To update Cabinet on the success of the Back to Business Programme and seek agreement to move to a Corporate Investment Plan, with a focus on accelerated delivery.

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

(a)    notes the work completed under the Back to Business programme;

(b)    agrees to implement a Corporate Investment Plan approach along with establishing the associated Corporate Investment Board, as set out in the joint report of the Corporate Finance & Governance Portfolio Holder and the Business & Economic Growth Portfolio Holder (report A.7);

(c)    requests Portfolio Holders to explore with Officers further items for consideration by the proposed first meeting of the Corporate Investment Board in March 2022;

(d)    (i) agrees to the creation of a one-off Members’ Small Grant Scheme to make available £1,000 to each Member for the support of Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations within the District and authorises the Assistant Director (Finance & IT) and the Deputy Chief Executive to finalise the conditions, in consultation with the Leader of the Council and make the necessary arrangements to enable Members to access this funding as soon as possible;

(ii)  agrees that the  total cost of the scheme of £48,000 be funded from the existing Tendring Community Fund budget; and

(e)    agrees that a cross-party Member working group is set up to explore the establishment of a local scholarship scheme and that Officers be requested to set up the first meeting of the group in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Partnerships.

Cabinet had before it a joint report of the Corporate Finance & Governance Portfolio Holder and the Business & Economic Growth Portfolio Holder (A.6) which updated it on the success of the Back to Business Programme and sought its agreement to move to a Corporate Investment Plan to support accelerated delivery.

Members were aware that the Council had co-ordinated some of its investment over the last two years through the Back to Business Plan in response to the Covid 19 Pandemic. In line with the Capital Strategy, other investments and cost pressures had been managed via the financial strategy and in-year financial performance reports. This approach had been supported by earmarking reserves and budgets with the aim of managing such costs separately to the annual budget cycle. As a result the Council had protected the underlying base revenue budget as far as possible.

It was reported that, in response to previous peer reviews and the annual governance statement action plan (including points raised by the Council’s External Auditor), the opportunity had been taken to review the corporate framework against which projects and investments were prioritised. This was felt timely given the limited funding available to the Council outside of the money required to operate its key front line services and other day to day operations.

It was considered that Back to Business had galvanised the Council to counter the impacts of the pandemic, successfully delivering projects against the themes of ‘Strive’, ‘Thrive’ and ‘Live’. It had enabled the Council to respond to the economic challenges Tendring had faced, for example, providing businesses with advice and supporting the development of Freeport East. The Council had also attracted tourists to the Coast and had engaged local residents during the Pandemic, including the Octopus Ahoy! sculpture trail, Clacton 150 Anniversary flights and the Clacton 150 Heritage Trail from Jaywick Sands to Holland Haven. Back to Business had also supported well-being, with over twenty well-being hubs set up in Tendring and Colchester schools. 

Cabinet was informed that this new approach had therefore allowed the Council to merge the Back to Business Plan into a new Corporate Investment Plan along with the other proposals for schemes and projects that flowed from initiatives and strategies, in order to compete for the Council’s scare resources. It also enabled a reinvigorated approach to reviewing existing ‘cash backed’ schemes and projects where they could be considered against other emerging issues in order to ensure the Council’s money was being put to effective use in the short, medium and long term.

From now on, the Corporate Investment Plan would bring together a fuller pipeline of opportunities to be funded, which would enable the various competing priorities to be considered in a consistent way.

Members were advised that the new Corporate Investment Plan would include the following key elements:-

“A decision making process, including a Corporate Investment Board to agree the project Pipeline, and which projects to recommend for progression towards a formal decision to allocate resources to deliver.

Criteria / Priority Drivers to help decision makers to prioritise and choose between competing proposals, including a project’s impact on the Council’s priorities, its financial implications, statutory obligations and risk mitigation.

A Pipeline of projects showing: projects in delivery moving to completion; approved projects with published decisions against them; and a long list of proposals yet to be decided on whether to progress. The pipeline of proposals will be refreshed as new opportunities emerge, new challenges need to be resolved, and priorities change.

Annex 3 offers a proposed first iteration of pipeline projects, which includes the projects raised at Full Council on 15 February 2022. Annex 3 is not exhaustive. Additional projects will start to be added to this plan as part of the first Corporate Investment Board in March 2022, with future boards adding / reconsidering projects within the pipeline where necessary.

Funding to allocate or reallocate to a Corporate Investment Fund to enable the Council to put resources to the recommended projects from the Pipeline.  This approach to budgeting makes transparent funding that is set against projects that are in delivery, and Corporate Investment Plan funding that remains available to be allocated through the process to future projects.”

It was recognised that this new approach would develop in the months ahead, in particular, as the pipeline of project proposals matured, and the first Corporate Investment Board started to consider projects to add to, and progress from, the pipeline.

It was also drawn to Members’ attention that, as part of developing the plan, a number of existing budgets would be reviewed with the aim of identifying those that could potentially be repurposed to support projects within the Corporate Investment Plan. This work was currently on-going and would be considered for inclusion within the available funding that could support the plan going forward.

Pursuant to the provisions of Article 7.08 (1.5(ii)) of the Council’s Constitution, the Leader of the Labour Group (Councillor Ivan Henderson) requested that the minutes record his Group’s opposition to the inclusion of Officers as part of the strategic decision making process by the Corporate Investment Board.

In response, the Monitoring Officer (Lisa Hastings) confirmed that she had no concerns with what was being proposed with the Corporate Investment Board, whose primary function would be to make recommendations to the Cabinet or individual Portfolio Holders, as appropriate.

The Chief Executive (Ian Davidson) also gave an assurance that the Officers’ role would be to give their professional advice only and not to participate in the making of any decisions.

Having duly considered all of the information and advice contained in the Corporate Finance & Governance Portfolio Holder’s and Business & Economic Growth Portfolio Holder’s joint report and in order to enable this matter to move forward:-

It was moved by Councillor Neil Stock OBE, seconded by Councillor Michael Talbot and:-

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

(a)    notes the work completed under the Back to Business programme;

(b)    agrees to implement a Corporate Investment Plan approach along with establishing the associated Corporate Investment Board, as set out in the joint report of the Corporate Finance & Governance Portfolio Holder and the Business & Economic Growth Portfolio Holder (report A.7);

(c)    requests Portfolio Holders to explore with Officers further items for consideration by the proposed first meeting of the Corporate Investment Board in March 2022;

(d)    (i) agrees to the creation of a one-off Members’ Small Grant Scheme to make available £1,000 to each Member for the support of Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations within the District and authorises the Assistant Director (Finance & IT) and the Deputy Chief Executive to finalise the conditions, in consultation with the Leader of the Council and make the necessary arrangements to enable Members to access this funding as soon as possible;

(ii)  agrees that the  total cost of the scheme of £48,000 be funded from the existing Tendring Community Fund budget; and

(e)    agrees that a cross-party Member working group is set up to explore the establishment of a local scholarship scheme and that Officers be requested to set up the first meeting of the group in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Partnerships.