MINUTES of MEETING of the STIRLING AND CLACKMANNANSHIRE CITY REGION DEAL JOINT COMMITTEE held via MS Teams on 27 SEPTEMBER 2022 at 2.30 pm
Present
Councillor Ellen Forson, Clackmannanshire Council (In the Chair) Councillor Martha Benny, Clackmannanshire Council
Councillor Kenneth Earle, Clackmannanshire Council Graeme Duff, University of Stirling
Councillor Scott Farmer, Stirling Council Councillor Chris Kane, Stirling Council, Eileen Schofield, University of Stirling Professor Leigh Sparks, University of Stirling
In Attendance
Betty Brown, Support Officer, Regional Project Management Office Nikki Bridle, Chief Executive, Clackmannanshire Council
Carol Beattie, Chief Executive, Stirling Council
Jane Burridge, Lead Transformation Officer, Clackmannanshire Council Councillor Denis Coyne, Clackmannanshire Council
John Craig, Programme Manager, University of Stirling
Emma Fyvie, Senior Manager – Development, Clackmannanshire Council Ann Jacob-Chandler, Head of Regional Project Management Office
Pete Leonard, Strategic Director, Clackmannanshire Council
Nicole McIntosh, Project Analyst, Regional Project Management Office Paul Morris, Project Manager, Regional Project Management Office Stuart Oliver, Senior Manager – Economic Development, Stirling Council Carla MacFarlane, Communications, Clackmannanshire Council
Lee Robertson, Senior Manager, Legal & Governance, Clackmannanshire Council
Dr John Rogers, Executive Director, Research & Innovation Services, University of Stirling Richard Marsh, Director, 4-Consulting
Melanie Moore, Committee Services, Clackmannanshire Council (Minutes)
CRD171 APOLOGIES AND SUBSTITUTIONS
Apologies were submitted on behalf of Brian Roberts, Chief Operating Officer – Infrastructure and Environment, Stirling Council
CRD172 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
None.
CRD173 URGENT BUSINESS
None.
CRD174 MINUTES – JOINT COMMITTEE MEETING – 26 JULY 2022
The minutes of the meeting of the Stirling and Clackmannanshire City Region Deal Joint Committee held on 26 July 2022 were submitted for approval.
Decision
The minutes of the meeting of the Stirling and Clackmannanshire City Region Deal Joint Committee held on 26 July 2022 were agreed as an accurate record.
CRD175 FORWARD PLANNING
- JOINT COMMITTEE ROLLING ACTION LOG
The Joint Committee Rolling Action Log was submitted for information. There were no changes to the Rolling Action Log as it was still under review. Changes in terms of where programmes and projects are will be kept under review. The Committee will be updated of any changes and further changes. The Log provided comment on outstanding actions.
Decision
The Joint Committee agreed to note the content of the Rolling Action Log.
(b) JOINT COMMITTEE FORWARD PLAN
The Joint Committee Forward Plan was submitted for information. The Forward Plan is a live document.
Decision
The Joint Committee agreed to note the content of the Joint Committee Forward Plan.
CRD176 STIRLING & CLACKMANNANSHIRE’S CITY REGION DEAL – PROGRAMME STATUS REPORT
The report, submitted by Ann Jacob-Chandler, Head of Regional Programme Management Office (RPMO) updated the Joint Committee on the deal programme highlights and progress overview.
There has been a lot of work of strengthening the Japanese Garden business case and the realisation plan is being discussed at this meeting. The Cowie report was approved at the last committee. The National Aquaculture Technology and Innovation hub, Cultural Heritage and Tourism, and the Active Travel Programme business cases are still under various stages of review. The Active Travel Programme is waiting for feedback from the Scottish Government and Transport Scotland. It is now expected to come back to November Committee and Committee will be briefed then. The first risk workshop for the deal has taken place and was a very helpful exercise. All SROs and project leads were involved in discussions. Once mitigation actions are worked through it will be brought back to Committee. A lot of work is taking place on the communication workstream and the paper being covered as part of the agenda. An Innovation checkpoint review was held which was chaired by the UK Government .
In terms of claims, there has already been £768,000 drawn down so far and the claims forecast for the rest of the year are noted in the report. There will be an ongoing review in terms of NATIH forecasts, and a further update will be brought to the next Committee.
The changing state of the economy is continuing to have an impact on projects. The RMPO will do a full review of the impact of inflation as well as supply chain impact on deal projects. We are in a position to provide the Government and Committee with a full review of what it means to our deal in particular since the position has changed from deal signing to where we are today. What it means in terms of affordability and in terms of benefit, will be brought to Committee in due course.
The Chair asked about the cost of living and sharing extra costs – will it be funded within the deal partners or would the governments come up with the extra money. Ann advised that RMPO had resource pressures without having full time finance person, however she indicated that the post has been filled and the first thing our new colleague will be doing is a full review of the inflationary impact on the deal. This will be brought to the Join Committee and COG as soon as possible. Ann mentioned that she is attending a meeting with both Governments and the Scottish Office tomorrow and will have an update on that.
The Chair also asked about the procurement supply chain as there is difficulty in sourcing material, getting labour and even getting companies to bid for contracts. The Chair was conscious that a lot of our projects are about to go into that phase at the moment but asked if we expecting any issues there and what sort of action are we looking to take in relation to that? Ann replied that there had been specific issues over procurement of specific units that had been coming from Europe. We are already facing challenges and advised that she doesn’t think that will change anytime soon. Ann suggested that all we can do is plan for, and pre-empt any issues, allowing for long lead times and greater contingences across all our projects and programmes.
The Chair asked when the Joint Committee were likely to see a Benefits Realisation forecast, as things had changed through the pandemic, what could be the outcome if the City Deal was revised – was that something that could be brought forward in due course? Ann advised that the first thing to do would be a financial review to understand what we are going to get for the same amount of money in 2022 and beyond. Ann is hoping in the next couple of months to provide a definitive review once a full financial review has been completed.
Decision
The Joint Committee agreed to:-
- Note the content of the Programme Status Report.
CRD177 THE JAPANESE GARDENS – BUSINESS JUSTIFICATION CASE
The report, submitted by Richard Marsh, Director at 4-Consulting, sought Joint Committee approval of the Business Justification Case for the Japanese Gardens Project. This project is part of the Capital Fund for Clackmannanshire within the City Region Deal.
Councillor Farmer was concerned as to whether the Japanese Garden pays the living wage to employees as he thought that it would be already be happening. Also in terms of 2b of the report the Japanese Garden will ask contactors and those organising placements to pay the living wage and suggested that the sentence could be strengthened to say “our expectation is that they will pay the living wage”. He also asked in terms of 6b the schools engagement programme asking for clarity that it’s for both Stirling and Clackmannanshire schools. Councillor Farmer also queried the 20% of deprived communities including Alloa South and East would benefit and how did this figure come about. Richard advised that the previous business case did say that it would pay the living wage and already does. He also said that both Stirling and Clackmannanshire schools are included in the schools engagement programme.
On the last question Richard replied that they try to catch those communities who were categorised as deprived which is slightly north of 20%. He also said that they draw in people from more deprived communities to find employment opportunities and nearly half are from the FK10 postcode which covers a large area.
The Chair advised that herself and Nikki Bridle had met with Sara Stewart and was looking forward to the outcome of todays business. She hoped that any projects that follow will stand up to the same robust scrutiny as we move forward.
Decision
The Joint Committee agreed to:-
- Approve the Business Justification Case for the Japanese Gardens, with Benefit Realisation Plan, and;
- Note the activity that has commenced as part of the project.
Action
Richard Marsh
CRD178 STIRLING & CLACKMANNANSHIRE’S CITY REGION DEAL – COMMUNICATIONS UPDATE
The report, submitted by Paul Morris, Project Manager, Regional Programme Management Office (RPMO) provided relevant to the publication of the City Regional Deal Annual Report 2021, development of the Annual Report for 2022 and development of website and related matters.
The Chair asked about procurement when considering tenders/bids from local companies and asked about best value. Paul Morris advised that five business are included in this process. Councillor Kane suggested that assurance is needed once the decision is made around how that decision was made. Paul advised that these decisions would be reported at the conclusion of the process. Councillor Kane also asked that if a local firm wasn’t successful if feedback could be provided as to what they could have been done better. Paul advised that five companies have been invited to tender, 2 are based in the Stirling/Clackmannanshire region. Councillor Kane asked what the criteria for the process was. Paul advised that he had gone out and sourced suitable companies; one is based in Inverness and had already done work for one of the partners. He advised that he had been that trying to find companies who had the experience in the area and who were interested. Another, Dundee based company, were recommended by a previous contact who had previously undertaken work for them. The third company was based in Glasgow and was a larger company. He was trying to get a spread of the market and an understanding of what can be provided while trying to find best value. Councillor Kane was keen to understand the decision process and how the decision is made so that lessons could be learned and moving forward. Paul advised that he would produce a report once a decision is made to update everyone and said that all of the five businesses have the potential to do the work but they now have to demonstrate if they provide best value both in terms of the website provided and the price they charge.
Decision
The Joint Committee agreed to:-
- Note the content of the report, and;
- Note the publishing of the Annual Report 2021, journey of the Annual Report 2022 and the CRD website.
CRD179 AOB
None.
The Chair declared the meeting closed at 3.01 pm.