Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors S Dark and  A Ryves, Alexa Baker and Lorraine Gore.

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The minutes from the meeting held on 7 October 2022 were agreed as a correct record.

There were no declarations of interest.

There was no urgent business.

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.

There were no Members present under Standing Order 34.

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The Chair referred to the email circulated to the Member Major Projects Board from Councillor Ryves and invited the Assistant Director, Property and Projects to respond.

The Assistant Director, Property and Projects explained that flagged the wider economic issues and the impacts on potential housing developments the Borough Council were currently progressing and added that the Project Officers and Senior Management Team were aware of this and there are were a number of Cabinet reports going through the democratic process that would pick up the issues and outlining any mitigating work that would be done during the first quarter of the next calendar year.

a.    Project Maturity Assessment

b.    Project Resourcing

c.     Project Reporting

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The Interim Technical and Delivery Advisor gave a presentation on Project Majority Assessment/Project Resourcing (copy circulated with the Agenda).

The Interim Technical and Delivery Advisor, Assistant Director – Property and Projects, Project Accountant and Corporate Projects Programmes Manager responded to questions in relation to:

·         The temporary role of the Interim Technical and Delivery Advisor.

·         Current and potential future role of the Member Major Projects Board (MMPB).

·         Improvement Plan which outlined the process to obtain a better score and identify the skills gap.

·         Definition of what was determined a major project.

·         Common structure for reporting to avoid duplication of work where possible.

·         Consistent approach to project management throughout the authority.

·         Skills gaps and training requirements to address those gaps.

·         Training for both officers and Councillors.

·         Role of the Programme Management Office.

·         Importance of MMPB receiving consistent accurate information in a timely manner.

·         Resource required to support the project and programme process going forward.

·         Better reporting of projects going forward.

·         Number of projects the Borough Council was developing compared to other local authorities and capacity available for officers to progress projects.

·         Understanding of risk management.

·         Role of the Town Deal Board.

The Interim Technical and Delivery Advisor drew the Board’s attention to pages 42 and 43 setting out to the proposed format for future reporting and invited feedback.

The Interim Technical and Delivery Advisor explained that the MMPB would see the project highlights report for the agreed major projects and a covering overall summary at the February 2023 meeting and then on a monthly basis going forward.

The Assistant Director Property and Projects responded to questions from Councillor Kemp as to why currently there was no legal attendance at the Officer Major Project Board meetings.

The Corporate Projects Programme Manager commented that it may be helpful to look at the timing of future MMPB meetings in view of the framework being proposed in order to ensure the information was available, although it was acknowledged that if the cycle of meetings didn’t quite match up as proposed, there would still be information available for the Board to view.

The Assistant Director Property and Projects gave an overview of the work being undertaken by the Interim Technical and Delivery Advisor and officer roles going forward.

In response to comments made on the definition of a major project and list of projects, the Assistant Director, Property and Projects explained that a year or so ago the role of the MMPB was clarified in a Cabinet report so that more flexibility could be given in relation to smaller projects.  The Assistant Director, Property and Projects added that a further report may be considered by Cabinet to re-define what was a major project and review the terms of reference of MMPB.  Following further comments,  the Assistant Director, Property and Projects invited the Vice-Chair to discuss the definition of a major project outside of the MMPB meeting.

The Chair commented that it was important to bring  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

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The Corporate Projects Programme Manager informed the MMPB that there were 17 projects on the list and that item 13 –Town Centre Repurposing had been removed from the Town Deal Programme through the Cabinet process. It was explained that some of the changes discussed at the last MMPB had not been progressed due to work being undertaken by the Interim Technical and Delivery Advisor relating to programme and project management and that other format reports would be presented to the next meeting.

The Corporate Projects Programme Manager explained that since the last meeting an additional column had been inserted at the request of the Board – status which set out what stage the project had reached.

The Board was advised that of the 17 projects, 12 had moved to either amber or dark amber which reflected the move of many of the Town Deal Projects from business case development stage into initiation/delivery and also the wider economic conditions which the Board was aware of and affecting issues such as procurement and gave an example of the Town Deal Project Public Realm had experienced some delays on procurement as well as the Nar Ouse Speculative Units project.

The Corporate Projects Programme Manager, the Interim Technical and Delivery Advisor and Project Accountant  responded to questions and comments in relation to:

·         Streamlined monitoring reports to be presented to the next meeting of the MMPB.

·         Town Deal project – Rail to River and why the risk was scored so low.

·         Reprofiling spend of some of the Town Deal projects.

·         Mechanism to be identified for reporting exempt projects.

·         Bus Station and NCC Library Site, Hunstanton.

·         Explanation why there was a certain RAG rating for some projects.

The Chair advised Councillor Kemp to direct questions relating to West Winch Growth Area risk and significant infrastructure requirements including the housing access road to the West Winch project team.

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The Board considered the draft schedule of meetings for 2023.

The Corporate Projects Programme Manager outlined that based on the currently agreed cycle of meetings based on the February 2023 meeting the information presented would be as at the 31 December 2022 and added that the further through the month the MMPB meetings were scheduled it was more likely that information could be presented as at the end of the previous month.

The Interim Projects – Technical and Delivery Adviser explained that going forward it would be beneficial for meetings to be scheduled for week 4 of the projects cycle now agreed internally, but on a 2 monthly basis.

The Corporate Projects Programme Manager outlined the timescales, reporting and schedule of meetings for the Town Deal projects.

AGREED:  The Corporate Projects Programme Manager and Interim Projects – Technical and Delivery Adviser to liaise with Democratic Services in consultation with the Chair and Vice-Chair to review the draft Schedule of Meetings for 2023.

To discuss the work programme for 2023.

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The following items were identified:

·         Bus Station, Hunstanton.

·         Guildhall, King’s Lynn – MMPB to advise of specific questions required to be addressed.

·         Ferry project.

19 October 2022

17 November 2022

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The Board received the minutes from the Officer Major Projects Board for 19 October and 17 November 2022.

19 October 2022

Officers responded to questions in relation to:

·         Length of time of meeting.

·         Guildhall – Project Initiation Document (PID) which had not been approved and was being updated and working towards completion 31 December 2022.

·         Guildhall, risks and steps taken to identify alternative funding streams.

·         Role of the MMPB – highlighted was not a decision making group.

·         Legal charges within projects.

AGREED:   The Guildhall PID to be presented at the next meeting of the MMPB.

To be advised.