Agenda item

To update Cabinet on the progress with the Corporate Investment Plan and to recommend investment in four projects along with the acceptance of grant funding to support the development of further projects.

That Cabinet –

a)     notes the latest Corporate Investment Plan, as set out within Appendix A to item A.3 of the Report of the Corporate Finance & Governance Portfolio Holder;

b)     notes the review of Existing Earmarked Budgets, as set out within Appendix C to the aforesaid report and approves that the Category C budgets highlighted within that Appendix be brought together in order to establish a Corporate Investment ‘Reserve’ totalling £2,557,680;

c)      agrees that £265,000 from the Corporate Investment ‘Reserve’, along with £400,000 of external funding, be used to fund the following four items as set out later on in the Portfolio Holder’s report and Appendix A thereto:

i)        contribution to Freeport East - £160,000

ii)       support the Joint Use Sports Centre Transition - £25,000

iii)      host a ‘leg’ of the Elite Cycling Tour Series - £80,000

iv)      health inequalities capacity and projects - £400,000

d)     authorises Officers, in consultation with the relevant Portfolio Holders, and acting in accordance with the Council’s Scheme of Delegation, to agree the necessary arrangements to implement the above four items; and

e)     agrees to the acceptance of a grant from our Local Health Partner of £1.65m, and requests Officers to continue to develop schemes and projects that can be supported by this funding for consideration within the Corporate Investment Plan process.

Cabinet gave consideration to a report of the Corporate Finance & Governance Portfolio Holder (A.3) which updated it on the progress with the Corporate Investment Plan and recommended investment in four projects along with the acceptance of grant funding to support the development of further projects.

Cabinet recalled that, at its meeting held on 25 February 2022, it had agreed to implement a Corporate Investment Plan approach to investment and to establish a Corporate Investment Board. Cabinet had also asked Portfolio Holders to explore with Officers further items for consideration by the proposed first meeting of the Corporate Investment Board in March 2022.

Members were reminded that the Corporate Investment Plan approach included a pipeline of projects and a Corporate Investment Board that would regularly consider the pipeline of projects and give their view on those that should progress towards a formal decision. Priority drivers would help decision makers to prioritise and choose between competing proposals, and funding would be allocated, or reallocated, to a Corporate Investment Fund to enable the Council to put resources to the recommended projects from the pipeline. 

Cabinet was aware that the Corporate Investment Plan did not impact on the current decision making framework within the Council, with the same level of transparency for Officer, Portfolio Holder and Cabinet decisions and the associated scrutiny and “call-in” processes.

It was reported that the Corporate Investment Board had met for the first time on 15 March 2022 and had considered:-

·      the Terms of Reference for the Board, including the priority drivers from the February 2022 Cabinet Report;

·      the current pipeline of projects; and

·      from the pipeline, the projects proposed to move forward for decision.

That meeting had been attended by the Leader of the Council and the Deputy Leader of the Council, together with the Chief Executive, the Section 151 Officer and the Interim Corporate Director (Projects Delivery).

The Corporate Investment Board expressed its view that the following projects should be funded and progressed to the formal decision stage:-

Freeport East - £160,000 Skills and regeneration contribution

This contribution covered two years’ revenue funding from 2022-2024. It was proposed to enable the partner organisations to implement important regeneration activities alongside the infrastructure work on the Freeport sites in order to demonstrate progress on issues such as skills, innovation and net zero before the Freeport generated business rates income to re-invest.

Joint Use Sports Centres Transition – £25,000 contribution to support continued community use

It was proposed to provide financial support directly to local clubs and organisations in order to enable them to continue to undertake and provide sports and leisure activities to their local communities.

Elite Cycling Tour Series - £80,000

In order to support the cost of hosting a ‘leg’ of the national elite cycling tour series within the Clacton Town Centre during the month of May 2022. The event would attract visitors to the town centre and allow shops to remain open later and benefit from additional trade. Significant publicity was expected, including national and international media coverage and TV broadcasting. 

Health Inequalities Programme

This sought to maintain existing capacity within the service along with taking forward a number of important projects across the District. This was to be fully funded by external contributions from our health partners of £400,000.

In respect of funding from our health partners, the Council had been offered a further grant of £1.65m. This would enable a number of projects to be developed further for consideration as part of future iterations of the Corporate Investment Plan. In the interim period, a recommendation was included to formally accept the funding being offered to the Council. 

It was considered that the four projects for delivery progressed the Council’s corporate objectives in a timely fashion, including investment in skills linked to Freeport East as part of the Full Business Case; an event of national significance in Clacton Town centre, linked to the Tourism Strategy; funding to support community sports and leisure groups, and a health inequalities programme. As those projects would deliver benefits across a wide range of Council objectives:-

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

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

a)     notes the latest Corporate Investment Plan, as set out within Appendix A to item A.3 of the Report of the Corporate Finance & Governance Portfolio Holder;

b)     notes the review of Existing Earmarked Budgets, as set out within Appendix C to the aforesaid report and approves that the Category C budgets highlighted within that Appendix be brought together in order to establish a Corporate Investment ‘Reserve’ totalling £2,557,680;

c)      agrees that £265,000 from the Corporate Investment ‘Reserve’, along with £400,000 of external funding, be used to fund the following four items as set out later on in the Portfolio Holder’s report and Appendix A thereto:

i)        contribution to Freeport East - £160,000

ii)       support the Joint Use Sports Centre Transition - £25,000

iii)      host a ‘leg’ of the Elite Cycling Tour Series - £80,000

iv)      health inequalities capacity and projects - £400,000

d)     authorises Officers, in consultation with the relevant Portfolio Holders, and acting in accordance with the Council’s Scheme of Delegation, to agree the necessary arrangements to implement the above four items; and

e)     agrees to the acceptance of a grant from our Local Health Partner of £1.65m, and requests Officers to continue to develop schemes and projects that can be supported by this funding for consideration within the Corporate Investment Plan process.