MINUTES of MEETING of the STIRLING AND CLACKMANNANSHIRE CITY REGION
DEAL JOINT COMMITTEE held via MS Teams on 29 NOVEMBER 2022 at 2.30 pm Present
Councillor Ellen Forson, Clackmannanshire Council (In the Chair) Councillor Martha Benny, Clackmannanshire Council
Councillor Kenneth Earle, Clackmannanshire Council Councillor Scott Farmer, Stirling Council
Councillor Danny Gibson, Stirling Council (S) Councillor Neil Benny, Stirling Council
Eileen Schofield, University of Stirling Professor Leigh Sparks, University of Stirling Graeme Duff, University of Stirling
In Attendance
Nikki Bridle, Chief Executive, Clackmannanshire Council Carol Beattie, Chief Executive, Stirling Council
Jane Burridge, Lead Transformation Officer, Clackmannanshire Council John Craig, Programme Manager, University of Stirling
Nicola Drago Ferrante, Growth Deal Programme Officer Jeremy Greengrass, Regional Programme Management Office Mark Henderson, Communications, Stirling Council
Ann Jacob-Chandler, Head of Regional Programme Management Office Pete Leonard, Strategic Director, Clackmannanshire Council
Nicole McIntosh, Project Analyst, Regional Programme Management Office Stuart Oliver, Senior Manager – Economic Development, Stirling Council
Lee Robertson, Senior Manager, Legal & Governance, Clackmannanshire Council Dr John Rogers, Executive Director, Research, Innovation & Business Engagement, University of Stirling
Ian Scott, Scottish Government
Kirsty Stanners, Section 95 Officer, Stirling Council
Gillian White, Committee Services, Clackmannanshire Council (Minutes)
CRD180 APOLOGIES AND SUBSTITUTIONS
Apologies were submitted on behalf of Councillor Chris Kane, Stirling Council and Brian Roberts, Chief Operating Officer – Infrastructure and Environment, Stirling Council. Councillor Danny Gibson, Stirling Council, attended as substitute for Councillor Kane.
CRD181 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
None.
CRD182 URGENT BUSINESS
None.
CRD183 MINUTES – JOINT COMMITTEE MEETING – 27 SEPTEMBER 2022
The minutes of the meeting of the Stirling and Clackmannanshire City Region Deal Joint Committee held on 27 September 2022 were submitted for approval.
Decision
The minutes of the meeting of the Stirling and Clackmannanshire City Region Deal Joint Committee held on 27 September 2022 were agreed as an accurate record.
CRD184 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. It is hoped that action 32 will be updated after the meeting on 5 December 2022 as it is related to the thematic boards and what is being done with SCREAB. A watching brief is to be kept on the other two 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.
Decision
The Joint Committee agreed to note the content of the Joint Committee Forward Plan.
CRD185 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.
Ann confirmed the good news that the National Aquaculture Innovation and Technology Hub (NATIH) Outline Business Case (OBC) had now been endorsed by both governments. Good progress has been made on both the Active Travel; and Culture, Heritage and Tourism Programme Outline Business Cases and that these would hopefully be presented to Joint Committee in January 2023. The Annual report for 2022 is in progress and a preferred bidder has been chosen for the deal website. Ann advised that as the majority of our City Region Deal programme is still in the development there remain opportunities to shape the programme for maximum impact. Risks have remained the same although inflationary risks are rising. The RPMO are working in the background to assess what that inflationary risk looks like in terms of the overall programme and a report will be brought to the next Joint Committee in January 2023. In terms of partnership working, the set up of the Stirling and Clackmannanshire Regional Economic Advisory Board (SCREAB) and Regional Enterprise Forum (REF) are being looked at. There is a meeting being held with SCREAB and REF on 5 December 2022 to agree the way forward and thinking about a single regional advisory board, that will have private sector input and also the third sector, enterprise agencies, college and university input. A report will be brought to Joint Committee in January 2023. In terms of the benefits and the monitoring and evaluation framework – the RPMO are still in dialogue with other deals across the country about the best ways to realise and capture benefits from deal investments.
Councillor Neil Benny queried the comments around SCREAB and REF as when the Joint Committee considered these previously as part of the heads of terms, they had to be separate. Ann confirmed that she had gone back to the heads of terms and what it talks about is regional partnership working using the deal as a catalyst and having industry leaders, business leaders, third sector, university, college, SDS and Scottish enterprise as part of a partnership arrangement. It’s not prescriptive as to how that should be set up. Ann has checked with both governments and other deals.
Decision
The Joint Committee agreed to:-
1. Note the content of the Programme Status Report.
CRD186 NATIONAL AQUACULTURE INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY HUB (NATIH) OUTLINE BUSINESS CASE (OBC)
The report, submitted by Nicola Drago Ferrante, Growth Deal Programme Officer, sought Joint Committee approval for the National Aquaculture Innovation and Technology Hub (NATIH) Outline Business Case (OBC). The OBC related to Phase 1 of the project, which sits within the Innovation Theme of the City Region Deal portfolio of projects and programmes.
Dr John Rogers, Executive Director, Research, Innovation & Business Engagement, University of Stirling, advised that the OBC had received both governments’ endorsement for the OBC which meant that the recommendation to Joint Committee to approve the OBC could stand. There was a point of debate outstanding with the two governments on the eligibility of staff and operating revenue costs for capital funding within the deal. He confirmed that although this remains a debating point, rather than delaying the project further, the University has agreed to invest these costs into the project, thus removing the issue from the OBC and enabling endorsement to be confirmed. This also means that there will be additional money to support the project activity on top of the capital funding coming from the governments. The governments have asked that this be noted formally by the Joint Committee in considering the business case. They have also asked that the Joint Committee note that the appropriate delegated authority is in place for this change. He advised that the University Executive has full delegation from the University Court to run the business. Professor Sparks, Eileen Schofield and himself are all members of that Executive and so have the appropriate delegated authority.
There are a number of issues which remain to be addressed in the Full Business Case, as agreed with the governments. The response to these issues are being developed in the draft FBC and Joint Committee will be asked to consider those in due course in approving the FBC.
He advised that the RIBA design stage process is nearly completed and that the project would be ready to have shovels in the ground in February 2023 subject to the necessary approvals. The completion of the RIBA design process will provide the final build cost and that will be included within the full business case. The project would then move forward with the final iteration of the full business case being presented to Joint Committee for approval.
Councillor Forson expressed a concern around the extra investment being met by the University and wondered whether this could set a precedent for the future when considering all the other projects coming down the line. Projects are reliant on the capitalisation of running costs. Councillor Forson asked whether there was any additional information from the governments in terms of the points that are being debated around this.
Dr Rogers advised that the issue raised was specifically about whether the staff and operating costs for the business accelerator element are or are not legitimate costs to capitalise against or otherwise to fund from the capital grant. It is confirmed that the costs cannot be capitalised but there is precedent here and elsewhere for spending capital funding on some revenue costs. For example, permission had been achieved to do exactly what was proposed in this case for Scotland’s International Environment Centre. For that project, the business accelerator staff and operating costs during the initial phase of that project are being funded against capital grant. This was agreed as part of a formal change process with the governments and there are also similar examples in Deal projects elsewhere. However, given the ongoing debate, for this project, to avoid further capital cost overruns, to get the project moving and to start realising the benefits, the University has agreed to fund the staff and operating costs for that initial phase of the business accelerator. Dr Rogers advised that this funding was for approximately two years of staff and operating costs and given the scale and importance of the project to the whole deal, the University felt that this was the best way to move forward.
Decision
The Joint Committee agreed to:-
- Approve the fourth iteration of the Outline Business Case for the National Aquaculture Innovation and Technology Hub (NATIH) which had been endorsed by the Scottish and UK Governments on 28 November 2022.
- Note the development activity that is ongoing as part of the project.
- Note that the University has agreed to provide additional investment for the business accelerator staff and operating costs during the initial phase of the NATIH project.
- Note that the appropriate delegated authority is in place for (3) above as the University Executive has full delegation from the University Court to run the business.
Action
Nicola Drago Ferrante
CRD187 PROGRAMME OF JOINT COMMITTEE MEETINGS
The report, submitted by Lee Robertson, Senior Manager, Legal and Governance, Clackmannanshire Council, sought approval of the Programme of Joint Committee Meetings for 2023/24.
Decision
The Joint Committee agreed to:-
- Approve the programme of meetings of the Joint Committee as set out in the Appendix A of the report;
- Note that, the meeting dates will form the basis of the Forward Plan, which will be maintained by the Regional Programme Management Office and will be a Standing Item on the agenda ; and
- To note that the role of Chair and the administration of Joint Committee rotates back to Stirling Council from 1 April 2023.
Action
Clackmannanshire/Stirling Council Committee Services
CRD188 AOB
None.
The Chair declared the meeting closed at 3.01 pm.