Decision

The West of England Combined Authority Committee:

1)         Approved the updated West of England Local Assurance Framework;

2)         Delegated the finalisation of the detail of the allocation and use of the Nature Recovery Fund, including grant giving, to the MCA Director of Place, in consultation with the equivalent Directors from the Unitary Authorities;

3)         Approved an additional £208,416 for the Muller Road Phase 2 scheme drawing on the existing allocation for Lockleaze Sustainable Transport Initiatives;

4)         Delegated authority to the West of England Combined Authority’s Executive Director of Transport in consultation with the Directors of Infrastructure from the Unitary Authorities to approve the Concorde Way (Dovercourt Road) and Muller Road Phase 2 Full Business Cases and the award of delivery funding, subject to affordability within the £2.749m funding previously allocated to Lockleaze Sustainable Transport Improvements;

5)         Approved the Data Lab programme business case and the award of £680,000 for the first year of delivery;

6)         Allocated a further £1,460,000 for two further years of Data Lab delivery, and delegated the release of this funding to the MCA Director of Strategy in consultation with the equivalent Directors of the Unitary Authorities and the MCA Director of Finance, Investment and Commercial. Award of funding would be in two stages, subject to stage-gates as set out in the business case;

7)         Approved the Full Business Case for the Fashion Museum Bath project, and the award of £5m of grant and £2m of repayable grant for repayment by March 2032;

8)         Approved the Skills Connect Transitional Model Full Business Case and the award of £1.7m for 27/28;

9)         Approved the allocation of £2.1m for Business Support activity in 27/28 and delegated the approval of the Full Business Case to the MCA Director of Delivery and Operations in consultation with the equivalent Directors of the Unitary Authorities;

10)       Approved the proposed process for allocating the £15 million capital grant funding from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to support regional growth, noting that the funding is contingent on the completion of the expansion of the West of England Combined Authority to include North Somerset;

11)       Noted the intention to bring proposed funding allocations to the January meeting of the Committee for approval;

12)       Noted the acceptance of a grant of £130,000 from the Office for Investment (OFI) to support the development of the investment service and delegated the finalisation of the detail of delivery to the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority (MCA) Director of Finance, Investments & Commercial;

13)       Noted the submission of an application for British Film Institute Skills Cluster funding in September 2026 and delegated the detail of the delivery and use of any funding received to the Mayoral Combined Authority Director of Delivery and Operations in consultation with the equivalent Directors of the Unitary Authorities;

14)       Noted the receipt of an allocation of £962,000 revenue funding from the Brownfield Housing Fund and noted that the receipt of the funding and acceptance of any terms and conditions accompanying the funding is subject to the final approval of the MCA’s Section 73 officer exercising her delegations under the Constitution;

15)       Delegated the finalisation of the detail of the allocation and use of the Brownfield Housing Fund revenue funding, within the parameters of the grant conditions, to the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority Director of Place in consultation with the equivalent Directors of the Unitary Authorities;

16)       Noted the submission of an application for the National River Walks Fund and delegated the detail of the delivery and use of any funding received to the Mayoral Combined Authority Director of Place in consultation with the equivalent Directors of the Unitary Authorities;

17)       Noted the submission of an application for the Farmer Collaboration Fund and delegated the detail of the delivery and use of any funding received to the Mayoral Combined Authority Director of Place in consultation with the equivalent Directors of the Unitary Authorities;

18)       Noted the acceptance of £100,000 revenue funding from The Crown Estate for the Working with Nature: Severn Estuary project and delegated finalisation of the detail of the allocation and use of the funding to the Mayoral Combined Authority Director of Place in consultation with the equivalent Directors of the Unitary Authorities;

19)       Noted the receipt of £564,000 of Bus Reform funding for 2026-2028 and delegated authority to allocate and award the funding to the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority Director of Bus Operations, in consultation with the equivalent Unitary Authority Directors;

20)       Noted the acceptance of £310,000 revenue funding for the Economic Security Advisory Service and delegated finalisation of the detail of the use of the funding, including grant giving, to the Mayoral Combined Authority Director of Delivery and Operations in consultation with the equivalent Directors of the Unitary Authorities;

21)       Noted the WECA led submission of a bid for the Integrated Transport Digital Twin and delegated the detail of the delivery and use of any funding secured to the Executive Director of Transport in consultation with the equivalent Directors from the Unitary Authorities;

22)       Noted the receipt of £10,000 from the Local Government Association for leadership development and delegate authority to spend to the MCA’s Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development.