On 10th February 2026, a Service Level Agreement was entered with Public Practice to facilitate the recruitment of two new Public Practice Associates, to provide improved resourcing on the Local Regeneration Fund projects in the next stages of delivery.
As part of this recruitment, the Council has reached agreement with Public Practice to access funding from MHCLG, administered by IDeA, which will provide a part contribution to the cost of one of the project manager posts covered by the earlier decision. At present resource for the LRF projects is being capitalised, therefore external funding for this resource will ensure additional funding can be utilised for the construction budget.

To enter a grant agreement and accept grant funding to the sum of £40,000 offered by the Improvement and Development Agency for Local Government, (IDeA) a company registered in England and Wales with company registration 3675577, whose registered office is at Smith Square, London, SW1P 3HZ.
The grant funding relates to bursary funds from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), distributed by IDeA, to the Council to part-pay the core salary of a PUBLIC PRACTICE Associate.

This decision and the agreement are time-limited which will conclude prior to the timescales of LGR. The related post is fixed term and not subject to TUPE.