20.1 The Lead Member considered a report by the Director of Communities, Economy and Transport.
DECISIONS
20.2 RESOLVED to (1) approve the actions to mitigate underspend in the 2016/17 Local Growth Fund programme and the re-profiling of funds between schemes within approved local tolerances;
(2) approve the re-allocation of spend on the East Sussex Strategic Growth Package by commencing the project in the 2016/17 financial year, as per Option 2 in the Assurance Framework;
(3) note the forecast final 2016/17 spend for the Local Growth Fund programme and the amount of funds requested to be re-profiled into the East Sussex County Council Capital Programme, as per Option 4 in the Assurance Framework;
(4) agree the individual scheme re-profiles for the Local Growth Fund programme in the 2017/18 financial year; and
(5) delegate authority to the S151 officer and the Director of Communities, Economy and Transport to confirm the final spend of Local Growth Fund monies in 2016/17 to the South East Local Enterprise Partnership and re-allocate all unspent funds to other schemes within the County Council’s Capital Programme, as per Option 4 in the Assurance Framework.
Reasons
20.3 Following a review of the delivery of East Sussex’s 2016/17 Local Growth Fund schemes, a total of £5.026m was identified as at risk of underspend and in need of mitigation. It is important for East Sussex to take advantage of the flexibility awarded in the mitigation options available in the Assurance Framework to continue to drive forward economic growth and deliver schemes as early as possible.