Key information
Decision type: Director
Reference code: DD2162
Date signed:
Decision by: Fiona Fletcher-Smith, Executive Director of Development, Enterprise and Environment
Executive summary
Approval is sought for expenditure of £25,000 in each of 2017/18 and 2018/19 from the London Economic Action Partnership’s (LEAP) Strategic Plans funds to cover administrative costs associated with LEAP activity. This proposal was approved in principle by the LEAP Investment Committee on 4 May 2017.
Expenditure in 2018/19 will be subject to receipt of related grant funding from government.
Decision
That the Executive Director of Development, Enterprise and Environment approves:
• Expenditure of £25,000 in each of 2017/18 and 2018/19, with expenditure in 2018/19 subject to receipt of LEAP core funds grant of £500,000 from Government.
Part 1: Non-confidential facts and advice
£500,000 in grant funding is provided by the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (“BEIS”) to all Local Enterprise Action Partnerships (LEAPs) on annual basis to support staffing, core administrative costs and strategy development and implementation. An additional £250,000 of match-funding is provided by local partners, which for London comes in the form of additional staffing resource provided by the GLA.
Adequate budget is still available within the LEAP core funds taking into account existing commitments and funding carried forward from 2016/17. The majority of this funding is being allocated to support delivery of the LEAP’s priorities through a series of pilot projects, research and strategy development. Sufficient headroom is available to support this proposed administration budget.
Approval is sought to allocate £25,000 of the budget available for allocation in 2017/18 and future years (subject to annual confirmation of grant funding from government) to support administrative costs associated with LEAP activity. This includes:
• Catering and room hire;
• Costs associated with stakeholder engagement events;
• Maintenance/development of the LEAP website;
• Marketing and communications activity (in addition to any programme specific activity);
• Memberships and subscriptions (including annual LEAP Network membership of £6,000)
• Printing costs; and
• Member and officer travel and subsistence.
This proposal was approved in principle by the LEAP Investment Committee on 4 May 2017.
The request outlined in this report does not pose any impact on individuals with protected characteristics (age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, gender, religion or belief, sexual orientation).
5.1 Executive Director’s approval is being sought for an annual LEAP administration budget of £25,000 for 2017-18 and 2018-19. This administration budget will be used for activities detailed in section 2 of this decision.
5.2 Expenditure for 2018-19 will be subject to annual confirmation of LEAP grant funding of £500,000 from Central Government (Department of Communities and Local Government). The costs will be funded from London’s Enterprise Action Partnership Strategic Plans Funds 2017-2018 Budget and any LEAP budget confirmed in future years.
6.1 Under section 30 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (the ‘Act’) the GLA, after appropriate consultation, is entitled to do anything that will further the promotion, within Greater London, of economic development and wealth creation, social development and the improvement of the environment.
6.2 Furthermore, section 34 of the Act allows the GLA, to do anything which is calculated to facilitate, or is conducive or incidental to, the exercise of any functions of the GLA. In this case, the officers have requested the approval of the allocation of £25,000 to the LEAP administration budget. To this end, the proposed allocation may be viewed as being calculated to facilitate and conducive and incidental to social development and wealth creation in Greater London.
6.3 Any services required must be procured by Transport for London Procurement who will determine the detail of the procurement strategy to be adopted in accordance with the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code.
Officers must ensure that appropriate contract documentation is put in place and executed by the successful bidder(s) and the GLA before the commencement of the services/supplies.
This budget will provide an ongoing resource for ad-hoc costs associated with the administration of LEAP.
Signed decision document
DD2162 LEAP admin costs (signed) PDF