Agenda item

(Lead Member: The Mayor, Director: Melanie Corcoran)

The West Yorkshire Mayor’s Cost of Living Emergency Fund

 

The Combined Authority approves that, subject to the conditions set by PAT and set out in the decision point certificate:

 

(i)             The Mayor’s Cost of Living Emergency Fund scheme proceeds through decision point 2 to 4 (business justification) and work commences on activity 5 (Delivery).

 

(ii)            Approval to the Combined Authority’s contribution of £3,000,000 is given. The total scheme value is £3,000,000.

 

 

(iii)          The Combined Authority enters into funding agreements with the five West Yorkshire Local Authorities. The amount of funding allocated to 148 each Local Authority is delegated to the Combined Authority’s Chief Executive.

 

(iv)          Future approvals are made in accordance with the assurance pathway and approval route outlined in this report and where required, any change requests are delegated to the Finance, Resources and Corporate Committee. This will be subject to the scheme remaining within the tolerances outlined in this report.

 

Social Housing Decarbonisation Booster

 

The Combined Authority approves that:

 

(i)             The change request for the Social Housing Decarbonisation Booster scheme to increase the Combined Authority’s contribution funding from £5,062,000 to £10,257,949, to extend the programme and to increase the outputs as detailed in this report is approved. The total scheme value will increase from £10,381,000 to £17,633,367

 

(ii)            The Combined Authority enters into an addendum to the existing Funding Agreements with the following Social Housing Provider providers for expenditure of up to:

• Accent £186,535

• Chartford £154,000

• Connect £308,000

• Incommunities £1,084,230

• Kirklees £280,000

• Together £1,700,545

• WDH £847,000

• Yorkshire Housing £238,000

 

(iii)          That delegated authority be granted:

• To the Head of Economic Implementation to reallocate funding and / or outputs in consultation with PAT but without the need to submit a formal Change Request to PAT if one or more Housing Association is unable to use their funding allocation, but another is.

 

• To the Head of Economic Implementation and the Head of Legal and Governance Services in consultation to finalise the Funding Agreement Addendums between the Combined Authority and the Housing Associations (WDH, Connect Housing, Incommunities, Together Housing, Accent Housing, Yorkshire Housing, Kirklees Council, Chartford) and all other related legal documents that may be required.

 

(iv)          Future approvals are made in accordance with the assurance pathway and approval route outlined in this report and any change requests are delegated to the Climate, Energy and Environment Committee, which will 149 be subject to the scheme remaining within the tolerances outlined in this report.

 

Climate Environment Plan Wave 1

 

The Combined Authority approves:

 

(i)             The change request to the CEP Wave 1 Portfolio to:

 

d) Further development costs of £1,507,893 to continue to develop individual programme business cases plus the UK Shared Prosperity Fund’s (UK SPF) contribution to the Flood Innovation Programme (FLIP) (£310,000), taking the total portfolio development costs approval to £2,654,133. Note: the release of the £310,000 is subject to final approval of the UKSPF Local Investment Plan by Government.

 

e) Approval of £1,100,000 for the Energy Price Crisis Emergency Business Grants Programme, part of the CEP’s Business Sustainability Package to provide immediate support businesses with the cost-of-living crisis

 

f) Taking the total portfolio approval to £2,917,893.

 

(ii)            The Combined Authority enters into a Funding Agreement with Leeds City Council for expenditure of up to £310,000.

 

(iii)          Delegation to the Climate, Energy and Environment Committee is requested for approval of any change requests to FLIP or the Energy Price Crisis Emergency Business Grants Programme and approval of the business cases for the other projects in the CEP Wave 1 portfolio.

 

(iv)          Future approvals are made in accordance with the assurance pathway and approval route outlined in this report and any change requests are delegated to the Climate, Energy and Environment Committee, which will be subject to the scheme remaining within the tolerances outlined in this report.

 

UKSPF Local Authority Hyper Local Programme

 

The Combined Authority approves that, subject to the conditions set by PAT and set out in the decision point certificate and subject to final approval of the UKSPF West Yorkshire Local Investment Plan by Government:

 

(i)             The UKSPF - Local Authority Hyper Local Programme scheme proceeds through decision point 2 to 4 (business justification) and work commences on activity 5 (Delivery).

 

(ii)            Approval to the Combined Authority’s contribution of £31,227,000 UKSPF is given. The total scheme value is £35,037,000.

 

 

(iii)          The Combined Authority enters into funding agreements with the five West Yorkshire Local Authorities for the following amounts:

• Bradford £7,578,145 + £303,126 management fee.

• Calderdale £2,764,079 + £137,563 management fee

• Kirklees £5,824,858 + £232,994 management fee

• Leeds £9,393,538 + £375,742 management fee

• Wakefield £4,439,380 + £177,575 management fee

 

(iv)         Future approvals are made in accordance with the assurance pathway and approval route outlined in this report and where required, any change requests are delegated to the Finance, Resources and Corporate Committee, following advice by the UKSPF LPG. This will be subject to the scheme remaining within the tolerances outlined in this report.

 

West Yorkshire Innovation Programme

 

The Combined Authority approves that:

 

(i)             The West Yorkshire Innovation Support Programme proceeds through decision point 2 to 4 (business justification) and work commences on activity 5 (delivery).

 

(ii)            Approval is given to Combined Authority’s contribution of £5,550,376. The total scheme value is £6,934,126.

 

 

(iii)          Future approvals are made in accordance with the assurance pathway and approval route outlined in this report and where required, any change requests are delegated to the Business, Economy and Innovation Committee. This will be subject to the scheme remaining within the tolerances outlined in this report.

 

Business West Yorkshire

 

The Combined Authority approves that:

 

(i)             The Business West Yorkshire scheme proceeds through decision point 2 to 4 (Business Justification) and work commences on activity 5 (delivery).

 

(ii)            Approval to the Combined Authority’s contribution of £4,573,426. The total scheme value is £5,298,920

 

 

(iii)          Future approvals are made in accordance with the assurance pathway and approval route outlined in this report and where required, any change requests are delegated to the Business, Economy and Innovation Committee. This will be subject to the scheme remaining within the tolerances outlined in this report.

 

Employment Support West Yorkshire

 

The Combined Authority approves that:

 

(i)             The Employment Support West Yorkshire scheme proceeds through decision point 2 to 4 (business justification) and work commences on activity 5 (Delivery).

 

(ii)            Approval to the Combined Authority’s contribution of £12,000,000. The total scheme value is £12,023,833.

 

(iii)          The Combined Authority enters into a funding agreement with each of the five partner councils for expenditure up to the allocations outlined below:

• Bradford Council £3,233,194

• Calderdale Council £1,014,916

• Kirklees Council £2,371,940

• Leeds City Council £3,658,917

• Wakefield Council £1,227,059

 

(iv)     Future approvals are made in accordance with the assurance pathway and approval route outlined in this report and where required, any change requests are delegated to the Employment and Skills Committee. This will be subject to the scheme remaining within the tolerances outlined in this report

 

TCF Huddersfield Bus Station

 

The Combined Authority approves that:

 

(i)             The Huddersfield Bus Station scheme proceeds through decision point 3 (outline business case) and work commences on activity 4 (full business case).

 

(ii)            An indicative approval to the Combined Authority’s contribution of £18,995,380. The total scheme value is £19,995,380.

 

(iii)          Development Costs of £2,178,470 are approved in order progress the scheme to decision point 4 (full business case) taking the total scheme approval to £3,077,100.

 

(iv)          Future approvals are made in accordance with the assurance pathway and approval route outlined in this report. This will be subject to the scheme remaining within the tolerances outlined in this report.

 

Brownfield Housing Fund Programme

 

The Combined Authority approves:

(i)             The change request to the Brownfield Housing Programme to increase the total programme cost from £66,778,719 to £89,038,292 and increase the programme output targets from 4500-6000 homes unlocked to 5,400- 7,855 homes unlocked by March 2025.

 

(ii)            Development costs of up to £5,000,000 from the Brownfield Housing Fund are approved in order to develop and manage the programme, including acquisitions, and design and develop individual schemes to the 152 next decision point, taking the development funding approved to date to £10,000,000.

 

(iii)          The change to the BHF Burmantofts project to increase the delivery timeframe from June 2025 to October 2025.

 

(iv)          The change to the BHF Leeds Central project to increase the delivery timeframe from July 2024 to January 2025.

 

(v)           The change to the BHF Hebden Bridge project to increase the delivery timeframe from January 2024 to February 2025.

 

(vi)          Future approvals are made in accordance with the assurance pathway and approval route outlined in this report. This will be subject to the scheme remaining within the tolerances outlined in this report.

The Combined Authority considered a report of the Director of Delivery on the progression of, and funding for a number of schemes. Officers summarised nine key schemes for progression through the assurance progress and approval of funding.

 

WY mayors cost of living emergency fund

 

Officers summarised the aim of the scheme to provide £3 million of support to disadvantaged and vulnerable groups in West Yorkshire, through established Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprise sector links.

 

Members agreed the funding is necessary, but stressed the support is not enough to solve the wider issues and more support is required from central government to meet the needs of the region. The Chair agreed that the projected support until April is not long enough, and benefits payments should rise in line with inflation to support the most vulnerable.

 

Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund Booster

 

Officers summarised the scheme will support the ongoing work of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, by allowing for more homes to be retrofitted and made more energy-efficient.

 

West Yorkshire Climate and Environment Plan - Wave 1

 

Officers explained the aim of the scheme to support the initial seven programmes to support the net-zero 2038 ambitions. The programmes are still under development and are at various stages, but with initial funding will increase the pace of delivery.

 

Members commented that work towards energy efficiency is key to improve the environment and to tackle high fuel bills, and urged that government take further action against the rising cost of living.

 

UKSPF - Local Authority Hyper Local Programme

 

Officers explained that the UK Shared Prosperity Fund is the successor to the European Structural Investment Fund programme, and will allocate £31 million of funding between the five constituent regions to support the wider UKSPF programme.

 

 

West Yorkshire Innovation Programme

 

Officers explained the scheme is a three-year programme to support small and medium enterprises to improve their business operations through a variety of means.

 

Business west Yorkshire

 

Officers explained the scheme will support 9,000 small and medium enterprises to improve productivity and expand their businesses.

 

Employment support West Yorkshire

 

Officers explained the scheme will support 7,700 to gain skills and return to the labour market through a variety of activity between April 2023 and March 2025.

 

TCF Huddersfield bus station

 

Officers explained the aim of the scheme to refurbish the interior and exterior of Huddersfield bus station. The overall costs have increased from the original allocation due to inflation and material costs, and analysis has been undertaken to bring the costs down as much as possible. The project will be periodically reviewed to ensure value is maintained.

Brownfield Housing Fund Programme

 

Officers explained the ongoing Brownfield Housing Fund scheme has received additional funds from the government, which will increase the projected output of new homes within the existing delivery time frame.

 

Members expressed their thanks for the hard work of the teams involved with the scheme, and raised questions regarding the availability of suitable land. Officers confirmed that work is ongoing to identify suitable land, and that any justified proposals from developers are considered and approved as appropriate. Work is also being undertaken to identify avenues for employment and increasing skills in partnership with developers and training providers.

 

Resolved:

 

In respect of the West Yorkshire Mayor’s Cost of Living Emergency Fund, the Combined Authority approved that, subject to the conditions set by PAT and

set out in the decision point certificate:

 

(i) The Mayor’s Cost of Living Emergency Fund scheme proceeds through

decision point 2 to 4 (business justification) and work commences on

activity 5 (Delivery).

 

(ii) Approval to the Combined Authority’s contribution of £3,000,000 is given.

The total scheme value is £3,000,000.

 

(iii) The Combined Authority enters into funding agreements with the five

West Yorkshire Local Authorities. The amount of funding allocated to

each Local Authority is delegated to the Combined Authority’s Chief

Executive.

 

(iv) Future approvals are made in accordance with the assurance pathway

and approval route outlined in this report and where required, any

change requests are delegated to the Finance, Resources and Corporate

Committee. This will be subject to the scheme remaining within the

tolerances outlined in this report.

 

In respect of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Booster, the Combined Authority approved that:

 

(i) The change request for the Social Housing Decarbonisation Booster

scheme to increase the Combined Authority’s contribution funding from

£5,062,000 to £10,257,949, to extend the programme and to increase the

outputs as detailed in this report is approved. The total scheme value will

increase from £10,381,000 to £17,633,367

 

(ii) The Combined Authority enters into an addendum to the existing Funding

Agreements with the following Social Housing Provider providers for expenditure of up to:

• Accent £186,535

• Chartford £154,000

• Connect £308,000

• Incommunities £1,084,230

• Kirklees £280,000

• Together £1,700,545

• WDH £847,000

• Yorkshire Housing £238,000

 

(iii) That delegated authority be granted:

• To the Head of Economic Implementation to reallocate funding and /

or outputs in consultation with PAT but without the need to submit a

formal Change Request to PAT if one or more Housing Association is

unable to use their funding allocation, but another is.

• To the Head of Economic Implementation and the Head of Legal and

Governance Services in consultation to finalise the Funding

Agreement Addendums between the Combined Authority and the

Housing Associations (WDH, Connect Housing, Incommunities,

Together Housing, Accent Housing, Yorkshire Housing, Kirklees

Council, Chartford) and all other related legal documents that may be

required.

 

(iv) Future approvals are made in accordance with the assurance pathway

and approval route outlined in this report and any change requests are

delegated to the Climate, Energy and Environment Committee, which will

be subject to the scheme remaining within the tolerances outlined in this

report.

 

In respect of the Climate Environment Plan - Wave 1, the Combined Authority approved:

(i) The change request to the CEP Wave 1 Portfolio to:

a) Further development costs of £1,507,893 to continue to develop

individual programme business cases plus the UK Shared

Prosperity Fund’s (UK SPF) contribution to the Flood Innovation

Programme (FLIP) (£310,000), taking the total portfolio

development costs approval to £2,654,133. Note: the release of

the £310,000 is subject to final approval of the UKSPF Local

Investment Plan by Government.

b) Approval of £1,100,000 for the Energy Price Crisis Emergency

Business Grants Programme, part of the CEP’s Business

Sustainability Package to provide immediate support businesses

with the cost-of-living crisis

c) Taking the total portfolio approval to £2,917,893.

 

(ii) The Combined Authority enters into a Funding Agreement with Leeds

City Council for expenditure of up to £310,000.

 

(iii) Delegation to the Climate, Energy and Environment Committee is

requested for approval of any change requests to FLIP or the Energy

Price Crisis Emergency Business Grants Programme and approval of the

business cases for the other projects in the CEP Wave 1 portfolio.

 

(iv) Future approvals are made in accordance with the assurance pathway

and approval route outlined in this report and any change requests are

delegated to the Climate, Energy and Environment Committee, which will

be subject to the scheme remaining within the tolerances outlined in this

report.

 

In respect of the UKSPF Local Authority Hyper Local Programme, the Combined Authority approved that, subject to the conditions set by PAT

and set out in the decision point certificate and subject to final approval of the

UKSPF West Yorkshire Local Investment Plan by Government:

 

(i) The UKSPF - Local Authority Hyper Local Programme scheme proceeds

through decision point 2 to 4 (business justification) and work

commences on activity 5 (Delivery).

 

(ii) Approval to the Combined Authority’s contribution of £31,227,000

UKSPF is given. The total scheme value is £35,037,000.

 

(iii) The Combined Authority enters into funding agreements with the five

West Yorkshire Local Authorities for the following amounts:

• Bradford £7,578,145 + £303,126 management fee.

• Calderdale £2,764,079 + £137,563 management fee

• Kirklees £5,824,858 + £232,994 management fee

• Leeds £9,393,538 + £375,742 management fee

• Wakefield £4,439,380 + £177,575 management fee

 

(iv) Future approvals are made in accordance with the assurance pathway

and approval route outlined in this report and where required, any

change requests are delegated to the Finance, Resources and Corporate

Committee, following advice by the UKSPF LPG. This will be subject to

the scheme remaining within the tolerances outlined in this report.

 

In respect of the West Yorkshire Innovation Programme, the Combined Authority approved that:

 

(i) The West Yorkshire Innovation Support Programme proceeds through

decision point 2 to 4 (business justification) and work commences on

activity 5 (delivery).

 

(ii) Approval is given to Combined Authority’s contribution of £5,550,376.

The total scheme value is £6,934,126.

 

(iii) Future approvals are made in accordance with the assurance pathway

and approval route outlined in this report and where required, any

change requests are delegated to the Business, Economy and Innovation

Committee. This will be subject to the scheme remaining within the

tolerances outlined in this report.

 

In respect of Business West Yorkshire, the Combined Authority approved that:

 

(i) The Business West Yorkshire scheme proceeds through decision point 2

to 4 (Business Justification) and work commences on activity 5 (delivery).

 

(ii) Approval to the Combined Authority’s contribution of £4,573,426. The

total scheme value is £5,298,920

 

(iii) Future approvals are made in accordance with the assurance pathway

and approval route outlined in this report and where required, any

change requests are delegated to the Business, Economy and Innovation

Committee. This will be subject to the scheme remaining within the

tolerances outlined in this report.

 

In respect of Employment Support West Yorkshire, the Combined Authority approved that:

 

(i) The Employment Support West Yorkshire scheme proceeds through

decision point 2 to 4 (business justification) and work commences on

activity 5 (Delivery).

 

(ii) Approval to the Combined Authority’s contribution of £12,000,000. The

total scheme value is £12,023,833.

 

(iii) The Combined Authority enters into a funding agreement with each of the

five partner councils for expenditure up to the allocations outlined below:

• Bradford Council £3,233,194

• Calderdale Council £1,014,916

• Kirklees Council £2,371,940

• Leeds City Council £3,658,917

• Wakefield Council £1,227,059

 

(iv) Future approvals are made in accordance with the assurance pathway

and approval route outlined in this report and where required, any

change requests are delegated to the Employment and Skills Committee.

This will be subject to the scheme remaining within the tolerances

outlined in this report

 

In respect of TCF Huddersfield Bus Station, the Combined Authority approved that:

(i) The Huddersfield Bus Station scheme proceeds through decision point 3

(outline business case) and work commences on activity 4 (full business

case).

 

(ii) An indicative approval to the Combined Authority’s contribution of

£18,995,380. The total scheme value is £19,995,380.

 

(iii) Development Costs of £2,178,470 are approved in order progress the

scheme to decision point 4 (full business case) taking the total scheme

approval to £3,077,100.

 

(iv) Future approvals are made in accordance with the assurance pathway

and approval route outlined in this report. This will be subject to the

scheme remaining within the tolerances outlined in this report.

 

In respect of the Brownfield Housing Fund Programme, the Combined Authority approved:

 

(i) The change request to the Brownfield Housing Programme to increase

the total programme cost from £66,778,719 to £89,038,292 and increase

the programme output targets from 4500-6000 homes unlocked to 5,400-

7,855 homes unlocked by March 2025.

 

(ii) Development costs of up to £5,000,000 from the Brownfield Housing

Fund are approved in order to develop and manage the programme,

including acquisitions, and design and develop individual schemes to the next decision point, taking the development funding approved to date to

£10,000,000.

 

(iii) The change to the BHF Burmantofts project to increase the delivery

timeframe from June 2025 to October 2025.

 

(iv) The change to the BHF Leeds Central project to increase the delivery

timeframe from July 2024 to January 2025.

 

(v) The change to the BHF Hebden Bridge project to increase the delivery

timeframe from January 2024 to February 2025.

 

(vi) Future approvals are made in accordance with the assurance pathway

and approval route outlined in this report. This will be subject to the

scheme remaining within the tolerances outlined in this report.