Agenda and minutes

Councillor Johnson was substitute member for Councillor Barks and Councillor Hoptroff was substitute member for Councillor Boone.

Each person present introduced themselves and the Chair advised that the Committee would focus on the following items;-

-        UK Shared Prosperity Fund

-        Support to Business

-        Growth Strategy

-        Housing Delivery

-        Skills/Higher/Further Education

The Committee would scrutinise and support policy development and establish the current position in terms of the economy for the area. In addition to this, the Committee would have the opportunity to comment on active projects which were relevant to this Committee and have an input towards the developing Growth Strategy.

·       Disclosable Pecuniary Interests

·       Other Interests

Lorraine Wright, Head of Regeneration gave a presentation on the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF). Topics covered included:-

·       Total funding allocation

·       Government identified investment priorities

·       Rural England Prosperity Fund

·       Governance and delivery

·       Investment priorities – Communities

·       Investment priorities – Business

·       Investment priorities – Skills

·       Rural England Prosperity Fund

·       Governance Board

·       Date grant funding opened and closed

·       Cultural Arts and Heritage events grants

·       Remaining investment priorities

·       What next

·       Contact details

Members were advised of the training opportunities for community groups to receive support in applying for grant funding and an explanation of the grant application procedure was provided to the Committee.

Discussion took place around grant monitoring on a quarterly basis, tangible impact of projects, the vital role of parish/town councils, involvement of land owners and promotion of current funding opportunities.

It was suggested that the landing page on the Council’s website to Support Staffordshire could be improved;

DECIDED:

1)    That the presentation be noted;

2)    For the Portfolio Holder for Regeneration and Planning to discuss new cycle paths at the next meeting of the UKSPF Board;

3)    It was recommended for the Chair of the Parish Assembly be invited to attend meetings of the UKSPF Board;

4)    For the link to the monthly update newsletter to be emailed to all councillors;

5)    For the UKSPF Communication Strategy to be reviewed and an update be brought back to this Committee.

The importance of accurate baseline information was highlighted to enable members to identify the issues faced by the Council.

In response to a request for a list of projects, a position statement could be produced for the projects relevant to this Committee however, this may change following confirmation of the Council’s corporate priorities.

A new Growth Strategy was also being developed.

The Chair had drafted a mission statement for the Growth and Economy Committee and was advised this could be discussed at the Overview and Scrutiny Programming Group.

DECIDED:

1)    For a ‘Localities’ (evidence based/statistical information) document to be provided at the next meeting of the Committee;

2)    For the next meeting to be held mid-November with a focus on Housing Delivery and an update on the developing Growth Strategy.