Agenda and minutes

Ian Curryer

Glen O’Connell

None

To confirm the minutes of the last meeting held on 20 March 2015.

The Committee confirmed the minutes of the meeting held on 20 March 2015 as a correct record, with the addition of the following:

(a)  Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) has provided funding to increase the broadband coverage across Bassetlaw and Newark and Sherwood, and Nottinghamshire County Council has matched this funding;

(b)  Allen Graham, Chief Executive of Rushcliffe Borough Council requested a meeting with Nottingham City Council on subject of Broadband, and will report back to this Committee.

Presented by Ruth Hyde OBE, Chief Executive of Broxtowe Borough Council.

Ruth Hyde OBE, Chief Executive of Broxtowe Borough Council provided an update on High Speed 2 (HS2) connectivity:

(a)  HS2 must add value to the East Midlands, which would include provision for relocated businesses.  Erewash Borough Council has identified a number of businesses in the area that would be displaced by HS2.  Major retail development would detract from the role of existing centres;

(b)  greenbelt land in the Derby and Nottingham areas needs to be maintained -  locations such as Ashfield, Worksop, Chesterfield, Mansfield and Long Eaton must benefit from this project, rather than suffer;

(c)  the problem of desert stations should be avoided, mainly by integrating HS2 well with the lines in the region, namely East Cost, West Coast and Midland;

(d)  provision for cyclists, pedestrians, buses, and local cars must be allowed for and other transport links such as the tram could link into some hubs;

(e)  the Hub Station delivery board meets on 6 July, with proposals to go back to Broxtowe Borough Council on 7 July;

Questions from councillors provided the following information:

(f)  there is a move to extend the Robin Hood line from Shirebrook; more money from the LEP (Local Enterprise Partnership) could aid this move;

(g)  the input from Anne Western at Derbyshire County Council was noted, as she was an advocate of Toton being nominated as the East

(h)  the connectivity sub-group meets in the week beginning 22 June and issues over Heritage railway lines, and the Robin Hood line can be fed into this forum.

RESOLVED to:

(1)  thank Ruth Hyde for the update;

(2)  ask Andrew Muter to draft a list of good ideas around HS2 to bring to future meeting;

(3)  put together timetable on electrification of the line at a future meeting for Gedling Borough Council;

Presentation by Richard Kirkland, ESIF Co-ordinator at D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership.

Richard Kirkland, European Structural and Investment Fund Coordinator at D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) presented an update on European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF), highlighting the following points:

(a)  all LEP’s have been given an allocation of funding that they can use at their discretion;

(b)  the European Commission requires all the money to go into certain ‘key baskets’, with low-carbon and climate change adaptation as one of the focuses;

(c)  ESIF provides 50% of the costs which then have to be matched, in some cases by national bodies, while some organisations (such as colleges or community groups) are required to bring in their own matched funding.  In the D2N2 (Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire area) region, the national bodies that opt into the matched funding include the Skills Funding Agency, the Department for Work and Pensions and the Big Lottery Fund;

Following questions from Councillors, the following points were raised;

(d)  if the UK were to pull out of Europe, this should not affect the timescales involved with ESIF, although there would be a degree of uncertainty around this;

(e)  the D2N2 LEP would need to make sure that what they are purchasing is the right fit for the particular geographical area, or a potential Combined Authority;

RESOLVED to:

(1)  thank Richard Kirkland for the update;

(2)  ask Allen Graham to build a bridge between this update, and the work on the Combined Authority and Devolution Deal that is ongoing;

Update by Andrew Muter, Chief Executive of Newark and Sherwood District Council.

Andrew Muter, Chief Executive of Newark and Sherwood District Council presented the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Combined Authority Work Programme.

RESOLVED to note the Work Programme.

To consider meeting on the following Fridays:

24/07/2015

25/09/2015

20/11/2015

18/12/2015

19/02/2016

18/03/2016

RESOLVED that the Committee will meet on the following Fridays, with one exception noted below;

24/07/2015

25/09/2015

20/11/2015

18/12/2015

19/02/2016

The proposed date of 18 March 2016 clashes with another meeting.  A new date will be proposed at the July meeting.

To consider excluding the public from the meeting during consideration of the remaining items in accordance with section 100a(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 on the basis that, having regard to all the circumstances, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

The Committee decided to exclude the public from the meeting during consideration of the remaining agenda items in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 on the basis that, having regard to all the circumstances, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information, given the commercial details to be discussed.

To confirm the minutes of the last meeting held on 20 March 2015.

The exempt minutes of the meeting held on 20 March 2015, were confirmed and signed by the Chair.