Agenda item

To consider a report by Councillor Jason McLellan, Leader and Lead Member for Economic Growth and Tackling Deprivation (copy enclosed) informing Cabinet of the urgent decision taken to accept the Grant award offer from the UK Government under Round 3 of the Levelling Up Fund.

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

(a)      endorse the urgent decision taken by the Corporate Director: Environment and Economy in consultation with the Leader/Lead Member and Deputy Leader to accept the Grant award offer from UK Government of £19,973,282 under Round 3 of the Levelling Up Fund;

(b)      confirms it has understood the report and the changes that have been made to the Vale of Clwyd Levelling Up Fund application as a part of the UK Government’s Round 3 funding award process and accepts the Round 3 Grant Award for the Vale of Clwyd constituency, and

(c)      confirms that it has read, understood and taken account of the Wellbeing Impact Assessment as set out in Appendix 2 to the report as part of its consideration.

Councillor Jason McLellan presented the report informing Cabinet of the urgent decision taken by the Corporate Director Environment and Economy in consultation with the Leader/Lead Member and Deputy Leader to accept the Grant award offer from UK Government of £19,973,282 under Round 3 of the Levelling Up Fund (LUF).

Some background was provided to the LUF including the outcome of LUF bidding Rounds 1 and 2, and the offer from UK Government of a provisional LUF award under Round 3 of just under £20m in November 2023 based on previous appraisal of applications submitted under Round 2.  Following a review of the application, the Council had made three amendments to reflect the changes in circumstances since its submission in August 2022 which related to the removal of projects which had since secured alternative funding, replacement of the council’s match funding contribution of £1.9m with secured Growth Deal funding, and adjustment of projects to reflect the impact of inflation.  The value of LUF for the area remained the same.

Cabinet accepted the reasoning behind the urgent decision taken and noted the changes made to the funding application following the recent review.  Councillor Julie Matthews reiterated the importance of communication and engagement with the public on the projects and benefits as a result and queried future plans in that regard.  The Corporate Director Economy and the Environment explained the lack of detail in particular projects at the time of submission with some more advanced than others and work was ongoing to make those aspirations fit the budget available.  He provided assurances regarding communication and engagement going forward, particularly given the funding had now been secured.  Councillor Emrys Wynne referred to the reference to the Welsh Language in the Wellbeing Impact Assessment and sought a change to the wording to strengthen that reference to read as follows “Bi-lingual interpretation boards shall be used to provide information…”.  The Corporate Director agreed to change the wording to provide that clarity.

Councillor Brian Jones raised a number of questions and concerns regarding the timescale for completing the projects listed in the report, the lack of project detail and costing, the merits of individual projects, the timeliness of public consultation at an appropriate stage in the process, and any potential impact on the funding award as a result of the change in the UK Government.

The Leader and Corporate Director responded to the issues raised as follows –

·       there had been a name change of the government department from Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to Housing, Communities and Local Government and some general guidance on the way levelling up would work in future was awaited.  However, there had been no indication that the funding award would be withdrawn, and work was progressing on delivering the projects

·       reference was made to the inaugural meeting of the Rhyl Town Board with the long term plan for Rhyl very much part of the levelling up agenda and indications were that there would be an extension to the current timescale for completing projects with no substantial changes going forward; the importance of communication and engagement with the public and business community had also been discussed and was considered vitally important by all concerned

·       the Leader had met with Gill German, MP and Becky Gittins, MP on a number of issues and had outlined concerns in terms of the timescales of the LU agenda

·       the report related to the process of accepting the funding award and therefore did not include the individual project detail.  However, it would be possible to bring forward another report specifically on the project detail or hold a workshop with members to further discuss the projects.  That said, the reasoning behind the Gateway project was provided and there had already been much engagement with adjoining businesses, local members, and Rhyl Town Council

·       the importance of communication and engagement across the levelling up programme had been repeatedly highlighted and accepted and assurances provided that it would continue to remain a key priority going forward.

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

(a)      endorse the urgent decision taken by the Corporate Director: Environment and Economy in consultation with the Leader/Lead Member and Deputy Leader to accept the Grant award offer from UK Government of £19,973,282 under Round 3 of the Levelling Up Fund;

(b)      confirms it has understood the report and the changes that have been made to the Vale of Clwyd Levelling Up Fund application as a part of the UK Government’s Round 3 funding award process and accepts the Round 3 Grant Award for the Vale of Clwyd constituency, and

(c)      confirms that it has read, understood and taken account of the Wellbeing Impact Assessment as set out in Appendix 2 to the report as part of its consideration.

At this point (11.20 am) the meeting adjourned for a refreshment break.