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Agenda item
Programme progress update
10:15
· Town Deal Grant Funding Agreement
· Decisions of the Town Deal Investment Panel
· Project progress report
· Communications update
Minutes:
a. Town Deal Grant Funding Agreement
Pranesh Datta updated:
· The Grant Funding Agreement (GFA) is yet to be received from the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), although it has been indicated that our submission has been approved and it is expected that the details of the GFA will mirror our submission. The GFA will be circulated once it is received
· Late notification was received that an offer of 5% of the grant value will be available to support development of projects. This has been offered to all project leads
· Project completion date is still expected to be March 2026, despite the delays
· It is hoped the submission of summary documents will be streamlined and be submitted on a programme theme level rather than on a project by project basis – confirmation is awaited. This will reduce the need to hold board meetings for each business case approval. Pranesh apologised for the delays and for having to move meetings around so much to accommodate the Towns Fund processes
Authority is sought for the Co-Chairs to sign the GFA on behalf of the Town Deal Board, provided there is no significant change from our submission. This was agreed by the meeting.
Jess Steele advised of the difficulties experienced by Hastings Commons due to the delay in the announcement of the outcome of the Community Renewal Fund bids, which has been expected since last August.
MP Sally-Ann Hart advised that she continues to lobby regarding this matter and there have been a lot of complaints from other MPs. She has been advised that there has been a lot of uptake, the bids are being considered and an announcement is expected soon.
Jane Hartnell offered to write to the Secretary of State on behalf of the Town Deal Board expressing the difficulties and asking for the timescales for delivery of projects to be extended.
Action: Jane Hartnell
b. Decisions of the Town Deal Investment Panel
As agreed at the June board meeting, responsibility to assess business cases was delegated to the Town Deal Investment Panel.
Pranesh confirmed that the panel met on 21st October and assessed and approved the first two fast-track business cases (Hastings Coworking and Innovation Space and Churchfields Business Centre Incubation Units).
The meeting ratified the decision of the Investment Panel. Jess Steele abstained from the ratification, due to a conflict of interest.
It was explained that a meeting for all project leads has been set up for later this month and that it had been difficult to set this up initially due to the delay in receiving successful confirmation of our project profile submission.
Kate Adams queried whether the business cases included inclusive measures such as access and disability access. For instance, the Courtyard development does not have any disability access.
Pranesh explained that accessibility was asked to be arranged as part of the Courtyard development. Unfortunately, due to funding falling short this was not possible but as part of our project re-profile, funds were requested to go towards provision of lift access to the Courtyard. In terms of other projects, there is an equalities statement and equalities measures that projects are asked to address. With regards to the two business cases that have already been approved, confirmation will be sought that suitable access will be provided. Action: Pranesh
The importance of ensuring that the design of developments is scrutinised was noted and the investment panel will ensure it will take an even more robust approach than it already has.
c. Project Progress Report by theme / project
The timeline of business case submission was presented. It was noted that these are currently indicative and may be subject to change.
d. Communications update
Hannah Brookshaw updated:
· The blog and social media channels are continuing to get good engagement and the number of followers and views continues to increase
· The Tone of Voice guide has been updated and will be circulated shortly
· The programme team was invited by the Towns Hub to give a presentation on Hastings Town Deal branding as an example of one of the strongest in the programme
· One condition in the Heads of Terms was to consider how we are going to address encouraging more private investment in the town. The Town Investment Plan has attracted some positive attention, and conversations with different levels and size of investors are underway. Support is also being received from the Towns Hub through workshop sessions with potential investors
· The project leads meeting will be an opportunity to link with other project leads and find out more about each other’s projects
Supporting documents:
- Update to Town Deal Board meeting 03.11.21, item 66. PDF 175 KB
- Appendix 1 Projects business cases approved Oct 21, item 66. PDF 132 KB
- Appendix 2 Towns_Deal_Blog_and_Social_Media_Report_Oct, item 66. PDF 2 MB
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