Issue details

Delegated authority has been granted to the West of England Combined Authority Chief Executive to take decisions on the award of Business Innovation Fund grants in consultation with the Chief Executives of the West of England councils.

The Business Innovation Fund is a support programme open to West of England based Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) seeking to progress research and development (R&D) activity, at experimental development stage, that will lead to the creation of new products, process and/or services.

The West of England Combined Authority secured £1.45m of European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) support from the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government (MHCLG) towards a £3.23m total project cost to deliver this programme.

Round three grant applications were submitted and assessed against eligibility / scoring criteria.  The Economic Development Managers and Business & Skills Directors of the West of England councils were consulted on the recommendations that emerged from this assessment process.

Additional to decisions on round three grant applications, updates to the organisation(s) to which round two grants have been awarded were requested.

The Chief Executives of the West of England councils were consulted on the proposals and were in agreement with the recommendations/requests.