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The decisions as the council's minutes record them. A plain-language summary follows once it has been written.
RESOLVED That Councillor Tim Bowen be duly elected as Chair.
RESOLVED That Councillor Aled Thomas be duly elected as Vice-Chair.
RESOLVED That the public be excluded from the meeting when considering Appendices 1 and 2, in accordance with Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, as they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information, as defined in Paragraph 14 of Part 4 of Schedule 12A to the Act; and the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information. The webcast was then paused. Having convened in private session in accordance with Paragraph 14 of Part 4 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, the Committee considered the two exempt appendices. During private session, questions were raised in relation to how the Seed Capital proposals were generated, how they were assessed and how the divide of money was decided for the projects. Information was also provided with regards to the sources of funding. The webcast was then resumed and the Committee considered the recommendations. Moved by Councillor Tim Bowen; Seconded by Councillor Sean Pursey The vote, undertaken by way of a show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED (a) That the report be noted. (b) That the Officers and Leaders of both Councils provide verbal feedback on the Committee’s discussion of the report and the attached appendices to the Public Funds Committee for their consideration.
The Chief Executive (Pembrokeshire) opened the meeting and welcomed Councillors, Officers and Consultants to the first meeting of the Celtic Freeport Joint Scrutiny Committee. For information, it was stated that Craig Griffiths, Monitoring Officer at Neath Port Talbot, was the Monitoring Officer for the Celtic Freeport Joint Committee and Huw Jones, Director of Finance at Neath Port Talbot, was the Section 151 Officer for the Committees. Lewis Atter, Senior Consultant at KPMG, was welcomed to the meeting and it was stated that he had been working with the Celtic Freeport from the inception of the bid and would be partaking to provide technical responses in relation to seed capital funding matters.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED That Councillor Tim Bowen be duly elected as Chair.
The Chief Executive (Pembrokeshire) sought nominations for the election of Chair. Councillor Andrew Dacey nominated Councillor Tim Bowen; Seconded by Councillor Sean Pursey. The vote was taken by way of a show of hands and carried. RESOLVED That Councillor Tim Bowen be duly elected as Chair.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED That Councillor Aled Thomas be duly elected as Vice-Chair.
The Chair sought nominations for the election of Vice-Chair. Councillor Michael Stoddart nominated Councillor Aled Thomas; Seconded by Councillor Andrew Dacey. The vote was taken by way of a show of hands and carried. RESOLVED That Councillor Aled Thomas be duly elected as Vice-Chair.
Councillor Michael Stoddart declared a personal interest, by virtue of two close relatives being employed by Milford Haven Port Authority.
The Chair welcomed the Monitoring Officer (Neath Port Talbot) to the meeting, who proceeded to outline the Terms of Reference of the Celtic Freeport Joint Scrutiny Committee, as appended. With no questions raised, the Committee noted the Terms of Reference by way of show of hands.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED That the public be excluded from the meeting when considering Appendices 1 and 2, in accordance with Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, as they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information, as defined in Paragraph 14 of Part 4 of Schedule 12A to the Act; and the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information. The webcast was then paused. Having convened in private session in accordance with Paragraph 14 of Part 4 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, the Committee considered the two exempt appendices. During private session, questions were raised in relation to how the Seed Capital proposals were generated, how they were assessed and how the divide of money was decided for the projects. Information was also provided with regards to the sources of funding. The webcast was then resumed and the Committee considered the recommendations. Moved by Councillor Tim Bowen; Seconded by Councillor Sean Pursey The vote, undertaken by way of a show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED (a) That the report be noted. (b) That the Officers and Leaders of both Councils provide verbal feedback on the Committee’s discussion of the report and the attached appendices to the Public Funds Committee for their consideration.
The Chair invited the Chief Executive (Pembrokeshire) to outline the Celtic Freeport Full Business Case - Seed Capital Proposals. The Chief Executive outlined the report highlighting that the Committee’s role was to scrutinise and offer feedback to the Public Funds Committee on the proposals for Seed Capital funding to be included in the Final Business Case submission for the Celtic Freeport. It was stated that Appendix A was the report that the Celtic Freeport Public Funds Committee would be considering directly after this meeting. Background information was provided, which stated that over the last two years, Pembrokeshire County Council, Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council, Milford Haven Port Authority and Port Talbot (under the Association of British Ports) had formed a partnership to submit a bid for a Freeport in Wales which was endorsed by Welsh and UK Government. Details of the Outline Business Case were provided and it was stated that it was one of the principal gateways to enter having had the bid accepted, which was submitted to the two Governments following endorsement by both Councils on the 22 December 2023. Feedback on the Outline Business Case was expected around July 2024 but the General Election held in July 2024 had disrupted the timetable. It was stated that the two Governments were initially advised that a decision on the Outline Business Case would come forward in early Autumn 2024; however, a request was then made for the partnership to accelerate submission of the Full Business Case before receiving feedback on the Outline Business Case. It was stated however, that whilst timescales were tight, it would be achievable and work had been ongoing to meet the deadlines. Requirements of the Full Business Case were outlined and it was stated that one of the requirements was for submission of proposals in relation to the investment of the seed capital, £25m from UK Government, to invest in and support areas within the Freeport which would accelerate the Freeport endeavour. The recommendations were outlined and Members were informed that both respective Cabinets would be considering the Full Business Case which would be submitted to UK Government, at their meetings next week. Members were asked to consider discussing the two restricted appendices (Appendix 1 and Appendix 2) in private session, to maintain the confidentiality of the documents. Moved by Councillor Laura Williams; Seconded by Councillor Aled Thomas. The vote, undertaken by way of a show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That the public be excluded from the meeting when considering Appendices 1 and 2, in accordance with Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, as they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information, as defined in Paragraph 14 of Part 4 of Schedule 12A to the Act; and the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information. The webcast was then paused. Having convened in private session in accordance with Paragraph 14 of Part 4 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, the Committee considered the two exempt appendices. During private session, questions were raised in relation to how the Seed Capital proposals were generated, how they were assessed and how the divide of money was decided for the projects. Information was also provided with regards to the sources of funding. The webcast was then resumed and the Committee considered the recommendations. Moved by Councillor Tim Bowen; Seconded by Councillor Sean Pursey The vote, undertaken by way of a show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED (a) That the report be noted. (b) That the Officers and Leaders of both Councils provide verbal feedback on the Committee’s discussion of the report and the attached appendices to the Public Funds Committee for their consideration.
There were no urgent items of buisness raised for consideration.
Councillors must say when they have a personal link to something being discussed, such as a job, a property or a family member. A prejudicial interest is one strong enough that the councillor usually leaves the room and takes no part.
Declarations are read from the minutes once they are published.
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