Executive Director/Director Non-Key Executive Decision Report Author/Lead Officer of Report: Yunus Ahmed, Development Team Manager Tel: 0114 2735570 Report to: Edward Highfield, Director of City Growth Date of Decision: 9th March 2020 Subject: Stocksbridge Town Fund –Acceptance of MHCLG £140k for developing the Town Investment Plan Which Cabinet Member Portfolio does this relate to? Cllr Mazher Iqbal, Cabinet Member for Business & Investment Which Scrutiny and Policy Development Committee does this relate to? Economic and Environmental Wellbeing Scrutiny and Policy Development Committee Has an Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) been undertaken? Yes No X If YES, what EIA reference number has it been given? (Insert reference number) Does the report contain confidential or exempt information? Yes No X If YES, give details as to whether the exemption applies to the full report / part of the report and/or appendices and complete below:- “The (report/appendix) is not for publication because it contains exempt information under Paragraph (insert relevant paragraph number) of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).” Purpose of Report: i) To provide the necessary background information regarding receipt of a Government grant of £140,000 from the MHCLG ‘Towns Fund’ towards developing a Town Investment Plan for Stocksbridge. ii) To notify the Director of City Growth that the grant funding is awarded on the basis that the City Council will be acting ‘Lead Council’ and will: a) develop a Town Deal Board – in this case the Stocksbridge Town Deal Board; and then b) develop a Town Investment Plan and supporting Business Case. iii) Under the Towns Fund programme the City Council is required not only to act as ‘Lead Council’ but also to act as Accountable Body. The significance of this is Form 2a – Officer Non-Key Executive Decision Report July 2016 that should a successful Investment Plan be submitted to MHCLG by Summer 2020 then an award of up to £25 million could follow with the associated governance issues that administering that grant would require. It is imperative that the Council is fully sighted on these implications. Recommendations: That the Director of City Growth: a) in consultation with the Head of Strategic Finance, acknowledges the receipt and acceptance of the MHCLG grant of £140,000 in accordance with the terms outlined in the Towns Fund Prospectus . b) approve the expenditure of the above grant via the Stocksbridge Town Deal Board in accordance with the Town Plans Prospectus acknowledging that the City Council will be acting as Accountable Body on behalf of MHCLG; c) grant the funding to the Stocksbridge Town Deal Board, subject to suitable legal and financial arrangements and terms being negotiated to the Council’s satisfaction between the Town Deal Board and the City Council acting as the Accountable Body. Background Papers: (Insert details of any background papers used in the compilation of the report.) Lead Officer to complete:- 1 I have consulted the relevant departments Finance: Gillian Brailsford and Peter Carr in respect of any relevant implications indicated on the Statutory and Council Policy Checklist, and comments have Legal: David Cutting been incorporated / additional forms completed / EIA completed, where Equalities: Annemarie Johnston required. Legal, financial/commercial and equalities implications must be included within the report and the name of the officer consulted must be included above. 2 Lead Officer Name: Job Title: Yunus Ahmed Development Team Manager Date: 9th March 2020 Page 2 of 8 1. PROPOSAL 1.1 In March 2019 Sheffield City Council submitted 3 expressions of interest for Attercliffe, Fargate/High Street and Stocksbridge for Future High Street Funding. In July 2019 MHCLG announced that only Fargate/High Street had been shortlisted along with 50 other areas across England to proceed to the next stage. Stocksbridge and Attercliffe were unsuccessful. 1.2 In August 2019 MHCLG announced a further 50 towns would proceed to the second stage with additional funding from the £3.6 billion Towns Fund. Stocksbridge was one of “100 places to benefit from the new Towns Fund” (MHCLG press release on 6th September 2019) and the City Council was invited to “work with the Government to develop innovative regeneration plans”. It is unclear why Stocksbridge was included on the list other than Stocksbridge was unsuccessful in securing Future High Streets Fund support. 1.3 Up to £25M is available from the Towns Fund subject to the successful submission of an Investment Plan and a supporting business case underpinning the Town Investment Plan. This will no doubt be welcome news in view of the recent announcement of job losses at Liberty Steel, based in Stocksbridge. 1.4 As a precursor to this an investment readiness checklist had to be submitted to MHCLG by the 19th December 2019. The City Council coordinated the submission of this checklist in consultation with input from local partners and stakeholders. In order to progress the work a Town Deal Board had been established which includes representatives from the key local stakeholders including a local developer Mark Dransfield of Dransfield Properties who acts as a Joint Chair with local MP Miriam Cates. 1.5 The deadline for submission of the Town Investment Plan and business case is Summer 2020. MHCLG have indicated that successful bids will be announced in 2020-21. The Government has offered £140,000 to fund the preparation of a Town Investment Plan and supporting business case. 1.6 MHCLG has made it clear that the Town Deal Board should support the preparation of the business case in an advisory capacity and be the vehicle through which the vision and strategy for Stocksbridge is defined. However, it is the City Council which has primary responsibility for delivering the Town Investment Plan and business case. It is also Sheffield City Council who are to act as the Accountable Body for both the initial £140,000 capacity funding and for any subsequent award that will be a mixture of capital and revenue funding. The initial £140,000 has already been received by the City Council. Page 3 of 8 1.7 This report acknowledges the receipt and acceptance of the MHCLG grant and facilitates the preparation of the Town Investment Plan and full business case for submission to MHCLG by Summer 2020. The funds will be used to fund Officer time and specialist consultants. 1.8 There is, however, a need to clarify the nature of the relationship between the Stocksbridge Town Deal Board and the City Council. Whilst the process of achieving clarity regarding this relationship may take some time, it must not be allowed to prevent progress being made on master-planning and related work which will form the basis of the Town Investment Plan and the business case. 1.9 The terms of the grant are far as they go are covered by the Towns Fund prospectus and there is little likelihood of a grant offer letter being received. Any obligations on the Council as Accountable Body regarding use of the funds will be reflected in any grant agreement with Town Deal Board. 1.10 The Town Deal Board has commissioned initial work prior to any formal agreement between the Town Deal Board and SCC. This is at the risk and cost of the Town Deal Board and more specifically their panel of consultants. 2. HOW DOES THIS DECISION CONTRIBUTE ? 2.1 Acceptance of the MHCLG grant will release money to enable the City Council and Stocksbridge Town Deal Board to start work on the preparation of a “vision” for Stocksbridge and in turn the investment plan and the business case. If successful, it will secure up to £25M which will enable transformative regeneration of Stocksbridge, securing new jobs and making the town a desirable destination capitalising on the success of the Fox Valley retail development. 2.2 The key priorities of this initiative are to improve transport links and connectivity between Stocksbridge and the rest of the region, especially Sheffield city centre; and undertake improvements of the existing town retail centre and its link to and from the Fox Valley Retail centre. 2.3 The cross cutting themes underlying any plans will include such issues as climate change; improving customer experience; and developing a much improved and sustainable local retail and leisure economy across the town. 2.4 The initial £140,000 is for “capacity funding” (per the letter from MHCLG to SCC and SCR dated 1st November 2019) to “support the convening of the stakeholders, community engagement, research and development proposals”. Page 4 of 8 3. HAS THERE BEEN ANY CONSULTATION? 3.1 There were consultations at the time of the Future High Street Fund bid and a sketch masterplan was produced for the shopping centre. More recently various stakeholders have been invited and given an opportunity to input into the emerging vision and the final readiness Checklist as required by the Government. 3.2 However there will need to be a fresh public consultation programme given the anticipated scale of spending and opportunities for the town. It is hoped to undertake a “Planning for Real” exercise where local residents will be invited to take part in an interactive consultation programme, facilitated by external consultants to ensure an objective approach. This will be supplemented by gathering of information already collected such as requests for improvements to highways or dealing with difficult sites. 4. RISK ANALYSIS AND IMPLICATIONS OF THE DECISION 4.1 Equality of Opportunity Implications 4.1.1 There are no significant positive or negative differential equality implications arising from the recommendation in this report. The business case development work and potential future capital interventions are anticipated to be of universal positive benefit for all local people, with added benefit from the creation of a significant number of new full and part time jobs.