COUNTY BOROUGH OF BLAENAU

REPORT TO: LEADER AND MEMBERS OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

REPORT SUBJECT: SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS TO THE WELSH GOVERNMENT "USE IT OR LOSE IT" ERDF OPERATION

REPORT AUTHOR: PRINCIPAL EXTERNAL FUNDING OFFICER

LEAD OFFICER/ RICHARD CROOK, CORPORATE DIRECTOR DEPARTMENT ENVIRONMENT AND REGENERATION

Summary Report

1.0 PURPOSE OF REPORT

1.1 To obtain the retrospective agreement of Executive Members for the submission of 6 Blaenau Gwent projects as part of the process for selecting which south east based projects are to be included in the Welsh Governments' (WG) "Use It Or Lose It" EU Operation.

2.0 LINK TO CORPORATE STRATEGIES

2.1 The Blaenau Gwent Single Integrated Plan and Corporate Improvement Plan set out high level measures (thriving, learning, healthy, fair and safe and vibrant communities) which seek to impact on poverty and social exclusion. The attached list of proposed projects for the “Use It or Lose It” EU Operation, would all contribute to providing jobs and reducing levels of poverty in Blaenau Gwent.

3.0 SUMMARY/PROPOSALS

3.1 “Use It Or Lose It” is a Welsh Government led Operation seeking European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) funds under Priority 4 –Connectivity of the Structural Funds Programme 2014- 2020. Between 5-10 projects to regenerate vacant, derelict or under-utilised buildings or sites in south east , will be included as part of the Operation.

3.2 Those that will be included will be the highest scoring prioritised buildings or sites, as agreed by the south east Wales Local Authorities. A report detailing the highest scoring projects will be presented to the South East Wales Directors of Environment and Regeneration (SEWDER) at their meeting on 17th July 2015.

4.0 RECOMMENDATION

4.1 That Executive Members provide retrospective agreement to the top 6 scoring Blaenau Gwent projects that are being submitted for assessment and scoring, alongside the other south east Wales Local Authorities project proposals. This process will result in a final selection of projects from south east Wales going forward in the “Use It Or Lose It” EU Operation.

Detailed Report

1.0 BACKGROUND

1.1 The Welsh Government are currently developing an all Wales EU Operation, entitled "Use It Or Lose It". (At this developmental stage, the Operation is also sometimes being referred to as "Hard to Treat Buildings").

1.2 The Operation will work with Local Authorities and potential end users to identify and bring buildings which are currently vacant, derelict or under-utilised, back into full economic use. Vacant sites will also be considered.

1.3 In South East Wales, WG are looking at funding a total Programme of £10m ERDF, with similar amounts to be made available in the north region and south west Wales region.

1.4 Welsh Government Regeneration Match Funding of £10m per annum, has been allocated as match funding, subject to the project gaining approval by Wales European Funding Office (WEFO).

1.5 The number of projects that will be selected to go into the Use It Or Lose It Business Plan may vary for each region. This will depend upon the value of highest scoring projects in each region. It is anticipated that the number of projects to be submitted from the south east region will be between 5-10 projects.

2.0 PROGRESS TO DATE

2.1 The South East Wales Directors of Environment and Regeneration (SEWDER) Urban Regeneration Task and Finish Group are co-ordinating the prioritisation of proposals from the south east region.

2.2 Each of the six Local Authorities in the West Wales and the Valleys Programme Area will independently score each others Use It Or Lose It project proposals in the week commencing 29th June 2015. A template has been devised and circulated for this purpose.

2.3 A final Matrix showing how each individual project scored will be provided to Welsh Government. The top scoring 5-10 projects (depending on the size of the highest scoring projects) in the south east region, will be included as part of the Welsh Government's "Use It Or Lose It" Business Plan, which they will submit to WEFO.

2.4 It is important to note that Welsh Government expect and require the south east region to prioritise its own projects to take forward, and that SEWDER will have endorsed the projects selected.

2.5 As there will be many more projects than funding available, a long list of all project proposals scored will act as a reserve list in the event that more funding becomes available or chosen projects cannot proceed.

2.6 A panel of Officers met on 18th June 2015 to consider and score 17 possible Blaenau Gwent projects for Use It Or Lose It. The outcome of the panel's discussion and scoring is shown in the Table appended to this report. The Scoring criteria are those selected by WG.

2.7 Blaenau Gwent will put forward 6 projects for scoring as part of Use It Or Lose It. It is important to understand that not all of these projects will be funded, as they must also now be considered against the competing projects proposed by other Local Authorities in the south east. Indeed, it is possible that no Blaenau Gwent project proposals will score high enough to be included in those ultimately submitted to WG, once the south East Local Authorities have assessed all of the proposals.

2.8 However, the 6 projects which the Officer Panel has scored most highly against the criteria, represent a good mixture of projects. The projects all scored at least 70 out of 80 according to the internal Officer assessment, against the WG criteria.

2.9 The 6 projects are: - The Circle, Tredegar (incorporating renovation of Tredegar Arms and of 10, The Circle) - Renovation of Tredegar Arms, Tredegar - Renovation of 10, the Circle, Tredegar - Flexis (Energy Project), Unit B, Waun y Pound, Ebbw Vale - The Market Hall Cultural Hub Project, Brynmawr - Eugene Cross Park Sports and Training Hub, Ebbw Vale

2.10 The 6 selected projects are a mixture of projects led by the Local Authority (Waun y Pound and Tredegar projects), a public / private partnership (Ebbw Vale RFC) and a partnership led by the third sector (Creative Arts Hub, Brynmawr).

2.11 Developing the proposals has, in itself, been a very useful exercise to pursue. Ongoing work to develop the projects will create a robust pipeline of "on the shelf" proposals which could benefit from future funding. It has also highlighted, for the less well scoring projects, where future effort needs to be directed to bring them to fruition.

3.0 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

3.1 There are no direct financial implications arising as a result of this report.

4.0 STAFFING/PERSONNEL IMPLICATIONS

4.1 There are no direct staffing implications as a result of this report.

5.0 CONSULTATION

CHIEF CHIEF OTHER HUMAN LEGAL FINANCIAL RESOURCES OFFICER/ OFFICER/ MONITORING S.151 OFFICER

6.0 CONCLUSION

6.1 The Welsh Government led Use It Or Lose It Operation, offers the Council an opportunity to put forward priority projects for the south east region which would have a positive impact on the regeneration of town centres, by developing proposals to bring vacant, derelict or under-utilised buildings or sites back into use.

6.2 An Officer Panel has applied a consistent approach to scoring 17 original proposals against selected criteria, which has resulted in 6 projects from Blaenau Gwent being selected to be assessed alongside proposals from other Local Authorities. At the conclusion of this further assessment, a total of 5-10 south east projects will be endorsed by SEWDER and provided to WG for inclusion as prioritised projects from the south east region for the Use It Or Lose It EU Operation.