Agenda item

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 the March 2026 completion date, with no issues identified at present

·       Further to the financial status at Quarter 1, there were no issues to report. The only red rated project was LSIP that had been withdrawn from the programme

·       The amber projects were where profile spend was greater than the 40% ministry criteria and a claim was imminent that would boost figures. The programme was within the tolerance assurance levels set by the ministry

·       Total evidenced expenditure to date was £11.4M against a profiled target of £16.1M. This was pending the October claim which was expected to include expenditure from the current ‘live’ project. Financial status would be updated pending the Quarter 3 claim process for reporting to MHCLG in November. The update would be reported to Members of the Board, prior to submission.

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

The Chair offered thanks to 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: The programme was approaching the end of the funding package. How much bandwidth was there in terms of slippage?  Was there a good buffer of time?

Response: Everything was reported as being deliverable within the programme timescale. There was a claim due for projects next week and as such, further reporting would be possible at the next meeting of the Board.

Comment: A deep dive of the amber projects would be beneficial. It was right to update quarterly however the end of the programme was within touching distance, only approximately 15/16 months remained. If projects were amber at this stage, it was important to ensure they turned green rather than red. The project risk rating may be changed further to a formal decision regarding additional funding. A forensic review would prove a positive activity.

Question: The progress was great to see. What was the tolerance at present? Was the programme close to the tolerance or was there a buffer?

Response: The forecast figure was the basis of how the programme was measured by the Ministry. There was a 40% tolerance criteria of which the programme had to be kept within. Ongoing dialogue with the Ministry took place, slippage could be explained and assurance offered. The Investment Sub-Committee would continue to investigate and scrutinise. A full report would be presented to Members at the next meeting of the Board.

Comment: Lincoln Connected was amber rated however was moving towards a green rating. A full report would be welcomed.

Comment: The programme was trending positively which was encouraging.

Response: The secretariate was not aware of concerns from the Ministry.

Question: Had the website been updated with the positive outcomes?

Response: The Senior Communications Officer would ensure that the website was kept updated.

Supplementary Comment: Other Towns Fund Boards produced an annual report that summarised the benefits and captured progress to date which included stories from users. It would be positive for Lincoln to consider the same.

Supplementary Response: The Senior Communications Officer would be tasked with the investigation into the creation of an annual Town Deal Board report.

Question: Had the target audience been identified for communications regarding project success and therefore consideration given to the correct media to be used? There were different means of media for different audiences.

Response: Officers continued to work on the identification of target audiences and the correct media methods.

RESOLVED that:

1)    The Secretariate be tasked with a forensic review of amber rated projects.

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 programme/progress status and risk update be noted with thanks.

(Note: Proceedings adjourned at 10:33)

(Note: Nick Worboys joined the meeting at this point in proceedings)