Agenda item

To consider a report by the Corporate Director: Economy & Public Realm (copy attached) to ask Council to adopt  the Proposition Document  and authorise the Leader to commit the Council, alongside its partners, to entering Heads of Terms agreement with  the UK and Welsh governments.

The Leader, Councillor Hugh Evans introduced the report recommending Council adopts the Proposition Document and authorisation for the Leader to commit the Council to entering Heads of Terms with Governments alongside the political and professional leaders from the nine other statutory partners represented on the North Wales Economic Ambition Board, and the North Wales Mersey Dee Business Council.

Background information was provided regarding previous collaborative approvals to adopt the Growth Vision and develop a Growth Deal Bid for the region.  The Proposition Document set out the priority programmes for activity and projects to be considered for inclusion in the Growth Deal at the Heads of Terms stage and required approval from all six North Wales local authorities.  The Leader stressed that adoption did not commit the Council to any financial investment of its own at this stage and was subject to the financial risks and benefits of the final Growth Deal.

Both the Leader and the Chief Executive advocated the Proposition Document as the best opportunity to expand the economy of North Wales and compete with other regions highlighting the possible impact on Denbighshire specifically.

The Chief Executive added that Denbighshire had a tremendous opportunity through the Growth Deal to secure investment in areas identified in the Corporate Plan, including transport, digital, business development and learning skills.

The Corporate Director: Economy and Public Realm, guided members through the Proposition Document and pertinent points.   

During discussions, the following points were raised:

·         the impact on rural areas needed to be made clearer and discussions were ongoing in that regard. 

·         the difficulties in predicting the financial implications given the number and cost of projects still to be approved, other partners contributions and assumptions some projects may generate revenue – consequently, a range of estimates had been provided with heavy caveats and with a peak cost for Denbighshire of £130k - £320k depending on a range of variables and over the fifteen year period there may be anything from no cost or over £1m costs – given those uncertainties, financial implications should be noted.

·         if the Bid was successful, details of the financial commitments required from individual local authorities in order to be part of the Growth Deal would likely become known as early as February/March 2019, and would depend on the amount of Government investment secured.

·         the importance and extent of private sector involvement and investment in the Growth Deal was highlighted, and it was noted that discussions with the private sector were ongoing in that regard.  There was a private sector representative on the North Wales Economic Ambition Board and a Stakeholder Group had been established involving the private sector to progress expectations.

·         prioritised projects in the Proposition Document were currently being assessed and would be subject to further negotiation with the UK and Welsh Governments.  Whilst it would be too late to submit any new projects as part of the Growth Deal, they could potentially be considered as part of the Growth Bid.

·         concerns were raised regarding nuclear technology and it was confirmed that the Wylfa Project was not part of the Growth Deal and the SMART Access to Energy Programme included a package of projects which accepted nuclear technology would be part of the UK’s energy production but also recognised low carbon projects being brought forward.  The two nuclear projects relating to Trawsfynydd Power Station and Nuclear Centre of Excellence amounted to about £38.6m of the total £335m capital investment sought from both Governments and, therefore, was not considered heavily biased towards nuclear energy.

·         similar reports had been submitted to Council Briefings and Council to each of the six North Wales local authorities to ensure consistency across the region.

·         there is a North Wales Digital Strategy in place – one part would be included within the Growth Bid but other projects are underway, and as a region it would be Local Full Fibre Networks (LFFN) which would come under under UK Government funding. 

RESOLVED that:

(i)            council adopts the Proposition Document as (1) the basis of a longer-term regional strategy for economic growth and (2) the regional bid for the priority programmes and projects from which the content of a Growth Deal will be drawn at the Heads of Terms Agreement stage with Governments.  Adoption does not commit the council to any financial investment of its own at this stage and is subject to the financial risks and benefits of the final Growth Deal being set out in details, for full consideration, when the final Deal is presented for approval at a later date.

(ii)          The Leader be authorised to commit the council to entering Heads of Terms with Governments alongside the political and professional leaders from the nine other statutory partners represented on the North Wales Economic Ambition Board, and the North Wales Mersey Dee business Council, with the Proposition Document setting out the parameters for the Heads of Terms Agreement.