Agenda and minutes

There were no disclosable pecuniary interests.

Report of the Executive Director of Resources

The Cabinet considered a report of the Chief Executive, which sought consent for the Mayoral West Midlands Combined Authority (Functions and Amendment) Order 2016 to be laid in Parliament.  The order detailed the further functions required by the Combined Authority in order to deliver the Devolution Deal.

The Cabinet noted that a Combined Authority was a statutory body that facilities the collaboration and joint working between local authorities to drive economic prosperity for the area.  On 17^th June 2016, the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) was established, with Coventry one of the seven constituent members.

Negotiations with Government had continued to ensure that the WMCA would create the right economic development incentives for the people of Coventry.  The original ‘Devolution Deal’ was the basis of this agreement and underpinned the first stage of devolution.

The original Devolution Deal stipulated that the Chair of the WMCA would be a newly, directly elected Mayor.  A subsequent Mayoral Electoral Order was made in September 2016 providing for the Election of a Mayor for the WMCA on 4^th May 2017.

In conjunction with the Mayoral Election Order, a draft scheme was prepared which was subject to public consultation.  The scheme dealt with the proposed functions and powers of the WMCA and the Mayor in line with the Devolution Deal.  Following consultation, the scheme was submitted from the WMCA to the Secretary of State to form the basis of a third order, the Mayoral West Midlands Combined Authority (Functions and Amendments) Order 2016.  The draft Order was now submitted for consent prior to it being approved by the WMCA Board and subsequently laid before Parliament.

RESOLVED that the Cabinet recommend that Council:-

1.  Note the outcome of the consultation undertaken by the West Midlands Combined Authority in respect of the Mayoral WMCA ‘functions’ scheme.

2.  Delegate authority to the Leader to consent to the draft Mayoral West Midlands Combined Authority (Functions and Amendments) Order 2016 to be laid in Parliament subject to having seen the draft finance order and having consulted with the City Council’s S151 Officer and Deputy Monitoring Officer.

3.  Delegate approval of any minor drafting amendments to the Order (“Mayoral West Midlands Combined Authority (Functions and Amendments) Order 2016”) to the Deputy Monitoring Officer following consultation with the Leader.

Report of the Executive Director of Place

(NOTE: Pursuant to Part 3e, Paragraph 19, of the City Council's Constitution, the Chair of the Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee or her nominee, has been invited to attend for the consideration of this matter and to agree the need for urgency such that call-in arrangements will not apply. The reason for urgency being, the need to sign the Funding Agreement within the Government’s required timescales of 13th December 2016 otherwise the City’s funding allocation would be lost.

The Cabinet considered a report of the Executive Director of Place, which sought approval for the Council to act as guarantor in respect of European Structural Investment Fund grants.

The 2014-2020 European Structural Investment Fund (ESIF) Programme was launched in March 2015.  On 26^th November 2015, the Cabinet approved a programme of projects following successful applications in round one of funding.  It was anticipated that there would be further rounds of funding available and that the Council would apply in those rounds.

It was noted that the Council had an excellent track record in securing European funds in recent years and at the last count had secured in excess of £15.8m from the current European programme.

The Council had submitted applications to the new programme under the enhancing access to lifelong learning, active inclusion, access to employment and sustainable integration of young people themes.  The total value of these applications was £11,323,128, with a value of £5,661,568 being sought from ESIF grants to support the applications.

The report submitted provided details of each of the projects and the expected impact, along with details of the overall project costs and the amount of the ESIF bid.  The report indicated that the Council had received outline approval from the Department for Work and Pensions indicating that the Council had been successful in each of these bids and ESIF funding of £5,661,568 had been awarded.  The Coventry and Warwickshire Skills 4 Growth application had received its final approval and the remaining three projects were still in final appraisal.

The Cabinet were advised that there was a need for the Council to sign the Funding Agreement within the Government’s timescales of 13^th December 2016 otherwise the City’s funding allocation would be lost.

Due to this timescale requirement, in accordance with Part 3e, Paragraph 19 of the City Council’s Constitution, Councillor Kelly, representative of the Chair of the Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee, attended the meeting for the consideration of this matter and agreed the need for urgency such that call-in arrangements would not apply.

RESOLVED that the Cabinet:-

1.  Note the success of the European Funding in delivering the City’s economic aspirations and to continue to support the Council bidding for European Funds into the future.

2.  Retrospectively endorse the submission of bids for 2014-2020 European Funding as set out in section 3 of the report submitted.

3.  Delegate authority to the Executive Director of Place to negotiate and enter into the appropriate grant aid agreement for the applications listed in section 3 of the report submitted.

4.  Agree that the Council should act as guarantor and delegate authority to the Executive Director of Place to make submissions, negotiate and enter into the appropriate grant aid agreements for any future ESIF applications under the 2014-2020 programme in consultation with the relevant Cabinet Member.  The financial threshold delegated under the authority of any such submission for future grant funding under the ESIF 2014-2020 programme, shall be limited to no more than £2,500,000 for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 77.

There were no other items of public business.