Agenda item

(Lead Member: Cllr D Jeffery, Director: Melanie Corcoran)

Resolved:

(a)      In respect of the West Yorkshire plus Transport Fund Review –

That following a recommendation from the Investment Committee, the Combined Authority approves:

(i)     That the proposed revised funding allocations as set out in Appendix 1 of the submitted report be approved.

(ii)    That following a number of requests for funding being received for projects within operational programmes, costs should be managed within the operational programme allocation. It is proposed that any changes to individual projects should be considered by each operational programme board and final recommendations brought for approval to the Investment Committee as and when required.  These requests must remain within the envelope of each operational programme.

(iii)    That it be noted that the original purpose of the Corridor Improvement Programme was to provide small to medium scale measures to road corridors to improve traffic flow and bus access.  Informal agreement was that costs per project should not exceed £15 million and it was agreed that this should be formalised to help to ensure that the programme budget can be managed within the current funding envelope.

(iv)   That the revised programme dates for each project as set out in Appendix 2 to the submitted report be approved.

(v)    That in future:

o      Over-programming will be capped at the current level (£115.19 million or 11.5%).

o      All indicative funding levels will be capped, except:

a.      Where projects are part of an operational programme in this case funding can move between projects or take up unallocated programme headroom funding (all amendments to allocations within operational programmes must be approved by the Investment Committee).

b.      In exceptional circumstances.  Officers of the Combined Authority and partner councils will work together to set out the events that would trigger this consideration. Any additional funding requirement will be subject to the availability of headroom within the overprogramming and would need to be agreed before the business case can be approved.

c.       The Transport Fund will continue to be reviewed annually (commencing in August each year to inform the annual budget setting process).  The scope of the review will include: any increased requirement for funding; actual spend and forecast spend; review of overall progress (number of projects in development, delivery and complete); monitoring of the level of over-programming and the estimates of QRA /contingency; and project timetable dates. (Note: decreases in funding can be agreed at any time).

d.      An interim review will also be undertaken in the spring of 2021 to consider any urgent requests for increases or decreases in project indicative allocation.  This review will have a turnaround time of one month and will be undertaken following closure of the annual accounts in May each year and be considered by the Investment Committee at its meeting in July.

e.      Within the year each operational programme boards will consider requests for changes to funding allocations.  Any changes to indicative funding allocations will be reported back to the Investment Committee.

f.        Underspend on completed projects or completed operational programmes will be returned to the Transport Fund central pot to address overprogramming.

(b)      In respect of the Digital Skills Programme -  

(i)     That the retrospective approval to accept and spend the funding for the £1.3 million Digital Skills pilot be delegated to the Investment Committee so that delivery can commence in line with government’s delivery timeframes.

(ii)    That approval, to accept and spend the additional funding for the Digital Skills Programme bid, of up to £3 million (West Yorkshire bid), or up to £9 million (joint bid), subject to the successful outcome of the funding bid, be delegated to the Investment Committee so that delivery can commence in line with government’s delivery timeframes.

(c)      In respect of MCA Digital –

That following a recommendation from the Investment Committee, the  Combined Authority approves:

(i)          That the MCA Digital project proceeds through decision point 2 and work commences on activity 5 (full business case with finalised costs).

(ii)         That an indicative approval to the total project value of £1.97 million is given, to be funded by the Combined Authority from borrowing or the use of capital receipts with full approval to spend being granted once the scheme has progressed through the assurance process to decision point 5 (Full business case with finalised costs).

(iii)       That development costs of £0.156 million are approved in order to progress the scheme to decision point 5 (full business case with finalised costs).

(iv)       That future approvals are made in accordance with the assurance pathway and approval route outlined in the submitted report, which will be subject to the scheme remaining within the tolerances outlined in the report.

(d)      In respect of A64 Regent Street Bridge – Leeds City Centre Package –

That following a recommendation from the Investment Committee, the Combined Authority approves:

(i)     That the A64 Regent Street Bridge – Leeds City Centre Package scheme proceeds through decision point 5 and work commences on activity 6 (delivery).

(ii)    That approval be given to the Combined Authority’s contribution of £12 million to be funded from the West Yorkshire plus Transport Fund (WY+TF). The total scheme value is £31 million.

(iii)    That approval be given to increase the Leeds City Centre Package programme budget by £12 million from £66.8 million to £78.8 million.

(iv)   That the Combined Authority enters into a funding agreement with Leeds City Council for expenditure of up to £12 million from the WY+TF.

(v)    That future approvals are made in accordance with the assurance pathway and approval route outlined in the submitted report subject to the scheme remaining within the tolerances outlined in the report.

(e)      In respect of Thorpe Park Rail Station –

That following a recommendation from the Investment Committee, the Combined Authority approves:

(i)     That the Thorpe Park Rail Station scheme proceeds through decision point 3 and work commences on activity 4 (Full business case).

(ii)    That an indicative approval be given to the Combined Authority’s contribution of £13.9 million (£3.8 million from the Leeds Public Transport Investment Programme and £10.1 million from the West Yorkshire plus Transport Fund), with full approval to spend being granted once the scheme has progressed through the assurance process to decision point 5 (Full business case with finalised costs). The total scheme cost is £31.642 million.

(iii)    That development funding of £3.8 million is approved from the Leeds Public Transport Investment Programme to enable the scheme to progress to decision point 4 (Full business case).

(iv)   That development funding of £0.936 million is approved from the West Yorkshire plus Transport Fund to enable the scheme to progress to decision point 4 (Full business case), bringing the total development costs from the WY+TF to £1.436 million.

(v)        That the Combined Authority enters into a legal agreement with Leeds City Council to secure land required for the delivery of the scheme.

(vi)   That future approvals are made in accordance with the assurance

pathway and approval route outlined in the submitted report subject to the scheme remaining within the tolerances outlined in the report.

The Combined Authority considered a report of the Director, Delivery on the progress and funding for the following schemes through the Combined Authority’s assurance process:

·       MCA Digital

·       A64 Regent Street Bridge – Leeds City Centre Package

·       Thorpe Park Rail Station

In addition, it was noted that the following decision points and change requests had been assessed and approved through the agreed delegation process:

·       One City Park, Bradford

·       Corridor Improvement Programme Phase 1, Huddersfield Southern Corridors

·       Parry Lane Enterprise Zone

·       Strategic Inward Investment Fund (SIIF) Pipeline Projects

·       Leeds Public Transport Investment Programme (LTPTIP) Review 2020 – Part One

·       Bradford ‘City Village’ Phase 1

·       Knottingley Skills, Business and Services Hub

·       Leeds City Centre Grey to Green

·       White Rose Rail Station

·       A647 Corridor

·       Leeds City Region Employment Hubs – supporting the Economic Recovery Plan

·       [re]boot – Adult Retraining Programme

It was reported that a second review of the West Yorkshire plus Transport Fund had been undertaken and had been considered by the Investment Committee on 7 January 2021. The Authority approved the recommendations of the Investment Committee which included the proposed funding allocations which were set out in Appendix 1 and the revised programme dates for each project provided in Appendix 2

Members were advised that at their meeting held on 3 February 2021, the Investment Committee had considered an extension of the [re]boot Adult Retraining Programme as part of the West Yorkshire Economic Recovery Plan.  Details were provided in the submitted report and it was agreed that approval be delegated to the Investment Committee in order to ensure preparations can be made so the programme can start in line with Government’s delivery timeframe.

Details of all the schemes were provided in the submitted report.

Resolved:

(a)      In respect of the West Yorkshire plus Transport Fund Review –

That following a recommendation from the Investment Committee, the Combined Authority approves:

(i)     That the proposed revised funding allocations as set out in Appendix 1 of the submitted report be approved.

(ii)    That following a number of requests for funding being received for projects within operational programmes, costs should be managed within the operational programme allocation. It is proposed that any changes to individual projects should be considered by each operational programme board and final recommendations brought for approval to the Investment Committee as and when required.  These requests must remain within the envelope of each operational programme.

(iii)    That it be noted that the original purpose of the Corridor Improvement Programme was to provide small to medium scale measures to road corridors to improve traffic flow and bus access.  Informal agreement was that costs per project should not exceed £15 million and it was agreed that this should be formalised to help to ensure that the programme budget can be managed within the current funding envelope.

(iv)   That the revised programme dates for each project as set out in Appendix 2 to the submitted report be approved.

(v)    That in future:

o      Over-programming will be capped at the current level (£115.19 million or 11.5%).

o      All indicative funding levels will be capped, except:

a.      Where projects are part of an operational programme in this case funding can move between projects or take up unallocated programme headroom funding (all amendments to allocations within operational programmes must be approved by the Investment Committee).

b.      In exceptional circumstances - officers of the Combined Authority and partner councils will work together to set out the events that would trigger this consideration. Any additional funding requirement will be subject to the availability of headroom within the overprogramming and would need to be agreed before the business case can be approved.

c.       The Transport Fund will continue to be reviewed annually (commencing in August each year to inform the annual budget setting process).  The scope of the review will include: any increased requirement for funding; actual spend and forecast spend; review of overall progress (number of projects in development, delivery and complete); monitoring of the level of over-programming and the estimates of QRA /contingency; and project timetable dates. (Note: decreases in funding can be agreed at any time).

d.      An interim review will also be undertaken in the spring of 2021 to consider any urgent requests for increases or decreases in project indicative allocation.  This review will have a turnaround time of one month and will be undertaken following closure of the annual accounts in May each year and be considered by the Investment Committee at its meeting in July.

e.      Within the year each operational programme boards will consider requests for changes to funding allocations.  Any changes to indicative funding allocations will be reported back to the Investment Committee.

f.        Underspend on completed projects or completed operational programmes will be returned to the Transport Fund central pot to address overprogramming.

(b)      In respect of the Digital Skills Programme -  

(i)     That the retrospective approval to accept and spend the funding for the £1.3 million Digital Skills pilot be delegated to the Investment Committee so that delivery can commence in line with government’s delivery timeframes.

(ii)    That approval, to accept and spend the additional funding for the Digital Skills Programme bid, of up to £3 million (West Yorkshire bid), or up to £9 million (joint bid), subject to the successful outcome of the funding bid, be delegated to the Investment Committee so that delivery can commence in line with government’s delivery timeframes.

(c)      In respect of MCA Digital –

That following a recommendation from the Investment Committee, the  Combined Authority approves:

(i)          That the MCA Digital project proceeds through decision point 2 and work commences on activity 5 (full business case with finalised costs).

(ii)         That an indicative approval to the total project value of £1.97 million is given, to be funded by the Combined Authority from borrowing or the use of capital receipts with full approval to spend being granted once the scheme has progressed through the assurance process to decision point 5 (Full business case with finalised costs).

(iii)       That development costs of £0.156 million are approved in order to progress the scheme to decision point 5 (full business case with finalised costs).

(iv)       That future approvals are made in accordance with the assurance pathway and approval route outlined in the submitted report, which will be subject to the scheme remaining within the tolerances outlined in the report.

(d)      In respect of A64 Regent Street Bridge – Leeds City Centre Package –

That following a recommendation from the Investment Committee, the Combined Authority approves:

(i)     That the A64 Regent Street Bridge – Leeds City Centre Package scheme proceeds through decision point 5 and work commences on activity 6 (delivery).

(ii)    That approval be given to the Combined Authority’s contribution of £12 million to be funded from the West Yorkshire plus Transport Fund (WY+TF). The total scheme value is £31 million.

(iii)    That approval be given to increase the Leeds City Centre Package programme budget by £12 million from £66.8 million to £78.8 million.

(iv)   That the Combined Authority enters into a funding agreement with Leeds City Council for expenditure of up to £12 million from the WY+TF.

(v)    That future approvals are made in accordance with the assurance pathway and approval route outlined in the submitted report subject to the scheme remaining within the tolerances outlined in the report.

(e)      In respect of Thorpe Park Rail Station –

That following a recommendation from the Investment Committee, the Combined Authority approves:

(i)     That the Thorpe Park Rail Station scheme proceeds through decision point 3 and work commences on activity 4 (Full business case).

(ii)    That an indicative approval be given to the Combined Authority’s contribution of £13.9 million (£3.8 million from the Leeds Public Transport Investment Programme and £10.1 million from the West Yorkshire plus Transport Fund), with full approval to spend being granted once the scheme has progressed through the assurance process to decision point 5 (Full business case with finalised costs). The total scheme cost is £31.642 million.

(iii)    That development funding of £3.8 million is approved from the Leeds Public Transport Investment Programme to enable the scheme to progress to decision point 4 (Full business case).

(iv)   That development funding of £0.936 million is approved from the West Yorkshire plus Transport Fund to enable the scheme to progress to decision point 4 (Full business case), bringing the total development costs from the WY+TF to £1.436 million.

(v)        That the Combined Authority enters into a legal agreement with Leeds City Council to secure land required for the delivery of the scheme.

(vi)   That future approvals are made in accordance with the assurance

pathway and approval route outlined in the submitted report subject to the scheme remaining within the tolerances outlined in the report.