Agenda item

The Chief Executive presented the report entitled ‘Levelling Up Fund bid – submission of full business case’.

He introduced Paul Hamill who was to work on the levelling up bid and had great experience of working on a range of major projects.

The Chief Executive spoke to the report in detail, explaining the requirements of the bid, the process required by government, and actions outlined in the report to progress the bid at the pace required.

Councillor Mrs A Bedford asked if the ships would be an asset lock under terms of a public contract, as such.

The Chief Executive replied that they would be protected for the route, and that the contract would be subject to annual review, perhaps by an independent body, and that all assets would be tied to the route.

He explained that a long period of assessment was still to come, and that the contract would come back to council for further or final consideration but at an unknown date, and so there was a lot of work that was needed to be done before the building of ships was to occur.

He apologised for the late publication of the reports and assured Members that it was not his intention for that to happen but it was unavoidable in this case, and that major impacts might occur if the decision was further delayed.

Councillor A Frazer said he still had concerns about the likelihood of costs overrunning on the project as a result of the global economic situation where all prices of goods had increased and were likely to keep increasing, as such he was concerned that the burden of risk being put on the Isles of Scilly Steamship Company and the Council of the Isles of Scilly may be too great.

Paul Hamill said it was a valid question, and explained that the government ‘green book’ was being followed and in that there was a contingency allocation and we remained within it, and that they were also looking for costs to be fixed for vessels going forward.

The Chief Executive said that in the original submission they were looking for boats to come into service in 2024 but due to government process this was now likely to be 2025, and progress needed to be made quickly if we didn’t want to slip again to 2026.

He explained that the National Shipping Office had highlighted our route as important, our bid was seen as unique and well-supported across party benches, though they were also asking Derek Thomas MP to put further ministerial pressure behind this to expediate it.

Council S Sims read-out a proposal for a new recommendation to be added:  “The Council reiterates its support for the approach as laid out in our original submission in June last year as reinforced in this full business plan.   Any variation from this approach required by Govt needs to be bought back to Council together with what safeguards are suggested to protect the Council from undue risk.”

The Vice-Chairman said that she welcomed the new recommendation and said that she was aware of considerable concern in the community about the fragility of the bid

Resolved:

1.      That the Chief Executive be authorised to submit the Full Business Case for the Isles of Scilly Sea Links project to the Department for Transport to secure the £48.4m of funding available from the Levelling Up Fund announced by the Government on 27 October 2021.

2.      That Members authorise the Chief Executive to carry out any detailed alterations, without changing the overall delivery approach, to the Full Business Case that may be required prior to formally submitting it to the Department for Transport in consultation with, the Chairman of the Council, Vice Chairman, Lead member for Place, Monitoring Officer and Section 151 Officer.

3.      That once the funding decision on the Full Business Case is known, a further report be brought to full council for review setting out the legal agreements required to ensure the Council of the Isles of Scilly can become the accountable body for the funding and that the improvements to the sea link services are capable of being delivered and maintained for the life of the project.

4.      The Council reiterates its support for the approach as laid out in our original submission in June last year as reinforced in this full business plan.   Any variation from this approach required by Govt needs to be bought back to Council together with what safeguards are suggested to protect the Council from undue risk.