Dear Mr Maxwell

RSN20915

Thank you for your email to the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. Your request is being dealt with under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 / Environmental Information Regulations 2004 and we will aim to provide a response within twenty working days.

Please note that due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, the Information Commissioner’s Office has acknowledged that resources may be diverted away from functions such as responding to information requests to ensure that other services can still be delivered. This may mean that a response is provided outside of the stautory timeframe. Your patience is appreciated at this extraordinary time.

If you have any queries about this request do not hesitate to contact me. Please quote the reference number above in any future communications.

Yours sincerely,

Andy Henderson

Senior Information Management Officer | LCRCA | Mann Island, PO Box 1976, Liverpool, L69 3HN
Office: 0151 330 1679 | Email: [Liverpool City Region Combined Authority request email]

Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.

dangos adrannau a ddyfynnir

Dear Mr Maxwell

RSN20915

Thank you for your recent request made under the Freedom of Information Act.

Please find attached a spreadsheet detailing the payments made by the Combined Authority to Downtown in Business. Aside from a single apprentice grant, all other payments were related to European Regional Development Funding (ERDF) New Markets 2 funding to support local businesses.

Downtown in Business were appointed as part of a consortium of delivery partners for the Liverpool City Region ERDF New Markets 2: Building Business Capacity programme. Each delivery partner was selected by the Local Growth Hub through an Expression of Interest and thorough due diligence process. All delivery partners contributed specific data around strengths of their asset base and how this approach would most effectively benefit the target group.

As the payments to Downtown in Business are related to the provision a grant rather than a service, there are no ‘invoices’ to provide to you. The distribution of these funds was completed in line with the grant funding agreements and the associated assurances as part of the ERDF programme.

No payments were made to Downtown in Business in relation to Conference of the North.

The Metro Mayor and the Combined Authority have not held any direct business to business meetings with Frank McKenna or Downtown in Business. The Metro Mayor, Frank Rogers (Chief Executive), Liam Robinson (Chairperson of the Transport Committee), Mark Bousfield (Director of Commercial Development & Investment) and Kirsty Pearce (Director of Policy & Strategic Commissioning) have participated in public events organised by Downtown in Business in order to engage with the local business community. There are no financial transactions associated with these events.

Examples of these events are provided below:

•Downtown Den - A Tale From Two Cities (https://downtowninbusiness.com/ep-49-dow...)
•A Totally Frank Conversation In The Den (https://downtowninbusiness.com/event/a-t...)
•Downtown Meets the LCRCA Team (https://downtowninbusiness.com/downtown-...)

Further events can be found using the search function of the Downtown in Business website (https://downtowninbusiness.com).

I trust that this information is of interest to you.

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the right to ask for an internal review, which should be addressed to:
Jill Coule
Chief Legal Officer / Monitoring Officer
Liverpool City Region Combined Authority
[email address]

If you are not content with the result of your internal review, you also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner, whose address is
The Information Commissioner’s Office,
Wycliffe House,
Water Lane,
Wilmslow,
Cheshire SK9 5AF
www.ico.org.uk

Andy Henderson

Senior Information Management Officer | LCRCA | Mann Island, PO Box 1976, Liverpool, L69 3HN
Office: 0151 330 1679 | Email: [Liverpool City Region Combined Authority request email]

Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.

The information supplied continues to be protected by copyright. You are free to use it for your own purposes, including for private study and non-commercial research and for any other purpose authorised by an exception in current copyright law. Documents (except photographs) can also be used in the UK without requiring permission for the purposes of news reporting. Any other reuse, for example, commercial publication would require the permission of the copyright holder.

dangos adrannau a ddyfynnir