Report of the Deputy Chief Executive (Place)
(Listing Officer: A Williams, tel 024 7683 3731)
Minutes:
Further to Minute 85 above, the Cabinet considered a private report of the Deputy Chief Executive (Place), which set out confidential aspects of the proposals for a consortium consisting of the Council, Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership and WMG (Warwick University’s specialist manufacturing division) to work together to develop a proposals to develop a national battery manufacturing development facility in the area.
RESOLVED that the Cabinet recommend that Council:-
1. Authorise that the Council accept the Faraday Challenge funding of the sum indicated within the report and to act as accountable body on behalf of the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership.
2. Delegate authority to the Deputy Chief Executive (Place) and the Director of Finance and Corporate Services to accept the terms and conditions of the grant, to enter into the necessary agreement to secure the grant and add to the Capital Programme as necessary.
3. Authorise the establishment of a joint venture private Limited Company between the Council and the preferred partners as detailed in the report to run the National Battery Manufacturing Development Facility and the appointment of Director of Finance & Corporate Services and Director of Property and Project Management as company directors.
4. Delegate authority to the Legal Services Manager in consultation with Cabinet Member for Jobs and Regeneration to take the necessary steps to establish the joint venture company, including approval of a shareholder agreement to be entered into between the Council and the preferred partners.
5. Authorise the use of part of the Faraday Challenge grant to facilitate the construction of the building and to purchase the necessary equipment and fund start up and operational costs (“the Facility”).
6. Authorise the Council to transfer the Facility (by way of a lease) to the joint venture company and collect a return for the company’s use of the Council owned assets (the building and the equipment).
7. Delegate authority to the Deputy Chief Executive (Place) and the Director of Finance and Corporate Services to undertake all due diligence and finalise the terms of any such transfer of the Facility to the joint venture company.
8. Authorise the use of the return received from the use of the Facility to cover any staff costs required as a consequence of the Council’s involvement in the project.
9. Authorise submission of a funding bid to the West Midlands Combined Authority to secure grant funding to the sum indicated in the report and, if successful, to enter into a grant aid agreement with the West Midlands Combined Authority to fund and deliver the National Battery Manufacturing Development Facility as set out in the report.
10. Delegate authority to the Deputy Chief Executive (Place), following consultation with the Cabinet Member for Jobs and Regeneration, to:
• determine the final content of the relevant business cases required to submit the bid to the West Midlands Combined Authority
• submit the relevant Strategic Outline Business Cases to the West Midlands Combined Authority in relation to the work packages within the National Battery Manufacturing Development Facility Programme
• progress the business cases to the final stage in accordance with the Combined Authority’s Assurance Framework
11. Should the bids to the West Midland Combined Authority be successful; that Coventry City Council enters into the necessary legal documentations to secure the funding required to deliver the National Battery Manufacturing Development Facility Programme.