Scottish City Region and Growth Deal Delivery Board minutes: November 2023

Attendees and apologies

Board Members

• Anne-Marie Martin - Chair, AMM, Scottish Government Regional Economic Development Deputy Director
• Kris Krasnowski - Chair, KK, Scotland Office, Deputy Director, Policy
• Alessandro Fusco (v), AF, Substituting for Lauren Bruce, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities , Scotland Director
• Will Durkin (v), WD, Treasury, Union Strategy & Devolution Capability lead
• Kris Rabett, KR, Scottish Government Finance Business Partner

UKG Officials

• Craig Birrell, CB, Team Leader, City & Growth Deals Team, Scottish Office
• Fahad Sarwar (v), FS, Head of Strategy, Policy and Engagement, Devolution, HMT

SG Officials

• Kate Bryson, KB, Head of East & West of Scotland Growth Deals
• Kimberley Daly, KD, Head of Highlands, Islands, Edinburgh and South Growth Deals
• Michael Walker, MW, Senior Finance Business Partner
• Hazel Tierney, HT, Directorate Finance Manager

Secretariat

• Peter McGregor, PMG, RED Programme Manager, SG
• Ian Scott (v), IS, Policy Office, SG

(v) indicates a virtual attendee.

Items and actions

Welcome, introduction and apologies

AMM welcomed everyone to the meeting.

KK confirmed going forward, Lauren Bruce will be the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities representative on the board.

AMM noted that this is the last Board Meeting for KK and KR. She thanked them both for their contribution to the Board and management of the Deals Programme.

Minutes

The minutes of the previous meeting of 30 August 2023 had been approved by correspondence.

Finance Business Partner Update

An update on finance was discussed.

Current underspend was noted and the resulting consequential impact for future years’ budgets was discussed.

Action Tracker

Updates to the action tracker were approved.

Hot Topics

The board discussed the key issues identified by the Working Group. These spanned areas including inflation, deliverability, reliability of project timescales, and sustainability.

Deals Performance Dashboard

Deals were discussed by exception.

Intergovernmental Workshop feedback

Discussion points and decisions from the Intergovernmental Workshop were discussed. Priority areas for development and improvement will be identified and are being progressed.

Risk Register

Updates to the Risk Register were approved.

Any Other Business

Verbal updates were provided covering Scotland Office Economic Growth Review, and Scottish Government Regional Economic Policy Review implementation.

Close and next meeting

AMM thanked everyone for their contributions and closed the meeting.

The next board is scheduled for 10:00 to 12:00 29 February in Atlantic Quay 5, Glasgow.