Agenda item

(1)       The Leader stated that he had agreed to consider this matter as an urgent item for the following reason:

“The signing of the Partnership Agreement by Kent County Council is considered urgent because of the need to demonstrate to other partners the Council’s commitment to the Ashford’s Future scheme at a crucial stage in its development. The pre-conditions reported to Cabinet at its June meeting will eventually be satisfied.”

(2)       Mr Gough introduced the report, stating that the Partnership Agreement could not be signed at present without amendment to the resolutions of the Cabinet at its meeting on 16 June 2008, because of the pre-conditions set out in those resolutions. He added that the Partnership Agreement was not a legally binding document, but it was important that it was signed by KCC as soon as possible, in order to demonstrate the Council’s commitment to the Ashford Future project. He added that, whilst the pre-conditions were not required to be satisfied insofar as the signing of the Partnership Agreement was concerned, they were relevant to the Council’s participation in the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) and would, therefore, be dealt with in due course in consultation with and subject to the agreement of the Director of Finance and the Director of Law and Governance.

(3)       Cabinet agreed to revoke its resolution of 16 June 2008 and replace with the following revised resolutions:-

1.   That Cabinet authorises the Director of Law and Governance or his representative to immediately sign the Partnership Agreement on behalf of the County Council;

2.   That the Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Supporting Independence be authorised to attend meetings of the AFPB and exercise the voting rights of the County Council at such meetings.

3.   That subject to:-

(a) a full risk assessment being approved by the Chief Executive and the Director of Finance on the consequences of decisions made by the AFPB and the SPV;

(b) the Director of Law & Governance approving the proposed reporting regime of the SPV to the AFPB and being satisfied this facilitates robust scrutiny by the AFPB’s programme management function; and

(c)  approval of entry into the SPV and the Members Agreement by EP, SEEDA and the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (DBERR) (if such approval is required in respect of EP and SEEDA) and the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) in respect of the proposed SPV arrangements and in particular in respect of DCLG’s funding of such arrangements

Cabinet makes the following resolutions:

(i)   the County Council become a member of Ashford’s Future SPV;

(ii)  the County Council is authorised to enter the Members’ Agreement as outlined in the report to Cabinet dated 16 June 2008;

(iii) that the Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Supporting Independence is appointed to attend general meetings of the SPV and exercise the County Council’s voting rights as a member of the SPV on behalf of the County Council;

(iv) to delegate sufficient authority to the Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Supporting Independence to enable him fully to exercise the rights and discharge his duties relating to such appointment, acting as necessary of such in consultation with the Director of Law and Governance and Director of Finance;

(v)  to nominate a director on the SPV Board to manage the company on behalf of the company members on such terms as the Director of Law and Governance shall approve;

(vi) to delegate authority to the Managing Director of Environment and Regeneration in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Supporting Independence and the Director of Law and Governance to approve the final versions of the following document on behalf of the County Council:-

- the SPV Memorandum and Articles Association;

- the Members agreement;

and to authorise the Director of Law and Governance to execute those documents on behalf of the County Council.

(vii) to request all County Council Managing Directors to consider the implications of the proposed Ashford’s Future SPV and programme for development on their service areas; and

(viii) to note that a further report will be submitted, seeking approval of the terms of the Ashford’s Future Programme for Development for SPV Business Plan.