Agenda, decisions and minutes

To consider any business, which by reason of special circumstances, the Chair proposes to accept, under Section 100(b)(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972.

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Please indicate if there are any interests which should be declared.  A declaration of an interest should indicate the nature of the interest (if not already declared on the Register of Interests) and the agenda item to which it relates.  If a disclosable pecuniary interest is declared, the member should withdraw from the room whilst the matter is discussed.

These declarations apply to all Members present, whether the Member is part of the meeting, attending to speak as a local Member on an item or simply observing the meeting from the public seating area.

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To receive any Chair’s correspondence.

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To note the names of any Councillors who wish to address the meeting under Standing Order 34.

Members wishing to speak pursuant to Standing Order 34 should inform the Chair of their intention to do so and on what items they wish to be heard before a decision on that item is taken.

Members had been informed that questions would be permitted on the West Norfolk Investment Plan item as the Environment and Community Panel had been cancelled due to the extreme weather.

Under standing order 34 Councillor M de Whalley attended.

Councillor Blunt attended via Zoom but did not vote on the proposal as he was not present in the room.

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Members had been informed that questions would be permitted on the West Norfolk Investment Plan item as the Environment and Community Panel had been cancelled due to the extreme weather.

Under standing order 34 Councillor M de Whalley attended and addressed Cabinet.

Councillor Blunt attended via Zoom but did not vote on the proposal as he was not present in the room.

To receive any comments and recommendations from other Council bodies which meet after the dispatch of this agenda. 

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RESOLVED: 

1.    That the priorities for the West Norfolk Investment Plan (WNIP) as detailed in 2.2 of the report be endorsed.

2.    That authority be delegated to the Chief Executive and Section 151 Officer or Financial Services Manager in the absence of the S151 officer, in consultation with the Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Business Development to agree the final submission of the West Norfolk Investment Plan by the deadline on 1^st August 2022.

3.    That a further report on the final interventions to be funded through the SPF to be brought back to Cabinet.

4.    That the creation of a permanent Programme Officer post to manage the delivery and implementation of the WNIP, funded by the allocation provided to manage the administration of the SPF which will be negotiated with government as set out in 7.2 of the report be approved.

5.    That authority be delegated to the Chief Executive and Leader to establish the appropriate governance mechanism to support the strategic alignment and delivery of the WNIP.

Reason for Decision

To allow the Council to secure a government grant funding stream to deliver the investment priorities for West Norfolk which will support residents and business to; build pride in place, high quality skills training, supporting pay, employment, productivity growth and increasing life chances

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D Hall, Assistant Director presented the report which set out the priorities for a West Norfolk Investment Plan which had been developed to secure an allocation of £1.8m for 2022-2025 through the government’s £2.6b Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF).

He explained that in order to secure the SPF allocation with government, Local authorities have been asked to submit an Investment Plan. It was noted that at this stage it was not required to deliver a specific list of projects but the Investment Plan must set out the following:

1. Local context:  local evidence of opportunities and challenges through the lens of the three investment priorities for UKSPF.

2. Selection of outcomes and interventions: where places will identify the outcomes they wish to target based on local context, and the interventions they wish to prioritise, under each investment priority, from the menu of options. These should be clearly linked to local opportunities and challenges.

3. Delivery: this will represent the most detailed stage of the investment plans and is broken down into the following:

a. Approach to delivery and governance: structures and processes that will support the delivery of their chosen interventions, engagement undertaken as part of the development.

b. Expenditure and deliverables: what places want to deliver with their investment plan, including the spend profile for the three years of the fund as well as outputs and outcomes figures, and where places have already identified specific projects they wish to fund under each of the investment priorities.

It was also noted that a further report to Cabinet would set out the proposed projects.

Under standing order 34 Councillor de Whalley suggested the following potential priorities for schemes to be put forward for the funding:

·         Towns Fund – Nursing school expansion

·         Cycling and Walking Infrastructure routes particularly the long routes

·         Ferry Terminus for West Lynn with accessible pontoons to assist embarking and disembarking.

In discussing the report Councillor Long welcomed the new stream of funding which had taken over from EU funding.

Councillor Middleton welcomed the scheme which was not competitive.  This stage was part of the process to identify opportunities and gaps across west Norfolk.  Should the government wish it changing they would suggest changes.  He referred to the stage to the Autumn where schemes would be put forward to deliver the plan.  They could be existing or new projects across the Borough including King’s Lynn, Hunstanton and Downham Market.

Councillor Blunt was not able to vote on the report as he was not present in the room but on zoom, but supported the scheme and looked forward to the schemes coming forward.

Councillor Dark made reference to the different funds coming into the Borough such as the Levelling Up Fund, the County Council support for the Gyratory system in King’s Lynn along with this fund.

In discussing the recommendations, the Chief Executive suggested that as it was the holiday season, recommendation 2 be amended to include the Financial  ...  view the full minutes text for item CAB36