240425 - AEPB Minute (Final)
North Ayrshire Council · 23 August 2024
Back to Ayrshire Economic Partnership Board — 23 August 2024 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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Ayrshire Economic Partnership Board 25 April 2024 At a Meeting of the Ayrshire Economic Partnership Board at 2.00 p.m. involving participation by remote electronic means. Present Councillors Anthony Gurney and *Joe Cullinane (North Ayrshire Council); *Iain Linton (East Ayrshire Council); and William Grant and Bob Pollock (South Ayrshire Council). * Attended later in the meeting. In Attendance R. McCutcheon, L. Kirk and A. Finlayson (North Ayrshire Council); R. Grieveson, J. McLachlan, D. McDowall, G. Saunders, J. King and A. Muir (East Ayrshire Council); L. Reid and G. Hunter (South Ayrshire Council); S. Foster (Spirit AeroSystems); D. McCrindle (Scottish Enterprise); C. Baird (Ayrshire Chamber of Commerce); A. Dobson (Taste of Arran); M. Roughhead (Visit Scotland); N. Abu-Hussain (Scottish Government); C. Stewart and H. Clancy (North Ayrshire Council). Apologies Councillors Marie Burns (North Ayrshire Council), Douglas Reid and Maureen McKay (East Ayrshire Council) and Martin Dowey (South Ayrshire Council); C. Hatton (North Ayrshire Council); E. Fraser and D. Watt (East Ayrshire Council); M. Newall (South Ayrshire Council); A. Cox (Ayrshire College); P. Zealey (Skills Development Scotland); G. Docherty (University of Strathclyde); K. Kane (Strathclyde University); M. Radosavljevic (University of West of Scotland); H. Kuboyama (Federation of Small Businesses) and L. Brennan (UK Government). Chair Councillor Anthony Gurney in the Chair. 1. Appointment of Chair Having heard the Committee Services Officer and in terms of Paragraph 6 of the Standing Orders relating to the Ayrshire Economic Joint Committee (Ayrshire Economic Partnership Board), it was agreed that in the Chair, Councillor Burns, absence on urgent business, that this meeting be chaired by Councillor Anthony Gurney. 2. Chair’s Remarks Due to the want of the necessary quorum (i.e. the requirement of at least one Elected Member of each of the 3 Local Authorities to be present and in attendance), the Chair, Councillor Gurney, adjourned the meeting at 2.10 p.m. for a short period to allow Councillor Linton (East Ayrshire Council) to join the meeting from their Council Headquarters, due to a technical issue which affected him joining the meeting.
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The meeting reconvened at 2.20 p.m. with all members listed in the sederunt in attendance, and with the addition of Councillor Cullinane (North Ayrshire Council) and Councillor Linton (East Ayrshire Council). 3. Declarations of Interest There were no declarations of interest by Members in terms of Standing Order 11 and Section 5 of the Code of Conduct for Councillors 4. Minutes The Minutes of (a) Ordinary meeting of the Partnership held on 7 September 2023 and (b) Special meetings of the Partnership Board held on 18 September, 4 December 2023, 15 January and 19 February 2024 were confirmed and the Minutes signed in accordance with Paragraph 7 (1) of Schedule 7 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. 5. Ayrshire Growth Deal (AGD) – Programme Risk Register Update (March 2024) Submitted report by the Head of Economic Growth (East Ayrshire Council) providing an update on the AGD Programme Risk Register. The updated Programme Risk Register (Risks and Mitigations) was set out at Appendix 1 to the report. The Partnership Board agreed to (a) note the content of the report; and (b) recommend that the Ayrshire Economic Joint Committee approve the updated Programme Risk Register dated March 2024, as set out at Appendix 1 to the report. 6. Ayrshire Growth Deal – Communications Protocol Update (March 2024) Submitted report by the Head of Economic Growth (East Ayrshire Council) on the advising of the updating of the AGD Communications Protocol. The updated Communications Protocol March 2024 was set out at Appendix 1 to the report. The Partnership Board agreed to (a) note the content of the report; and (b) recommend that the Ayrshire Economic Joint Committee approve the updated Communications Protocol March 2024, as set out at Appendix 1 to the report. 7. Ayrshire Manufacturing Investment Corridor Project and Ayrshire Engineering Park Submitted report by the Head of Economic Growth (East Ayrshire Council) providing an update on the Ayrshire Manufacturing Investment Corridor (AMIC) and Ayrshire Engineering Park (AEP) projects, following confirmation from both Scottish and UK Governments that the change request (proposing the co-location of both projects at Moorfield and the renaming of the site as the Ayrshire Innovation Park) has been approved. Members asked questions and were provided with further information in relation to:-
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• the ongoing discussions with Transport Scotland in relation to the upgrade and improvement of the Bellfield Interchange, Kilmarnock, taking cognisance of concerns discussed at the meeting in relation to road safety and traffic queuing on the slip road on to it and the consequential impact on the A77 trunk Road. The Partnership Board agreed to note (a) that a change request was submitted to the Scottish and UK Governments seeking to change the preferred location of AMIC to Moorfield, alongside the Ayrshire Engineering Park, (b) that this change had now been approved in principle by both Governments, subject to a number of clarifications which would be provided as part of the development of Outline Business Cases, (c) that the co-located development would be known as the Ayrshire Innovation Park (AIP), (d) that revised Outline Business Cases would be prepared for submission to both Governments by no later than May 2024, (e) that a joint Full Business Case for Infrastructure Works would be prepared for submission, to allow works to commence by January 2025, (f) that a further two Full Business Cases for AMIC (Centre of Excellence/Food Grade Units and Large Advanced Manufacturing Unit) would be submitted, allowing construction works to take place during 2026/27, (g) that a further two Full Business Cases for AEP (Small Terraced Engineering Units and Large Engineering Units) would be submitted, allowing construction works to take place during 2026/27, and (h) otherwise, to note the contents of the report. 8. Exclusion of the Public – Paras 9 & 10 The Partnership Board resolved in terms of Section 50(A)4 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, to exclude from the Meeting the press and the public for the following item of business on the grounds indicated in terms of Paragraphs 9 & 10 of Part 1 of Schedule 7A of the Act. 9. Exempt Item: Ayrshire Growth Deal Commercial Build A Update Submitted report by the Assistant Director – Transportation (South Ayrshire Council) on the above. Following questions and discussion, the Partnership Board agreed to endorse the recommendations in the report. The meeting ended at 3.00 p.m.