A fully staffed office costing over £500,000 a year to run will be required to deliver the Borderlands Inclusive Growth (BIG) deal, it has been revealed. A programme manager's post will carry a £97,000 salary.
The cross-Border economic initiative involving five local authorities in the North of England and the South of Scotland is expected to inject up to £345 million into the so-called Borderlands over 10-15 years with the money coming from the UK Government and the Scottish Government. It has been estimated that £150 million of the total will be invested in Dumfries & Galloway and the Scottish Borders.
Details of the amounts each council will pay towards the running costs are contained in a report to be considered this week by Scottish Borders Council. Their partners in the first Scotland-England co-operative venture of its kind are Dumfries & Galloway Council, Carlisle City Council, Cumbria and Northumberland county councils.
The report shows the BIG deal will need a PMO (Programme Management Office) to be set up at a cost of £531,000 in its first year including £242,000 for staffing costs. Staff members will include the programme manager (£97,200), two programme officers (each £57,400) and an administration officer (£29,200). Non staffing costs are expected to add up to £145,000.
BIG deal partners have already commissioned a law firm to draw up a 79-page collaboration agreement which includes details of a number of boards, committees and a proposed Economic Forum which will nominate representatives from the private sector.
The amount of money to be paid by each local authority will be linked to the portion of BIG deal money received. It works out like this:
COST
APPORTIONMENT %
Carlisle/Cumbria
34.9% - £185,319
Dumfries
and Galloway 24.3% - £129,033
Northumberland
22.2% - £117,882
Scottish
Borders 18.6% - £98,766
Total - £531,000.However, there is a warning that management costs may rise as the deal proceeds.
Scottish Borders Council is told: ". It should be noted that the budget requirement may increase as the PMO requirements of the Deal expand and that this will be the subject of future reports to Members."
It is claimed in the report prepared for Borders councillors: "The Borderlands Inclusive Growth Deal supports the Scottish Borders Economic Strategy 2023 as the outcomes from the Deal seek to achieve inclusive economic growth.
"The Inclusive Growth Deal complements the opportunities presented by the establishment of the South of Scotland Enterprise and the preparatory work for the new Agency being carried out by the South of Scotland Economic Partnership. It will also complement the projects being implemented as part of the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal."
And according to the document: "Until now the Borderlands Partnership has operated on an informal basis under the principles of a Memorandum of Understanding where each of the partners agreed to co-operate to reach agreement on the Heads of Terms for a Deal.
"The arrangements relating to the Borderlands Partnership now need to move towards a formal governance arrangement in order to proceed to Final Deal Agreement. Given that the Borderlands Inclusive Growth Deal extends over two countries this presents challenges in terms of putting in place appropriate governance arrangements.
" Burness Paull, Solicitors, were appointed by the partners to provide advice on governance for the Deal. It should be noted that there are no existing precedents for Scottish and English local authorities participating in an integrated initiative of this kind."
A section dealing with the proposed Economic Forum says: "UK and Scottish Governments have requested that there is private sector representation and engagement in the Borderlands Inclusive Growth Deal. It is planned that an Economic Forum will be established to provide the mechanism for achieving this.
"Each of the five local authorities will nominate two private sector representatives to join the Economic Forum following an open recruitment process. In addition to the ten positions, there will be an additional four places to include Cumbria LEP, North East LEP and two places for South of Scotland Enterprise, or other agreed organisation. The members of the Economic Forum will nominate a Chair who will become a member of the Borderlands Partnership Board."
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