A report on the Economy, Regeneration and Development Committee’s recommendations from its meeting on 22 November in respect of the acceptance of a Town Deal grant from the government.

The report was before the Committee because in accordance with the Council’s Constitution any amendment to the Capital Programme requested by a Committee or officer in excess of £100,000 was reserved to Policy and Resources Committee.

Resolved – That,

(1)  the content of the report and the announcement from Government regarding the Town Deal funding award in relation to Birkenhead, be noted;

(2)  the re-profiling of the funding allocation for projects as set out in paragraph 3.8 of the report, be noted;

(3)  the Director of Regeneration and Place be authorised to accept the offer and funding from DLUHC, via a grant made under Section 31 of the Local Government Act 2003;

(4)  the Director of Regeneration and Place be authorised to progress delivery of the Town Deal Programme, in line with the Section 31 Grant and the Town Investment Plan, and to implement a change control process (if required);

(5)  the Director of Regeneration and Place be authorised to allocate the Town Deal predevelopment funding of £1,250,000 (5% of the total award) on receipt;

(6)  the Director of Resources, as S151 Officer, be authorised to review and approve business cases, in consultation with the Director of Regeneration and Place, and submit the results to DLUHC in order to release the remaining funds; and

(7)  the Director of Law and Governance be authorised, in consultation with the Director of Regeneration and Place and the Director of Resources, to enter into any necessary agreements or other legal documentation to implement the above recommendations.

The Assistant Director: Chief Regeneration Officer introduced the report of the Director of Regeneration and Place. Members of the Committee were informed that on 15 July 2021, the Council received notification of the outcome of a submission it had made to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC Town Deal Programme.

This announcement set out that the Council had been invited to enter into a Town Deal for Birkenhead, up to a value of £25,000,000. This ‘in principle’ award was offered subject to the successful completion and approval of businesses cases for the projects included in the bid submission. Both the Council and DLUHC had agreed the Heads of Terms.

The report set out the next steps with Members asked to give consideration to the tight time scales, as well as agreeing to delegate a number of decisions to the Director of Regeneration and Place in terms of accepting the grant and commencing activity to develop and deliver the Town Deal for Birkenhead.

Councillor Emily Gleaves queried how the activities being funded at Egerton House would align with those being progressed at Start Yard. The Assistant Director:Chief Regeneration Officer confirmed that activities would be complementary. This was followed by a question from Councillor Burgess-Joyce who queried in terms of the 5% upfront payment if it was a non-refundable amount and whether it would be lost if not spent. The Assistant Director: Chief Regeneration Officer commented to say that this was her understanding.

The Director of Regeneration and Place also confirmed that Town Deal Board decisions would be referred back to the Committee unless they were within the scope of a delegated officer decision making.

Resolved -

That Policy and Resources Committee be recommended to approve the following recommendations:

(1)  Note the content of the report and the announcement from Government regarding the Town Deal funding award in relation to Birkenhead;

(2)  Note the re-profiling of the funding allocation for projects as set out in paragraph 3.8 of this report;

(3)  Authorise the Director of Regeneration and Place to accept the offer and funding from DLUHC, via a grant made under Section 31 of the Local Government Act 2003;

(4)  Authorise the Director of Regeneration and Place to progress delivery of the Town Deal Programme, in line with the Section 31 Grant and the Town Investment Plan, and to implement a change control process (if required);

(5)  Authorise the Director of Regeneration and Place to allocate the Town Deal pre-development funding of £1,250,000 (5% of the total award) on receipt;

(6)  Authorise the Director of Resources as S151 Officer to review and approve business cases, in consultation with the Director of Regeneration and Place, and submit the results to DLUHC in order to release the remaining funds; and

(7)  Authorise the Director of Law and Governance in consultation with the Director of Regeneration and Place and the Director of Resources to enter into any necessary agreements or other legal documentation to implement the above recommendations

(8)  the above recommendations  ...  view the full minutes text for item 53