Agenda item

Report attached.

The Cabinet considered a report of Councillor Noordad Aziz, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Transformation, Education and Skills, updating Cabinet on recent progress with regards to the Council’s Long-Term Plan for Towns Funding (LTPfT).

 

Councillor Aziz outlined the key elements of the report including the establishment of the requisite Town Board, the need to submit a Long-Term Plan and the Council’s use of consultants Bradshaw Advisory.  He also indicted that the controlling group was prepared to discuss any changes required, if there was a change of Government in July 2024.  However, the regeneration of Hyndburn remained a key priority.

 

Councillor Khan asked if any changes would be made to the composition of the Town Board and commented that the use of consultants appeared to be a change of policy within the controlling group.  Councillor Aziz commented that the group was happy to work with existing partners on the Town Board.  Policies around the future use of consultants by local authorities would be a matter for the Government of the day.

 

Approval of the report was not considered to be a key decision.

 

Reasons for Decision

 

On the 18^th December 2023, the Government had announced 55 towns, (which included Accrington) who would each receive funding and support as part of a £1.1 billion levelling up investment to enable towns to develop their Long-Term Plan.

 

Initial guidance at the time had highlighted the LTPfT funding would ensure local people could develop plans that delivered their community priorities and were given the tools to change their town’s long-term future.  The published guidance set out that the 55 towns would:

 

• receive up to £20 million of endowment-style funding?and support for local people’s priorities, like regenerating local high streets and town centers, or securing public safety, over a 10 year period;

 

• be required to set up a Town Board by 1^st April 2024, which would bring together community leaders, employers, local authorities and the local MP who would develop and deliver the Long-Term Plan for their town, following consultation with local people and the new Town Board to develop and submit its long term plan by 1^st August 2024 at the latest;

 

• require the Town Board to be led by an independent chair, who would act as a champion for the town.  The chair could be anyone who held a prominent role in the community, such as heads of charities, education establishments or football clubs and who would provide leadership to ensure the Town Board was community-led and embedded within the local area;

 

• have to include the relevant local MP, alongside a senior representative from the police.  Other members should be respected local figures with an obvious passion for their area and could be drawn from community partners such as local businesses/property owners, health, cultural, arts, heritage and sporting/leisure organisations.  In order to successfully deliver the funding requirements, a project team with the following skills will be required:

 

 

• consider activities which aligned with the following three ‘Investment Themes’:

 

 

• make use of a suite of new regeneration powers and interventions currently progressing through the legislative process to boost pride and unlock private sector investment, for example, by auctioning leases for empty high street shops, creating and maintaining parks/green spaces and/or improving heritage sites; and

 

• receive an immediate £50k of capacity funding and a further £200k which would be paid once the appointment of an Independent Chair and the Town Board was in place to begin community engagement.  The capacity funding was within the total funding provided to each town, not additional.

 

Guidance Published May 2024

 

This further guidance published by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, (DLUHC), included as an Appendix to the report, clarified the funding requirements further, in that:

 

• Town Boards should submit their Long Term Plans (comprising their 10-year vision and 3-year investment plan) by 1^st August 2024.  While the Town Board might delegate drafting and/or submission of elements of the Plan to the local authority, the Long-Term Plan must have been ratified by the Town Board;

 

• The local authority’s Chief Financial Officer (S151 Officer) would be required to submit a Statement of Grant Usage and an Assurance Letter to DLUHC alongside the Long-Term Plan;

 

• whilst there was no requirement as to how towns should utilise the funding across the three themes, DLUHC would expect to see at least one intervention per investment covered in the Long-Term Plan, unless towns explicitly justified an alternative approach;

 

• those interventions listed within an ‘on menu’ table had already been assessed as having a strong case for investment, value for money and benefit-to-cost ratio and if the Town Board wanted to pursue one of these, a business case would not be required; and

 

• where the Town Board was to propose an ‘off menu’ intervention, because it was thought to better fit local need, this would first require an initial discussion with an Area Team contact who would advise if it was likely to be acceptable before an outline business case was developed.

 

Setting out the Vision

 

A town’s Long-Term Plan for submission must consist of a:

 

• 10-year vision for the town

The high level strategic vision for the town; where, why and how funds would be targeted over the 10-year period, taking account the town’s challenges and opportunities; and

 

• 3-year investment plan

A more detailed plan outlining the interventions the Board wished to pursue within each investment priorities across the first three-year period of the programme.  How funding would be indicatively allocated to specific intervention areas.  When interventions would be delivered, the proposed route to market, (where appropriate) and the management arrangements for the funding.  This would set the baseline against which regular progress monitoring would occur.

 

The guidance noted that the plan would have to be agreed between the DLUHC, the Town Board and Local Authority, prior to further funding being released.

 

Principles of DLUHC’s approach

 

The town’s Long-Term Plan would be subject to a light-touch assessment provided that:

 

• proposed interventions were from the ‘on menu’ and aligned with the program’s investment themes (safety and security, high streets and regeneration, and transport and connectivity);
• the Plan had been developed in consultation with the local community and residents, and was therefore reflective of their priorities; and
• that appropriate processes and controls would be in place to deliver the programme effectively.

 

Funding Profile

 

As confirmed to the Council previously, each town would receive up to £20 million of funding and support across the 10-year programme period.  For the 55 towns in ‘tranche one’ allocation of funding, the following funding profile was applicable:

 

[All figures shown in £(000)]

 

	23/24	24/25	25/26	26/27	27/28	28/29	29/30	30/31	31/32	32/33	33/34	Total
Total RDEL (revenue)	50	449	423	449	449	449	449	454	467	467	467	4,574
Total CDEL (capital)		491	1,605	1,605	1,605	1,605	1,605	1,605	1,605	1,605	1,605	14,936
Total												19,510

 

Progress to date

 

The Council had completed and submitted the following DLUHC forms and Town Board documents by the required deadline 1^st April 2024.

 

• Minutes from two Town Board meetings 25^th January 2024 and 29^th February 2024 confirming new membership in line with LTPfT requirements;
• Town Board Terms of Reference;
• Town Board Code of Conduct;
• Town Board Register of Interests Form; and
• Town Board Governance and Boundary Change Request.

 

The Council had received £50k of capacity funding in late 23/24 and following the submission of the above required documents, a second tranche of £200k of capacity funding had been received in May 2024.  No further funding was envisaged until after the Long Term Plan had been submitted in August and approved by DLUHC.

 

High-Level Summary: Long-Term Plan Submission & Approval Process

 

A chart was provided in the report which outlined the submission and approval process for the Long-Term Plan.

 

Procurement / Appointment of Consultants

 

Due to the extremely tight timescales involved with the initial requirement to have a compliant Town Centre Board in place by 1^st April 2024, and submission of the Council Long Term Plan by 1^st August 2024, Bradshaw Advisory, who had amassed a wealth of background data knowledge in assisting the Council with its successful submissions for £23m Levelling Up Funding, £3m UK Shared Prosperity Funding, £5m National Lottery Heritage funding and £527k High Street Accelerators funding, had been appointed through the SCAPE compliant framework at a cost of £52,641.60.  Their work would assist the Board to deliver the following initial LTPfT work:

 

• Updating and adding to the Town Centre Investment Plan (TCIP) to transform this into the town’s 'Long Term Plan’;
• Running an Expressions of Interest (EOI) process to consider ideas for the use of up to £20m of funding;
• Working with other consultants on costings/spend profiles etc. to create and submit to DLUHC the Town Board’s 3 year investment plan, 10 year vision and long list of potential projects; and
• Stakeholder meetings, 1-2-1s and supporting the Board.

 

Bradshaw Advisory had also been appointed under the SCAPE framework at a cost of £13,890 per quarter (which could be terminated with two months’ notice from either side) to assist the Council with the following work:

 

• Advice and support on reviewing possible new sources of grant funding or match funding;
• Attending and participating in meetings at the Council as and when required in relation to economic growth, regeneration and place making;
• Day-to-day advice and support as required on already secured funding (for example the Levelling Up Fund, UK Shared Prosperity Fund);
• Use our network and connections to try and facilitate further useful conversations for potential funders, influencers and businesses;
• Drafting the Arts Council Culture Development Fund Expression of Interest;
• Preparing for the Cultural Development Fund (CDF) ‘proper’ application; and
• Other reasonable assistance with regeneration/economic growth matters as needed.

 

This was in line with the Council’s existing procurement strategy developed for delivering the Levelling Up funded Accrington Town Square projects, (agreed by Cabinet in July 2022) and that at the Cabinet meeting in February 2024, agreed to maintain the same procurement strategy for delivering the LTPfT funding.

 

Other consultants required during the programme might well be appointed through compliant frameworks, as this was likely to be the route that was most suitable for procuring the project teams required to deliver the LTPfT programme, some examples being the use of SCAPE, NHS SBS, CCS etc.  These frameworks, (direct appointment and/or mini tender appointment - where timescales permitted) would be carefully considered for each consultant procurement to ensure the most appropriate framework or Dynamic Purchasing System for that particular work requirement was selected.  This was whilst giving due consideration to achieving Value for Money, a fair opportunity for a variety of consultants to bid for work, project continuity and deliverability within the required timescales.

 

Alternative Options considered and Reasons for Rejection

 

The Council could choose not to use existing compliant frameworks and simply operate open tenders.  This was discounted due to the tight deadlines set by the funders and need to appoint resources and commence work quickly.

 

Resolved                                  (1)   That Cabinet notes the report.

 

(2)   That Cabinet continues to support the appointment of the Council’s external consultant Bradshaw Advisory, to work with the Board and Council on submitting a Long Term Plan by 1^st August 2024 and to provide ongoing advice and support during the initial Investment Plan period.