Agenda and minutes

The following Member made a declaration of interest at the commencement of the meeting:

Councillor M.Harvey              Re: Agenda item 4 Swansea Bay City Deal Projects update as he is employed as a Designing Out Crime Officer with the South Wales Police and had given designing out crime advice on the Digital Village and Digital Square projects.

The following officer made a declaration of interest at the commencement of the meeting:

W. Walters                             Re: Agenda item 4 Swansea Bay City Deal Projects update as she is Senior Responsible Officer for the Swansea Bay City Deal and also the Chief Executive of Carmarthenshire County Council which is the lead Authority, for Pentre Awel.

The minutes of the last meeting held on 15 January 2020 were approved.

Members were provided with a presentation providing an update on the Swansea Bay City Deal Programme. 

The committee were updated on the recent recruitment within the Programme Office. It was noted that four vacancies had been filled. Members were reassured that the governance would continually be monitored to ensure the level of support within the programme is sufficient.

Members asked for a breakdown of the structure of the Programme Office and whether the Programme Office was funded through the City Deal budget. Officers assured members that they would circulate this information outside of the meeting.

Officers updated members in relation to the external stage gate, It was noted that twenty-two people were interviewed across the region. There were a number of recommendations that evolved from this exercise which would be contained within the Action Plan.

Members asked for clarity around the original agreement between the Welsh Government and Local Authority. It was highlighted that there were originally 11 projects identified, however due to changes relating to the projects they have now become 9 projects.

Members noted the update.

Members received a presentation which provided an update in relation to the Swansea Bay City Deal Projects.

Assumptions within projects were discussed and officers confirmed that they would ask project leads if assumptions have changed.

Members asked why the Local Projects have progressed quicker than the regional projects .It was noted that there are 3 Regional Projects, Digital Infrastructure, Homes as Power Stations and Skills and Talent. The only regional project that hasn’t progressed as quickly is Skills and Talent project. It was noted that Homes as Power Station was in a similar position, however it is more advance and would be seeking approval at the end of October 2020.

Officer support for projects was discussed. It was mentioned that due to the recent posts being agreed, there will be availability to provide further support.

Members received a Presentation and were provided with an update in relation to the impact of Covid-19 on the Swansea Bay City Deal.

It was noted that a Covid-19 Impact Assessment had been developed which will eventually feed in to the Programme Risk Register, this will have a standardised approach across all the monitoring reports.

Stakeholder and partner commitment was discussed. It was highlighted that everyone involved within the Swansea Bay City Deal are aiming towards the same target with full engagement.

Members asked for clarity on the timescales of the Homes as Power Station Project. It was noted that the Homes as Power Station Project had recently been approved through regional scrutiny and review. It had also gone through an external stage gate review and it’s currently with Welsh and UK Government for an overall review.

It was mentioned that the Swansea University led project identified that securing input from the private sector was one of their risks and asked officers to elaborate on that. It was also highlighted that the committee had invited the Vice Chancellor of Swansea University to attend a meeting of the Swansea Bay City Region Joint Scrutiny Committee meeting however due to Covid-19 this has been unsuccessful, however hope to make arrangements at a future date of the Committee. Officers explained that this is a top priority for Swansea University and they are currently looking at who the potential partners could be. It was noted that officers would ask Swansea University to provide an update at a future meeting.

Members asked what input would you provide if a Local Authority couldn’t financially move forward with a project. It was noted that if there was any indication that a Local Authority couldn’t progress with a project due to financial reasons this would be classed as a red risk immediately and monitored. However, members were reassured that projects were in a good place to continue with these.

Within the Implementation Plan it outlines the need to identify and agree the Local Authority borrowing requirements for the regional projects. Members asked for the methodology on this. Officers confirmed that they would get a response outside the meeting to members.

·        Action Plan

·        Implementation Plan

·        SBCD Programme Risk Register

·        SBCD Project Risk Register – Verbal Update

·        SBCD Project Issue Log – Verbal Update

Members received a presentation providing them with an update in relation to Programme Monitoring.  

It was noted that the programme monitoring reports will be updated on a quarterly basis.

Discussions took place around the European match funding risk. It was mentioned that a few of the projects are associated to the European funding. Officers highlighted that they were waiting to see what the UK prosperity fund would look like. It was also noted that officers would circulate the financial quarterly monitoring information to members as this had a breakdown of all of the funding.

It was noted that the Forward Work Programme would be discussed at the next meeting.

The Chair mentioned that translation would hopefully be available at a future meeting.