlights of individual programmes.

 

RESOLVED

1.      To note the Quarter 1 Performance Report and updated Portfolio Risk Register.

2.      To approve the submission of the Quarter 1 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 Growth Deal Agreement.  Following consideration by the NWEAB, the reports would be shared with the Welsh Government, UK Government and the local authority scrutiny committees.

 

DISCUSSION

 

Elgan Roberts was congratulated for being appointed to succeed Henry Aron as Energy Programme Manager and he was wished well in his post.  It was explained, as an internal promotion, that this will reduce some of the capacity within the programme for a period, but this will be managed over the next few months.

 

The officers were thanked for preparing the report, and it was noted that it was interesting to see progress in some of the fields.

 

Councillor Mark Pritchard enquired if he had the right to take part in the discussion and vote on the matter as there was a reference in the report to the Western Gateway Project, Wrexham, which was led by Wrexham County Borough Council.  In response, it was explained that although there was an interest, there was an exception in the Code which allowed leaders to take part fully in the discussion and vote on the matter.

 

The Chair added that there were not any decisions to be made on individual projects in this case anyway, as it was a progress report submitted to the Board.

 

It was noted that it was not believed that the Western Gateway Project, Wrexham would go ahead as the Government's funding had been withdrawn, and it was recommended that the project should be revoked as soon as possible, so the North Wales Ambition officers were not wasting their time.  In response, it was noted that:

 

·         Following concern expressed in the last Board meeting regarding this project, North Wales Ambition officers had met with Wrexham Council officers, and it was understood that Wrexham Council was working on a plan exploring how this project can be moved forward.

·         Once the plan was available, it will be reviewed by the North Wales Ambition officers, and if they believed that there was no viable way forward, then a report would have to be presented to the Board with a recommendation on the way forward, as with any other project in a similar situation.

·         The project's sponsor can decide to withdraw or make a request to change, and again this would have to be something that the Board considers.

·         It was not believed that we are in this situation at the moment, as Wrexham Council's officers were currently working on a plan.

 

Another member emphasised that the Western Gateway Project, Wrexham should not be given up, and that the Welsh Government and the Minister should be aware that their decision to withdraw the funding could endanger a very important project within the Growth Deal.  It was enquired whether the Welsh Government were aware of the risk and if so, it was noted that it was important that the Board knew that the decision on the roads review had been made despite these types of risks.  In response, it was noted that North Wales Ambition officers had held informal briefing meetings with their contacts in the Welsh Government and UK Government regarding the situation in general in terms of the Growth Deal, but it was understood that the engagement with the Welsh Government on the details of this specific project was mainly happening through Wrexham Council, as it was them that led on the project.

 

Wrexham Council's chief officer noted:-

 

·         That the Council was currently in discussions with the Welsh Government, and that they were also looking at the current roads network's capacity to see if it was possible to provide for the Western Gateway development.

·         That the Welsh Government had stated that they, as part of the decision on the roads review, would look at an alternative sustainable option for that part of Wrexham, and the discussions regarding this continued.

·         Although the roads review had created challenges in terms of capacity, it was believed that it would be premature to revoke the project currently.

 

It was noted that the Business Delivery Board were trying their best to attract large international investors to North Wales and that there was a lot of potential for the private sector to be involved in this.  In response, it was noted that:

 

·         The work with the Savills company, that the Business Delivery Board was also involved with, had highlighted early on that there were major investors looking for viable projects and were looking towards North Wales, not only some of the larger investors that were already in the region, but also some higher funded investors that were eager to support the levelling-up agenda and invest in areas with socio-economic needs, and that we should be taking advantage of them.

·         On a regional level, if the collaboration could be harnessed to break through to some of these investors and funds, much more funding could be brought to North Wales, in addition to the investment coming through the Growth Deal.

·         There was a huge opportunity in terms of investors, and one of the points often made by investors is how good the collaboration is in North Wales.

 

It was enquired what was the work timeline with Savills.  In response, it was noted that:

 

·         The work will be undertaken over the summer and it was hoped to host an event in early August to bring Savills to the North to give them an overview of the opportunities here.

·         The work will be led by Nick Bennett, who was from the North, and understood the region very well, as well as understanding politics and the investment field.

·         It was expected that the company will report back on the work's outcome by the end of the summer.

 

The Operations Manager and his team were thanked for the work.