Agenda item - Chair's Communications

22.1      The Chair provided the following communications:

On behalf of the Board I would like to welcome Phil Jones.  Phil is the Managing Director of Wired Sussex and replaces Amanda Menahem as Business Representative for Coast to Capital.

“On the 1st February the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government announced the projects that have been awarded funding through the new Housing and Infrastructure Fund.  A total of £48m has been awarded to projects from across our City Region, with investment heading to Shoreham, Hove, Lewes, Burgess Hill and Crawley.  This is a major success for the City Region as it will directly unlock the delivery of 2,500 new homes and accelerate the delivery of a further 3,500 homes.  This investment is further proof that by working together as part of the Greater Brighton Economic Board we can bring significant investment into our City Region.     

In July 2017 Coast to Capital launched a new funding round for unallocated funds from rounds 1 & 2, and it’s great news that around £12m of the £27m available has been allocated to help fund projects from across the City Region.  Our Investment Programme continues to grow and, more importantly, it is delivering – unlocking much needed new homes, employment floor-space and jobs for our City Region.

Following approval by the Board a timetable for the Energy Plan and the Terms of Reference for the Infrastructure Panel and Biosphere Delivery Board Working group were discussed at the Officer Programme Board on 9th January.   The first meetings will be held in the spring”.