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Agenda and minutes

Venue: 16, Summer Lane, Birmingham, B19 3SD

Contact: Carl Craney Governance Services Officer West Midlands Combined Authority 

Items
No. Item

133.

Apologies for Absence (if any)

Presented By: Chair

Minutes:

Apologies for absence had been received from Nick Abell (Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership), Paul Brown (Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership), Councillor Roger Lawrence (City of Wolverhampton Council) and Councillor Jim O’Boyle (Coventry City Council).

 

An apology for absence had also been received from Richard Moon (Coventry City Council).  

134.

Notification of Substitutes (if any)

Minutes:

Councillor John Reynolds had been appointed as a substitute for Councillor Roger Lawrence (City of Wolverhampton Council).

135.

Declarations of Interests (if any)

Members are reminded of the need to declare

any disclosable pecuniary interests they have in

an item being discussed during the course of the

meeting. In addition, the receipt of any gift or

hospitality should be declared where the value of

it was thought to have exceeded £25 (gifts) or

£40 (hospitality).

Minutes:

No declarations of interests were made relative to items under consideration at the meeting.

136.

Minutes of last meeting pdf icon PDF 197 KB

Minutes:

Resolved:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 18 February 2019 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair subject to the following:

i)             The addition of ‘Councillor John Reynolds – City of Wolverhampton Council’ in the list of members present;

ii)            In Minute No. 104 (West Midlands Commercial Fund Extension) Point 5 – the deletion of ‘fund management services’ and the substitution therefor of ‘fund advisory services’.

137.

Black Country Land and Property Investment Fund - The i54 Western Extension pdf icon PDF 135 KB

Minutes:

Sarah Middleton presented a report which sought to secure agreement to derogations from the Commissioning Framework and which set out the conditions which would be applied to such an approval. She advised that the proposed investment would assist in the delivery of the strategically important i54 Western Extension site through the development of one of the largest employment sites in the West Midlands.

 

Resolved:

1.    That the decision by the Black Country Joint Committee that £5 million of funding from the Black Country Land and Property Investment Fund (LPIF) be made available to the City of Wolverhampton Council as the Accountable Body for the fund to facilitate the delivery of the i54 Western Extension project be noted;

2.    That the West Midlands Combined Authority Board be recommended:

a)    That a derogation be provided in respect of the i54 Western extension project with regard to the Commissioning Framework for the Black Country Land and Property Investment Fund (approved by the WMCA Board in September 2017) in recognition of the fact that the outputs from the project will be delivered outside the agreed timeframe;

b)    That the consent to the derogation was specific and exclusive to the i54 Western Extension project and did not set a precedent for any future decisions;

c)    That approval be sought for the utilisation of WMCA funding to be allocated to a site that was outside the boundaries of the Black Country. The i54 Western Extension project was located in South Staffordshire with 60 acres being in the ownership of the City of Wolverhampton Council, A Constituent Area Local Authority. This site would play an important role in the delivery of the WMCA Strategic Economic Plan (SEP), Black Country SEP and the Local Industrial Strategy.  

138.

Investment Programme and Dashboard pdf icon PDF 231 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Linda Horne and Sukhy Dhanoa presented a report on the status of the

Investment Programme to assist the Board in determining investment

decisions. Linda Horne advised that a meeting had been held with the WMCA mayor and the Leaders of the Councils on 8 March 2019 on Investment Programme Prioritisation strategies, with work on six separate workstreams having commenced with a further report to be submitted to the meeting scheduled for 15 April 2019.

 

Councillor Mike Bird sought an assurance that in the event of a scheme receiving funding from an alternative source that the funding from the Investment Fund would be returned to the Fund for re-allocation by this Board. Linda Horne explained that in the case of any underspends or the identification of alternative funding the ‘Change Control’ process approved previously by the Board would apply albeit that requests for the funding to be used for other purposes could be made to this Board via the ‘Change Control’ process by the original recipient. Councillor Mike Bird advised that he was referring specifically to circumstances where alternative funding had been identified. The Chair confirmed that this would be covered by the ‘Change Control’ process and the future use of the sums allocated originally would be determined by this Board.

 

Sarah Middleton commented that while the various Dashboards appended to the report were helpful a further Dashboard setting out the overall programme position would be useful. Linda Horne undertook to work with Sukhy Dhanoa on producing such a Dashboard for consideration at future meetings.

 

Resolved:

1.    That the report be received and noted;

2.    That the position with the use of any allocated funds following the identification of alternative sources of funding as now set out be noted;

3.    That a further Dashboard be prepared setting out the overall programme position be submitted to future meetings of the Board.

139.

WMCA Collective Investment Fund (CIF) - Dashboard pdf icon PDF 114 KB

Minutes:

Nick Oakley presented the Collective Investment Fund (CIF) Dashboard

(public iteration) as at 15 March 2019.

 

Resolved:

            That the Dashboard be received and noted.

140.

WMCA Brownfield Land and Property Development Fund (BLPDF) - Dashboard pdf icon PDF 293 KB

Minutes:

Nick Oakley presented the Brownfield Land and Property Fund (BLPPF)

Dashboard (public iteration) as at 15 March 2019.

 

Resolved:

That the Dashboard be received and noted.

141.

Land and Property Investment Fund (LPIF) - Dashboard pdf icon PDF 309 KB

Minutes:

Sarah Middleton presented the Land and Property Investment Fund (LPIF)

Dashboard (public iteration) as at 1 March 2019.

 

Resolved:

That the Dashboard be received and noted.

 

142.

Exclusion of the Public and Press

[To pass the following resolution:

That in accordance with Section 100(A) of the

Local Government Act, 1972 the press and

public be excluded from the meeting for the

following items of business as it involves the

likely disclosure of exempt information relating to

the business or financial affairs of any particular

person (including the authority holding that

information)]

Minutes:

Resolved:

That in accordance with Section 100A4 of the Local Government Act

1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting during the

consideration of the following items of business as they involve the

likely disclosure of exempt information relating to the business affairs

of any particular person (Including the authority holding that

information).

143.

Chase Midlands Estates Limited

Minutes:

Gerald Gannaway presented a report which requested a small increase in an existing Collective Investment Fund (CIF) loan to allow for extra build costs and contingency and provide an extension in the loan term to 31 March 2020 (from 27 March 2020).

 

Resolved:

That the increase in the loan be approved on the terms detailed in the report.

144.

WMCA Collective Investment Fund (CIF) - Dashboard

Minutes:

Nick Oakley presented the Collective Investment Fund (CIF) Dashboard

(private iteration) as at 15 March 2019.

 

Resolved:

That the Dashboard be received and noted.

145.

WMCA Brownfield Land and Property Development Fund (BLPDF) - Dashboard

Minutes:

Nick Oakley presented the Brownfield Land and Property Fund (BDLP)

Dashboard (private iteration) as at 15 March 2019.

 

Resolved:

That the Dashboard be received and noted.

146.

Land and Property Investment Fund (LPIF) - Dashboard

Minutes:

Sarah Middleton presented the Land and Property Investment Fund (LPIF)

Dashboard (private iteration) as at 1 March 2019.

 

Resolved:

That the Dashboard be received and noted.