Scottish City Region and Growth Deal Delivery Board minutes: July 2022

Attendees and apologies

Scottish Government (SC)

• Karen McAvenue, Co-Chair (KM)
• Maria Christie (MC)
• Kate Bryson (KB)
• Kimberley Daly (KD)
• Kate Gwynn (KG)
• Anne Ashton (AA) via Teams

UK Government (UKG): Scottish Office

• Kris Krasnowski, Chair (KK)
• Craig Birrell (CB)

UKG:DLUHC (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)

• John Wilkinson (JW) via Teams
• Lauren Bruce (LB)

UKG:HMT (HM Treasury)

• Elma Durdevic (ED)

In attendance to support Board

• Supporting officials

Items and actions

Welcome, introductions and apologies

The chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and received apologies.

Minutes of the previous meeting (3 March 2022)

Members agreed that the minute was an accurate record of what was discussed.

Members agreed that minutes once approved could be published. While the Board was keen to maintain visibility and transparency it was agreed that some elements should be kept for internal communications. Therefore, a set of minutes for publishing should also be prepared and approved.

Finance business partner update

An update on finance was provided.

Carbon Guidance update

LB introduced updated Carbon Management Guidance, which was initially published in August 2021. The guidance is to ensure that business cases follow Green Book requirements, that net zero targets are followed, and to provide best practice methods for delivery.

This version has no fundamental changes to the original (same project categorisation and appraisal methodology) and includes the following new sections:

• notable emerging decarbonisation approaches (Section 5.4)
• guidance on carbon benefits realisation (Section 7.1 and Appendix E)
• carbon business case checklist (Appendix A)
• BEIS (Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy) carbon values (Appendix B).

Action tracker

Performance management review

The performance panagement peview letter has been prepared which needs to be agreed before sending to PMO (Project Management Office) network.

Annual Report

A draft Annual Report was provided to the board prior to the meeting. AA provided an oral update on the process the Annual Report sub‑group followed.

The board was asked to provide direction on:

• report text
• report layout
• whether the Annual Report be published or is it for internal use only?

Next steps. KK and KA to discuss and advise.

GOM (Governanve Operationg Model)

KM queried why GOM was not listed under actions.

Performance dashboard

Reviewed by exception.

The Falkirk Deal is to be added to Performance Dashboard.

Risk Register

The Board received a summary of the changes to the Risk Register since the last meeting, and confirmed acceptance.

AOB

Rising inflation and costs

Board members discussed the rising costs due to inflation.

DLUHC and SG are aware of the issues and monitoring closely.

Meeting close

The next board will be in Glasgow target date is October or November.

SG will provide secretariat.

Potential to combine Board with Deal visits will be explored.