Agenda item
Investment Fund report
Decision:
The West of England Combined Authority Committee RESOLVED:
1. That a further £1m of the £9m allocation for walking and cycling infrastructure delivery is brought forward to support scheme development, with the approval of specific Feasibility and Development Funding Applications delegated to the West of England Combined Authority Chief Executive in consultation with the Chief Executives of the constituent councils.
2. To approve a further £234k of masterplanning funding for the (Bristol) City Centre Development and Delivery Plan so that this is fully funded.
3. To approve the Full Business Case for Hawkfield Business Park - The Bottle Yard Studios and award of £11.82m
4. To approve the Full Business Case for the Bath City Centre High Streets Renewal Project and the award of £1.235m subject to confirmation of the High Streets Catalyst Fund match funding.
5. To approve the Full Business Case for the Bristol City Centre and High Streets Recovery and Renewal Programme and award of £2.725m
6. To approve the Outline Business Case for the Common Connections project.
7. To approve the Feasibility and Development Funding Application for the SEND Careers Information and Guidance Collaboration Pilot and the award of £20k.
8. To approve further development funding of £500k for ISTART, and to delegate approval of the Outline Business Case and award of funding of up to £1.94m to the West of England Combined Authority Chief Executive in consultation with the Chief Executives of the constituent councils, with a phased funding approach and/or the opportunity for other match funding to be considered as part of progressing to Full Business Case.
9. To approve the Full Business Case for the Careers Hub and award of £180k.
10. To delegate the approval of development funding applications and business cases for further recovery funding of up to £1m to the West of England Combined Authority Chief Executive in consultation with the Chief Executives of the constituent councils.
11. To award a further £1m to the Small Business Resilience Grant Programme and the Culture and Creative Economy Recovery Fund and to delegate the split of the funding between these programmes to the West of England Combined Authority Chief Executive in consultation with the Chief Executives of the constituent councils.
12. To approve the change requests for schemes within the current programme as set out in Appendix 2.
13. To amend the approved capital programme for individual project approvals agreed at the January Committee and within this report.
14. To approve the Feasibility and Development Funding application for Thornbury High Street Public Realm and the award of £200k from the Love Our High Streets allocation, with the opportunities for other match funding for the delivery of this project to be fully explored as part of developing the Full Business Case.
Minutes:
The Combined Authority Committee considered a report (agenda item 18) that sought approval for feasibility, development and delivery funding, and for change requests for schemes within the current approved Investment Fund programme.
The Chair moved the following amendment:
That an additional recommendation 14 be added to the report as follows:
“To approve the Feasibility and Development Funding application for Thornbury High Street Public Realm and the award of £200k from the Love Our High Streets allocation, with the opportunities for other match funding for the delivery of this project to be fully explored as part of developing the Full Business Case.”
This motion was seconded by Councillor Savage.
On being put to the vote, the motion including the amendment was carried.
The Chair then moved the report recommendations, including the above amendment.
This motion was seconded by Cllr Savage.
Cllr Savage commented that he was pleased to see, through this report and the amendment, the increasing focus on supporting high streets through their recovery; in addition to the successful work being taken forward in Kingswood, opportunities were now being taken forward in the market town of Thornbury. The South Gloucestershire Cabinet had recently taken a high-profile decision to progress with an ambitious public realm and engagement project for Thornbury, involving £6-8 million of capital works - given South Gloucestershire’s clear commitment to this project, the funding proposed through the amendment was critically important to helping set Thornbury High Street up as a high street that will be better able to bounce back from the challenges from the past 15 months due to the pandemic but also from the structural challenges faced by high streets more generally. He also welcomed the Outline Business Case for the Common Connections project, which will contribute to climate change commitments and to taking forward the Joint Green Infrastructure Strategy.
Mayor Rees welcomed the report, particularly in relation to the Full Business Case for Hawkfield Business Park / the Bottle Yard Studios and the related award of £11.82 million. These developments were of huge significance for Bristol and the city’s reputation and had national significance as well. He also referred to the importance of the Bristol Temple Meads eastern entrance project in the context of the regeneration of Temple Quarter, which will realise 22,000 jobs and 10,000 homes - every opportunity must be taken to make sure that the government understands just how significant this regeneration opportunity is, as national government support is needed to maximise the benefits. In relation to this point, the Chair stressed the Combined Authority’s commitment to the Bristol Temple Meads eastern entrance project, which had involved underwriting project costs.
Professor West commented on the issue of the future visioning of key places in the region and in particular the High Street going forward; it will be important to lock in other big anchor institutions to the thinking and planning, including opportunities for how a health and social care offer/service can potentially become an integral part of the future high street. It will be important to join up approaches that may enable funding streams to be used in different, creative and innovative ways.
The Chair highlighted that the report proposals also included:
* Using £1 million of identified headroom to increase recovery funding and to develop and implement further measures to support economic recovery in line with his manifesto commitments, to include:
- a campaign to support regional re-opening.
- additional support for high streets.
- a jobs and skills summit and green skills focused activity in the run-up to the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26).
- an additional £1 million of grant funding for small and medium sized enterprises / the creative sector in recognition of the high demand of quality applications received to date.
* A further £1 million allocation for walking and cycling infrastructure.
In relation to an issue raised during the earlier public items/session about the current consultation being carried out by South Gloucestershire Council on potential A4174 ring road proposals, Councillor Savage pointed out that the funding for these improvements would only come to the region if a business case was accepted by the Department for Transport; the bid for this funding was being developed in response to a Department for Transport invitation to South Gloucestershire to bid, as a highways authority, for funds to support improvements through the major routes network. If awarded, this funding could not be allocated by the authority to other services, or to public transport or active travel. The proposals themselves were the subject of public consultation until 16 August; the consultation responses would be considered carefully and assessed in determining the scheme that would ultimately be put forward.
The Chair then moved to the voting on the recommendations, including the above amendment.
The West of England Combined Authority Committee RESOLVED:
1. That a further £1m of the £9m allocation for walking and cycling infrastructure delivery is brought forward to support scheme development, with the approval of specific Feasibility and Development Funding Applications delegated to the West of England Combined Authority Chief Executive in consultation with the Chief Executives of the constituent councils.
2. To approve a further £234k of masterplanning funding for the (Bristol) City Centre Development and Delivery Plan so that this is fully funded.
3. To approve the Full Business Case for Hawkfield Business Park - The Bottle Yard Studios and award of £11.82m
4. To approve the Full Business Case for the Bath City Centre High Streets Renewal Project and the award of £1.235m subject to confirmation of the High Streets Catalyst Fund match funding.
5. To approve the Full Business Case for the Bristol City Centre and High Streets Recovery and Renewal Programme and award of £2.725m
6. To approve the Outline Business Case for the Common Connections project.
7. To approve the Feasibility and Development Funding Application for the SEND Careers Information and Guidance Collaboration Pilot and the award of £20k.
8. To approve further development funding of £500k for ISTART, and to delegate approval of the Outline Business Case and award of funding of up to £1.94m to the West of England Combined Authority Chief Executive in consultation with the Chief Executives of the constituent councils, with a phased funding approach and/or the opportunity for other match funding to be considered as part of progressing to Full Business Case.
9. To approve the Full Business Case for the Careers Hub and award of £180k.
10. To delegate the approval of development funding applications and business cases for further recovery funding of up to £1m to the West of England Combined Authority Chief Executive in consultation with the Chief Executives of the constituent councils.
11. To award a further £1m to the Small Business Resilience Grant Programme and the Culture and Creative Economy Recovery Fund and to delegate the split of the funding between these programmes to the West of England Combined Authority Chief Executive in consultation with the Chief Executives of the constituent councils.
12. To approve the change requests for schemes within the current programme as set out in Appendix 2.
13. To amend the approved capital programme for individual project approvals agreed at the January Committee and within this report.
14. To approve the Feasibility and Development Funding application for Thornbury High Street Public Realm and the award of £200k from the Love Our High Streets allocation, with the opportunities for other match funding for the delivery of this project to be fully explored as part of developing the Full Business Case.
Supporting documents:
- 18 - Investment Fund, item 18. PDF 797 KB
- Item 18 - Amendment - approved - Investment Fund, item 18. PDF 128 KB