Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence received for this meeting.

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.

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

There were no declarations of interest at this meeting.

To approve as a correct record and the Chair to sign the Minutes of the Clay Cross Town Board held on 5 November 2021.

RESOLVED – That the Minutes of the Clay Cross Town Deal Board held on 05 November were noted by the Chair.

Working Group Chairs/Amion to deliver verbally

Town Deal Board received an update on the Working Groups.

The Director of Growth gave an update on the Town Centre Working Group, which included Bridge Street, Market Street and Clay Cross Connections.

The Working Group had considered a draft master plan which would need to be reviewed by the Board prior to consultation.

Board considered that the Market Street project should be prioritised over the Bridge Street site if there were budget restrictions.

Members discussed the lack of a leisure focus on the Bridge Street project and heard that market testing had discovered that businesses were not investing in leisure services at the present time.

Town Deal Board agreed that a meeting was necessary in order to consider the projects in more detail.

Board heard that the Skills and Enterprise Hub Working Group were having ongoing discussions with DCC on the transfer of library services to the skills hub. A digital skills badge was being considered through collaboration with the Universities and College. This would be module based and delivered through a blended approach.

Members were also informed that two ongoing consultations; the NEDDC business skills audit and, the community digital skills survey would inform the business case for the skills hub.

Town Deal Board heard that discussions over the location for the library had taken place and it was agreed that the library would be located in the town centre with the possibility of it being within the Skills Hub.

Members received an update from the Creative Hub Working group and heard that the old constabulary building and workshop were to be utilised. The Working Group considered that NEDDC would have to manage the building in the short term before it could be passed onto more permanent managers.

Board discussed the Creative Hub update and highlighted the difficulties of finding the right managers for the space. They noted that Amion had completed a high level market scope and were seeking to engage with operators of similar spaces in Sheffield.

RESOLVED –

1.     That the CCTDB noted the contents of the report.

2.     That the Board endorsed the measures for minimising programme delays and completing the required business cases for the projects identified in the Clay Cross Town Investment Plan.

Update/Presentation – Matt Broughton, Director of Transformation

The Director of Transformation provided an outline of the Sharley Park Leisure Centre Business case. The Officer outlined the concept and ideas and informed Board that Council had been clear in their desire to establish a community hub.

The Officer informed Members that a procurement route had been agreed and that Strategic Leisure had developed a business case. Sport England had also been advising the Council throughout the project. UK Leisure Framework had helped the Council to acquire the development partner; Alliance Leisure.

Members noted that the Council had a design team comprised of Hadron Consulting, GT3 and, ISG. ISG were identified as a main contractor.

Town Development Board heard that NEDDC would make a decision in January on whether to proceed with the project, as long as costs remained within the budget envelope and the forecast subsidiary was less than the existing on Sharley Park.

Members discussed the business case and heard that it was strong, with an efficient building being designed from a fabric first approach. Discussions would still need to take place on what power source to use for the building.

Town Development Board also considered that the plans would need to be considered through a public consultation but noted that this should not take place until after a design had been agreed upon.

Peter Alford – Amion Consulting

The Associate Director of Amion Consulting presented a Programme Update for Town Deal Projects.

Members heard that project development and business case completed and assurance at the local level were expected to have been successfully concluded within 12 months of the Heads of Terms agreement. The submission date was originally envisaged to be March 2022. It was noted that this submission date was now more flexible but the deadline for spending Town Deal funding had not changed and remained at March 2026.

There was an aspiration to bring project businesses cases forward as quickly as possible.

Town Development Board discussed the programme update and requested assurance that funders would deliver on business cases. They heard that it would be difficult to be clear on the Council’s position with regards to match funding until there was a project fix. This would remain as a strategic risk.

Members considered that more detail was needed and for the Board as a whole to be aware of the projects in more detail.

RESOLVED –

1.     That the CCTDB noted the contents of the report, the proposed programme and implications of not achieving the key approval dates.

2.     That the CCTDB agreed to arrange a Board meeting in June 2022 to consider the locally assured business cases prior to submission of summary documents to DLUHC.

3.     That the Board endorsed this programme and charges the Working Groups with bringing the businesses cases to the identified Board meetings for approval.

Karl Apps - Assistant Director Economic Development, Regeneration and Housing Delivery

The Assistant Director of Economic Development, Regeneration & Housing Growth updated the Clay Cross Town Delivery Board on the assurance and approval approach for the business cases prior to submission to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

Members heard that businesses cases had to be locally assured before they could be submitted. On the 24 September 2021, the CCTDB approved the appointment of Mace to complete the business case assurance.

The Officer went through the assurance and approval process and informed Members that they would be creating a forward plan and flow chart on this process.

RESOLVED –

1.     CCTDB noted the contents of the report

2.     CCTDB agreed to receive further reports and updates with the forward plan mapped out.

3.     That CCTDB partners provide the project team with their decision timeline to support the delivery of the flow charts. 

Verbal Update - Karl Apps – Assistant Director Economic Development, Regeneration and Housing Delivery

The Assistant Director of Economic Development, Regeneration & Housing Growth provided Town Development Board with a communications and engagement update.

Members heard that this had been impacted by the Covid pandemic and that there was due to be a working group meeting this week.

It was considered that an additional Board meeting would be required for early February.

Members agreed that a dedicated project manager should be hired to cover the period for completing the initial business cases. An amount of £100k was allocated to support this role.

The Chair to move:-

That the public be excluded from the meeting during the discussion of the following items of business to avoid the disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3, Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, (as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006). 

RESOLVED – That the public be excluded from the meeting during the discussion of the following items of business to avoid the disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3, Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006).

Karl Apps - Assistant Director Economic Development, Regeneration and Housing Delivery

The Interim Project Manager updated the CCTDB on the feedback received to the priorities for the use of the Early Release funding. A protocol for approving the use of early release funding was circulated to Board Members and in response to received comments, further clarification and confirmation from the Board on process arrangements was sought. Approval was also sought to commission several studies that were considered as critical to the business cases.

Members discussed the recommendations at length and agreed that the recommendations should go through the Working Groups first and then be brought back to the Board for consideration.

Karl Apps - Assistant Director Economic Development, Regeneration and Housing Delivery

The Associate Director of Amion Consulting presented a report to seek approval from the CCTDB to the recommendations from the Low Carbon Energy Network Strategy Brief and also the procurement route to include accessing the Scape framework for suitably qualified consultants to develop the strategy.

As the meeting was drawing to a close and a number of Members had to leave for prior commitments, it was agreed that the report and its recommendations would be emailed to Members who would then be given until Tuesday 18 January to respond.