Decisions
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25/03/2021 - Local Growth Fund, Getting Building Fund, Revolving Infrastructure Fund and Investment Fund change requests ref: 256 Recommendations Approved
There is a requirement that all Local Growth
Fund (LGF) grant funds are spent by March 2021 and also a condition
that the Getting Building Fund (GBF) is spent within the financial
year it was awarded, that being £6.85m in 2020/21 and
£6.85m in 2021/22.
Owing to the need to manage scheme changes, including any necessary
funding swaps to ensure full grant spend, in advance of the next
WECA / Joint Committee meeting, the following delegations to the
WECA Chief Executive in consultation with the West of England Chief
Executives were granted at the 29 January 2021 meeting of the WECA
/ Joint Committee:
- Approval of changes to funding profile and programme for schemes
within the current LGF, GBF, Economic Development Fund (EDF) and
Revolving Infrastructure Fund (RIF) programmes.
- Approval of the reallocation of funding for schemes in the
approved LGF/GBF programme including swaps with the EDF, and
exceptionally the Investment Fund.
The 29 January WECA Committee also provided the following
delegation in the context of the Investment Fund programme:
- In advance of the next meeting of the WECA Committee, to delegate
the approval of changes to funding profile and programme for
approved schemes to the WECA Chief Executive in consultation with
the Chief Executives of the constituent councils.
A number of recommended changes to schemes within the current LGF /
GBF, RIF and Investment Fund programmes were subsequently
identified for approval. The key changes were:
Local Growth Fund/Getting Building Fund and Revolving
Infrastructure Fund:
- Funding changes to three schemes: Keynsham High Street, Weston
Town Centre enhancements and MetroWest Phase 1 which are now unable
to deliver full LGF spend in 2020/21 and will instead receive EDF,
with the Cribbs Patchway Metrobus Extension (CPME) receiving the
LGF for the spend planned in quarter 4. This forecast CPME quarter
4 spend is insufficient to meet all the requested reprofiling by
£1.138m. Therefore, it is necessary to swap LGF for the
Investment Fund spend by CPME earlier this year, with MetroWest
Phase 1 (already in the Investment Fund programme) benefitting from
this amount of Investment Fund rather than LGF.
Investment Fund
Requests for additional funding for the existing Kingswood High
Street (£54k) and Bath & North East Somerset High Street
Pilot (£95k) projects which it is proposed are accommodated
from the Love Our High Streets allocation (balance with these
requests £5.621m). Significant reprofiling forward of funding
for the Quantum Technologies Innovation Centre+ project is also
proposed.
The Chief Executives of the West of England unitary authorities
were consulted on these proposals and were in agreement with the
decision.
Decision Maker: Chief Executive, West of England Combined Authority
Decision published: 26/03/2021
Effective from: 25/03/2021
Decision:
Approval given to recommended changes to
schemes as follows:
Local Growth Fund / Getting Building Fund:
* Keynsham High Street - swap £252K of LGF for EDF due to
delays, with the Cribbs Patchway MetroBus Extension receiving the
LGF instead of EDF [Revised LGF/GBF total £1.248m with
£230k LGF in 20/21 and £848k GBF in 21/22. EDF total
£252k profiled in 21/22]
* Weston-super-Mare Town Centre Enhancement Scheme – swap of
£1m of LGF with EDF, with the Cribbs Patchway MetroBus
Extension receiving the LGF instead of EDF [Revised LGF total
£2m with £1.185m in 20/21. Revised EDF total £1m
profiled in 21/22.]
* MetroWest Phase 1 - swap of £2.5m of LGF to Cribbs Patchway
Metrobus Extension. Substituted funding being EDF to the value of
the balance Q4 claim (allowing for the changes above) for the CPME
(forecast £1.362m), with the remainder through the Investment
Fund swapping with the CPME claim paid for Q1 20/21 (forecast
£1.138m).
Revised LGF total £18.524m with £3.634m profiled in
20/21. EDF total £48.737m profiled £1.395m 21/22,
£21.739m 22/23, £14.473m 23/24 and £11.13m 24/25.
Revised Investment Fund total £6.998m profiled in
21/22.
* Cribbs Patchway Metrobus Extension – additional
£3.752 LGF swapped with EDF (£2.614) and Investment
Fund (£1.138m). [LGF funding £13.731m, EDF funding
£22.407m and IF funding £21.013m, total
£57.151m]
* OPCR – Infrastructure, Sensor Factory, CAV Access Network
and KWMC Research Projects
Scope: Removal of CAV-Access Network scheme from project (including
the outputs and outcomes from this scheme) owing to delays and
resource issues.
Cost: Reduction in LGF funding of £511k to
£2.829m.
Milestones: 4 month delay to one milestone and removal of the CAV
Access Network milestone.
* Bristol Beacon
Cost: Reallocation of £511k LGF from OPCR project to meet
cost pressures, with funding profiled in 20/21 [Revised LGF total
£11.847m]
Milestones: 11 month delay to completion date for construction
contract (to Apr 23) and opening date for the new concert hall (to
Oct 23).
* Bath Quays North Development Infrastructure Works –
reprofiling of LGF funds to be £725K in
16/17, £1.425m in 17/18, £986k in 18/19, £317k in
19/20 and £2.101m in 20/21, total £5.554m
Revolving Infrastructure Fund:
* Invest Bristol & Bath – Reprofile £140K from
20/21 to 21/22 [Revised RIF profile £860K in 20/21,
£1.14m in 21/22, £1m in 22/23, £1m in 23/24 and
£1m in 24/25, total £5m]
Investment Fund:
* High Street B&NES Pilots
Milestones: Delay to milestones for Full Business Cases for –
Midsomer Norton 5 months, Bath City Centre 1 month and Local
Centres 3 months.
Cost: Request for additional £95k feasibility funding in
21/22 to undertake further survey work and technical design to
reduce risk and increase cost certainty on the Midsomer Norton
project.
Spend: Reprofiling £53k from 20/21 to 21/22 [Revised profile
£77k 20/21 and £148k 21/22 total £375k].
* Kingswood High Street
Milestones: Inclusion of new milestones for Acquisition of the
Kings Chase Shopping Centre (May 21), Development of a Masterplan
Delivery Strategy (Mar 22), Development of a Comprehensive
Redevelopment Plan for the Kings Chase Shopping Centre (Mar
22)
Cost: Request for an additional £54k to support new
milestones. Additional match funding of £25k from South
Gloucestershire Council.
Spend: Reprofiling of £10k from 20/21 to 21/22 [Revised
profile £118k 19/20, £140k 20/21 and £64k 21/22
total £322k].
Note: these two requested funding increases can be accommodated
from within the funding for the Love Our High Streets programme,
and with them the balance allocated to 22/23 stands at
£5.621m.
* Quantum Technologies Innovation Centre
Milestones: 12-18 month delay to milestones for UoB
Operationalisation and Preparation, and Residential and Academic
buildings open, both now academic year 24/25. The delay requires
amendment to the start on site deadline in the conditional grant
funding agreement from 4 October 2021 to 31 March 2023.
Spend: Reprofiling £25.171m from 20/21 and 21/22 to
22/23-25/26. [Revised profile £8.501m 22/23, £16.487m
23/24, £7.986m 24/25 and £2m 25/26, total
£34.974m]
* Bath River Line - Reprofiling £85k from 20/21 to 21/22
[Revised profile £65k 20/21 and £85k 21/22 total
£150k]
* Temple Meads Masterplan
Milestones: Delay of 9 months for the completion of the Development
Framework Report.
Spend: Reprofiling £733k from 20/21 to 21/22 [Revised profile
£161k 18/19, £423k 19/20, £657k 20/21 and
£733k 21/22 total £1.975m]. £590k moved from
external costs to internal staff costs.
Scope: Additional scope and allowance for professional fees, such
as valuation, property and planning advice.
* A420 to Bath Highway Improvements Milestones: Delay of 5 months
for Options Assessment Report to February 2021 due to the number of
scheme option combinations required to be assessed and modelled
during sifting stages with Outline Business Case now March
2022.
Spend: Reprofiling £25k from 20/21 to 21/22 [Revised profile
£10k 17/18, £76k 18/19, £18k 19/20, £71k
20/21 and £25k 21/22 total £200k].
* Walking and Cycling Infrastructure - Reprofiling £80k from
20/21 to 21/22 [Revised profile £20k 20/21 and £80k
21/22 total £100k].
* Somer Valley Enterprise Zone - Reprofiling £147k from 20/21
to 21/22 [Revised profile £879k to 20/21 and £147k
21/22 total £1.062m]. £212k of public sector match
funding to be reprofiled from 20/21 to 21/22.
* Cribbs Patchway Cycle Links
Milestones: 1-4 months delay to a number of milestones.
Spend: Reprofiling of £358k from 20/21 [Revised profile
£345k 19/20, £1.656m 20/21 and £1.124m 21/22,
total £3.125m]
* Spatial Development Strategy - Additional scope with inclusion of
decarbonisation evidence base for transport to support the SDS
programme and its transport interventions planning to ensure these
are in line with climate change targets. Inclusion of related
milestones including the production of the Option Development
Report (Jun 21).
* Cultural Strategy - Additional match funding of £20k
provided by Arts Council England.
* Whitfield Tabernacle Stabilisation – Reprofiling
£602k from 19/20 and 20/21 to 21/22 [Revised profile
£80k 20/21 & £602k 21/22 total £682k].
Additional match funding of £138k from Historic
England.
Lead officer: Patricia Greer