Agenda item

(To receive a report by Lindsey Hill-Pritchard, Principal Commissioning Officer, which provides the Committee with an update from the Accountable Body on the progress of the Single Local Growth Fund (SLGF) operated on behalf of Greater Lincolnshire LEP)

Consideration was given to a report which provided an update from the Accountable Body on the progress of the Single Local Growth Fund operated on behalf of the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership.

The reported focused on the 17/18 Year End; Quarter One 2018/19 dashboard and programme progress; update on Governance; and the Role of the Accountable Body. 

It was highlighted that the Accountable Body team had continued to provide a robust environment in which the LEP operated and the single local growth fund projects were in the main progressing well into delivery.

The Committee was invited to consider whether it wished to scrutinise progress with the accountable body more regularly and how this could be achieved.

The Accountable Body team continued to work with the LEP to ensure that projects progress to contractual agreements in order to support the delivery of strategic priorities.

Members were provided with an opportunity to ask questions, where the following points were noted: -

·       The performance dashboard, as detailed at Appendix B to the report, was four months behind the current reporting period.  This was a government set reporting period, although the latest guidance issued had shortened the period of reporting;

·       The Committee was advised that individual project managers were required to report on project milestones and provide full financial information on a quarterly basis.  Regular monitoring visits were also scheduled to report on progress;

·       It was noted that some large projects had experienced unavoidable delays through judicial reviews, public enquiries and statutory agency requirements and as a result, the outputs achieved to date were lower than what would have normally be expected by this point in the reporting cycle;

·       Page 36 of the agenda pack provided a list of the Directors of the GLLEP.  It was noted that the role of a director was unpaid and undertaken on a voluntary basis.  A number of the directors were the lead officer for individual sub-boards.  It was requested that in future the list of directors in the report also included what organisation they represented.  It was noted that Councillor C J Davie was appointed by the County Council onto the GLLEP and Richard Wills had been replaced by Keith Ireland, Chief Executive;

·       The importance of the GLLEP remaining private sector led, with local authority support was discussed;

·       It was requested that the Project RAG (Red, Amber and Green) ratings on the Growth Deal Dashboard at Appendix B to the report, also provided a summary of performance for those projects that had been rated as red or amber.  Furthermore, it was requested that the next scheduled progress report to the Committee be project focused;

·       It was recognised that the GLLEP had a successful record in terms of bidding for funding and was in the top quartile for obtaining funding;

·       The Committee thanked all those members and officers involved in the GLLEP, as it was an excellent example of partnership working. 

RESOLVED

(1)  That the current progress being made on the Growth Deal Programme for Greater Lincolnshire be noted.

(2)  That for the next scheduled Accountable Body Progress Report to the Committee be project focused.