Devon Place Board Minutes 30 January 2023

Attendees

Melanie Sealey (Chair), Alison Hayward, Andy Wood, Chris Fuller, Chris Shears, Dominie Dunbrook, Fergus Pate, Heather Hillman, Ian Collinson, Keir Duffin, Mike Deaton, Polly Frost, Richard Marsh, Sarah Jane Mackenzie-Shapland, Zoe Lentell, Hannah Keyte (Minutes)

Apologies

Adrian Welsh, Chris Brook, David Boocock, David Bartram, Dan James, Jamie Hulland, Neil Blaney, Sean Kearney

1. LUF Round 2 / LUF Round 3 Update

East Devon (Alison Hayward) – Waiting to meet with members next week but anticipate will take forward the same projects to LUF Round 3.

Teignbridge (Fergus Pate) – joint bid with Devon and Torbay around active travel. Following feedback will need to decide if we push the same scheme or reconsider.

Mid Devon (Richard Marsh) – LUF Round 2 bid was a Cullompton Relief Road Scheme (same as round 1) which is fundamental to unlocking housing growth in the town. Need to consider bid for round 3. Pending detailed feedback.

North Devon (Dominie Dunbrook) – The comprehensive feedback on Ilfracombe projects in round 1 was taken on board and incorporated with stronger evidence however round 2 bid was unsuccessful. Conversation with MP required to consider bidding for round 3. Currently exploring the possibility for some smaller scale elements of the project being delivered this year.

Exeter (Ian Collinson) – Did not submit a bid for round 2. Melanie Sealey suggested a future agenda item to perhaps look at one of the successful LUF bids, sharing good practice. ACTION: Keir Duffin to organise.

2. UKSPF / Partnership Projects update

Districts have the information they require regarding the collaborative projects. Heather Hillman asked if any further districts are thinking of taking up either the Business Support or Agri-Tech offers, even if not confirmed, please do let DCC know asap.

Productive meeting regarding Monitoring and Evaluation held on 16th January and DCC are pending feedback from 1 or 2 districts. Should anyone wish to discuss this further, please contact Keir Duffin.

3. Rural England Prosperity Fund

Chris Shears had a call with Government at 2pm today regarding the REFP Programme, exploring the links with UKSPF and ensuring no duplication with DEFRA / other programmes. Understanding is that Government is currently working through amendments that have been submitted and setting up conversations with LAs.

Melanie Sealey confirmed we are at the end of CRF Programme and therefore pulling the last claim together and gathering all outputs. Underspent slightly on the programme however achieved really well in terms of outputs especially considering the limited timeframe from bidding to delivering. ACTION: Hannah Keyte to schedule a future agenda item on CRF to provide overview and lessons learnt.

4. Innovate UK Net Zero Living Programme – Fast Followers Competition

Consideration around if we could have a more joined up approach when bidding for this, could we consider submitting a bid for the wider Devon footprint?

Polly Frost is leading on this bid for DCC and attended the seminar last week. £250k-£300k funding over 2 years to fund non-technical barriers to achieving net zero, more focused around the challenges preventing us achieving net zero i.e., financial, procurement, stakeholder engagement etc. The funding will be split 50/50, on Net Zero Delivery and an Innovation Officer which must be a transformative role. This post will work directly with Innovate UK and national network with other Officers for 50% of their time.

Positive feedback from the previous Pioneering Places bid that although unsuccessful our bid benefitted from the Devon Carbon Plan. We could therefore look at the Carbon Plan and identify any actions relating to non-technical challenges which require investment to unlock opportunities.

Government looking at 20 places nationally and are taking a portfolio approach looking for urban, rural, financing, procurement etc.

North Devon (Dominie Dunbrook) – already indicated level of interest and feel Devon Carbon Plan is a good starting point. Have shared sustainability with Torridge so Donna Sibley would be a good link for Polly Frost.

Challenge is whether to look at something specific that is replicable for other areas or something wider like procurement which unlocks a lot of issues in those areas.

Fergus Pate mentioned 2 challenges in Teignbridge which are grid constraints and business planning.

ACTION: Polly Frost to pull together a couple of paragraphs on this and share with attendees to allow them time to reflect.

5. Funding Opportunities

This is a chance to discuss any funding opportunities that we may like to come together on and look at collaboratively. No additional opportunities to raise at present but attendees to give this consideration going forward and will add as an ongoing agenda point. ACTION: Hannah Keyte to add to agenda going forward.

6. AOB

None.

Future Meeting Dates

Future meeting dates

• Monday 24 April 2023 10am – 12pm.
• Monday 17 July 2023 2pm – 4pm.
• Monday 6 November 2023 2pm – 4pm.