Issue - meetings

It was RESOLVED that:

a)               the necessary steps being taken by the Board of Directors to bring forward the voluntary dissolution of EM DevCo Limited be supported; and

b)               the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Leader, S151 Officer and Monitoring Officer, be granted delegated authority to consent and sign the resolutions to enable the dissolution of EM DevCo Limited.

The Leader and Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Strategic and Borough-wide Leadership, Councillor Clarke presented the report of the Chief Executive outlining the future of the East Midlands Development Corporation (DevCo) Programme.

The Leader highlighted the history of DevCo following its establishment in May 2021. It was noted that the cancellation of HS2 to the area, was a factor in no longer requiring DevCo, together with the emergence of other power supplies, as this included the Ratcliffe on Soar site, with the emergence of West Burton and STEP fusion now being the preferred option for power generation. The creation of the East Midlands Freeport had continued to develop, which had resulted in overlapping memberships, and the establishment of EMCCA had added to that. The Leader stated that DevCo had undertaken some useful work, including the East Midlands Stations Growth Strategy; however, given that the governance landscape was crowded, it was now time for it to be dissolved.

In seconding the recommendation, Councillor Brennan agreed that DevCo had served its purpose, it was important that there were not too many organisations trying to achieve the same goals, which historically had led to confusion for potential investors, and the creation of EMCCA should be supported to allow it to be the single voice for the region. Councillor Brennan stated that a legacy programme was in place to hand over work that had already been done to EMCCA, and it was now a good time to dissolve it.

Councillor Upton welcomed this, and stated that it was a step in the right direction, to allow a focus on EMCCA and on future regeneration.

The Leader reiterated that governance arrangements were crowded and this would be a positive step forward.

It was RESOLVED that:

a)               the necessary steps being taken by the Board of Directors to bring forward the voluntary dissolution of EM DevCo Limited be supported; and

b)               the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Leader, S151 Officer and Monitoring Officer, be granted delegated authority to consent and sign the resolutions to enable the dissolution of EM DevCo Limited.