Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED that:

1)    The Secretariate be tasked with a forensic review of amber rated projects within the Town Deal Programme, to be presented to Members at the next Board meeting, scheduled for 6 December 2024.

2)    The Senior Communications Officer be tasked with ensuring that the website was kept updated and consideration be given to the investigation of an annual Town Deal Board report.

3)    The Secretariate be tasked with the circulation of an invitation to Members for expressions of interest to form a working group.

Liam Scully, Chair of the Lincoln Town Deal Board, opened the meeting and warmly welcomed Hamish Falconer MP and Councillor Naomi Tweddle to their first meeting of the Lincoln Town Deal Board.

The Chair also welcomed Ibrahim Elias, Deputy Area Lead for Greater Lincolnshire, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Standards to his first meeting of the Lincoln Town Deal Board and offered thanks to Ibrahim’s predecessor, Mick Lazarus for his hard work and contributions to the Lincoln Town Deal Board.

Apologies for absence were received from:

• Tom Dannatt
• Wing Commander Gary Donnelly
• Nicole Hilton
• Caroline Killeavy
• Edward Strange

The Democratic Services Officer confirmed the quorum of 6 members.

Angela Andrews, Chief Executive, City of Lincoln Council and Councillor Naomi Tweddle declared a Personal and Pecuniary Interest with regard to the agenda item titled ‘Allocation of Uncommitted Town Fund’.

Reason: Sincil Bank and Greyfriars were City of Lincoln Council ran projects.

They left the meeting during the consideration of this item and took no part in the discussion or vote on the matter to be determined.

Julian Free declared a Personal and Pecuniary Interest with regard to the agenda item titled ‘Allocation of Uncommitted Town Fund’.

Reason: In regard to Greyfriars, he was a trustee of Heritage Lincolnshire. In addition, The Barbican was a University of Lincoln ran project.

He left the meeting during the consideration of this item and took no part in the discussion or vote on the matter to be determined.

Ursula Lidbetter declared a Personal and Pecuniary Interest with regard to the agenda item titled ‘Allocation of Uncommitted Town Fund’.

Reason: In regard to Greyfriars, she was a trustee of Heritage Lincolnshire.

In the interests of transparency, she wished it to be noted that the Barbican was a project she had worked on within her previous employment position.

She left the meeting during the consideration of this item and took no part in the discussion or vote on the matter to be determined.

Liam Scully declared a Personal and Pecuniary Interest with regard to the agenda item titled ‘Allocation of Uncommitted Town Fund’.

Reason: In regard to ‘Lincoln City Football Club (Sincil Bank Gateway), he was a trustee of Lincoln City Foundation and Chief Executive Officer of Lincoln City Football Club.

He left the meeting during the consideration of this item and took no part in the discussion or vote on the matter to be determined.

James Foster declared a Personal and Pecuniary Interest with regard to the agenda item titled ‘Allocation of Uncommitted Town Fund’.

Reason: HEAT and Drill were Lincoln College ran projects.

He left the meeting during the consideration of this item and took no part in the discussion or vote on the matter to be determined.

Charlotte Goy declared a Personal and Pecuniary Interest with regard to the agenda item titled ‘Allocation of Uncommitted Town Fund’.

Reason: Lincoln Connected had submitted an expression of interest for the allocation of uncommitted Town Fund.

She left the meeting during the consideration of this item and took no part in the discussion or vote on the matter to be determined.

Matthew Foster queried if his corporate director responsibilities required consideration with regard to the agenda item titled ‘Allocation of Uncommitted Town Fund’.

Liam Scully, Chair of the Lincoln Town Deal Board, duly considered whether this interest was a pecuniary interest under the member code of conduct. When taking into consideration the reasonable member of the public test, as outlined in the code of conduct, it was not considered that his interest was a pecuniary interest and therefore, he would be permitted to participate in the discussion or vote on the matter to be determined.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 2 August 2024 be confirmed as a true record, subject to the amendment of members present, in order that attendance to the meeting be accurately recorded.

Gill Wilson, Growth Strategy and Funding Manager confirmed that:

1)    The current Lincoln Town Deal Board (LTDB) Terms of Reference allowed for the provision of a Vice-Chair. Confirmation of the criteria of a Vice-Chair’s representation had been sought, prior to formal agreement and appointment, and it was proposed that Councillor Naomi Tweddle be formally appointed Vice-Chair of the Lincoln Town Deal Board

2)    The Secretariate had been tasked with the amendment of sections 5 and 6 of the Monitoring and Evaluation Performance Report submitted to DLUHC on 28 May 2024, and the recirculation to members of the Board. The uncompleted sections had been caused by a version control error and ad since been actioned. The additional outputs/outcomes hat had been received from projects up to March 2024 had not been assessed and verified prior to the May submission however would be reported and included in the next submission, due in November 2024

3)    The Secretariate had amended the capital figures in relation to the Community Bakery and had updated the UK Shared Prosperity Funding (UKSPF) programme to show both capital and revenue allocation

4)    The Senior Communications Officer planned to provide further information on the consideration of an elevated national/regional piece and applications for future awards, under agenda item 9, entitled ‘Communications’

5)    The Democratic Services Officer had circulated the Microsoft Teams meeting link for the meeting of the Investment Sub-Committee, held on Tuesday 1 October 2024

RESOLVED that there were no outstanding actions or resolutions.

Gill Wilson, Growth Strategy and Funding Manager:

a)    provided the Board with a verbal report on Governance and Board Membership matters. During consideration of the report, the following points were noted: -

·       The current Lincoln Town Deal Board (LTDB) Terms of Reference allowed for the provision of a Vice-Chair. Confirmation of the criteria of a Vice-Chair’s representation had been sought and it was proposed that Councillor Naomi Tweddle be formally appointed Vice-Chair of the Lincoln Town Deal Board

·       A request had been received from Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) further to Karen Stanton’s departure, that Tom Dannatt (Interim Vice Chancellor) was approved to represent BGU on the Board in the interim until such time a successor to the post was appointed

·       Gaps within the membership of the Board had been identified, particularly the digital and construction sectors. There was a seat designated for a representative from the House of Lords which was currently vacant

·       The Board was at a critical stage and as such, the retention of skills and attendance was important

b)    welcomed comments and questions from Members of the Board.

Comment: Tim Chambers had previously represented the digital sector however in reference to Sincil Bank, had been involved within the construction sector.

Comment: Nominations for replacement Board members from the construction and digital sectors were welcomed.

RESOLVED that:

1. Councillor Naomi Tweddle be formally appointed Vice-Chair of the Lincoln Town Deal Board.

2. Tom Dannatt (Interim Vice Chancellor) be formally approved to represent BGU on the Board in the interim until such time a successor was appointed.

3. Nominations for replacement Board members be submitted to the Secretariate for consideration.

Angela Andrews, Chair of the Investment Sub-Committee:

a)    provided the Board with a brief update following the most recent meeting of the Investment Sub-Committee, held on 1 October 2024. During consideration of the update, the following points were noted: -

·       Thanks were offered to all Board members that had attended the meeting of the Investment Sub-Committee (ISC) on 1 October 2024. Members were reminded that meetings of the ISC were held remotely via Microsoft Teams and the Terms of Reference had recently been amended to allow attendance as voting Members

·       Members of the Investment Sub-Committee received a presentation from Heather Frecklington, Focus Consultants with a summary document for the recommendation of reallocation of uncommitted funding, further to LSIP’s withdrawal from the programme. Members supported the reallocation recommendations prior to formal approval of the Board

·       Members had received a progress update on the City Centre Masterplan and a verbal update on UK Shared Prosperity Funding (UKSPF) progress

b)    welcomed comments and questions from Members of the Board.

RESOLVED that the content of the update be noted with thanks.

Gill Wilson, Growth Strategy and Funding:

a)    provided the Board with a presentation on the programme/progress status and risk as of 1 October 2024. During consideration of the report, the following points were noted: -

·       The delivery phase was complete across 5 original business case approved projects and completion of the projects represented a total level of investment of £15M into the City of which £9.113M was direct Town Fund Grant

·       Key outputs/outcomes highlighted included:

o   Store of Stories - Acts Trust over reported by 250% on their targeted reduction in supporting children out of food poverty and reported 1671 new members and 25,086 visitors per quarter

o   Cornhill Market - The project won the Regeneration and Restoration Project of the Year Award at the annual East Midlands Property Awards 2024 held on the 5 September 2024 for both the building itself and the platform it had given to local, independent small and startup businesses

o   Drill - The venue continued to do well and Technical Production students had gained practical work experience by working on shows and events and had also used the facility as a live classroom on a Monday when the venue was closed to the public. Lincoln college Catering and Front of House students continued to run the kitchen and Drill café and provided a range of food and drinks

o   LCFC Community Skills and Education Hub - Lincoln City Foundation continued to use the Hub to deliver their Healthier Communities and Education and Employability Programmes which included clubs aimed at providing social activities for the elderly and mental health support programmes for the young, as well as community English conversation classes

·       Minor risk had been identified in respect of reduced City Centre footfall impacting on a range of City centre-based projects which benefitted from passing trade and or visitor numbers.

·       Three further projects, the Barbican, Sincil Bank Greening Project and Greyfriars (total investment value of £9.829M and Town Deal grant of £5.238M) were currently on site. The Barbican was due to be completed January 2025, the Sincil Bank Greening project by Summer 2025 and Greyfriars by Winter 2025 respectively

·       Key outputs/outcomes highlighted included:

o   Barbican - Promotional activities continued to focus on developing the membership model and enquiries about studios/spaces to rent upon opening

o   Sincil Bank Greening - The highway works were progressing, and no issues had been raised so far from residents or local businesses, including the football club, regarding any disruption

o   Greyfriars - works commenced at the beginning of September 2024

·       There was a number of other projects in progress and included Lincoln Be Smarter, Lincoln Connected and feasibility projects; Wigford Way and Tentercroft Street. Lincoln Town Deal Board previously agreed that the delivery and completion of Tentercroft and Wigford Way feasibility studies be aligned with the development of the City Centre Masterplan and the programmes adjusted accordingly

·       In terms of programme, although there were some amber rated projects, they would be monitored quarterly and there was still time to achieve  ...  view the full minutes text for item 28.

The Board received a presentation from Charlotte Goy, Chief Executive Officer (Destination Lincolnshire). During consideration of the presentation, the following points were noted: -

• The project focussed on digitalising the visitor economy and high street through creative place making
• Destinations with a growing visitor economy tracked and responded to people’s digital behaviours

• The purpose of Lincoln Connected was the destination of the growing visitor economy. Both money and visitors had returned to the City post pandemic
• Lincoln Connected was similar to a digital web and the primary focus was connecting together through digital investment as well as the capital investment

• The visitor economy was worth approximately £3billion and a great deal of work had taken place around the traditional visitor journey
• Ruddocks had been procured to refresh the Visit Lincoln brand of which the Roman heritage within Lincoln was reflected. The focus was on the 3 P’s: Place, Product, People
• The new website was softly launched at the end of September 2024 and contained an important blogs and story section. Curated content was very important of which had experienced over 60K views of the 3 added on the website. The blog section had previously been hidden on a great deal of websites however it was now front and centre

• Reference was made to interactive wayfinding. A wayfinding expert that had worked in other heritage cities such as York had been commissioned
• Discussions had taken place with the Ministry for funding for international tourism for South Lincolnshire
• Thanks were offered to both the Board and the City of Lincoln Council

The Chair offered thanks to Charlotte Goy for the presentation and welcomed comments and questions. Members of the Board discussed the content of the presentation in further detail and the following questions and comments emerged:

Comment: Thanks were offered for the informative and detailed presentation.

Question: Was there a profile of the tourism within Lincoln and from that, were there any target areas that were missed?

Response: Yes. Visitor profiling took place and key personas and segments considered, which included the amount spent, where individuals lived and what they were interested in. Visit Lincoln was being tailored around the kind of visitor desired as opposed to who already visited. It was a huge programme of work around internationalisation. It was hoped that the £750K for Lincolnshire would help to realise some international opportunities for Lincolnshire. Resource issue was problematic.

Question: The work was very exciting. Had consideration been given to using some of the collateral to help attract people to come and work in Lincoln? How could firms and institutions be helped in order to use all of the information available?

Response: Many of the Destination assets were used to develop a microsite. The message was rather than come and visit Lincoln, come and live in Lincoln. There was a huge potential to do more than that. Digital infrastructure allowed us to work with partners in a sustainable and efficient way and to capture the data

Question: There was a great  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29.

Kirsty Cheetham, Senior Communications Officer:

a)    provided the Board with a Communications Update presentation. During consideration of the update, the following points were noted: -

·       Cornhill Market won the Regeneration and Restoration Project of the Year Award and news of the award had been shared on City of Lincoln Council platforms. Lindum and Ruddocks created their own content regarding the award. Consideration had been given to Looking to Pineapple Awards and it was hoped that Cornhill Market may be entered in order that the project and the quality of renovation be celebrated

·       Work had continued on a successful ongoing video series that documented Greyfriars which revolved around both the history and the future of the project The videos had been received positively and comments had been received from individuals that remembered the building fondly and looked forward to learning of the funding planned for restoration

·       Reference was made to UK Shared Prosperity Funding (UKSPF).  Mooreland Community Centre works were completed a couple of months ago and a video had been created that promoted the centre and the events that could now be hosted due to the funding received

·       Sudbrooke Drive Community Hub – Progression had been made and a before and after video would be created that captured the extensive works carried out.  Members of the centre would be interviewed and the impact on the local area highlighted

·       Eulogy, an immersive event funded by Lincoln Connected, had been promoted and highlighted how vibrant the Town Deal funding was

·       A video with Selina form Bubble kiss had been filmed and two members from Lincoln City Foundation would also be interviewed

·       Work had taken place with Senior Communications Officers regarding a communications release in order that the success of the programme to date, be celebrated. Discussions with the Institute of Place Management had taken place regarding distribution on a national scale

b)    welcomed comments and questions from Members of the Board.

The Chair offered thanked Kirsty Cheetham for the update and welcomed comments and questions. Members of the Board discussed the content of the update in further detail and the following questions and comments emerged:

Comment: The link between Selina and Lincoln City Foundation was positive and demonstrated how successful the Town Deal funding had been. It was a lovely story.

Question: How was success with communications measured? Was it only digital or had comms taken place any other ways? There was an incredible amount of positive activity taking place and it was important that the whole of Lincoln received that information.

Repsonse: Information on engagement and impressions was contained within a monthly social media report. Communications took place mainly digitally however discussions would be initiated with the Communications Manager regarding print versions.

Comment: The intention was that a monitoring and evaluation report of the projects would be created. An interim report had been created and reported to Board in December 2023.  The objective was that a final report would be created for December 2025. It may be useful that an annual  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.

Gill Wilson, Growth Strategy and Funding:

a)    provided the Board with a report on the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) programme overview. During consideration of the report, the following points were noted: -

·       Lincoln was awarded £2,810,773 of UKSPF funding to deliver evidenced based interventions to improve outcomes across the three pillars of:

o   Community & Place (C&P)

o   Supporting Local Business (SLB)

o   Community & Skills (C&S)

·       A total of £2,561,069 (89% of the total funding) had been committed, with funding agreements in place and delivery underway across all projects, a summary of which was attached at Appendix A to the report

·       As of 31 March 2024, £685,333.66 of the fund had been evidenced and paid which was 24.4% of the total funding. Monitoring and claim evidence was being collected for the October 2024 return to Government and to date, the total funding spend had increased to £1,509,917, 53.7% of the total funding

·       All spend must be made by 31 March 2025 and whilst there had been representations nationally by local authorities for an extension due to the late start of the programme, there was no indication that there would be any extension

·       All projects were on target for completion by March 2025.

b)    welcomed comments and questions from Members of the Board.

The Chair offered thanks Gill Wilson for the update and welcomed comments and questions. Members of the Board discussed the content of the update in further detail and the following questions and comments emerged:

Question: It was positive to see the updates, in particular the pillar of ‘Community and Place’. Would the pillar of ‘Supporting Local Business’ be improved by the next meeting of the Board in December 2024?

Response: Yes.  Outputs would be caught up in order that they be updated within the report.

RESOLVED that the content of the report be noted with thanks.

Liam Scully, Chair of the Lincoln Town Deal Board:

a)    presented Members with a verbal summary of the Boards forward plan which was attached at Appendix A to the report. The forward plan detailed items of business to be considered at future meetings.

b)    welcomed comments and questions from Members of the Board.

RESOLVED that:

1)    A forensic review of amber rated projects be presented to the Board at the next meeting, scheduled for 6 December 2024.

2)    The contents of the forward plan be noted with thanks.

RESOLVED that there were no other items of business to be considered.

Date of Next Meeting: Friday 6 December 2024 (10:00)

Date of Next Meeting: Friday 6 December 2024 (10:00)

(Note: Ginny Askham left the meeting at this point in proceedings)

You are asked to resolve that the press and public be excluded from the

meeting during the consideration of the following item(s) because it is likely

that if members of the press or public were present, there would be

disclosure of ‘exempt information’

RESOLVED that the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item(s) of business because it is likely that if members 11 of the public were present there would be a disclosure to them of ‘exempt information’ as defined by Section 100I and Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.

The Growth Strategy and Funding Manager updated Lincoln Town Deal Board on the progress of projects and current risks associated with projects identified.

RESOLVED that the content of the update be noted with thanks.

RESOLVED that the order of business be amended to allow the agenda item entitled ‘UK Shared Prosperity Fund’ to be considered as the next agenda item.

The Assistant Director - Growth & Development updated Lincoln Town Deal Board on the allocation, spend to date and risk assessment for each of the projects within the UKPSF programme.

RESOLVED that:

1)    The Board approved the recommendations as detailed within the report of which would be proceeded with elected members.

2)    The content of the update be noted with thanks.

The Assistant Director - Growth & Development presented a verbal report to update members on the City Centre Masterplan.

RESOLVED that the content of the presentation be noted with thanks.

(Angela Andrews, James Foster, Julian Free, Charlotte Goy, Ursula Lidbetter, Liam Scully and Councillor Naomi Tweddle left the meeting during the consideration of this item, having declared personal and pecuniary interests in the matter being debated. They took no part in the discussion or vote on the matter to be determined.)

(Note: Kirsty Cheetham left the meeting at this point in proceedings)

(Jacqui Bunce took the Chair for the consideration of the matter to be determined.)

RESOLVED that:

RESOLVED that:

1)    That the reallocation be agreed as outlined in the report, subject to further due diligence checks and conditions.

2)    That the final sign off of due diligence checks and consideration be delegated to Investment Sub-Committee.

3)    That the reserve list projects be developed further and reported to the next meeting of the Investment Sub-Committee for delegation.