Agenda item

To consider the report.

1.     To note the Quarter 4 Performance Report and the updated Portfolio Risk Register.

2.     To approve the submission of the Quarter 4 Performance Report to the Welsh and UK Governments, along with local authority scrutiny committees.

The report was presented by the Head of Operations.

RESOLVED

1.     To identify the Quarter 4 Performance Report and the updated Portfolio Risk Register.

2.     To approve the submission of the Quarter 4 Performance Report to the Welsh and UK Governments, along with local authority scrutiny committees.

REASONS FOR THE DECISION

To submit the Quarter 4 Report (January to March) of the Growth Plan and updated Portfolio Risk Register.

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 Sub-Committee, the reports will be shared with the Welsh Government, the UK Government and local authority scrutiny committees.

DISCUSSION

            A number of the Growth Deal's developmental highlights were reported, namely the approval of the Outline Business case for the Responsible Adventures projects, the approval of Full Business Cases of the Cydnerth and Parc Bryn Cegin projects and also presenting a case for change on the Glynllifon project. It was elaborated that renovation work on the Henfaes site had been delivered on time to develop a Centre for Environmental Biotechnology. It was pleasing to note that a grant Funding Agreement had been signed for the Tourism Talent Network. It was also noted that the Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF) project had now closed, looking back on many successes such as the launch of a skills portal, purchasing mobile survey equipment and providing grants to 16 small community organisations.

Attention was drawn to the fact that many projects currently reported as red on the Portfolio Risk Register, namely Connecting the Last Few %, Full Fibre, NEW H2, Trawsfynydd, Holyhead Port and Kinmel Studio.

It was explained that many projects were operational by now, noting that it was possible to report on some of the resulting advantages. It was detailed that a £15.32million investment had been made within the Growth Deal during the last year, with the total investments being £16.61million. It was acknowledged that these numbers were lower than the targets but it was emphasised that the situation had significantly improved since the previous year as more projects had received approval.

It was elaborated that the projects approved had secured £4.712million in revenue as well as creating 35 posts to date. It was elaborated that 261 individuals had received Training and completed courses to gain qualifications.

It was assured that it was possible to report on this type of data regularly when considering quarterly updates, to review the wider impact that the Growth Deal was having on the region.

The officers were thanked for their work to ensure that these aspects of the Growth Deal were achieved.

Concern was expressed from the Welsh Government on the speed of achieving the Growth Deal as there was approximately 10 years left on the Deal and that there was a need to significantly increase investment statistics to reach the Deal's targets. However, pride was expressed that there had been progress on the Plan's projects over the last year. In response, the Interim Chief Executive of the North Wales Corporate Joint Committee emphasised that it was extremely important that the Welsh Government and the UK Government's officers worked with the Corporate Joint Committee to provide support to ensure that the Plan's targets were achieved in the interests of the Region's economy.