This report formally advises Council of the UK Government’s endorsement of the Pride in Place 10 Year Vision and Investment Plan and the intended release of the Year 1 funds to pursue the initial delivery steps in the Vision.

The Vision was developed and approved through the Clacton Town Board and the area to which the Vision applies is that of Clacton-on-Sea and Holland-on Sea. This Council is the Accountable Body under the programme and, through a decision of the Leader in November 2025, endorsed the principles set out in the 10 Year Vision.

The Council has previously received funds under Pride in Place to meet expenditure associated with the development of the 10 Year Vision and community engagement. Prior to this report, a number of decisions have been taken since the initial identification of Clacton as a locality to receive £20M over 10 years from the UK Government.

This report seeks Cabinet's approval to confirm and implement the financial and governance arrangements necessary to give effect to the decisions of the Clacton Town Board in respect of the Clacton Pride in Place Programme. Specifically, the report seeks:

•   Approval of the Year 1 Delivery Funding allocation (£360,000 capital and £232,000 revenue) and the proposed projects to be funded in 2026/27 as approved by the Clacton Town Board at its meeting on 27 March 2026;

•   Approval of a Memorandum of Understanding between Tendring District Council (as Accountable Body) and the Clacton Town Board (MoU 1 the TDC/Board MoU), which sets out the governance, assurance and programme management arrangements between the two parties;

•   Approval of the Memorandum of Understanding between Tendring District Council (as Accountable Body) and the UK Government’s Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) (MoU 2 the TDC/MHCLG MoU), which is the grant agreement with the UK Government and which must be signed by TDC and returned to MHCLG before Year 1 delivery funding (£360,000 capital and £232,000 revenue) can be released; and

•   Delegation of authority to give effect to funding decisions of the Clacton Town Board, including the ability to vary spending arrangements where necessary, subject to the governance safeguards set out in this report.

RESOLVED that Cabinet -

(a)     welcomes the endorsement by the UK Government of the locally developed and approved 10 Year Vision and Investment Plan for Clacton as the principal document for delivery of the Pride in Place programme here;

(b)   approves the Year 1 delivery funding programme for the Clacton Pride in Place Programme, as set out in this report and Appendix A, comprising £360,000 capital and £232,000 revenue as approved by the Clacton Town Board at its meeting on 27 March 2026;

(c)  approves:

(1)     the finalised Memorandum of Understanding between this Council (as Accountable Body) and the Clacton Town Board (MoU 1 TDC/Board MoU) as set out at Appendix B to this report, and authorises the Chief Executive to then sign on behalf of the Council;

(2)     the Memorandum of Understanding between Tendring District Council (as Accountable Body) and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MoU 2 TDC/MHCLG MoU) as set out at Appendix C to this report and authorises the Chief Executive to then sign on behalf of the Council. This signature will trigger the release of Year 1 delivery funding;

(d)  delegates authority as follows to give effect to delivery funding decisions of the Clacton Town Board (upon production of an approved Minute from the Board/confirmation of a decision taken by Board Members outside of a meeting) that fall within the approved budgets and is otherwise in accordance with the MoUs applicable to this programme:

(1) Capital delivery funding is delegated to the Portfolio Holder for Economic Growth, Regeneration and Tourism to authorise capital expenditure decisions in line with Board resolutions;

(2)  Revenue delivery funding is delegated to the Deputy Chief Executive following consultation with the Council’s Section 151 Officer; and

(e)  notes that future year allocations of delivery funding will be reported to Cabinet within the appropriate budget update report and the delegations in (d) above will apply to those funds.

Cabinet considered a report of the Economic Growth, Regeneration & Tourism Portfolio Holder (A.3) which formally advised Council of the UK Government’s endorsement of the Pride in Place 10 Year Vision and Investment Plan and the intended release of the Year 1 funds to pursue the initial delivery steps in the Vision.  That Vision had been developed and approved through the Clacton Town Board and the area to which the Vision applied was that of Clacton-on-Sea and Holland-on-Sea.  This Council was the Accountable Body under the programme and, through a decision of the Leader of the Council taken in November 2025, had endorsed the principles set out in the 10 Year Vision. 

Cabinet recalled that the Council had previously received funds under Pride in Place to meet expenditure associated with the development of the 10 Year Vision and community engagement.   Prior to this report, several decisions had been taken since the initial identification of Clacton as a locality to receive £20m over 10 years from the UK Government. 

Members were informed that this report sought Cabinet's approval to confirm and implement the financial and governance arrangements necessary to give effect to the decisions of the Clacton Town Board in respect of the Clacton Pride in Place Programme. Specifically, the report sought:

•    approval of the Year 1 Delivery Funding allocation (£360,000 capital and £232,000 revenue) and the proposed projects to be funded in 2026/27 as approved by the Clacton Town Board at its meeting on 27 March 2026;

•    approval of a Memorandum of Understanding between Tendring District Council (as Accountable Body) and the Clacton Town Board (MoU 1 the TDC/Board MoU), which sets out the governance, assurance and programme management arrangements between the two parties;

•    approval of the Memorandum of Understanding between Tendring District Council (as Accountable Body) and the UK Government’s Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) (MoU 2 the TDC/MHCLG MoU), which is the grant agreement with the UK Government and which must be signed by TDC and returned to MHCLG before Year 1 delivery funding (£360,000 capital and £232,000 revenue) can be released; and

•    a delegation of authority to give effect to funding decisions of the Clacton Town Board, including the ability to vary spending arrangements where necessary, subject to the governance safeguards set out in this report.

Cabinet was cognisant that the Clacton Pride in Place Programme (formerly Plan for Neighbourhoods and, before that, Long Term Plan for Towns) was a UK Government-funded regeneration programme for Clacton-on-Sea. The Clacton Town Board (“the Board”), established in March 2024, oversaw delivery of up to £20 million over ten years under the programme. This Council acted as the Accountable Body for the programme, and was responsible for ensuring compliance with legal, procurement and financial requirements.

It was reported that the Board's 10-Year Vision and 4-Year Investment Plan had been submitted to MHCLG in November 2025 and had been formally endorsed on 23 March 2026. This endorsement had triggered the requirement to finalise and sign two separate Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) before Year 1 delivery funding could be released, namely:

•    MoU 1 TDC/Board MoU: the governance agreement between TDC as Accountable Body and the Clacton Town Board, setting out the programme management, assurance and financial control arrangements between the two parties. MHCLG had confirmed it wished to see this document before it was finalised. A draft had been approved by the Board at its January 2026 meeting and a revised version approved at the March 2026 meeting. This MoU was attached at Appendix B to the Portfolio Holder’s report.

•    MoU 2 TDC/MHCLG MoU: the grant agreement between TDC as Accountable Body and the UK Government (MHCLG). This was the document that directly triggered the release of Year 1 delivery funding (£360,000 capital and £232,000 revenue) once it had been signed by TDC and returned to MHCLG. This MoU was attached at Appendix C.

In advance of the Year 1 delivery funding to which this report related, the programme had received £600,000 in capacity funding, of which £129,237 had been spent and a further sum committed. The capacity funding had been used to establish governance structures, develop the Regeneration Plan, undertake community engagement, build the Love Clacton brand and appoint key staff including the Programme Manager and part-time Communications Officer.

Year 1 delivery funding of £360,000 capital and £232,000 revenue was now available subject to both MoUs being signed.

The Clacton Town Board had approved the Year 1 delivery programme and budget at its meeting on 27 March 2026. The first MHCLG six-monthly monitoring return had been submitted in May 2026 in respect of the use of the capacity funding and the initial plans for Year 1 delivery funding.

This report therefore sought the necessary Cabinet approvals and delegations to enable this Council as Accountable Body to sign both MoUs and implement the Board's Year 1 funding decisions efficiently and transparently, in compliance with MHCLG requirements and the Council’s own governance obligations.

Given that this Council had obligations as the Accountable Body for the Pride in Place Programme to ensure that public funds were utilised appropriately, that procurement requirements were observed and that openness and transparency requirements were complied with and that approval of the MoU and of the delegation to implement the Board's delivery funding decisions was therefore an essential step in enabling the programme to move into that delivery phase and avoid unacceptable delays in programme delivery whilst not over-ride separate decision making in respect of the individual elements of that overall budget allocation (following a decision by the Clacton Town Board):-

It was moved by Councillor Henderson, seconded by Councillor Stephensonand:-

RESOLVED that Cabinet -

(a)     welcomes the endorsement by the UK Government of the locally developed and approved 10 Year Vision and Investment Plan for Clacton as the principal document for delivery of the Pride in Place programme here;

(b)   approves the Year 1 delivery funding programme for the Clacton Pride in Place Programme, as set out in this report and Appendix A, comprising £360,000 capital and £232,000 revenue as approved by the Clacton Town Board at its meeting on 27 March 2026;

(c)  approves:

(1)     the finalised Memorandum of Understanding between this Council (as Accountable Body) and the Clacton Town Board (MoU 1 TDC/Board MoU) as set out at Appendix B to this report, and authorises the Chief Executive to then sign on behalf of the Council;

(2)     the Memorandum of Understanding between Tendring District Council (as Accountable Body) and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MoU 2 TDC/MHCLG MoU) as set out at Appendix C to this report and authorises the Chief Executive to then sign on behalf of the Council. This signature will trigger the release of Year 1 delivery funding;

(d)  delegates authority as follows to give effect to delivery funding decisions of the Clacton Town Board (upon production of an approved Minute from the Board/confirmation of a decision taken by Board Members outside of a meeting) that fall within the approved budgets and is otherwise in accordance with the MoUs applicable to this programme:

(1) Capital delivery funding is delegated to the Portfolio Holder for Economic Growth, Regeneration and Tourism to authorise capital expenditure decisions in line with Board resolutions;

(2)  Revenue delivery funding is delegated to the Deputy Chief Executive following consultation with the Council’s Section 151 Officer; and

(e)  notes that future year allocations of delivery funding will be reported to Cabinet within the appropriate budget update report and the delegations in (d) above will apply to those funds.