Agenda and minutes

Mary Stuart, Chair of the Lincoln Town Deal Board, welcomed those in attendance to this virtual meeting of the Board.

Apologies for absence were received from James Baty (Lincolnshire County Council), Jacqui Bunce (NHS Lincolnshire), Lord Cormack (Housed of Lords), Marc Jones (Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner), Group Captian Kilvington (RAF Waddington), Liz Price (University of Lincoln) and Leo-Scott Smith (Tendered).

It was RESOLVED that the minutes of the previous meeting held on 5 June 2020 be confirmed as a correct record.

It was RESOLVED that the record of the workshop held on 24 July 2020 be noted.

It was reported that James Kirby had resigned from his position as Vice-Chair of the Lincoln Town Deal Board. Nominations from the existing Town Deal Board membership had therefore been sought to fill this vacancy.

It was RESOLVED that Leo-Scott Smith be appointed as Vice-Chair of the Lincoln Town Deal Board.

It was reported that Lisa Donini and James Kirby had resigned from the Lincoln Town Deal Board which left vacancies in the retail and developer sectors, respectively.

A nomination for a further representative of the digital and technology sector on the Board had been received. It was agreed that nominations for the vacancies in the retail sector and development sector should be sought prior to consideration of any additional nominations where there were currently no vacancies.

It was RESOLVED that nominations to fill vacancies in the retail sector and development sector be submitted to the Democratic Services and Elections Manager at the City of Lincoln Council prior to the next meeting of the Lincoln Town Deal Board.

Mick Lazarus, Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government, provided an update following completion of the first cohort of Town Investment Plan submissions as part of the Government’s Town Deal programme which consisted of three cohorts.

It was reported that 13 towns had submitted Town Investment Plans during the first cohort which had now been assessed and considered, with advice in respect of each having been forwarded onto Ministers. The next stage of the process would be to agree heads of terms over the next few weeks, with four or five of the propositions likely to be confirmed by the end of October.

It was recommended that attention should be given to the prioritisation of projects and their scalability which, despite this not being a specific requirement, had been the subject of assessment in respect of those Town Investment Plans considered as part of the first cohort.

Further reflections from assessments undertaken as part of the first cohort were noted as follows:

·         Town Improvement Plans seeking more than £25 million would undergo more in depth scrutiny via a Panel. One Town Improvement Plan had exceeded £25 million and the Panel to undertake the process of additional scrutiny was in the process of being established;

·         some Town Improvement Plans included very little reference to stakeholder engagement, which was perceived negatively. It was acknowledged that Lincoln’s Town Improvement Plan was relatively strong in this respect;

·         an important inclusion as part of the narrative in submissions were comparisons to national averages and regional averages in the use of statistical analysis. Statistics within the submission had to be meaningful and demonstrate how they compared nationally;

·         feasibility should not be submitted as a standalone item as there were no specific outcomes that could be demonstrated. Feasibility should therefore feature as an attachment to individual projects;

Ursula Libetter asked whether a steer could be provided regarding project prioritisation and what aspects would be looked at more favourably as part of the assessment, questioning for example whether a project’s perceived importance, impact or deliverability should be categories of prioritisation. It was noted that the way in which projects were prioritised should be a decision of the local area as part of the submission of the Town Improvement Plan, but that some form of prioritisation would need to be demonstrated.

It was reported that accelerated funding had been confirmed and local authorities should receive a letter of confirmation along with their designated funding shortly. Angela Andrews confirmed that the City Council had received its confirmation this morning and that the money would be in the Council’s account on 30 September 2020.

Kate Ellis asked of those projects included in the first cohort’s submissions whether an element of those scoring highest as part of the assessment were due to their ability to be scoped and delivered early. It was noted that deliverability was not a key part of the assessment at this stage, with more emphasis on projects being aligned with the intervention framework and strategic rationale as part  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25.

Consideration was given to a report which set out the latest progress towards the development, drafting and submission of an Investment Plan due by 31 October 2020.

It was noted that Section 1 of the Town Investment Plan had to set out the context and strategy for investment, based on evidence, the content of which had to align with the detailed guidance in no more than 10,000 words. This would be subject to scrutiny through a check and challenge process with Government on 1 October 2020 as reflected in the previous item.

Section 2 of the Town Investment Plan had to include a prioritised list of projects with details of how these projects aligned with the intervention framework, the rationale for investment, linked to the evidence, projected outputs and outcomes, funding and delivery timescales.

Lead partners had been working to provide the information required for submission within the Investment Plan during August and September, aided by the outcomes of the workshop held on 24 July 2020. The workshop itself had provided a useful and significant focus on high impact projects, helped better understand inter-relationships and the spatial and thematic links back to evidence with further opportunities to add value, understanding and development of climate commission and green recovery proposals. It was also useful to consider and remove those schemes which were out of scope.

Project information had now been submitted for all of the shortlisted proposals and the latest portfolio was summarised in the Town Investment Plan document considered in the previous item and as part of a presentation provided to the Board. The presentation illustrated how these projects would contribute to the key objectives and themes for the Town Fund and fit with the overall masterplan for the city.

In terms of project prioritisation, an assessment of their alignment with the Intervention Framework had been undertaken together with an assessment against local criteria based upon strategic fit, evidence of need and impact. In addition, the Green Book Criteria, the assessment criteria that would be used by Government in assessing submissions, had also been used which focussed on value for money, affordability, achievability, commercial viability and support.

Further to the above assessment, a separate high-level assessment had been undertaken by the Council’s consultants which scored and identified gaps and key risks.

It was acknowledged that some projects were still being developed and refined at the point the assessment had been undertaken, but the results of both assessments provided a good initial overview of where projects stood. It was noted, however, that there was significant cross-over between projects and that all projects included in the portfolio were of value and could contribute to the outcomes and vision of the Lincoln Town Improvement Plan. All projects, for example, scored considerably higher than 50% as part of both assessment exercises. It would therefore be necessary to consider projects and their prioritisation very critically. Further details were also being worked up on the anticipated cost of delivering some projects so there were still opportunities  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26.

It was RESOLVED that the following timeline be approved:

·         final drafting and refinement – 28 September 2020 to 8 October 2020;

·         final information for projects – 8 October 2020;

·         consideration by Lincoln Town Deal Board – 23 October 2020;

·         consideration by City Council Executive – 26 October 2020;

·         Town Improvement Plan submission – 29 October 2020.