Agenda and minutes

Members may make declarations of Interest at this point or may make them at any point in the meeting.

Councillors England, Bierley, Devine and Bibb declared that they had sat on the previously held Prosperous Communities Committee but retained an open mind as to the proposals for this meeting.

To resolve that under Section 100 (A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

RESOLVEDthatunderSection100(A)(4) ofthe LocalGovernmentAct1972, thepublic and press beexcluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule12A of theAct.

The report before the Committee, having been circulated previously, contained the legal and financial implications of the proposals.

The Council proposed to enter into a joint venture company (limited by shares) with its preferred partner in due course, and subject to testing through the ISOP process. The purpose of the joint venture company was to regenerate West Lindsey and generate a commercial return over the medium to long term

Funding had been earmarked for the Development Partnership to support the regeneration programme and would be seeking not only regeneration but a potential commercial return in addition to business rates.  A grant bid had also been made to support housing delivery via the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership. The procurement of specialist legal and commercial advice (via the NEPRO framework) had been approved in July 2016, funded from the Regeneration and Growth Earmarked Reserve.

The procurement process was being conducted in accordance with the Competitive Dialogue procedure pursuant to Regulation 30 of the Regulations which allowed development and financial solutions to be fully considered and refined with a shortlist of pre-qualified developers. A key benefit of this procedure was the ability to commence the dialogue with a long list of sites/projects and test the cohesiveness and viability of “the preferred solution”.

Having given consideration to the proposals put to the Prosperous Communities Committee, (which immediately preceded the Corporate Policy and Resources meeting and at which all Corporate Policy and Resources Members were present), and the details as set out in the powerpoint presentation, and having raised relevant questions during that meeting, Members were satisfied that they had been provided with sufficient information to make the decisions as recommended by the Prosperous Communities Committee, as per the minute below.

… it was unanimously RESOLVED that:

a)    it be recommended to the Corporate Policy and Resources Committee, that the proposed ISOP documents appended to the report be approved; 

b)    it be recommended to Corporate Policy and Resources Committee that subject to further testing of the legal structures, in principle the Council enters into a Joint Venture with a selected development partner for the delivery of the regeneration programme as part of the ISOP process;

c)    it be agreed to delegate any final changes to the ISOP document to the Chief Executive, following consultation with the Chairs of Prosperous Communities and Corporate Policy and Resources Committees; and

d)    it be recommended to Corporate Policy and Resources Committee, that a further budget of £75,000 to support and conclude the procurement process for the development partner and legal costs of the creation of the Joint Venture Company, to be funded from the Investment for Regeneration and Growth Earmarked Reserve, be approved.

The recommendations set out in the report and the minute above were moved and seconded, and Committee Members called for the vote to be taken.  The Chairman verified that no Members had any further questions for officers and moved to the vote.

It was therefore RESOLVED, unanimously, that:

a)    the proposed ISOP documents appended  ...  view the full minutes text for item 110.