Agenda item

To consider a report by Councillor Jason McLellan, Leader and Lead Member for Economic Growth and Tacking Deprivation (copy enclosed) regarding the recently announced c.£20m fund for Rhyl, which was part of the UK Government’s Long Term Plan for Towns initiative, and seeking Cabinet support for the proposed response to the required actions.

RESOLVED that Cabinet delegates authority to the Corporate Director: Environment and Economy and the Leader/Lead Member for Economic Growth and Tacking Deprivation for submitting the necessary information to UK Government in order to meet the requirements of the funding by the deadline of 3 June 2024.

Councillor Jason McLellan presented the report regarding the recently announced c.£20m fund for Rhyl, provided some background to the report, and sought Cabinet support for the proposed response to the required actions.

The report set out the headline terms and conditions for the £20m funding announced for Rhyl as part of the UK Government’s Long Term Plan for Towns initiative and levelling up programme.  Funding would be awarded to the Council who remained accountable for the funding and delivery of the plan.  Certain actions were required by 3 June 2024 (revised deadline date from 1 June as referenced in the report) such as appointing a Chair of the Town Board together with submission of the Chair Biography, Board Structure, Terms of Reference, Conflict of Interest Policy, and Town Boundaries.  Whilst the funding was welcomed the timescale for delivery was challenging and Cabinet approval was sought to delegate those tasks to the Lead Officer and Leader/Lead Member to meet the funding deadline.  Details of subsequent actions the Board must do prior to 1 November were also provided.

The Corporate Director: Economy and Environment elaborated on progress and work undertaken to date in meeting the required actions by 3 June and secure the funding which related mainly to administrative arrangements and tasks, including interviews to appoint a Chair of the Board later that week, and representation and membership of the Board.  Work to the second deadline of 1 November related to the long term (10 year) vision for the town and 3 year delivery plan based on the priorities of local people and investment and regeneration aligned to three key themes.  That task would involve much engagement work and additional monies had been made available by UK Government for that purpose (separate to the £20m fund).  The Leader added that much work had been carried out in a short space of time and expressed his gratitude to all involved in that process.

Cabinet welcomed the additional funding for Rhyl and discussed various aspects of the report with the Corporate Director: Economy and Environment.

Main discussion points focused on the following –

·       it was noted that the town’s vision and priorities for investment and regeneration must be aligned to the themes of (1) safety and security, (2) high streets, heritage, and regeneration, and (3) transport and connectivity which were fairly board themes and fitting for Rhyl – there was already a vision for Rhyl which would be revised in tandem with the development of the new long term vision in order to link into one cohesive document

·       there was some debate as to the perception that Rhyl was prioritised ahead of other areas in the county for investment, which was also mirrored in Rhyl with some perceiving that more funding was spent in Ruthin, and it was accepted the Council needed to be clear in its communications to the public that whilst this funding award was specifically for Rhyl, investment was being made across the county with levelling up funding awards for Clwyd South and Clwyd West in addition to Vale of Clwyd and shared prosperity funding across the county.  Rhyl attracted extra investment due to its socio economic challenges and having two of the most deprived wards in Wales and that investment also created positive benefits for the rest of the county.  Officers were attending individual Member Area Groups with town plans detailing projects that had been delivered and those planned for the future with proportionate investment across the county.  However, given the public perception it was felt the Communications Teams could undertake further work to address any misconceptions in that regard

·       the work carried out by the Corporate Director: Economy and Environment on progressing the required actions was questioned given other priorities/demands on time including work on transformational and savings plans.  The Corporate Director confirmed he had many priorities and there was a need to ensure that the work done on each of those priorities was proportionate to the task in hand which had been the approach taken.  Some additional funding had been made available by the UK Government for the initial step of establishing the Board and consultants had been commissioned to undertake some of that work.  It was unlikely that a funding claim could be made for the Corporate Director’s time on the project, but the potential would be further explored

·       the current focus had been on the first set of actions required to meet the funding deadline and the long term vision for the town and engagement with local people would be progressed in the next stage.  It was felt that community focused work needed to be directed by the Board once it was established and the composition of the Board would include community representation

·       the huge amount of work to be carried out and completion of the necessary tasks to meet the 3 June deadline and secure the funding was highlighted together with the additional work to be carried out by 1 November deadline.  Much work had been carried out in tandem in order to appoint a Chair of the Board and to source appropriate representation on the Board to deliver for Rhyl and ensure the requirements of the funding deadline were met.

The Leader opened the debate to non-Cabinet members and there was broad support for the investment in Rhyl and positive impact of that funding on the wider area.  Questions were raised regarding the governance and operational arrangements of the Board and assurances were sought regarding buy in of the business community and appropriate representation in order to deliver commercial success together with community involvement and engagement at the outset.

The Leader and officers responded to questions/comments as follows –

·       the funding would be awarded to the Council who would be responsible for the funding and delivery of the plan

·       work was still being carried out on the governance arrangements and issues such as the terms of reference, structure, and composition of the Board – the Board would also need to take a view and input into its future operation/governance

·       there may be potential to use funding to lever in additional monies from other funding streams, but it would be dependent on criteria and eligibility

·       given it was not possible to answer all questions regarding the governance arrangements at this time it was suggested that a report could be brought back to Cabinet once those arrangements had been confirmed after 3 June

·       the preference would have been to constitute the Board and governance arrangements prior to appointing a Chair of the Board but the requirements did not support that order of events and it was an extremely challenging timescale

·       the implication in the current guidance, which may change, was that the Board would not have its own legal entity given the Council was the accountable body

·       acknowledged the business community had a vital role to play in the process and provided assurances that sector would be represented on the Board

·       confirmed conversations were ongoing with others in a similar position with regard to Town Boards to ensure best practice was shared, and lessons learned

·       there was confidence that following the interview process an appointment to Chair of the Board would be made.

The Leader referred to the report recommendations and amendment to the deadline date from 1 June to 3 June 2024 in paragraph 3.1.

RESOLVED that Cabinet delegates authority to the Corporate Director: Environment and Economy and the Leader/Lead Member for Economic Growth and Tacking Deprivation for submitting the necessary information to UK Government in order to meet the requirements of the funding by the deadline of 3 June 2024.