Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed those present at the meeting and at his invitation introductions were duly made.

Apologies for absence had been received from Councillor Tony Jefferson (Non-Constituent Districts), Gary Taylor (Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership) and Sue Summers (West Midlands Development Capital).

Apologies for absence had also been received from Richard Moon and Andy Williams (Coventry City Council) and Sukhy Dhanoa (West Midlands Combined Authority).

No substitutes had been nominated by those members who had submitted apologies for absence.

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).

No declarations of interests were made at the meeting.

The Board considered the minutes of the meeting held on 11 November 2019.

With reference to Minute No. 63 (Update on the Activity of the West Midlands Growth Company), Ian Martin advised that the comprehensive data requested at the last meeting on performance benchmarking by region had been received and would be circulated following the meeting.

With reference to Minute No. 64 (Proposed Site Acquisition and Disposal Strategy for Land at Dobbs Street, Wolverhampton) and the compliance with the WMCA’s Single Commissioning Framework (SCF), Gareth Bradford that the previous report on the SCF provided to the November 2019 Investment Board would be updated for the January 2020 meeting and include the amendments the Housing and Land Delivery Board had agreed to make under delegated authority on 30 September 2019 to the SCF.

Resolved:

1.    That the minutes of the meeting held on 11 November 2019 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair;

2.    That the comprehensive data on performance by region as requested at the last meeting be circulated;

3.    That a report on the recent adjustments to the Single Commissioning Framework be submitted to the next meeting of this Board.

Linda Horne and Ian Martin presented a report on the status

of the Investment Programme to assist the Board in determining investment

decisions.

The Chair advised that following comments made at previous meetings a revised Dashboard had been prepared to assist the Board in tracking investments made and a copy was circulated at the meeting. Ian Martin reported that the revised Dashboard would assist the Board to:

·         Concentrate on dates when investments had been made and would be delivered;

·         That it would replace the Dashboard now presented at Appendix 4 to the report; and

·         Would assist in identifying slippage with schemes and identifying projects to be reviewed.

Sarah Middleton commented that the Land and Property Investment Fund (LPIF) was the subject of delegated authority to the Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership via a delegation from the WMCA to the Black Country authorities with Walsall MBC as the Accountable Body but that she would assist Ian Martin with its incorporation into the revised Dashboard for monitoring and evaluation purposes.

Councillor Tristan Chatfield enquired that if start dates slipped whether end dates would also be extended on relevant projects. Ian Martin advised that such issues would be interrogated by the WMCA Programme Management Office and reports produced as appropriate for consideration by this Board.

Nick Abell welcomed the revised Dashboard but identified certain discrepancies. Councillor Mike Bird queried the contents of a particular scheme and Ian Martin gave an outline of the scheme.

Resolved:

1. That the status of the Investment Programme as detailed within

the report be noted; 

2. that the revised Dashboard be approved in principle with comments to be provided to Ian Martin by 3 January 2020. 

The Board considered the WMCA Collective Investment Fund (CIF)

Dashboard (public iteration) as at 1 December 2019.

Resolved:

            That the Dashboard be received and noted.

The Board considered the WMCA Brownfield Land and Property Development Fund (BLPDF) Dashboard (public iteration) as at as at 1 December 2019.

Nick Oakley advised of an over-commitment to a particular scheme which would be reduced to comply with state aid requirements and that the allocation to another scheme was being reviewed as funding had not been drawn down as anticipated. He reported that all necessary legal agreements had now been signed between the respective parties and the WMCA in relation to schemes linked to the Commonwealth Games and were proceeding accordingly.

Councillor Mike Bird queried the gap in funding in relation to the Commonwealth Games. Councillor Tristan Chatfield explained that whilst some organisations had yet to commit to the funding promises, the commitments made to date exceeded requirements and, as such, a funding gap did not exist.   

Resolved:

 That the Dashboard be received and noted.

The Board considered the WMCA Revolving Investment Fund (RIF) Dashboard (public iteration) as at as at 1 December 2019.

Resolved:

 That the Dashboard be received and noted.

The Board considered the Land and Property Investment Fund (LPIP) Dashboard as at 1 December 2019.

Sarah Middleton advised that the current iteration did not include reference to the additional 1,700 jobs to be created through the investment at the i54 site in Wolverhampton but would be included in future reports.

Resolved:

            That the Dashboard be received and noted.

[To pass the following resolution:

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)]

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).

Nick Oakley presented a report which sought approval to grant funding from the Land Fund (LF) and Brownfield Land and Property Development Fund (BLPDF)  together with a loan from the WMCA Revolving Investment Fund (RIF) to assist with funding the construction and abnormals / viability gap at the Development.  Richard Lawrence advised that the site was a key regeneration site in Wolverhampton and had suffered from vandalism and arson damage in recent years. The City of Wolverhampton Council supported the scheme.

The Board raised various questions in respect of the scheme and funding proposals including:

·         The reasons for Compulsory Purchase Powers (CPO) not being used by the Council now and previously to resolve the issues earlier;

·         The need for independent valuations;

·         The increase in value of the site between acquisition and the present time and any linkages to the availability of public funding;

·         The provision of affordable / quasi-affordable units;

·         The role of English Heritage;

·         The possibility of the City of Wolverhampton Council making a financial contribution towards the investment requested; and

·         The reasons for enforcement action under Town and Country Planning legislation not being used at the appropriate time.

Resolved:

That the matter be deferred for consideration at the next meeting following further consideration by the Investment Advisory Group, the WMCA and City of Wolverhampton Council having regard to the various issues now raised including the terms of the loans and grant being reported separately.

Kieren Turner-Owen presented a report which sought approval of a grant from the WMCA Land Fund and Brownfield Land and Property Development Fund to assist with funding the viability gap to provide 68 residential units, 35 of which would be affordable, at the property subject to conditions detailed in the report.

Resolved:

1.    That approval of grant funding to assist with the delivery of 68 residential units, 35 of which would be affordable tenure be approved subject to the conditions detailed in the report and the critical dates referred to above;

2.    That the explanation of ‘clawback’ be defined more fully in all future reports to this Board in line with the Single Commissioning Framework to ease consideration of that aspect.

Ed Bradburn presented a report which sought approval to an allocation of Collective Investment Fund (CIF) monies to fund the costs required to deliver the Development by way of a commercial loan. He advised that the pylon on the site did not present an issue, that the development of the site would lead to the creation of 150 jobs approximately and would generate £350,000 in additional Business Rates.

Resolved:

That the allocation of Collective Investment Fund (CIF) monies as detailed in the report to fund the costs required to deliver the Development by way of a commercial loan be approved.

Andy Green presented a report which sought approval to the provision of Revolving Investment Fund (RIF) monies to the Company to assist with the Development of 42 residential units and 13,800 sq. ft. of new commercial space in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter. The scheme would also retain a longstanding manufacturer of top jewellery in the area and provide new employment opportunities.

Resolved:

That the provision of Revolving Investment Fund (RIF) monies as detailed in the report to the Company to assist with the Development of 42 residential units and 13,800 sq. ft. of new commercial space in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter be approved.

The Board considered the WMCA Collective Investment Fund (CIF)

Dashboard (private iteration) as at 1 December 2019.

Resolved:

            That the Dashboard be received and noted.

The Board considered the WMCA Brownfield Land and Property Development Fund (BLPDF) Dashboard (private iteration) as at 1 December 2019.

Resolved:

 That the Dashboard be received and noted.

The Board considered the WMCA Revolving Investment Fund (RIF) Dashboard (private iteration) as at 1 December 2019.

Resolved:

 That the Dashboard be received and noted.

Ian Martin reminded the Board on the development of an Investment prospectus for use at MIPM 2019 with the intention that would only be subject to minor editorial amendments for MIPM 2020. The Editorial Group had met and had worked on minor changes which would be presented by way of a presentation to the next meeting of this Board on 20 January 2020 with the final iteration being considered at the meeting on 17 February 2020.

Resolved:

            That the report be received and noted.