Agenda item

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 available over the next two financial years.

Cabinet was informed that, following a meeting between Officers and DLUHC on Monday 9 October 2023, DLUHC had indicated they would be supportive of an application for Dovercourt to be a pilot area for the programme. The deadline for submission had been 16^th October 2023.  The existing Harwich and Dovercourt Tourism Group would meet the requirement for a ‘board’ to discuss and deliver potential projects under the scheme. Dovercourt had been formally announced by the Government as a participating location in the pilot, on Wednesday 6^th December 2023.

Members were advised that the objective of the High Street Accelerators Pilot Programme was for local stakeholders to work in partnership to support the long-term revival and regeneration of declining high streets. The work could be focused on reinventing the high street as a community hub that local people could be proud of, and the projects underpinning it could range from the repurposing of spaces, (such as the building of new park lets and gardens), to projects which improved the energy efficiency of high street buildings, or tackle vacancy rates by helping match community groups and small businesses with empty properties.

In addition to those Government funded schemes, the Council could also consider appropriate existing Section 106 contributions in those areas, to support the work being undertaken and increase the outputs for local people.

It was considered that the key to making the most significant impact on local ambitions was to ensure a considered choice of the most appropriate blend of projects in order to deliver transformational change against local priorities and the criteria for each funding stream.

Existing Council strategies included a range of exciting ambitions which could be developed into a project pipeline and form the basis of planned improvements to the towns identified. There would not be sufficient funding to implement all projects, so careful consideration would be required with partners in Central Government and Council partners to identify the most appropriate course of action.

It was reported that, over the next six months, the Council would work with partners, including Central Government and residents, to develop a suite of projects in each location.  This would culminate in a funded plan for each funding stream, to maximise the opportunities they provided.  The plan for LU Partnerships would be developed through the ‘deep dive’ process signed off by Ministers. The Council would produce a Long Term Plan for Clacton by July 2024, in consultation with a newly constituted towns board, to be in place by April 2024.  Given the helpful timing, the Council would be able to draw on the work of the Levelling Up Partnership as an input of information to support the plan for Clacton.

Cabinet was advised that a further report would be brought to it in April 2024, setting out further detail on projects to be funded, and the respective funding streams which would support them, and timescales for delivery.

As those funding streams would enable the Council to accelerate progress towards further achieving the Council’s ambitions and delivering for local people against the newly adopted Corporate Plan, offering a chance to support a range of opportunities across the District’s largest towns, as Government had targeted interventions to specific locations in Tendring and acknowledging that many of the funding streams had a short timeline to achieve their objectives and the Portfolio Holder’s recommendations would allow delivery to continue at pace:-

It was moved by Councillor I J Henderson, seconded by Councillor Bush and:-

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.