Issue - meetings

To update Cabinet on the Levelling Up Fund and Capital Regeneration Projects following the June 2023 report and to request Officers to investigate the opportunity to bring forward that delivery of the demolition of Milton Road car park in Dovercourt.

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

(a)    notes the acceptance of the two funding agreements between TDC and ECC for the delivery of the ECC led schemes within the LUF and CRP projects respectively; and

(b)   requests officers to investigate the opportunity to bring forward the Milton Road element of the Dovercourt scheme from the Capital Regeneration Project funding and report the outcome back to Cabinet in the context of the wider scheme.

Cabinet considered a detailed report of the Economic Growth, Regeneration & Tourism Portfolio Holder (A.2), which updated it on the Levelling Up Fund and Capital Regeneration Projects following the June 2023 report and sought to formally request Officers to investigate the opportunity to bring forward that delivery of the demolition of Milton Road car park in Dovercourt.

Agreement with Essex County Council

Cabinet recalled that, at its meeting held on 23 June 2023, it had considered and approved a report titled: ‘Clacton Civic Quarter Levelling Up Fund (LUF) Bid, Dovercourt Town Centre Improvement Corridor Capital Regeneration Project (CRP) Bid’. That report and decision had delegated authority to the Portfolio Holder for Economic Growth, Regeneration and Tourism, in consultation with the Corporate Director (Place and Economy), the Section 151 Officer and the Monitoring Officer, to approve the Heads of Terms for two funding agreements to be developed between Tendring District Council (TDC) and Essex County Council (ECC), and authorised the Corporate Director (Place and Economy) to approve the final terms and conditions of the agreements, in consultation with the Section 151 Officer and the Monitoring Officer.

It was reported that the Heads of Terms had subsequently been approved by the Portfolio Holder on 2 January 2024, and the final terms and conditions of the funding agreements had been approved on 22 January 2024.

Members were informed that ECC had gained approvals to sign the funding agreements on 19 January 2024, and the funding agreement had been sealed on 20 February 2024 by TDC. The agreements allowed ECC to commission and deliver the three projects within the two schemes where ECC owned the land and ran services, which were Clacton Hub (Clacton LUF), and Harwich Library and Kingsway Improvements (Dovercourt CRP).

Funding draw down

Cabinet further recalled that, on 6 October 2023, it had considered and approved a report titled: ‘Levelling Up Fund and Capital Regeneration Projects - Progressing the Projects to Planning Permission’. That report had recommended drawing down a further £1,898,421 from the remaining match funding of £2,041,460, to cover professional fees for all stages of the project.

Subsequently, on 19 April 2024, Cabinet had considered and approved the Quarter 3 Finance Update Report that had enabled spend of both the Council’s match funding contribution, and the LUF and CRP grant funding received from Government on the projects. That report had recommended delegating the determination of the mix of funding (from the Council’s own approved contribution and the money made available by the Government) to support both the LUF Scheme in Clacton and the CRP Scheme in Dovercourt within the £1,898,421 previously drawn down, until the next significant project milestones were reported to Cabinet. The delegation was to the Corporate Director (Place and Economy), in consultation with the Council’s Section 151 Officer. As result the Council could draw down on the LUF and CRP funding to the value of 1,898,421.

As set out in the report to Cabinet on October 6 2023, a further report would be brought for Cabinet’s  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9