Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Robert Everitt and John Griffiths.

At each Joint Executive (Cabinet) Committee meeting, up to 15 minutes shall be allocated for questions from and discussion with, non-Cabinet members.  Members wishing to speak during this session should if possible, give notice in advance.  Who speaks and for how long will be at the complete discretion of the person presiding.

No non-Cabinet Members wished to speak under this item.

Members of the public who live or work in the Borough/District are invited to put one question or statement of not more than three minutes duration relating to items to be discussed in Part 1 of the agenda only.  If a question is asked and answered within three minutes, the person who asked the question may ask a supplementary question that arises from the reply.

A person who wishes to speak must register at least 15 minutes before the time the meeting is scheduled to start.

There is an overall time limit of 15 minutes for public speaking, which may be extended at the Chairman’s discretion.

There were no questions/statements from members of the public.

Report No: CAB/JT/19/007

Portfolio Holder: SEBC Cllr Susan Glossop

Lead Officer: Andrea Mayley

RESOLVED:

That:-

1.           The business case to support a £7m loan, as set out in Report No: CAB/JT/19/007, for the development of business centres and associated works by way of loan(s) for Haverhill Research Parkand Suffolk Park (Enterprise Zone) Bury St Edmunds be agreed.

RECOMMENDED TO SEBC COUNCIL: (19 March 2019)

That:-

2.           A £7m investment facility for the development of business centres and associated works by way of loan(s) for Haverhill Research Park and Suffolk Park (Enterprise Zone) Bury St Edmunds be approved.

3.           Subject to the satisfaction of the Section 151 Officer and the Monitoring Officer that appropriate security is in place to protect the Council’s investment and due diligence, highlighting no significant risks to the Council has been completed, delegated authority be given to the Chief Executive in consultation with the SEBC Portfolio Holder for Planning and Growth to enter into a loan agreement(s) with the developer. 

4.           The Council’s Section 151 Officer to make the necessary changes to the Council’s prudential indicators as a result of recommendation 2. above.

(Report No: CAB/JT/19/007)

The Joint Executive (Cabinet) Committee received this report which sought support for a loan of up to £7m towards costs that would support growth on the Enterprise Zones at Haverhill Research Park and Suffolk Business Park, Bury St Edmunds.

The commercial loan to the developer had potential benefit to the local economy.  This loan would provide the match funding to go with the grant applications that had been made by the developer to the Local Enterprise Partnership and Greater Cambridgeshire and Greater Peterborough Combined Authority for the capital cost of building both centres.  The result of this was to make the delivery of both or either centre more likely and, therefore, to enable West Suffolk to benefit from much needed start-up space for new and growing enterprises.

Any loan from this facility would be arranged at a commercial interest rate and would generate an annual income for SEBC Council.  Any lending would be subject to the strict criteria in the Loans Policy and this included ensuring that due diligence had been undertaken and the repayment of the loan was sufficiently secured to the right value.  The risks associated with this proposal were, therefore, low.

RESOLVED:

That:-

1.           The business case to support a £7m loan, as set out in Report No: CAB/JT/19/007, for the development of business centres and associated works by way of loan(s) for Haverhill Research Parkand Suffolk Park (Enterprise Zone) Bury St Edmunds be agreed.

and

RECOMMENDED TO SEBC COUNCIL: (19 March 2019)

That:-

2.           A £7m investment facility for the development of business centres and associated works by way of loan(s) for Haverhill Research Park and Suffolk Park (Enterprise Zone) Bury St Edmunds be approved.

3.           Subject to the satisfaction of the Section 151 Officer and the Monitoring Officer that appropriate security is in place to protect the Council’s investment and due diligence, highlighting no significant risks to the Council has been completed, delegated authority be given to the Chief Executive in consultation with the SEBC Portfolio Holder for Planning and Growth to enter into a loan agreement(s) with the developer. 

4.           The Council’s Section 151 Officer to make the necessary changes to the Council’s prudential indicators as a result of recommendation 2. above.

Portfolio Holders: SEBC Cllr Susan Glossop and FHDC Cllr Lance Stanbury

Lead Officer: Julie Baird

Summary and Reason for Recommendation:

Place based support towards NEETs and youth unemployment – West Suffolk College’s One Step Closer Service

Section 4.3 of the West Suffolk Contract Procedure Rules state that:

‘Between £50,001 and the EU Threshold, any exemption must be approved by the Officer and the relevant Assistant Director in consultation with the Assistant Director for Resources and Performance.  The Officer must provide evidence to support the request for any exemption and the relevant Assistant Director shall prepare a report for the next Cabinet to support the action taken, hence this agenda item.’

The exemption, which was exercised on 7 February 2019, the reason for it (together with supporting evidence) has been forwarded to the Assistant Director for Resources and Performance for approval.

The West Suffolk Councils’ would like West Suffolk College (WSC) to create a service that will identify and select individuals from West Suffolk who are not in education, employment or training and have yet to be successful in securing employment and move them ‘One Step Closer’ to their goals.

WSC will be able to provide young people with targets coaching and training in order to prepare them with skills, attitudes and behaviours that will ensure success in further education, the apprenticeship job market or employment.

For consistency and efficiency reasons, there is a need to work with one provider for this new service.  WSC is the only skills provider that has a presence in all West Suffolk towns, which means that young people can more easily access the service.

The funding that WSC is receiving from Suffolk County Council (SCC) and Suffolk Public Sector Leaders came with a stipulation that the project must start by the end of March 2019.  There is a need, therefore, to work with an organisation that has excellent experience in managing projects in a timely manner and the ability to ‘hit the ground running’ with a short lead-in.

The total value of the exemption is £150,000 and was made under the following exemption criteria, as stated in Section 4.5 of the Contract Procedure Rules:

Recommendation:

The Joint Executive (Cabinet) Committee is requested to NOTE this exemption to the West Suffolk Contract Procedure Rules, as contained in FHDC’s and SEBC’s Constitutions.

Place Based Support towards NEETs and Youth Unemployment – West Suffolk College’s One Step Closer Service

The Joint Executive (Cabinet) Committee noted that Section 4.3 of the West Suffolk Contract Procedure Rules stated that:

‘Between £50,001 and the EU Threshold, any exemption must be approved by the Officer and the relevant Assistant Director in consultation with the Assistant Director for Resources and Performance.  The Officer must provide evidence to support the request for any exemption and the relevant Assistant Director shall prepare a report for the next Cabinet to support the action taken, hence this agenda item.’

The exemption, which was exercised on 7 February 2019 and the reason for it (together with supporting evidence), had been forwarded to the Assistant Director (Resources and Performance) for approval.

The West Suffolk Councils’ would like West Suffolk College (WSC) to create a service that would identify and select individuals from West Suffolk who were not in education, employment or training and had yet to be successful in securing employment and move them ‘One Step Closer’ to their goals.

WSC would be able to provide young people with targets coaching and training in order to prepare them with skills, attitudes and behaviours that would ensure success in further education, the apprenticeship job market or employment.  For consistency and efficiency reasons, there was a need to work with one provider for this new service.  WSC was the only skills provider that had a presence in all West Suffolk towns, which meant that young people could more easily access the service.

The funding that WSC was receiving from Suffolk County Council (SCC) and Suffolk Public Sector Leaders came with a stipulation that the project must start by the end of March 2019.  There was a need, therefore, to work with an organisation that had excellent experience in managing projects in a timely manner and the ability to ‘hit the ground running’ with a short lead-in.

The total value of the exemption was £150,000 and was made under the following exemption criteria, as stated in Section 4.5 of the Contract Procedure Rules:

Therefore, the Joint Executive (Cabinet) Committee NOTED this exemption to the West Suffolk Contract Procedure Rules, as contained in FHDC’s and SEBC’s Constitutions.