Issue - meetings

To provide Cabinet with an overview of the different funding streams made available to the Council by Central Government, and to set out their purpose in regeneration opportunities for the District.

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

(a)   accepts the High Street Accelerator Funding offered by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and authorises the Corporate Director (Place and Economy) and the Section 151 Officer to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding on behalf of the Council, which sets out the agreement;

(b)   delegates the forming of the High Street Accelerator Board, and acceptance of its Terms of Reference, to the Portfolio Holder for Economic Growth, Regeneration & Tourism;

(c)   accepts the Long Term Plan for Towns Funding offered by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and authorises the Corporate Director (Place and Economy) and the Section 151 Officer to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding on behalf of the Council, which sets out the agreement;

(d)   delegates the forming of the Towns Board, and acceptance of its Terms of Reference, to the Portfolio Holder for Economic Growth, Regeneration & Tourism;

(e)   delegates the authorisation of the spending of the £45,000 Levelling Up Partnership Capacity Payment to the Portfolio Holder for Economic Growth, Regeneration & Tourism; and

(f)   delegates entering into any agreements with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities for the funding streams set out in this report (LU Partnership, Long Term Plan For Towns, High Streets Accelerator) to the Corporate Director (Place and Economy), in consultation with the Section 151 Officer. 

Cabinet considered a report of the Economic Growth, Regeneration & Tourism Portfolio Holder (A.5), which updated it with an overview of the different funding streams totalling up to £40,237,000 made available to the Council by Central Government, and to set out their purpose in regeneration opportunities for the District.  The report also set out the implications to resourcing and managing those significant projects, and the decisions to accept the funding for the High Street Accelerator, the Long-Term Plan for Towns, and to establish the management of Town Boards for the respective funds.

The three funding streams are detailed below; a table that illustrated each funding stream and its link to this Council’s priorities and outcomes for residents was provided as Appendix A to report A.5.

Levelling Up Partnerships

Cabinet recalled that, at the Budget Speech on 15 March 2023, the Government had announced 20 areas which would be selected to form Levelling Up Partnerships (LUP) with the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, which had included Tendring on the list at number eight. This had been considered at Cabinet on 23 June 2023.

It was reported that Government officials would visit Tendring between January and March 2024 in order to carry out a ‘Deep Dive’. This would be a review of data, documents, and meetings with key partners. To prepare for that process, a capital pipeline of projects would be developed. Government had requested projects which required funding within 12 months of March 2024, for example, purchasing land or property or implementing capital projects that had already been developed.

Government Ministers would make the ultimate decision on what the £20m would fund, and their officials would complete the business cases for the funding to demonstrate that they were value for money.

Long Term Plan for Towns Funding

Cabinet was reminded that on 1 October 2023 Government had announced that Clacton-on-Sea would be one of 55 towns across the UK to receive a ten-year endowment-style fund, with £20 million of funding and support to give towns long term certainty to deliver projects over multiple years. Government had confirmed that the Long-Term Plan for Towns Funding would be 25 percent resource, 75 percent capital. 

The Council would be required to establish a Town Board, to be chaired by a local business or community leader, and then to develop a plan setting out priorities for investment and regeneration, aligned to themes of safety and security, high streets, heritage and regeneration, and transport and connectivity. Towns would be required to demonstrate how they had developed plans in consultation with local people.

High Street Accelerators Pilot Programme

Members further recalled that, on 13 September 2023, the Council had been advised by the Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities (DLUHC) that Tendring had been identified as one of 10 Districts nationally selected to pilot the Government’s new High Street Accelerator Pilot Programme. This programme looked to fund the establishment of a Town Centre Board and would pilot projects selected in partnership, making £237,000 in total  ...  view the full minutes text for item 65