To seek Cabinet approval to enter the Grant Agreement for the funding received confirming Tendring District Council as the Delivery Partner.

Identify the projects to which the funding will be directed through the Sport England Place Partnership initiative, and to allocate resources from the Sport and Activity Strategy budget, to deliver priority actions set out in the associated Action Plan.

Provide an update on significant progress made in implementing the Strategy since its publication in September 2024.

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

a)       recalls that £210,298 of grant funding from Sport England to support the Place Partnerships scheme was accepted by Cabinet on 19 December 2025, to deliver further priority projects from the Sport and Activity Strategy action plan;

b)       following accepting the grant funding, agrees to enter into a grant agreement with Active Essex, Essex County Council, with Tendring District Council named as the Delivery Partner for the Place Partnerships funding on the terms and conditions, as set out in Appendix B to the report (A.8);

c)       authorises the Assistant Director (Sport, Culture and Health), in consultation with Legal Services, to complete the Grant Agreement with the detail of the Project Outputs and Outcomes as identified within this report;

d)       agrees to allocate the budget across the three schemes set out in the Executive Summary of this report;

e)       supports the appointment of two fixed-term Active Wellbeing Activators funded from the Place Partnerships funding, to facilitate and support additional community activity, as set out in the Sport and Activity Strategy Action Plan;

f)         allocates £3,599 from the Sport and Activity budget to engage ‘PLAYED Ltd’ for the development of advanced analytics dashboards for the 'Find Your Active' platform hosted by Active Essex;

g)       allocates £3,600 from the Sport and Activity budget towards a total project cost of £9,600 as a contribution towards a feasibility study for an Active Track at Cliff Park, Harwich; with the balance being paid by England Athletics; and

h)       notes the progress made to date on the projects contained in the Sport and Activity Strategy.

Earlier on in the meeting, as detailed under Minute 96 above, and insofar as this report proposed Council expenditure of £3,600 towards a feasibility study for an ‘Active Track’ at Cliff Park, Harwich, Councillor Henderson had declared for the public record that he was the Ward Member for that location.

Cabinet considered a report of the Leisure & Public Realm Portfolio Holder (A.8) which:-

(1)     sought Cabinet’s approval to enter the Grant Agreement for the funding received confirming Tendring District Council as the Delivery Partner;

(2)     identified the projects to which the funding would be directed through the Sport England Place Partnership initiative, and to allocate resources from the Sport and Activity Strategy budget, to deliver priority actions set out in the associated Action Plan; and

(3)     provided an update on significant progress made in implementing the Strategy since its publication in September 2024.

The report informed Cabinet on the following matters:-

(a)     Sport and Activity Strategy;

(b)     Sport England Place Partnerships;

(i)         Activation of the Community Ride and Play Facility (£50,000);

(ii)       Active Wellbeing Programme (£100,298); and

(iii)      Community Sport and Activity Manager (£60,000).

(c)     Other Priority Sport and Activity Strategy Projects;

(i)         Active Track Feasibility Study; and

(ii)       Find Your Active Platform.

The reasons for the Portfolio Holder’s recommendations in the report were as follows:-

“The Council is required to enter into a Grant Agreement, as Delivery Partner of the projects for which the funding being allocated to.

Allocation of the £210,298 Sport England Place Partnership Grant Funding is recommended to deliver significant health and wellbeing outcomes which have been previously approved by Cabinet through the Sport and Activity Strategy.  This will ensure that strategic priorities of the Council can be completed, without using direct funding and protect the balance of the strategy budget to deliver further objectives. Further to this, the recommendations in this report will continue to deliver approved actions and support local people to become more active.

The report also provides an update on the progress made with meeting the work highlighted in the Sport and Activity Strategy delivery plan.”

It was moved by Councillor Barry, seconded by Councillor Scott and:-

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

a)       recalls that £210,298 of grant funding from Sport England to support the Place Partnerships scheme was accepted by Cabinet on 19 December 2025, to deliver further priority projects from the Sport and Activity Strategy action plan;

b)       following accepting the grant funding, agrees to enter into a grant agreement with Active Essex, Essex County Council, with Tendring District Council named as the Delivery Partner for the Place Partnerships funding on the terms and conditions, as set out in Appendix B to the report (A.8);

c)       authorises the Assistant Director (Sport, Culture and Health), in consultation with Legal Services, to complete the Grant Agreement with the detail of the Project Outputs and Outcomes as identified within this report;

d)       agrees to allocate the budget across the three schemes set out in the Executive Summary of this report;

e)  ...  view the full minutes text for item 109