Agenda item

Report of Councillor Bridger (attached)

Councillor Bridger presented the report to members noting that it was an update report with delegations to enable delivery to be progressed once the Development Consent Order had been passed.  He reminded members of the background to the project which had been in the pipeline for many years adding that since the report to Council in July 2022, additional capital funding had been agreed by project partners allowing the project to resume.  He highlighted to members that the Department for Transport (DfT) had now agreed to make up the shortfall in funds and take on the delivery risk. Additionally, the West of England Combined Authority too had approved an increase of £10m in its funding. 

Councillor Bridger informed members that an updated funding statement had been submitted to the DfT in August and that there was nothing now to prevent the government giving planning consent.  The decision was anticipated later in November.  The DfT was taking on the delivery risk and would fund delivery costs up to the amount of the full business case, so the funding risk had transferred from the council to the DfT.  A funding agreement was also in place with Network Rail and the council and other partners were now subcontractors of Network Rail as a key delivery partner.  The council would maintain a sponsorship role over the scope of the project and there was a delegated decision within the recommendation to allow finalisation of the procurement plan.  A detailed design would be submitted by December 2023 with a draft full business case led by the council and the full business case was expected to be confirmed in the Spring of 2024.  Progress made meant that the project was one step closer for residents and Councillor Bridger thanked officers for their work.

During the debate, members queried why there was a further 18 months before the final business case was signed off.  It was confirmed that the DfT required final market prices for construction, so a detailed design was required to obtain these leading to the delay in business case sign off.  Members noted that the report mentioned an environment statement but that this was only one aspect of understanding the full carbon cost of the project.  They also questioned the Treasury’s intentions and whether the council would have to provide future subsidies.  Councillor Bridger responded that as the project was so far along, it was less likely to be cancelled now.

Motion: Moved by Councillor Bridger and seconded by Councillor James and

Resolved: that

1)    The Council noted that since the report to Council of 12th July 2022 that

a)    the additional £35.58m project capital funding had been confirmed by the project funding partners and the project had therefore resumed.

b)    the Department for Transport (DfT) confirmed that it will take the project delivery risk going forward via its delivery agent Network Rail

c)     that the DfT would provide up to £13.80m funding for all project costs up to the submission of the Full Business Case, which was now expected to be in March 2024 and

d)    that the Development Consent Order decision was expected to be made by mid November 2022 and there were no known impediments for the decision to be made within this timescale.

2)    The Council delegated authority for the Director of Place advised by the s151 officer and Head of Strategic Procurement to finalise, sign and enter into the Funding Agreement with Network Rail (see draft agreement in appendix 2 to the report) for the defined project scope up to Full Business Case approval at an estimated cost of £3.49m to be funded by the DfT via Network Rail and

3)    The Council delegated authority for the Executive Member for Major Infrastructure Projects advised by the Director of Place and Head of Strategic Procurement, to finalise the Procurement Plan (see appendix 4 of the report) in consultation with the West of England Combined Authority (WECA).