The North Wales Corporate Joint Committee (CJC) met to discuss the 2025/26 revenue position, the annual governance statement, amendments to the Economic Well-being Sub-committee terms of reference, the Flintshire and Wrexham Investment Zone, and the Strategic Development Plan Delivery Agreement. The meeting also included discussion of issues and options for funding the production of the Strategic Development Plan.

2025/26 Revenue Position

The committee was scheduled to review the 2025/26 revenue position for the CJC, the Economic Well-being Sub-committee (Growth Deal), and the Regional Skills Partnership (RSP). According to the report pack, the CJC was forecast to underspend by £411,001, mainly due to underspends in employee expenditure, insurance, systems and support services, a Welsh Government grant for the Regional Transport Plan, and interest income. The Economic Well-being Sub-committee was also forecast to underspend by £280,562, mainly due to underspends in employee expenditure and additional government roles, as well as accountable body support services. The Regional Skills Partnership was expected to have a neutral out-turn position for 2025/26.

The report pack noted that the Investment Zone was expected to spend £125,700, with £25,000 funded by the Welsh Government and the remainder from the CJC's earmarked reserve.

Annual Governance Statement

The committee was scheduled to consider and approve the Annual Governance Statement for Ambition North Wales. The Accounts and Audit (Wales) Regulations 2014 require the Joint Committee to review and approve annually a statement of internal control. The report pack stated that the Annual Governance Statement had been prepared to offer a framework for the operation of Ambition North Wales.

Economic Well-being Sub-Committee Terms of Reference

The committee was scheduled to discuss amendments to the terms of reference for the Economic Well-being Sub-committee. The proposed amendments would incorporate the necessary functions and delegations to carry out the Accountable Body role within the Flintshire and Wrexham Investment Zone. The report pack noted that certain key roles are reserved to the Corporate Joint Committee, including:

CJC Budget

CJC Strategies and Policies

Constitution including CPR,s Legal and Contractual Arrangements, Staff Standing Orders and Scheme of Delegation

Scheme of Delegation

MOU with Governments

IAA with Constituent Councils

Establishes Sub-Committees and approves ToR and amendments

Appoints the membership of the Sub-Committees and co-opts members including terms of co-option

Responsible for staffing structures, Pay Policy and general delegation

Flintshire and Wrexham Investment Zone

The committee was scheduled to receive an update on the Flintshire and Wrexham Investment Zone, and to approve the core principles of the proposed Inter-Authority Agreement and Terms of Reference for the Advisory Board to oversee the delivery of the Investment Zone.

The proposed Inter-Authority Agreement between the CJC, Flintshire County Council and Wrexham County Borough Council would set out the basis for the partnership for delivering the Investment Zone, the agreed governance arrangements, and some of the terms for delivery as well as some of the revenue and capital allocations for spend by Flintshire and Wrexham Councils.

The report pack also included a list of proposed members for the Investment Zone Advisory Board:

• Joanna Knight, Chair
• Member of the CJC
• Leader, Wrexham County Borough Council
• Leader, Flintshire County Council
• Becky Gittins, MP
• Llyr Gruffydd, MS
• Professor Joe Yates, Wrexham University
• Bryn Jones, North Wales Business Council
• Andy Silcox, AMRC
• Helen Swift, Airbus
• Craig Weeks, JCB
• David Roberts, RSP

Strategic Development Plan Delivery Agreement

The committee was scheduled to receive an update on the Strategic Development Plan (SDP) for North Wales, following a consultation exercise on the Delivery Agreement (DA). The report pack noted that the consultation process began on 18 July 2025 and ran until 29 August 2025. The document was published on the Ambition North Wales website, along with contextual information about the purpose of the document and the means to make comments on it.

The report pack stated that there was no need to significantly amend the Delivery Agreement following consideration of the responses, and the changes proposed were relatively minor.

Funding of the Strategic Development Plan

The committee was scheduled to discuss issues and options relating to the funding of the production of the Strategic Development Plan. The report pack noted that the overall cost of producing the SDP was assessed to be £3.276m. The 2025/26 CJC budget allocates a budget of £0.431m for SDP work. The report pack stated that the CJC has several options available to it to mitigate the budget shortfall:

• Secure an in-year (2025/26) one off grant of up to £200k that Welsh Government are currently offering
• Increasing the Local Authority levy for SDP in the 2026/27 financial year and making a commitment to maintain that level for a further four years.
• Explore use of balances or reserves from previous prudent budgeting.
• Further dialogue with Welsh Government.
• Collaborative working with local authorities that may allow salary savings to be made and used to reduce contributions in year.
• Maximise cost-effective consultancy support.
• Efficient interpretation of SDP Regulations to speed up plan production and reduce overall costs.