Agenda item

Investment Fund

Report for consideration by the Combined Authority Committee.

Decision:

The West of England Combined Authority Committee RESOLVED:

 

1. To note the identification of £32.2m of headroom in the programme to 2022/23 as set out in paragraph 5-7.

 

2. To approve the Feasibility and Development Funding Application for the Access for All - Step Free Stations Feasibility Study and award of £100k.

 

3. To approve the Outline Business Case for the Yate A432 Park & Ride and delegate approval of the Full Business Case to the WECA Chief Executive in consultation with the Chief Executives of the constituent Councils.

 

4. To allocate a further £4.395m to the regional recovery fund from the Business and Skills allocation, with individual project business case approvals falling within the existing delegation to the WECA Chief Executive in consultation with the Chief Executives of the constituent Councils.

 

5. To approve the Full Business Case for the South Bristol Workspace and the award of £2.7m subject to securing the ERDF funding, obtaining planning consent, resolution of land issues and finalising the Monitoring and Evaluation Plan.

 

6. To approve the Reboot West Full Business Case and award of £720k subject to securing the match funding, finalising the Monitoring and Evaluation Plan and provision of a detailed programme.

 

7. Approve the change requests for schemes within the current programme as set out in Appendix 2.

 

8. To amend the approved capital programme for individual project approvals agreed at the June Committee and within this report.

 

Minutes:

The Combined Authority Committee considered a report setting out the latest proposed approvals in relation to the Investment Fund (agenda item 15).

 

The Chair highlighted the following aspects of the report and commented as follows:

* Through discussions with the unitary authorities, very careful ongoing consideration was being given to the deliverability of, and priorities within the current £350m investment programme in response to Covid-19.

* Today’s report clarified that £32.2m of headroom had been identified in the programme to 2022/23; detailed proposals for the reallocation of this funding would be presented to December’s committee meeting.

* Some of that funding would be used to create a Development Infrastructure Fund, following the model of the Land Acquisition Fund that was already in place, and could support both housing and economic development infrastructure. It was also planned to increase the allocation for the Land Acquisition Fund itself given this was proving to be a valuable funding model. 

* Work was taking place to identify suitable proposals for the fund – the Hengrove Park, Bottleyard Studios, Milsom Street renewal and Yate Town Centre regeneration schemes all showed a potentially good fit.

* It was also proposed to increase the Regional Recovery Fund to £9.4m. This would bring further support to Recovery Plan actions to create/facilitate:

- A £2m Digital Skills investment programme

- A High Streets renewal catalyst fund

- Phase 2 of the Low Carbon Challenge Fund

- A Small Business Resilience Grant Programme, a third of which would be 'ringfenced' for cultural and creative businesses, and

- A Covid-19 Community Recovery Fund to support disadvantaged communities in finding innovative solutions to improve access to employment.

* The report also sought approval of the Full Business Case for the South Bristol Workspace with an award of £2.7m.

* The committee was also asked to approve the Reboot West Full Business Case and award of £720k subject to match funding being secured. 

The recommendations as set out in the published report were then moved by the Chair and seconded by Cllr Savage.

 

Mayor Rees welcomed the report, referring to the importance of progressing funding approvals for schemes as quickly as possible through the Development Infrastructure Fund for ‘shovel-ready’ projects such as Hengrove Park (where significant new housing is being provided) and Bottleyard studios.  He also strongly supported the investment in the South Bristol Workspace project and Reboot West.

 

In addition to his earlier comments welcoming progress on the Yate A432 Park & Ride proposals, Cllr Savage particularly drew attention to the significance of the proposed investment in taking forward phase 2 of the Low Carbon Challenge Fund programme and to support Reboot West, noting that the latter project would provide long term support of at least 2 years to enable young care leavers to secure sustained employment, education or training.  He also welcomed the progress in taking forward green infrastructure initiatives, particularly the Common Connections project which would see green infrastructure improvements that would benefit people and wildlife across the east fringe of South Gloucestershire.

 

Cllr Romero welcomed the potential for funding improvements to Milsom Street in central Bath through the Development Infrastructure Fund.  On a separate point, she suggested that at an appropriate point, consideration be given to adjusting the name ‘Park and Ride’ to reflect that people may wish to access a range of transport options from these sites.

 

The Chair then moved to the voting on the recommendations. Voting took place as per constitutional requirements.

 

The West of England Combined Authority Committee RESOLVED:

 

1. To note the identification of £32.2m of headroom in the programme to 2022/23 as set out in paragraph 5-7.

 

2. To approve the Feasibility and Development Funding Application for the Access for All - Step Free Stations Feasibility Study and award of £100k.

 

3. To approve the Outline Business Case for the Yate A432 Park & Ride and delegate approval of the Full Business Case to the WECA Chief Executive in consultation with the Chief Executives of the constituent Councils.

 

4. To allocate a further £4.395m to the regional recovery fund from the Business and Skills allocation, with individual project business case approvals falling within the existing delegation to the WECA Chief Executive in consultation with the Chief Executives of the constituent Councils.

 

5. To approve the Full Business Case for the South Bristol Workspace and the award of £2.7m subject to securing the ERDF funding, obtaining planning consent, resolution of land issues and finalising the Monitoring and Evaluation Plan.

 

6. To approve the Reboot West Full Business Case and award of £720k subject to securing the match funding, finalising the Monitoring and Evaluation Plan and provision of a detailed programme.

 

7. Approve the change requests for schemes within the current programme as set out in Appendix 2.

 

8. To amend the approved capital programme for individual project approvals agreed at the June Committee and within this report.

 

Supporting documents: