Agenda item

Report for consideration by the Joint Committee.

The West of England Joint Committee RESOLVED:

1. To approve the Outline Business Case for the Weston General Stores and, should there be urgency, delegate the approval of the Full Business Case to the WECA Chief Executive in consultation with the West of England Chief Executives.

2. To delegate the approval of an Outline Business Case for works in the vicinity of the M49 Junction to the WECA Chief Executive in consultation with the West of England Chief Executives.

3. To approve the change requests for schemes within the Local Growth Fund programme as set out in Appendix 1.

4. In advance of the next meeting of the Joint Committee, to delegate the following to the WECA Chief Executive in consultation with the West of England Chief Executives:

a) Approval of changes to funding profile and programme for schemes within the current Local Growth Fund, Getting Building Fund, Economic Development Fund and Revolving Infrastructure Fund programmes.

b) Approval of the reallocation of funding for schemes in the approved Local Growth Fund/Getting Building Fund programme including swaps with the Economic Development Fund, and exceptionally, the Investment Fund.

5. To approve the change requests for schemes within the Economic Development Fund and Revolving Infrastructure Fund programme set out in Appendix 2.

The Joint Committee considered a report setting out the latest Local Enterprise Partnership One Front Door funding programme report (agenda item 14).

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

* Appendix 1 set out requested scheme changes in respect of the Local Growth Fund.

* Appendix 2 set out requested scheme changes in respect of the Economic Development Fund (EDF) and Revolving Infrastructure Fund (RIF).

* Appendix 3 set out the business case assessment summary table for the Weston General Stores project. Weston General Stores was allocated £1.7m of Getting Building Fund through the application process to government in Summer 2020. An Outline Business Case for this project had now been submitted by North Somerset Council seeking this funding towards the £1.765m project cost.

* The report also included an allocation of funding to enable work to be progressed on an Outline Business Case for works in the vicinity of the M49 Junction.

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

Cllr Davies welcomed the report, particularly in relation to the proposals to take forward work on the Weston General Stores project and the M49 junction.

Mayor Rees also welcomed the report, including the change request which would see funding re-allocated to Bristol Beacon.

Cllr Romero indicated she was supportive of the report.

Cllr Savage was also supportive of the report; with reference to the points raised in the public forum statement from South Gloucestershire Councillor Robert Griffin, he also particularly welcomed the proposed allocation of funding to enable work to be progressed on the Outline Business Case for works relating to the M49 junction, which will help to maximise the potential for this designated enterprise area.

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

The West of England Joint Committee RESOLVED:

1. To approve the Outline Business Case for the Weston General Stores and, should there be urgency, delegate the approval of the Full Business Case to the WECA Chief Executive in consultation with the West of England Chief Executives.

2. To delegate the approval of an Outline Business Case for works in the vicinity of the M49 Junction to the WECA Chief Executive in consultation with the West of England Chief Executives.

3. To approve the change requests for schemes within the Local Growth Fund programme as set out in Appendix 1.

4. In advance of the next meeting of the Joint Committee, to delegate the following to the WECA Chief Executive in consultation with the West of England Chief Executives:

a) Approval of changes to funding profile and programme for schemes within the current Local Growth Fund, Getting Building Fund, Economic Development Fund and Revolving Infrastructure Fund programmes.

b) Approval of the reallocation of funding for schemes in the approved Local Growth Fund/Getting Building Fund programme including swaps with the Economic Development Fund, and exceptionally, the Investment Fund.

5. To approve the change requests for schemes within the Economic Development Fund and Revolving Infrastructure Fund programme set out in Appendix 2.