Meeting Details

The following apologies were received:

• Councillor Kevin Bentley (substituted by Councillor Gagan Mohindra as a non-voting observer)
• Councillor Keith Glazier (substituted by Councillor David Elkin)
• Councillor John Lamb
• Councillor Rob Gledhill
• Angela O'Donoghue
• Lucy Druesne

Councillor Chambers declared a non-pecuniary interest in respect of item 6 of the agenda, as he is a trustee of the historic dockyard at Chatham.

Councillor Elkin declared a non-pecuniary interest in respect of item 6 of the agenda, as one of areas in question is within his division.

Councillor Mohindra declared a non-pecuniary interest in respect of item 6 of the agenda as he is Chair of governors at Epping Forest College.

The Accountability Board (the Board) received a report from Louise Aitken and a presentation from Steer Davies Gleave, the purpose of which was to seek Board approval for the award of £5m of Local Growth Fund (LGF) to be devolved to Essex County Council for delivery of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) provision and Health and Social Care provision at Colchester Institute’s Braintree and Colchester campuses respectively.

Resolved:

1. To Consider the comments in the ITE report for both projects outlining that the benefit cost ratio (BCR) at just above the required 2:1 is sensitive to downside risks and that the Accountability Board should be mindful of this before approving. It is recommended that costs and benefits are closely monitored and that regular updates can be provided to the Board to provide reassurance and flag any changes in the value for money status.
2. To Approve the award of £2.5m LGF to the STEM provision at Colchester Institute’s Braintree campus which has been assessed as presenting high value for money with medium to high certainty of achieving this.
3. To Approve the award of £2.5m to the Centre for Health and Care at Colchester Institute’s Colchester campus which has been assessed as high value for money with medium certainty of achieving this.

The Board received a report (Appendices 3b and 4 were considered under Exempt items) from Rhiannon Mort and a presentation from Steer Davies Gleave, the purpose of which was to provide the Board with an update on the progress towards the re-investment of Growing Places Fund (GPF) and for the Board to consider the award of funding to the Eastbourne Fisherman Project and the South Essex College Centre for Advanced Engineering (CAE). 

Rhiannon drew the Board's attention to the risk in connection with the repayment of GPF from the Live Margate Project. She explained that Kent County Council need to confirm some outstanding details in this regard, and that an update will be brought to the February 2018 meeting.

Resolved:

1. To Note the risk to the GPF repayments from the Live Margate Project
2. To Approve the award of £2.000m GPF to enable the delivery of the South Essex College CAE Project identified in the Business Case and which has been assessed as presenting very high value for money with high certainty of achieving this; and
3. To Approve the award of £1.150m GPF to enable the delivery of the Eastbourne Fisherman’s Project identified in the Business Case and which has been assessed as presenting very high value for money with high certainty of achieving this.

The Board received a report from Rhiannon Mort and a presentation from Steer Davies Gleave, the purpose of which was to provide the Board with an update on the delivery of the M20 Junction 10a (the Project), in Ashford, Kent and to endorse the decision taken by the Board on the 24^th February 2017 to award £11.4m Local Growth Fund (LGF) to the Construction Phase of the Project, following confirmation being received from Highways England that their assurance processes have been completed.

In response to a query from Councillor Carter, Steven Bishop from Steer Davies Gleave provided some clarification regarding the methodology used by Highways England.

Resolved:

1.To Note that Highways England has provided evidence that a robust Value for Money assurance process has been followed and that the funding decision has been made by the Highways England Investment Decision Committee (IDC) to approve the Project in full.

2. To Endorse the Board approval given on 24^th February 2017 to award £11.4m LGF to the Construction Phrase of the Project, subject to there being sufficient funds made available to the SELEP by Government for the future year LGF allocation to the Project.

The Board received a report from Suzanne Bennett, the purpose of which was to briefly update the Board of the latest 2017/18 forecast revenue spend and present the proposed revenue budget for 2018/19 for consideration and approval if the Board were so minded.

The Board were advised that as there has yet to be confirmation in connection with the core funding, calculations have been made based on assumptions for the current year. It is also assumed that the outcome of the LEP review (which is yet to be published) will lead to an increase in terms of workload. The review is expected to focus on governance and transparency, which will require a full time support post.

Resolved:

1. To Note the updated forecast spend against revenue budget for 2017/18;
2. To Approve the revenue budget for 2018/19;
3. To Approve the specific grant budgets for 2018/19; and
4. To Confirm contributions from Local Authority partners in 2018/19

The Board noted that the next meeting will take place on Friday 23rd February 2018.

There being no urgent business the meeting closed at 10.25am.

That the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the remaining items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as specified in paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.