Decision details

Proposed decision

Approval of the Investment Advisory Board Terms of Reference and the recent voluntary appointments made to the Boards: The Investment Advisory Board, (“IAB”), IAB Sub-Group and the IAB Debt Recovery Group.

Reason for the decision

The Investment Advisory Board (IAB), the IAB Sub-Group and the IAB Debt Recovery Group convene monthly to support the operational delivery of the Kent & Medway Business Fund, Innovation Initiative Investment Fund (i3), the Discovery Park Technology Fund (DPTIF), Kent Life Sciences Fund (KLS) and the RGF Bespoke Equity Fund (RGFBEF). The role of the boards and sub groups is to make

·         Recommendations to KCC to approve, reject or defer a funding application, include what conditions should be set if a funding is approved.

·         Recommendations to KCC to reprofile repayment schedules for companies in receipt of funding within the Loan Portfolio and/or make recommendations to recover loan funds where all other repayment options have been exhausted.

The work of The Boards are covered by a number of Key Decisions attributable to specific loan schemes, the latest being 2300088 in conjunction with a revised set of Terms of Reference.

Background

The original Kent & Medway IAB Terms of Reference have been formally reviewed, by the Office of General Counsel and Officers of the Business Investment Team in conjunction with external support from a specialist lawyer within Bevan Brittan.  This work provided a new draft set of Terms of Reference for review and subsequent approval on 16 January 2024 by the Investment Advisory Board. 

Recruitment, vetting process, and exit interview process of Volunteer Board Members

To support the interim recruitment and thereafter an annual recruitment drive (subject to requirements for additional board members), the Business Investment Team developed a recruitment process along with template documentation, have established a recruitment panel supported by the Interim Head of Economy, Steve Samson and Susan Berdo, Strategic Programme Manager.  This includes an exit interview process, which has been developed to support the continuous improvement of the Boards’ activities and delivery thereof.

Options (other options considered but discarded)

The Investment Advisory Board (IAB), IAB Sub-Group and IAB Debt Recovery Group have operated in their current capacity for a number of years and following a full review of the loan schemes, their associated administrative processes and funding thereof, options were considered for Board composition and recruitment , in line with the revised Terms of Reference provided by Bevan Brittan and supported by the Office of General Counsel.

1.    Continue with the same recruitment processes which involved the nomination by an existing Board Member of a proposed new Board Member to approach.  This was discarded in favour of 2. below.

2.    Review the recruitment process and fully develop an open and transparent recruitment process for volunteer board members, and draw future membership from a more diverse business demographic which would ensure representative from all the business sectors within Kent & Medway, and those future emerging sectors.

How the proposed decision supports the Framing Kent's Future - Our Council Strategy 2022-2026

The Kent & Medway Business Fund (Standard) and KMBF Small Business Boost supports:

·         Priority 1 – Levelling Up Kent (2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7)

·         Priority 2 – Infrastructure for Communities (3)

·         Priority 3 – Environmental Step Change (7)

How the proposed decision supports the Kent & Medway Economic Framework

The Kent & Medway Business Fund supports:

Ambition 1, Action area 4: Supports the conditions for Growth

How the proposed decision supports Securing Kent’s Future 2022 -2026: Securing Kent’s Future - Budget Recovery Strategy.pdf

The decision is compliant with the Strategic Statement in the context of the significant financial challenges that the Council is facing

As detailed above, the Boards support the Kent & Medway Business Fund (Standard) and KMBF Small Business Supports which supports the Council’s strategic objectives and the delivery of Securing Kent’s Future without negative impact on the priorities listed above.

It prioritises Best Value statutory duty considerations as volunteer board members receive no remuneration or no expenses.

As Cabinet Member for Economic Development I agree  to accept the Investment Advisory Board Terms of Reference and the voluntary appointments made to the Boards: The Investment Advisory Board (“IAB”), IAB Sub-Group and the IAB Debt Recovery Group.