Agenda item

(Lead Member: The Mayor, Director: Alan Reiss)

Resolved: That the Combined Authority:

a)    indicatively approves the revenue funding envelopes (detailed at para 2.8 of the submitted report) to the Investment Priorities within the WYIS for the financial years 21/22-24/25. Full approvals to spend will be granted once pipelines of projects have been developed. All schemes and pipeline will be progressed through the assurance process in line with the Combined Authority’s Assurance Process.

b)    indicatively approves £11.4m funding from the Single Investment Fund to the Combined Authority and Local Authorities to support capacity issues and enable pipeline development work to be undertaken against the Investment Priorities. Full approval to spend will be granted once the project has progressed through the assurance process in line with the Combined Authority’s Assurance Process.

c)    delegates to the Finance, Resources and Corporate Committee, the approval for programme to pass through Decision Point 2, totalling no more than £11.4m of funding from the Single Investment Fund.

The Combined Authority considered a report requesting the approval of indicative revenue funding envelopes to the Investment Priorities within the West Yorkshire Investment Strategy (WYIS) for the financial years 2021/22-2024/25, as well as principle funding allocations to each Local Authority and the Combined Authority.

Members highlighted significant indicative investment of approximately £40 million to addressing the climate emergency, as well as the creation of a dedicated pot of funding to support culture and creative activities in the region, noting that culture was key to levelling up. These proposed indicative funding envelopes had been developed in partnership between the Combined Authority and Local Authorities. The intention was to create a pipeline of projects for each of the region’s investment priorities, to support levelling up and to strengthen the region’s position in the global economy. Further proposals would be sent to the appropriate committees for discussion, though it was highlighted that these allocations were indicative, and that flexibility would remain to respond to any new requirements.

It had been identified that additional capacity would be needed across the Combined Authority and Local Authorities to identify and create these pipelines of schemes, and it was proposed that 10% of gainshare funding be shared across the partnership to meet these needs. Members questioned what flexibility Local Authorities would have regarding this funding; officers advised that there would be significant flexibility in how the funding was used, but that the end result being targeted would need to be agreed earlier in the process.

Members noted that a significantly high amount of carry forward was listed in the 2021/2022 allocation and queried why funding was not being distributed faster. Officers advised that there was need for pipelines to be further developed before more funding could be released, with the programme intending for all funding to be spent over the next three years as would best benefit the region’s development. It was intended that a surplus of projects be developed, to mitigate the risk of funding being unable to be allocated if projects were delayed. The flexibility of the gainshare funding would be helpful in this regard, and funding left unspent at the end of the programme could be used to support the above-mentioned capacity funding in the development of a longer-term pipeline of infrastructure.

Resolved: That the Combined Authority:

a)    indicatively approves the revenue funding envelopes (detailed at para 2.8 of the submitted report) to the Investment Priorities within the WYIS for the financial years 21/22-24/25. Full approvals to spend will be granted once pipelines of projects have been developed. All schemes and pipeline will be progressed through the assurance process in line with the Combined Authority’s Assurance Process.

b)    indicatively approves £11.4m funding from the Single Investment Fund to the Combined Authority and Local Authorities to support capacity issues and enable pipeline development work to be undertaken against the Investment Priorities. Full approval to spend will be granted once the project has progressed through the assurance process in line with the Combined Authority’s Assurance Process.

c)     delegates to the Finance, Resources and Corporate Committee, the approval for programme to pass through Decision Point 2, totalling no more than £11.4m of funding from the Single Investment Fund.