Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillors Neil Clarke, James Naish and Paul Peacock.

None.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 3 March 2023

The minutes of the meeting held on 3 March 2023 were confirmed as an accurate record and signed by the Chair.

To confirm the dates of future meetings

The Committee agreed to meeting on the followings Fridays:

15 September 2023 (Informal Meeting)

6 October 2023 (Public Meeting)

12 January 2024 (Public Meeting)

16 February 2024 (Informal Meeting)

15 March 2024 (Public Meeting)

Venues are to be determined in due course.

Report of the Chief Executive of Nottinghamshire County Council

Adrian Smith, the Chief Executive of Nottinghamshire County Council delivered the report which updated the Committee on the progress of the East Midlands devolution deal and the Joint Working Programme. The following points were highlighted:

(a)  the devolution proposals were agreed by the four constituent authorities (Derby City Council, Derbyshire County Council, Nottingham City Council and Nottinghamshire County Council) and the Government on 30 August 2022. The Parliamentary legislation to approve the devolution arrangements is currently with the House of Lords. The legislation would need to receive Royal Ascent by early 2024 for an election for the Mayor of the East Midlands to take place in May;

(b)  a full implementation plan covering each policy agreed in the Deal needs to be completed ahead of implementation and approved by Government;

(c)  a Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) Integration Plan needs to be developed which outlines how the new East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA) will take on the functions and roles of the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership in line with the published guidance;

(d)  an investment strategy for the fully devolved funding programme needs to be developed, covering all budgets for devolved functions;

(e)  an Assurance Framework is required;

(f)  work needs to be undertaken to meet the Government’s readiness conditions for devolving the Adult Education Budget (AEB) from the academic year 2025/26. It is estimated that the devolved AEB for the region will be approximately £50 million;

(g)  work is taking place to create a pipeline of housing sites across the EMCCA area, supported by £918,000 of capacity funding in 2023/24 and 2024/5, in order to identify eligible projects for the £16.8 million of devolved capital funding in 2024/25 allocated to support the building of new homes on brownfield land;

(h)  a provisional area-wide local transport plan is being developed;

(i)  the new authority will receive £18m for capital funding projects in this Spending Review period to support the delivery of housing priorities and drive Net Zero ambitions in the East Midlands area;

During the discussion and in response to questions from the Committee, the following points were made:

(j)  an amendment to the Levelling-Up and Regeneration Bill would give borough and district councils in the East Midlands a greater voice and voting rights within the new authority;

(k)  the negotiations with the Government did reflect the views of the borough and district councils of the East Midlands, and the current structure of the EMCCA combines the voices of the constituent councils with organisation functionality;

(l)  the latest estimate for the legislation achieving Royal Ascent is November 2024.

Resolved to note the contents of the report.

Report of the Group Manager for Growth, Infrastructure and Development at Nottinghamshire County Council and the Director of Economy & Regeneration at Derbyshire County Council

Derek Higton, Interim Corporate Director (Place) at Nottinghamshire County Council, delivered the report which updated the Committee on the East Midlands Investment Zone (EMIZ) proposition, outlining work to date and next steps. The following points were highlighted:

(a)  the EMIZ was launched in March 2023. It is a significant achievement for the region. The government chose this as one of eight of areas in the UK;

(b)  the general funding package of £80million (revenue and capital) includes powers for tax relief across a five years;

(c)  the development of the EMIZ is required by Department of Levelling-Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) to pass through five Gateway stages, requiring progressively more detailed information. Gateway 1 (the Vision) was approved by Government on 10 May 2023. Gateway 2 focuses on the sector and geography. The draft proposals were submitted to the DLUHC, and the Gateway 2 meeting took place on 14 June 2023;

(d)  opportunities within the EMCCA’s green industry and advanced manufacturing sectors include nuclear energy, zero carbon propulsion and renewable energy and green sustainable construction. Derby already has the infrastructure around nuclear development and manufacturing;

(e)  the Infinity Park Derby (IPD) offers a unique opportunity for further growth and expansion of nuclear related facilities to support both the development of civil and defence related nuclear applications;

(f)  several opportunities exist within Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire for the provision of green industries;

(g)  the STEP Campus at West Burton will be an integral part of the green industries, along with the East Midlands Freeport. Both projects will bring significant sector investment. The project team will continue to refine the site designations to maximise the contribution of the Investment Zone to these sites and sector objectives;

(h)  the process has been paused at Gateway Stage 2 while the DLUHC assess the proposed sites and their appropriateness for tax and business rate retention;

(i)  the use of the EMIZ for nuclear and advanced manufacturing will provide an international profile for the East Midlands;

During the discussion and in response to questions from the Committee, the following points were made:

(j)  The £80 million will support the growth of skills and training to create a base for the nuclear and advanced manufacturing in the East Midlands;

(k)  with regards to skills and learning, universities are already involved with the development of the EMIZ, but further education colleges and apprenticeship providers can be included within the process.

Resolved to note the report.