Decision details

1. Cabinet approved the Council’s involvement in the scheme for the design, construction and maintenance of flood defences and ecology mitigation works within the Avonmouth Severnside Enterprise Area (ASEA) detailed in Appendix A.

2. Cabinet approved the Council’s contribution of up to a maximum of £31.95m for the scheme to be funded initially through borrowing but which will be reimbursed from the West of England Economic Development Fund (EDF) as detailed in the report.

3. Cabinet agreed the Council’s capital programme be amended to incorporate the budget profile as set out in Table 1 to Appendix G of this report and associated funding sources as detailed in this report.

4. Cabinet agreed to reprofile £20m of the EDF to the scheme as referred to in Appendix A paragraph 35c and Appendix G).

5. Cabinet noted that it is intended that £36.6 m grant funding, in total, for the flood defence design build scheme will also be provided by DEFRA (administered by the Environment Agency)- £4m via the Wessex Regional Flood and Coastal Committee (confirmed) and £32.6m via Flood Defence Grant in Aid (business case approved but no allocation yet made – see Appendix A paragraphs 24-28 and Appendix G).

6. Cabinet delegated authority to the Strategic Director for Growth and Regeneration, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance, Governance and Procurement , and the Director of Finance:

a) to agree the completion of the Inter-Authority Legal Agreement between the Council, Environment Agency, and South Gloucestershire Council, and

b) to take programme and financial decisions within the budget envelope and scheme of delegation as the project develops.

7. Cabinet approved the process for the award of the contract for the scheme, which has been procured via the Environment Agency’s Water and Environmental Management Framework (Lot 4), on the basis of the Contract Award Report .

8. Cabinet acknowledged both the economic benefits and the financial and contractual risks associated with the implementation of the scheme, (as detailed in the report) and therefore, requires Officers to utilise the project governance arrangements to identify opportunities to re-programme the scheme as necessary to ensure (so far as practicable) the scheme can be completed within the budget envelope. It is noted that further Cabinet approval will be required to agree any scheme re-programming which has a financial impact on the Council.