Agenda item

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

1.    To note the Quarter 2 Performance Report and updated Portfolio Risk Register.

2.    To approve the submission of the Quarter 2 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.

RESOLVED

1.      To note the Quarter 2 Performance Report and updated Portfolio Risk Register.

2.      To approve the submission of the Quarter 2 Performance Report to 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

Concern was expressed regarding the delay to the timetable of the Connecting the Last Few % project as a result of the fact that procurement activity on the project had been suspended until UK Government confirmed the launch date of their new intervention. It was noted that the Government's £5bn Gigabit Project had been announced in 2019, but that Wales had not received any benefits from it. It was suggested that UK Government had a poor record in terms of delivering digital connectivity in Wales and it was believed that we were jeopardising our own project while waiting for them to respond. It was suggested that the Board should set a deadline for this, and consider proceeding ourselves if the Government did not respond.

In response, it was noted that:

·         There was full agreement regarding the concerns and that the officers were in regular contact with colleagues in UK Government in order to highlight the significance of the risk.

·         From the officers' understanding, UK Government intended to launch the procurement activity for this intervention in January 2024.

·         In terms of the suggestion that we should proceed ourselves if the Government did not respond, there was a need to bear in mind that the ultimate aim was to ensure the best connectivity for our communities. Should we proceed to implement the project which had been developed and designed by us, we would need assurance that this would not jeopardise future Gigabit connectivity for those places that our intervention could reach.

·         Although we were ready to move ahead to procure on our own project, we would have to be accountable for ensuring that we choose the best path to have the best connectivity for our communities. The best connectivity would be Gigabit connectivity which our project would not necessarily be able to provide.

·         The discussion was a sensitive one, obviously, but we were concerned that the value of our investment would reduce as we waited for further clarity.

It was agreed to write a letter to UK Government, on behalf of the Board, to highlight the aforementioned concerns.

A request was made for further details about the viability gap on the Former North Wales Hospital project. 

In response, it was noted that:

·         It had been agreed to give a notional additional £3m to this project earlier this year with the original viability gap.

·         The gap had increased, probably due to the fact that costs were increasing and the housing market slowing down.

·         It was believed that this was mor specific to this type of project than the usual Growth Deal projects. Every project was facing cost inflation challenges, of course, but this was a little more specific to the housing market.

·         As the Board's decision at the time of allocating the last portion of the £3m made it clear that the project would not receive any additional funds from the Growth Deal, this was a matter for the project sponsor to resolve. Ambition North Wales and Jones Bros were working with the sponsor on options in terms of the delivery steps which could mean that the matter of viability would not be as much of a concern to the sponsor.

·         Ultimately, it was believed that this would come down to the project sponsor's desire to make the final decision to invest. Recent discussions had been positive and it was hoped that the outline business case could be presented to the first meeting of the Board in 2024.

The comment that the discussions had been positive was echoed and it was noted that Denbighshire Council would be discussing the planning application in December.