Agenda item

To consider a report by Councillor Jason McLellan, Leader and Lead Member for Economic Growth and Tackling Deprivation (copy enclosed) recommending that Cabinet reiterate its support for the proposed projects and delegate authority to named officers in consultation with the Leader to agree a standalone bid for the constituency of Clwyd West.

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

(a)       reiterates its support for the proposed projects that were previously supported by Cabinet and the broad indicative value of each project;

(b)       provides delegated authority to the Chief Executive Officer and Head of Planning, Public Protection and Countryside Services in consultation with the Section 151 Officer, Head of Legal, HR and Democratic Services and the Leader, to refine the projects and project costs as required and to agree for a standalone bid from Denbighshire County Council to be submitted for Round 2 of UK Government’s Levelling Up Fund for the constituency of Clwyd West, and

(c)        confirms that this decision be implemented immediately without call-in.

Councillor Jason McLellan presented the report on the UK Government Levelling Up Funding bid relating to Clwyd West, recommending Cabinet reiterate its support for the proposed projects previously supported by Cabinet, and delegate authority to named officers in consultation with the Leader to agree a standalone bid.

The Head of Planning, Public Protection and Countryside Services and the Public Protection, Regeneration and Economic Development Manager were also present for the item and together with the Leader provided some background to the report and change in circumstances leading to the current position to date.

In November 2021, Cabinet had approved submission of the bid, in partnership with Conwy County Borough Council (CCBC), for Clwyd West with CCBC acting as lead bidder.  UK Government guidance had stated that, where a constituency crossed multiple local authorities, those local authorities should work together to develop a joint bid.  However, revised guidance in March 2022 made provision for a bid from each local authority who crossed a constituency boundary which allowed a single bid from both DCC and CCBC for Clwyd West.  High level discussions with CCBC and David Jones, MP had taken place in that regard and whilst DCC’s preference had been to continue with a joint bid, CCBC had chosen to progress its own bid.  Consequently, Cabinet support was now required for DCC to pursue a single bid.

The projects previously supported by Cabinet remained unchanged and officers/consultants were confident that the DCC element remained strong in the event of a standalone bid.  David Jones, MP was supportive of both bids but could only provide “prioritisation/primary support” to a single bid and had chosen to prioritise DCC’s submission.  The Leader thanked David Jones, MP for backing DCC’s bid, which was an important element of the scoring process, and had been testament to the hard work of officers in the development of the bid application.

Councillor Emrys Wynne referred to the recent Ruthin Member Area Group (MAG) meeting at which members welcomed the progress made and the support of David Jones, MP for DCC’s bid, and the opportunity for transformational change and investment in Ruthin and surrounding areas.  However, concerns had been raised over the potential implications of CCBC’s decision to submit its own bid and local members had been alerted to that news through rumour rather than official channels.  The Leader and officers explained that discussions had been ongoing for some weeks but no decision had been made until very recently.  Once CCBC had made their decision to submit a single bid both Cabinet and Ruthin MAG had been updated on the situation.  Members were also encouraged to contact officers directly in the event of rumours so that the facts of the matter could be established.

Councillors Bobby Feeley and Huw Hilditch-Roberts (Ruthin Members) also paid tribute to the hard work of officers in development of the bid and thanked David Jones, MP for his support, highlighting the significant benefits to Ruthin and the surrounding area if the bid was successful.  The Leader and officers responded to subsequent questions/comments from the two local members as follows –

·         UK Government colleagues and consultants considered that DCC had a strong, cohesive bid with a clear theme and from that perspective CCBC’s decision to pursue a single bid would not have a detrimental impact on DCC’s bid

·         in theory, the move to a single bid would allow DCC to access up to £20m instead of the previous £10m.  However, given the tight timescales involved and complexities of the application process it was considered too late to make any amendments.  The possibility of increasing the contingency to cover the existing projects had been considered but the consultant was confident there was sufficient contingency and coverage in the current figures in that regard

·         work would be carried out in consultation with members on those regeneration projects not taken forward as part of the bid with a view to seeking alternative funding streams to progress them as appropriate

·         there may be merit in further discussing the issue of communication between members and officers in this case outside of the meeting and whether it could be improved upon from both a member and officer perspective

·         from discussions with CCBC it was unclear as to why they wished to pursue their own bid but the change in guidance to allow for a single bid prompted that decision and they clearly felt that a solo bid would be a stronger bid for them

·         there was confidence in the DCC bid and reference was made to the assessment criteria with DCC being priority 1 status and being able to deliver the projects within the necessary timescale and having a clear strategic theme.  However, if the bid was unsuccessful then other funding streams would be sought with a view to progressing those projects going forward

·         lessons could be learned from the process of developing the bids for the three constituency areas within Denbighshire which would stand the authority in good stead in the event that future funding allocations followed a similar process.

The Head of Legal, HR and Democratic Services referred to the closing date for bid applications of 6 July 2022.  Given the tight timescale involved, Cabinet was asked to formally record in their resolution that the decision be implemented immediately, without a call-in, to ensure that the deadline for bid applications could be met.

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

(a)       reiterates its support for the proposed projects that were previously supported by Cabinet and the broad indicative value of each project;

(b)       provides delegated authority to the Chief Executive Officer and Head of Planning, Public Protection and Countryside Services in consultation with the Section 151 Officer, Head of Legal, HR and Democratic Services and the Leader, to refine the projects and project costs as required and to agree for a standalone bid from Denbighshire County Council to be submitted for Round 2 of UK Government’s Levelling Up Fund for the constituency of Clwyd West, and

(c)        confirms that this decision be implemented immediately without call-in.