Agenda item

To inform the Cabinet about progress with the Community Regeneration Partnership (formerly Levelling Up Partnership) initiative and recommend that Cabinet approves the proposed projects aimed at place-based regeneration in Clacton and Jaywick, including progressing a first wave of projects under the delegations set out later within this report and establishing appropriate funding agreements with delivery partners for a further wave of projects.

RESOLVED that Cabinet formally -

a) accepts the £19.79M CDEL and £100k RDEL funding offered by the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government for the Community Regeneration Partnership (formerly the Levelling Up Partnership) programme;

b) allocates capital expenditure of £19.79M to the Capital Programme against the projects, as set out in Table 1 of item A.6 of the report of the Economic Growth, Regeneration & Tourism Portfolio Holder, and allocates £100,000 revenue to the delivery of a cultural masterplan for Clacton, to deliver the Partnership; and in respect of the projects identified:-

c) approves the scope and details of the ‘first wave’ projects set out in Table 2 of this report and delegates authority as follows:

i. approves an allocation of £0.5m from the above capital expenditure to the Seafront Micro Venue project (Ten_10) and authorises the Portfolio Holder for Economic Growth, Regeneration and Tourism, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Arts, Culture and Heritage to: Agree the final design brief, approve submission of the subsequent planning application and procure a main contractor for the detail design and delivery of the project on the basis of a planning consent;

ii. requests the Portfolio Holder for Economic Growth, Regeneration and Tourism to bring a future report to Cabinet in order to enter a main building contract for the Seafront Micro Venue project subject to the outcome of a formal procurement process;

iii. approves an allocation of £0.5m from the above capital expenditure to the Shopfront Improvements project (Ten_08) and authorises the Portfolio Holder for Economic Growth, Regeneration & Tourism to: Sign off an evaluation criteria and deliver an open call grant process administered in line with the adopted External Grant Funding Checklist;

iv. approves an allocation of £0.21m from the above capital expenditure to the Community Transport Buses project (Ten_02) and authorises the Portfolio Holder for Economic Growth, Regeneration & Tourism to: Sign off an evaluation criteria and deliver an open call grant process administered in line with the adopted External Grant Funding Checklist;

v. approves an allocation of £0.2m from the above capital expenditure to the Extending the Healthy Homes Initiative project (Ten_06) and authorises the Portfolio Holder for Economic Growth, Regeneration and Tourism, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Assets, to: Appraise the sites and execute powers as delegated under the Property Dealing Procedure;

d) in respect of the ‘second’ and ‘third’ wave of projects, approves these projects in principle and request Officers to progress outlining the scope and details of these projects, and further requests the Portfolio Holder for Economic Growth, Regeneration & Tourism to bring a future report to Cabinet to seek its approval to progress these projects to implementation; and

e) in respect of the ‘fourth wave’ of projects, as set out in Table 3 of the Portfolio Holder’s report (A.5), authorises the Portfolio Holder for Economic Growth, Regeneration & Tourism, in consultation with the Corporate Director (Place and Economy), the Director (Finance and IT) & Section 151 Officer and the Director (Governance) & Monitoring Officer, to approve the funding agreements and associated governance arrangements with Essex County Council and the NHS.

Earlier on in the meeting, as detailed under Minute 90 above, Councillor Placey had declared an Other Registerable Interest in relation to this item. Councillor Placey therefore withdrew from the meeting and left the room whilst this item was deliberated and decided upon.

Cabinet considered a detailed report of the Economic Growth, Regeneration & Tourism Portfolio Holder (A.6), which informed it about progress with the Community Regeneration Partnership (formerly the Levelling Up Partnership) initiative and recommended that Cabinet approved the proposed projects aimed at place-based regeneration in Clacton and Jaywick, including progressing a first wave of projects under the delegations set out within that report and establishing appropriate funding agreements with delivery partners for a further wave of projects.

The report detailed the progress since the July 2024 meeting of the Cabinet on the following matters:-

1) The Council as Accountable Body and the Policy Framework;

2) Memorandum of Understanding with MHCLG;

3) The Projects;

4) Capacity; and

5) Programme delivery – The Four ‘Waves’.

In order to capitalise on the Government’s funding opportunity to address key socio-economic challenges in Clacton-on-Sea and Jaywick Sands, improve local infrastructure, enhance community services, and contribute to the long-term regeneration of the area and recognising that this was a once in a decade opportunity for Tendring to deploy investment on this scale, in addition to other Government funding, to be benefit of Clacton-on-Sea and Jaywick Sands:-

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