Decision details

(1)       The request for £18m of WMCA repayable grant, as part of an overall £126m project in progress to create an innovative open access facility and research and technology organisation to support national and regional Industrial Strategy focus on UK design, development and manufacture of battery technologies, was approved, subject to the charge noted in (4) below on UK Battery Industrialisation Centre assets.

(2)       It was noted that the repayable grant would be financed by the WMCA through treasury management and prudential borrowing as required, and would not form part of the WMCA Investment Programme.

(3)       It was noted that the repayable grant would not bear interest.

(4)       It was noted that grant repayment risk would be mitigated by placing an appropriate first charge on UK Battery Industrialisation Centre assets.

(5)       Authority was delegated to the WMCA Finance Director and Monitoring Officer, in consultation with the Portfolio Lead for Economy & Innovation to finalise details of the security, repayments and other technical details of the repayable grant.