Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Jeremy Kenyon (NEDDC), Professor Warren Manning, who was substituted by Dr Peter Dewhurst (Derby University), and Kazi Hussain – (Homes England).

Members are requested to declare the existence and nature of any disclosable pecuniary interests and/or other interests, not already on their register of interests, in any item on the agenda and withdraw from the meeting at the appropriate time.

No interests were declared at this meeting.

To approve as a correct record and the Chair to sign the Minutes of the Clay Cross Town Board meeting held on 9 October 2020 – To Follow

The minutes of the meeting held on 9 October 2020 were approved as a true and accurate record.

Verbal update from Karl Apps – Joint Housing Strategy & Growth Manager

The Chair thanked Karl Apps and his team, as well as colleagues at Nexus who worked hard up until the deadline to get the submission in on time.

Melanie Pythian provided a verbal update and outlined the process going forward. She noted that the submission had been received, acknowledged and triaged and had now moved to the assessment stage. The Assessment of the Town Investment Plan and other projects would be undertaken across several departments and would hopefully be completed by Mid-November. There would then be a moderation exercise and the assessment result would be agreed. Following this there would be a benchmarking exercise to ensure a consistent approach. Recommendations would then be taken to an Internal Programmes Board who would scrutinise the recommendations and would either put those forward to Ministers as is or with revised recommendations. Once Ministers had given the go-ahead then a Heads of Terms offer would be made at some point in the New Year.

The Board heard that the Town Delivery Partnership were putting together a package of support for completing the business case process. It was stated that there was due to be a webinar on 23 November regarding business cases and Board Members were welcome to attend.

To consider the attached Report – Clay Cross Town Deal Board Chair

The Joint Housing Strategy and Growth Manager presented a report which provided an update on the accelerator funding awarded to Clay Cross. He highlighted that Clay Cross had received a grant of £500,000 from the Government’s Towns Fund to fund capital projects that could be delivered this financial year, and that four projects had been agreed with the CCTB Chair, Vice Chair, North East Derbyshire District Council (NEDDC) Section 151 Officer and Towns Deal, as detailed in the report.

A number of points of clarity were sought by the Board, and it was confirmed that the projects meet the necessary criteria and sit within the Town Investment Plan map. It was also noted that there was the potential to use the digital art projection equipment for wider purposes such as providing messaging to residents and for stakeholder engagement, dependant on the kit and the cost.

RESOLVED - That the Board note the update on the accelerator funding and receive future updates on the progress of the identified projects.

To consider the attached Report – Clay Cross Town Deal Board Chair

The Clay Cross Town Board received a report which provided information in regards to the membership of the Working Groups. Board Members noted that this was their opportunity to ensure they were satisfied with the structure and membership of the groups, and also for the Board to put forward additional members or organisations to be part of those groups.

The Board discussed developing the Youth Board and a number of suggestions were made including utilising pre-existing youth boards and doubling efforts to reach young people (for example through social media). It was also noted that it would be useful to recruit individuals who were active in the business community.

RESOLVED - That the Board notes the content of the report and, that the Board endorses the membership of the working groups.

To consider the attached Report – Clay Cross Town Deal Board Chair

The Joint Housing Strategy and Growth Manager presented a report which outlined a need to increase private sector representation on the Board and the process to achieve this. The Officer stated that the proposal was to advertise for additional Board members to businesses within Clay Cross and the surrounding areas. Interviews would take place between applicants, the Chair, Vice-Chair and one other Board member to ensure that the individual(s) would bring the right kind of passion and opportunity to shape the work that was being done, as well as highlighting to applicants that there was a certain time commitment required.

The Board discussed the need to encourage this through their own connections, business newsletters and publications including a press release (signed off through the Chair and Vice- Chair) to go out to local businesses, and it was suggested that those who had applied and were unsuccessful could be developed into a less formal focus group to help inform discussion.

RESOLVED - That the Board notes the content of this report and, that the Board agrees to increase the private sector representation on the Board and, that the Board agrees to the interview panel to comprise of Chair, Vice Chair and an additional Board Member.

To consider the attached Press Release – To Follow

The Board were asked to consider the content of the press release as published in the supplementary agenda and circulated to Board members.

RESOLVED – That the press release be approved.

To consider the attached Report – Clay Cross Town Deal Board Chair

Karl Apps gave a brief overview of the next steps. He noted that the additional consultancy resource would be to support the Board (alongside the support the Town Hubs would be offering) in developing the Business Case, and that in going out to procurement for additional resources now (before Heads of Terms had been agreed) would mean that support would be lined up ready to go as soon as that agreement had been received. The Officer confirmed that this would be undertaken through a normal procurement process and would go out through Source Derbyshire which would be circulated nationally. Melanie Pythian advised that the Town Delivery Partnership could offer advice and support through the process.

RESOLVED - That the Board notes the content of this report and, that the Board delegates the drafting of the tender spec for the consultants to the Director of Development (NEDDC), Chair and Vice Chair of the CCTDB and, that the Board endorses the process for selecting and appointing the suitably qualified Consultants to develop the full business cases.