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Agenda item
Programme progress update
2:35
Minutes:
Project re-allocation of funds
Ian summarised the process. One of the Town Centre Core projects (1-7 Wellington Place / Sports Direct building) has been withdrawn and the implication is that the £1m grant funding for the project has been returned to the programme. In discussions with the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) it has been agreed that £600,000 will be held and use of this will be considered later in the year and that £400,000 will be immediately reallocated through an open call process which opened on 2nd March and will close on 30th March. Several eligible projects have been asked to complete an application form which will go through the same rigorous process as the original projects. The submissions will be independently reviewed by Steer Group and be presented to the Town Deal Investment Panel and Town Deal Board shortly afterwards with the final decision being with DLUHC.
Iain McNab was thanked for his help with the process which meant Hastings was allowed to keep the funds.
Jess explained that the Hastings Commons project allocation was reduced by 5% a few months ago and this process has now been decided without checking with the projects that are trying to work with less than they had originally bid for. It would have been helpful if any projects that needed to go back to the originally requested allocation were approached. These concerns were noted.
The process to reallocate the remaining £600,000 has not yet been agreed with DLUHC and the £1m funding that had become available due to the project being withdrawn is not sufficient to give all projects their original allocation, hence the current position. Hastings was awarded over £3m less than it bid for.
Iain McNab explained that it is intended that the £600,000 that is being reserved from the withdrawn project’s allocation is to be used as contingency for increasing costs across the projects rather than to backfill one which had its funding reduced because of the offer. It is up to the board to decide how funds should be allocated provided the proper processes are followed, but the general expectation is that projects are managed within the constraints of the offer that has been made. Any allocations would impact other projects and the remaining contingency fund. All towns received less than they bid for and had to make sacrifices against their original requests.
Another issue is making sure that projects are delivered overall and there are various reasons why some will be affected by increasing costs as opposed to others. In addition, it is not clear what will happen if other projects do not proceed. It is important that work does not get delayed further and the position with regards to the remaining £600,000 needs to be discussed and a decision made. Action: programme team
It was clarified that the Sports Direct building is in private ownership and the owners did not want to sell the building.
General projects update
Ian presented this part of the report which was noted.
Project progress by theme/project
· Town to Sea Creative Quarter (Hastings Commons) business case is due for submission in mid-April. This will be assessed by the investment panel in May and the decision is due for noting at the June Town Deal Board meeting
· Green construction, energy and vehicle training centre business case has been delayed due to a resourcing issue at East Sussex College
· Other business cases are due for submission in June/July. There is an increased risk with this schedule currently due to project business case delays, a lot will be coming in towards the end of the development period. This risk will need to be actively managed to reduce any further slippage. If the projects become unviable towards the end of the process, there will be less time to manage the reallocation of any potentially returned grant.
Communications and engagement
Ruby Crowhurst joined the programme team in January as Communications and Engagement Officer. Ruby summarised her report and added that the next group project lead meeting will be taking place tomorrow and will focus on communications and engagement.
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