The decision is required so that funding may be secured from the Local Growth Fund to deliver the Innovation Investment Initiative project. This will support business growth, greater productivity and job creation.
Decision type: Key
Reason Key: Expenditure or savings of more than £1m;
Decision status: Recommendations Approved
Division affected: (All Division);
Notice of proposed decision first published: 24/11/2015
Decision due: Not before 4th Dec 2015 by Cabinet Member for Economic Development
Reason: A decision is required so that funding may be secured from the Local Growth Fund to deliver the Innovation Investment Initiative project. This will support business growth, greater productivity and job creation
Kent County Council shall: Act as the accountable body for the Innovation Investment Initiative (i3) programme
Lead director: Barbara Cooper
Department: Growth, Environment & Transport
Contact: 03000 417077 and 03000 417176 Email: ross.gill@kent.gov.uk Tel: 01622 221312, David Smith, Director of Economic Development Email: david.smith2@kent.gov.uk Tel: 0774 389 4252.
Consultation process
Essex County Council, as the accountable body for the LEP, administers the Local Growth Fund money that has been allocated by Government to the South East LEP. KCC will receive £1 million annually as a grant from the Local Growth Fund: KCC will be responsible for assessing applications from individual businesses, issuing loan agreements, monitoring the loans and for reporting on performance to the LEP and to Government. This role is similar to the accountable body role that KCC currently performs in relation to the Regional Growth Fund programmes. When the loans are repaid, the funds accumulated can be recycled: the details are expected to be set out in the Grant Agreement between KCC and Essex County Council.
Governance arrangements
All applications from business for i3 funding will be appraised. Following appraisal, lending decisions will be made by KCC on advice from an investment advisory panel, drawn from Kent and Medway Economic Partnership and the advisory panels set up for the Regional Growth Fund schemes. The accountable body for i3 funding will be KCC. KCC will reserve the right to refuse any application that does not provide adequate value for money or which presents an unacceptable level of risk.
Management arrangements and costs
There are economies of scale in managing the i3 programme alongside TIGER, Escalate and Expansion East Kent. However, there will be some additional costs incurred: these will be partially mitigated through the charging of arrangement fees, as set out in Annex 2, and work is underway across KCC’s business finance programmes to examine ways in which they can be made more sustainable at lower cost to the Council.
Consultees
The Growth, Economic Development and Communities Cabinet Committee will consider this decision on 1 December 2015
Financial implications: Ross Gill Economic Strategy and Policy Manager 03000 417077 ross.gill@kent.gov.uk David Smith Director of Economic Development 03000 417176 david.smith2@kent.gov.uk
Legal implications: 15/00108