Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed Committee members and colleagues. Apologies were received from Ian Curryer, Nottingham City Council who was on leave.

RESOLVED to appoint Councillor Jason Zadrozny as Vice Chair to the Committee.

None

Last meeting held on 9 March 2018 (for confirmation)

Subject to the correction of Deputy Mayor Mick Barton’s name, the minutes of the meeting held on 9 March 2018 were agreed as a correct record and were signed by the Chair.

Report of the Corporate Director, Development & Growth, Nottingham City Council

Chris Henning, Nottingham City Council, introduced the report. He informed the Committee that a review of the Terms of Reference had been conducted by Nottinghamshire County, Nottingham City, Ashfield District and Rushcliffe Borough Councils which was the first refresh of the terms of reference since the establishment of the committee. The amendments reflect changes in the economic and political environment over the last four years including Brexit and the establishment of the Midlands Engine.

In addition to the amendments outlined in the report, two further clarifications to the remit of the Committee were proposed at the meeting:

a)  Paragraph 3.1 a), to amend as follows “to act as a the local public sector decision making body for strategic economic growth”

b)  Paragraph 3.1 d), to make the following addition (underlined) “where appropriate, to agree shared priorities and bids for funding to existing and new funding sources such as Local Growth Funds, European Funds (until the end of the Brexit transition period) and the Shared Prosperity Fund (at the end of the Brexit transition period).”

RESOLVED to agree the changes to the Terms of Reference, as outlined in the report and proposed at the meeting and to submit the revised Terms of Reference to each constituent authority for formal approval in accordance with their own Constitutions.

Report of the Corporate Director Place, Nottinghamshire County Council

Adrian Smith, Nottinghamshire County Council, introduced the report which updated the Committee on the N2 Town Centre (N2TC) Programme, including progress on particular projects. £625,000 of funding remains unallocated, together with c.£310,000  of remaining funding from Business Rates pooling arrangements. The proposed call for projects would be to access a share of these combined funds.

During discussions the Committee clarified the following points:

a)  The call for projects is seeking schemes in addition to those already included;

b)  Scaling up of existing project could be submitted for consideration;

c)  Where projects had been approved there was now an urgent need for the funding to be released.

RESOLVED:

(1)  to note the progress made to date on the delivery of the N2 Town Centre Programme;

(2)  to approve a further call for town centre projects to maximise the available remaining funding and to meet the outstanding job outputs;

(3)  to note the forthcoming Future High Street Fund.

Report of the Corporate Director, Development & Growth, Nottingham City Council

Chris Henning, Nottingham City Council, presented the report to the Committee as a concise summary of major local, regional and national developments that impact upon Nottinghamshire. The Committee agreed that the issues included were appropriate and that the structure of the report was helpful but that it would benefit from key timelines and any approaching milestones being highlighted in the text.

The Committee then discussed each of the items included in the update.

a)  Midlands Engine

The Midlands Engine is progressing slowly. A challenge for Nottinghamshire and the wider East Midlands is to ensure the clear articulation of priorities for the area which are supported by all constituent authorities and local MPs

b)  Midlands Connect

A number of key transport and infrastructure projects were highlighted by the Committee including the connectivity of East Midlands Airport (particularly in light of the major developments around the site and the planned increase in the Airport’s freight and passenger capacity), road and rail interchanges at Newark, and HS2 at Toton.

c)  HS2

The committee discussed the need for good connectivity with HS2 from across the County and the possible options for the station itself including high level and tunnelling options and the need to understand the total economic impact of both options.

d)  D2N2 LEP

There has been a change of leadership at the LEP with Elizabeth Fagan replacing Peter Richardson as Chair and Sajeeda Rose temporarily taking the role of Chief Executive as a successor to David Ralph. The consultation on the LEP’s refreshed Strategic Economic Plan closed on 16^th November prior to final approval by the Board. A number of actions have also emerged from the Ministerial review of LEPs including the establishment of LEPs as legal personalities and the expectation that all LEPs will have a single accountable body, a change from the three that currently exist for D2N2.

e)  Derby- Nottingham Metro Strategy

Positive progress has been made with the involvement of a number of district councils within the metro-area at the last Delivery Board meeting. Some local services have been extended to citizens of both cities including gym membership and library lending as well as the launch of a Metro commercial waste service in April 2018.

f)  Nottinghamshire County Council’s Place Departmental Strategy

Progress on a number of key housing sites and the visitor economy was highlighted.

g)  D2N2 Charge Point Network and Air Quality

53 charge points have been installed in the city and are now operational with 900 charging sessions having been recorded. Further charge points are to be rolled out across the County. Consideration would be given to how the locations of charge points could be easily shared with the public as well as timelines for when points are going live.

RESOLVED to note the update.

Report of the Corporate Director, Development & Growth, Nottingham City Council

A proposed work programme was circulated to the Committee and is attached to the minutes. The Committee commented in particular on the decommissioning of coal-fired power stations as an issue to be brought back for consideration.

RESOLVED to approve the circulated work programme as the basis for the future work of the committee and to delegate responsibility for finalising the work programme to the Chief Executive Officers of the constituent authorities.

RESOLVED to note that meetings would be arranged to take place in January and March 2019.