Agenda item

The Board considered a report which confirmed that the City of Lincoln Council had been awarded £173,029 of capacity funding to support the Town Deal Programme. It was noted that this funding could be used as follows:

·         to convene the Town Deal Board;

·         to run business and community engagement events;

·         to develop Town Investment Plans;

·         to provide technical expertise for business case development.

On 23 January 2020 the Lincoln Town Deal Board had proposed three key priorities for the Town Deal Programme in Lincoln, as follows:

·         digital;

·         transport;

·         skills.

The Board, at the meeting on 23 January, had also discussed the need to promote the city in order to attract inward investment alongside support for existing firms. In addition, the Board had further proposed that existing expertise, governance structures and resources should be used wherever possible to maximise value throughout the programme.

It was reported that the following allocation, consisting of notional values at this stage, was proposed:

·         Town Investment Plan and development of L3 Lincoln Living Lab proposal - £50,000;

·         technical support for development of business cases for priority projects identified in the Town Investment Plan - £70,000;

·         project support - £30,000;

·         ‘Be Lincoln’ investment marketing - £20,000.

Caroline Killeavy questioned whether it was too early to dive into marketing at this early stage of the programme, suggesting that it was unclear what would be required. She felt that that further information on this particular project was needed.

Jo Walker informed the Board that further information would be presented in due course. These allocations were indicative at this stage and reports would be submitted to future meetings of the Board setting out how money had been committed and spent in order that there was clear overview as to its allocation.

Councillor Richard Davies welcomed a report back on the ‘Be Lincoln’ marketing project, stating that care needed to be given to any duplication with other marketing schemes that were already in place.

Mary Stuart made the point that it was very difficult to consider certainties with indicative information, although it was helpful to have a sense of vague percentages. It was the expectation that the next stage of the process would consist of officers working up more details and plans around each proposal, setting out how the money allocated would be used.

Councillor Ric Metcalfe agreed that it was very difficult at this stage and that the proposals as presented reflected the best approach, with flexibility being very important.

Ursula Lidbetter agreed that the proposed approach made sense as a starting point. She agreed with the earlier point regarding marketing, however, in that the Board needed to understand exactly what this consisted of in order to be able to consider whether it was the right allocation.

Caroline Killeavy added that the allocation for marketing should include an element designated specifically to public consultation.

James Kirby made the point, from the perspective of having developed his own business, that £170,000 was a significant sum of money and that it needed to be allocated and spent wisely.

Mary Stuart reiterated that officers would come back to the Board in due course with further detailed plans for each proposal and the broad context within which they could work, highlighting that the allocations assigned to each proposal at this stage were nominal.

Ursula Lidbetter agreed that the sums of money were large and asked what procurement processes would be followed to ensure that value for money was achieved.

Angela Andrews confirmed that the City of Lincoln Council’s procurement processes would be used for anything associated with the Lincoln Town Deal.

It was RESOLVED that the proposals set out in the report be approved and officers be requested to provide an update to the next meeting of the Lincoln Town Deal Board.