Heritage Lottery Fund Committee for the East of England Meeting on 6 December 2018 CEE 2018 (4) Minutes of the meeting of the Committee for the East of England held on 6 December 2018 at 10.30 a.m. at the Cambridge Office, CB1 Business Centre, 20 Station Road, Cambridge, CB1 2JD. Members: • Helen Wilson (Chair) • Sue Davies • Steve Miller • Carole Reilly • Phil Rothwell • Philip Venning • Joff Whitten (items 1-19) Observers: • Claire Feehily Committee Business 1. Chair’s Report Oral The Chair welcomed: • Claire Feehily, Trustee and Chair of HLF’s Audit and Risk Committee. The Chair had attended and reported on the following events since the last Committee meeting: • The meeting of the Country and Regional Chairs in October where they discussed Organisation Design and the possible impact on English Committees The Chair also extended her admiration for the Cambridge team and the brilliant work they have done and wished them luck as HLF moves into its new Strategic Funding Framework. 2. Declarations of Interest Oral Helen Wilson declared a conflict with Item 28 as the Director of Snape Maltings (the applicant) sits on the Cultural Board that Helen Chairs. It was agreed that Helen would step out of the room for the discussion. Steve Miller noted the declarations: • Through his work with SHARE Museums East he had affiliations with items 25, 26, 29, 30 and 31. • His work with the New Anglia Cultural Board meant he has an affiliation with item 28. The Committee were content that these did not constitute direct conflicts and Steve could remain in the room for all discussions. 3. Minutes of last meeting on 6 September 2018 CEE 2018 (4) 3 Committee agreed the minutes of the last meeting. These were signed by the Chair. 1 4. Matters arising from the minutes Oral There were none. 5. Corporate Update CEE 2018 (4) 5 Anne Jenkins presented the corporate update in a closed session for the members with the Head of Region present. Anne gave a brief overview of the context for Shaping Our Future Business which was noted by the Committee. It would allow HLF to be more streamlined and consistent in our approach to delivery of the SFF and in support of the sector, with more consistent ways of working and would address recommendations from the tailored review. Key points noted by the committee were as follows; • A shift from four departments to three – Business Services, Business Insight and Innovation and Business Delivery. • English Regions would reduce from nine regions to three English areas. The Countries would remain, giving a total of six Areas across the UK allowing a more strategic approach across the country with more flexible budgets, increased efficiency and a more flexible workforce. • Bases for hub and spoke offices would be finalised after the formal consultation period though it had been agreed that all existing offices would remain open for two years. • An illustrative England Area structure was shared and demonstrated how roles such as HR or Communications may be based outside of London. An illustrative hub and spoke model was also noted. • A greater level of delegation and flexibility of budgets to the Area and Country teams would be seen • The Committee noted new delegation limits for 2019-20 and from 2020 onwards. Next steps would include an independent governance review which would take place in early 2019. Three interim England Area committees would be created to operate from April/May 2019 for a 12 month period. All members would be invited to submit an expression of interest to be a part of these committees. 6. Claire Feehily, Chair of Audit and Risk Committee feedback Oral Claire thanked the Committee for welcoming her and introduced herself, giving the Committee a brief summary of her experience and her role as Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee. Alongside this Claire briefly explained the role of the Committee in wider HLF business. 7. East of England Regional Overview CEE 2018 (4) 7 The paper was presented by Robyn Llewellyn and highlighted the following key elements: • For cases that were recommended as reject the Committee were informed there would be no presentation. The Committee were asked if they agreed with this approach and were informed that this followed the same guidelines as at Board meetings. The cases that fell within this category and would be rejected, or recommended to the Board as reject were: o Connection, Care & Conservation at the Glass House, Ringsfield Hall, item 13 o Sustaining St Bartholomew’s church for the future, item 14 o Proposal for urgent roofing work at St Mary’s church Ovington, Essex, item 15 o St Andrew’s Church Witchford repairs re-ordering, community and heritage grant, item 16 o Regeneration of Malt House 3 at Snape Maltings, item 28 o Sharing the Secret: Museum of Military Intelligence, item 29 2 • That the Development Team had done great work in achieving priority development area targets and had exceed in all but one local authority. Robyn and the Committee extended their thanks to the Development Team for their work throughout SF4. • An update on various prominent HLF funded projects throughout the region. 8. East of England Budget CEE 2018 (4) 8 The paper was presented by Robyn Llewellyn. In 2018-19 the Committee budget for the East of England was £4,200,000. As well as new first round passes, uplifts and grant increases (including for GPOW projects), and any straight to second round acquisitions come out of this budget. For this meeting, there were eleven Heritage Grant first round cases submitted totalling £5,278,800 against a budget of £618,100 giving a success rate of 12%. At this meeting there were two second round Committee level requests, totalling £1,063,700. The Committee were able to fund these projects if they were content that it represented good value for money and a high priority for support, taking into account the level of savings that needed to be made across the year. SF4 second round applications for discussion and decision 9. Wensum Connections for People and Wildlife; HG-16-08625 CEE 2018 (4) 9 Grantee: Hawk and Owl Trust Request: Award grant of £821,700 (46%) Project: To purchase an area of 153 hectares comprising valley fen, meadow and wet woodland, located approximately 2 miles west of Fakenham in North Norfolk, and adjacent to the River Wensum and existing Sculthorpe Moor Community Nature Reserve (18 hectares) to create a new wetland landscaped with reed-bed and open pools. The Committee for the East of England awarded a first round pass of £859,700, including development grant of £38,000 (48% of eligible development costs) in December 2017. The Grants Officer updated the Committee that the grantee would now be able to underwrite the uplift amount of £52,700 (6%) that was reported in the case paper. Bringing the total grant request for the second round award down to £821,700 (46%). The Committee for the East of England AWARDED a grant of £821,700 (46%) 10. Essential repairs and restoration work; GP-16-08960 CEE 2018 (4) 10 Grantee: All Saints Church Stuston Request: Award grant of £189,300 (80%) Uplift: £25,300 (15%) Project: The project aims to repair All Saints Church in Stuston to a standard which allows the congregation to continue their worship and to provide a safe and comfortable environment in which to welcome visitors and to provide a venue suitable for social activities within the community 3 The Committee for the East of England awarded a first round pass of £185,200 including a development grant of £21,200 (80% of eligible development costs) in September 2017. The Committee for the East of England AWARDED a grant of £189,300 (80%). SF4 second round Parks for People applications for discussion and recommendation 11. Parks for People Overview CEE 2018 (4) 11 The Committee noted the Overview. 12. Castle Park, Bishop’s Stortford; PP-16-00838 CEE 2018 (4) 12 Grantee: East Hertfordshire District Council Request: Award grant of £1,939,700 (73%) Project: To restore, repair and conserve Castle Gardens and its heritage features and structures including Waytemore Castle and the River Stort and re-integrate with Sworder’s Field open events space, children's play area, skate park and trim trail providing a better managed public space for more and a wider range of users. A new functional path network, improved entrances and event spaces would be created. A programme of community events and activities would be delivered I partnership with a range of organisations. The HLF Board and Big Lottery Fund Parks for People England Committee had awarded a first round pass of £2,190,400 including a development grant of £250,700 (83% of total eligible development costs); split between distributors (HLF £167,133.33; 66.66%) (BLF £83,566.67; 33.33%) in December 2016. The Committee for the East of England and Big Lottery Fund representative recommended the project as HIGH priority to the joint Boards. SF4 first round applications for discussion and decision 13. Connection, Care & Conservation at the Glass House, Ringsfield Hall; HG-17- 01884 CEE 2018 (4) 13 Applicant: The Ringsfield Hall Trust Request: First round pass of £699,500 including a development grant of £40,500 (86% of total eligible development costs) Project: This project aims to restore the Victorian Glass House for use as an educational resource and activity venue. One side of the Glass House would be used as a working greenhouse, while the other side would serve as an education space to support Outdoor Learning programmes.