Decisions

The Combined Authority supports the regeneration of town centres within the City Region. This project initially provided funding for the acquistion of strategic sites to enable future development and fees for associated master planning. Approval is sought for additional funding to support this development.

The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority agreed to award £650,000 from the Strategic Investment Fund to the Strategic Acquisitions programme (Sefton).

The recommendations being made will exceed the £150,000 financial threshold and have a broad community impact across the City Region as a whole.

The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority RESOLVED that:-

(i)        the Households into Work delivery which took place through lockdown be noted; and

(ii)       the extension of Households into Work Programme staff contracts be approved through to June 2021 and be underwritten by SIF Funds.

The proposed expenditure for the services to be procured will exceed the key decision threshold. The services this this procurement will deliver will benefit all wards across the City Region.

The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority RESOLVED that:-

(i)        the appointment of Elgin to provide a ‘Virtual Management Centre’ for the constituent Councils and LCR Combined Authority be approved; and

(ii)       the decision to invoke the provisions of Regulation 32 of the Public Contract Regulations 2015 (Negotiated procedure without prior publication) for the procurement of this Contract which will enable the consolidation and continuation of the system in the Region be noted.

The LCR Combined Authority is asked to accept grant funding from the Department of Business Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to support the continuation of activity by the North West Local Energy Hub in 2020/21. This will include additional capacity to support Local Authorities in the delivery of Green Home grants in the North West of England.

The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority RESOLVED that:-

(i)        the award of £404,000 to the Liverpool City Region Growth Company, via the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority as its accountable body, to support the Local Energy North West Hub be noted; and

(ii)       the funding be transferred to the Liverpool City Region Growth Company to enable it deliver the measurers set out within the report.

The LCR Combined Authority is asked to accept a grant from the European Social Fund for the Liverpool City Region Positive Inclusion Programme and Additional European Regional Development grant to support SME Restart and Recovery and Kickstarting Tourism package.

The LCR Combined Authority will act as the Accountable Body for the grants and make onward grant awards to Delivery partners.

The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority RESOLVED that:-

(i)        European Social Fund (ESF) grant for the Positive Inclusion programme outlined in Table 1 and the Combined Authority to act as the Accountable Body for the scheme, once the Funding Agreement from the DWP has been received and signed by all parties be accepted;

(ii)       additional European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Integrated Business Support programme, outlined in Table 3 and Table 4 be accepted;

(iii)      the onward award of the ESF grant to the Delivery Partners listed in Table 2 once the Funding Agreement from DWP has been received and signed by all partied be agreed;

(iv)      the onward award of the ERDF grant to Delivery Partners listed in Table 5 be agreed;

(v)       delegated authority be granted to the Treasurer and Monitoring Officer to agree and sign the ESF grant offer letter received from the Department of Work and Pensions and the subsequent grant accession deeds awarded to the Delivery Partners and approve any necessary amendments to these grant accession deeds during the period of their delivery; and

(vi)      delegated authority be granted to the Treasurer and the Monitoring Officer to agree and sign the ERDF grant offer letter received from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the subsequent grant accession deed to the Liverpool City Region Growth Company Limited.

The Investment Strategy sets out the overarching principles, priorities and management process for investing in good growth across the City Region which supports the economic development ambitions that is both socially inclusive and environmentally responsible.

This is supported by the Assurance Framework, which provides the context within which the Investment Strategy exists.

The Strategy will inform all future Combined Authority investments and provide the framework to guide these funding decisions.

The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority RESOLVED that:-

(i)           the draft Investment Strategy, set out in Appendix One be approved;

(ii)          the draft Assurance Framework, set out in Appendix Two be approved; and

(iii)         authority be delegated to the Director of Commercial Development and Investment and the Combined Authority Monitoring Officer to make minor amendments post 25 September 2020 in order to finalise the Investment Strategy and the Assurance Framework with Government. If more significant matters are raised by Government, officers will conclude the Investment Strategy and Assurance Framework in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Inclusive Economy and Third Sector.

The LCR Combined Authority is asked to approve the 2020 Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) submission for the Liverpool City Region (LCR).

The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority noted and endorsed the submission provided to Government.

The LCR Combined Authority has been awarded funding of £580,942 for the period September 2020 to August 2021 from the Careers and Enterprise Company, which is a continuation of funding to support the LCR Growth Company deliver the Careers and Enterprise programme.

The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority RESOLVED that:-

(i)        the award of £580,942 to the Liverpool City Region Growth Company, via the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority as its accountable body, to support the ‘Careers & Enterprise’ programme across the Liverpool City Region be noted; and

(ii)          the transfer of this funding to the Liverpool City Region Growth Company to enable it deliver the measures set out within the offer letter be agreed.

The LCR Combined Authority has been awarded supplementary funding of £329,000 for the 2020/21 financial year from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). This is additional funding to support the LCR Growth Company deliver the ‘Growth Hub’ programme. The Combined Authority has previously approved the initial funding allocation of £451,000.

The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority RESOLVED that:-

(i)        the award of £404,000 to the Liverpool City Region Growth Company, via the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority as its accountable body, to support the Local Energy North West Hub be noted;

(ii)       the award of £580,942 to the Liverpool City Region Growth Company, via the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority as its accountable body, to support the ‘Careers and Enterprise’ programme across the Liverpool City Region be noted;

(iii)      the award of £329,000 to the Liverpool City Region Growth Company, via the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority as its accountable body, to support the ‘Supplementary Growth Hub’ programme across the Liverpool City Region be noted; and

(iv)      this funding be transferred to the Liverpool City Region Growth Company to enable it deliver the measures set out within the offer letter.

Approval is sought to receive a grant offer of £1million from the Department for Education to support digital skills development across the City Region.

RESOLVED – That the Chief Executive:

(i)           accepted the grant offer of £1m from Department for Education as set out in the offer letter in Appendix One;

(ii)          authorised all necessary steps to be taken to in order to optimise the deployment of this funding; and

(iii)         requested that regular performance reports are brought forward on implementation.

Approval is sought to provide £350,000 of funding to the Growth Platform to enable Local Growth Hubs to strenghten the business support system in the City Region.

That the Chief Executive approved the allocation of £350,000 of funding from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority COVID-19 Resilience Fund (repurposed from the Brexit Resilience Fund) to Growth Platform for the purpose of providing additional human resource for Local Growth Hubs to refocus outwards and proactively engage businesses who were previously not accessing business support, providing COVID-19 specific advice; and identifying businesses suitable for “high intensity” support.