Agenda and minutes

to approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Executive held on 8 July 2021;

E.26/21            

The minutes of the Executive meeting held on 8 July 2021 were confirmed as a true and correct record.

brought forward at the discretion of the Chairman;

E.27/21

The Chairman advised that she had no items of urgent business for consideration at this Special meeting.

Members are invited to declare any personal or disclosable pecuniary interests, including the nature and extent of such interests they may have in any items to be considered at this meeting;

E.28/21

Members and officers were invited to declare any interests in the items of business to be considered during the course of this meeting but there were none made.

E.29/21

RESOLVED

That in accordance with Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item of business as the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A to the Act is involved.

E.30/21            

Consideration was given to an exempt report that sought approval for the submission of the Outline Business Case that recognised the costs and benefits of the Plymouth and South Devon Freezone.

In discussion, the following points were raised:-

(a)   Whilst the project was seen to represent an exciting opportunity, Members did also acknowledge that there were a number of associated risks that would need to be weighed up before any final decisions were taken;

(b)   The all Member Briefing that had been held earlier in the morning was felt to have been particularly useful.  In recognition of the importance of all Members fully understanding the proposals and the significance of the project, officers committed to providing regular briefing notes and an informal Briefing to all Members prior to any final decision being required by Full Council;

(c)   Both the Director of Place and Enterprise and Section 151 Officer were formally thanked by Members for the immense amount of work that they had both put in to reaching this project milestone.

It was then:

rESOLVED

1.     That approval be given to the submission of the Outline Business Case (OBC) to Government for the Plymouth and South Devon Freezone proposal, including the re-circulation of Business Rates from the Freezone to support Freezone job creation and activity;

2.     That, should the timeline for submission of the OBC be changed by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to a later date, the Director of Place and Enterprise be given delegated authority, in consultation with the Leader of the Council and the lead Executive Member for Economy, to update the OBC as necessary ahead of the submission;

3.     That it be noted that, subject to OBC approval from Government, a Full Business Case will need to be submitted before Christmas 2021, finalising the funding arrangements (**NB the timeline may be subject to change**); and

4.     That it be noted that a further report will be brought back to a future meeting of the Executive and Full Council to approve the submission of the Full Business Case and associated decisions.