Implementation Plan 24/25
Executive summary
The Joint Committee as representatives of the partners to the Stirling & Clackmannanshire City Regional Deal, are asked to review and approve the Implementation Plan (see Appendix 1 B), in accordance with the existing Stirling and Clackmannanshire Financial Plan.
Approval of the Implementation Plan will enable the RPMO to establish a baseline to share with UK and Scottish governments, as an accurate representation of the City Region Deal delivery and financial status, enabling partners to continue to make funding claims, in accordance with the terms of the annual grant offer letter.
With awareness that this is a live document subject to change, any future changes will be progressed through change control and continuous impact assessment. Changes will be communicated through the Chief Officer Group for their approval through the existing financial reporting practices. Moreover, continuous assessment and mitigation of delivery and financial risk will be managed by the Chief Officer Group with support from the RPMO through active monitoring and review of an existing risk register. This work is ongoing, and risks have been summarised in Appendix 2 of this report.
Lena Schelling, Programme Analyst, City Region Deal Regional Programme Management Office (RPMO) Email address: schellingl@stirling.gov.uk
Recommendations
The Joint Committee is asked to:
- Approve the Implementation Plan as a realistic snapshot of the current delivery and financial profile of the City Regional Deal, in line with existing governance and government requirements for submission.
- Agree that the Implementation Plan, subject to the outlined associated risks in Appendix 2, is shared with UK and Scottish Governments to enable partners to continue to secure claims in delivering the City Regional Deal portfolio of projects and programmes.
Considerations
In seeking approval from Joint Committee on the Implementation Plan we are considering the following:
- The requirement of partners to submit an implementation plan to UK and Scottish Government for funding to be released in accordance with terms of the annual grant offer, once approved by both Governments.
- Ensuring a robust risk management strategy is in place to identify and adequately address new and emerging risks at a CRD Portfolio level in a timely manner, to secure the successful delivery of the City Regional Deal outcomes and associated benefits. A more detailed summary of risks identified can be found in Appendix 1.
- Establishing a financial and operational baseline to aid future decision making.
Resource Implications
Financial Details
The full financial implications of the recommendations are set out in the report.
This includes a reference to full life cycle costs where appropriate. N/A
Finance Officers have been consulted and have agreed the financial implications
as set out in the report. Yes
Staffing
The full implications on staffing are set out in the report. N/A
Exempt Reports
Is this report exempt? Yes (please detail the reasons for exemption below) No
Equalities Impact
Have you undertaken the required equalities impact assessment to ensure that
no groups are adversely affected by the recommendations? N/A
Legality
It has been confirmed that in adopting the recommendations contained in this report,
the Joint Committee is acting within its legal powers. Yes
Sustainability and Environmental
It has been confirmed that sustainability and environmental issues have been
considered within the report. Yes
Policy Implications
None
Consultations
None
Background Papers
Have you used other documents to compile your report? Yes
1. City Regional Deal Stirling & Clackmannanshire Financial Plan – Financial Protocols Section 12.
Appendices
Please list any appendices attached to this report. If there are no appendices, please state “none”.
Appendix 1a – Implementation Plan: Explanatory Note
Appendix 1b City Regional Deal Implementation Plan 2024-2025
Appendix 2 – Associated Risks
Approved by:
Brian Roberts: Chief Operating Officer, Stirling Council
Email address: robertsb@stirling.gov.uk
Kevin Wells, Strategic Director: Place, Clackmannanshire Council.
Email address: kwells@clacks.gov.uk
John Craig, Head of the City Region and Growth Deal Programme, University of Stirling
Email address: j.c.craig@stir.ac.uk
Appendix 1a – Implementation Plan: Explanatory Note
The Implementation Plan seeks to outline a realistic plan for how allocated City Regional Deal funding will be spent by all three partners of the Deal; Stirling Council, Clackmannanshire Council and The University of Stirling. It also acts as a reference point for partners to draw down funding, as costs are accrued through the delivery of the project activity shown.
The Implementation Plan is comprised of two related but distinct parts:
1. Information relating to Project Activity for both Capital and Revenue projects, which outlines where a particular project is in its business case development stage as well as outlining key milestones planned for delivery.
2. The Financial Profile which outlines the ££ amount each project forecasts to spend per financial year, across the 10-year life cycle of the City Regional Deal.
The figures shown in Black are the forecast spend position, as reported by all City Regional Deal partners in June/July 2024, as part of the Implementation Plan 2024/2025.
Figures in blue are the latest figures, as reported by partners by way of the Bi-Annual reporting cycle in August 2024.
Figures have been highlighted in Red and in Green to indicate where there is a difference between the spend profile reported in August for the Bi-annual report and the implementation plan 24/25 in June/July 2024. Figures highlighted in Green indicate where the forecast spend of the Bi-Annual is less than (<) what was previously forecast as part of the 24/25 Implementation plan. This would result in potential underspend. Figures highlighted in Red indicate where the forecast spend of the Bi-annual, is more than (>) what was previously forecast as part of the 24/25 Implementation plan. This would result in potential overspend.
These points have been summarised in the Implementation Plan: Table 3.Legend
Summary Tables
The summary tables 1.1 and 2.1 for Capital and Revenue Projects, show the total forecast spend for all projects each financial year, with reference being made to the original profile agreed with Government in March 2021. Table 1.2 and 2.2 show in summary how Capital and Revenue Funding has been committed from the two different Governments.
Appendix 2 – Associated Risks
Through detailed discussions with delivery teams of each of the partners as well as the Chief Officer Group, risks pertaining to the following have been identified:
Business Case Development: Failure to have business case approvals in place in agreement with CRD implementation plan may result in risking missed milestones and delayed spending as per CRD financial profile. Delays at business case development stage will further impact on the partners ability to draw down on funding, thereby further impacting the forecast spend profile.
External Funding: Dependency on securing matched funding to enable projects to be delivered in full, in particular for the Culture, Heritage and Tourism partnership.
Costs: Due to increased inflation rates, there is a risk that allocated funding will be exceeded, resulting in additional pressure on partners to finding alternative sources of external funding to cover the increased costs, to ensure delivery of the CRD portfolio.
Expenditure: Partners incurring expenditure at a quicker or slower rate than stated in the grant offer letter, thereby necessitating alternative funding or resulting in unclaimed grants.
Political: Delay to the endorsement or review process by governments due to political activity at a national level.
Resource: Lack of key delivery personnel across the partnership to develop emerging business cases pending endorsement and deliver on current and emerging activities.
Benefits: The limited applicability of the existing Monitoring and Evaluation Framework in tracking and measuring benefits currently being realised by partners and the delivery of the CRD portfolio, resulting in lack of assessment of progress against benefit realisation schedules and targets.