Agenda, decisions and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

There were no apologies for absence.

To receive any declarations of interest.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 27 February 2020 as a correct record.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 27 February 2020 be approved as a correct record and would be signed as soon as reasonably practical.

Cllr Archer introduced the report and confirmed authorisation was sought from the CVESC to enable the Council to continue to pursue an identified opportunity.  The report considered that this authority would support the delivery of the Council’s Corporate Plan objectives through its future potential use and also offered the potential to generate income for the Council.

The Chairman advised there was an exempt, Part 2, of the report at item 6.  Item 4 was adjourned so that the exempt information relating to the item could be considered.

During the exempt discussion, the following issues were considered:

?        An identified key risk of the project was competition;

?        Possible impact of Covid-19;

?        How any payments would be structured and whether these would be paid at milestones of the project;

?        CVESC to review each stage of project at the milestones before proceeding with next stage of the project, together with monthly updates;

?        Income generation timing; and

?        Project management and CVESC’s request for the appointment of a project manager.

The Executive returned to the recommendations at Item 4 and: 

RESOLVED that:

i)        the exemption to the Council’s Contract Procedure Rules to support the pursuance of the identified opportunity, as set out in the accompanying exempt report in the Part 2 section of this agenda, was approved;

ii)        the Director of Commercial and Investment, in consultation with the Head of Legal and Governance, the Head of Finance and Assets, and the Chair of the Commercial Ventures Executive Sub-Committee, be authorised, subject to the appointment of a project manager, to:

          a.       finalise and enter into agreements, to support the pursuance of the identified opportunity, as set out in the exempt report in the Part 2 section of the agenda;

          b.       fund the agreements from the Feasibility Studies (Commercial Ventures) Reserve and to substitute funding from the Feasibility Studies (Commercial Ventures) Reserve for funding previously allocated from the Corporate Plan Delivery Fund, to support the pursuance and effective administration of the identified opportunity, as set out in the exempt report in the Part 2 section of the agenda.

Reason for decision:

To grant authority for an exemption to the Council’s Contract Procedure Rules, and to enter into and approve funding for an agreement in line with this exemption, would support the Council’s Corporate Plan objectives as set out in the exempt report in the Part 2 section of the agenda.

Alternative Option:

To not approve the exemption to the Contract Procedure Rules or authorise the Director of Commercial and Investment to finalise, enter into and fund agreements in pursuance of the identified opportunity, as set out in the exempt report in the Part 2 section of the agenda.

RECOMMENDED that members of the Press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 on the grounds that:

i.         it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act; and

ii.        the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

RESOLVED that members of the Press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 on the grounds that:

i)        it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act; and

ii)        the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

RESOLVED that the exempt information, set out in Part 2 of the report, in relation to Project Baseball be noted.

To consider any other urgent business.

None.