North Yorkshire Council
Selby & Ainsty Area Constituency Committee
13 June 2024
Economic, Regeneration, Tourism and Transport Project Development Fund for the Area Constituency Committees
Report of the Corporate Director (Community Development)
1.0 PURPOSE OF REPORT
1.1 To provide an update following the call for project ideas under the Economic, Regeneration, Tourism and Transport Project Development Fund (‘the fund’).
1.2 To present completed Project Scoping Forms for three priority projects and seek endorsement for these from the Selby and Ainsty ACC.
1.3 To seek agreement as to which other project ideas to take forward for possible support through the fund.
2.0 BACKGROUND
2.1 At the meeting of North Yorkshire County Council on 22 February 2023 (Council Minute 83p), in respect of the 2023/24 Revenue Budget for North Yorkshire Council, it was resolved that, “£50k be provided annually for each Area Constituency Committee to commission works they feel appropriate for their local area”.
2.2 The purpose of the fund is to support activities that help to deliver the North Yorkshire Council ‘Council Plan’, Economic Growth Strategy, Destination Management Plan and other locally important plans and strategies. It aims to stimulate and directly support a pipeline of locally important economic, regeneration and tourism destination development projects that will benefit from existing and future funding and delivery opportunities (whether core or external funding) within the area covered by the respective Area Constituency Committee.
2.3 The scope of activity to be supported, within the purpose of the fund, is at the discretion of the specific Area Constituency Committee (ACC) but could include:
· activity to further develop locally important projects that would form part of a wider capital project pipeline including surveys, feasibility studies, outline or detailed design and market demand analysis. It can also fund business case development of locally important projects or contribute to the ongoing development of larger, major projects so the Council is well placed to secure funding (core or external) and to assist in developing grant-ready applications.
· targeted contributions that add value to existing or planned physical regeneration or tourism activity and show tangible benefits to address a locally important issue or priority in that area.
2.4 See Appendix A (Slide 1) for a summary of the decision and approval process as detailed in the Economic, Regeneration, Tourism and Transport Project Development Fund Guidance Note (January 2024).
2.5 An initial discussion about the funding took place at an informal meeting of the Selby and Ainsty ACC on 8 February 2024. Members were invited to submit project ideas which were collated by officers.
2.6 At a meeting on 26th April 2024 ACC members agreed to create a Working Group for the purposes of reviewing project ideas and creating a recommended shortlist. The members of the Working Group are:
· Cllr Melanie Davis (Chair)
· Cllr Bob Packham
· Cllr Kirsty Poskitt
· Cllr Steve Shaw Wright
· Cllr John McCartney
· Cllr Jack Proud
2.7 The Working Party met informally on 24 May 2024 to review the proposed projects, bring forward any new projects and create a recommended shortlist. Details of the projects reviewed and recommendations made are available in Appendix A - Selby & Ainsty ACC Budget Shortlisting Recommendations.
3.0 CONSIDERATION OF PROJECT SHORTLIST AT THIS MEETING
3.1 The Project Shortlist submitted for consideration at this meeting through the Economic, Regeneration, Tourism and Transport Project Development Fund is as detailed in Table 1. below. See Appendix A for full details.
Table 1. Proposed Project Shortlist:
|
|
Project Title |
Summary Description |
Value of Budget Requested |
|
A |
Interactive town guides for Selby & Tadcaster. (Sherburn already has £10k contribution from UKSPF) |
£20k |
|
|
B |
Real Time Bus Information |
Digital displays for bus stops across the area. Six bus stops at £10k each inc. maintenance. |
£60k |
|
D |
Village Cinemas |
Provision of cinema facilities (projector, screen and blackout blinds) for 2 village communities to be determined. |
£20k |
|
|
REJECTED: |
|
|
|
C |
Town centre WiFi extensions |
Extensions to existing town centre WiFi in Selby and Sherburn (Tadcaster fully covered) |
£40k |
3.2 Scoping Forms will be completed for each of the shortlisted projects.
3.3 It should be noted that additional funding is in place for projects A and B above, from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. This will fund the Interactive Town Guide for Sherburn-In-Elmet and two Real Time Bus Information displays for Sherburn-In-Elmet.
4.0 SELBY AND AINSTY ACC BUDGET INFORMATION
4.1 At the meeting of the 20 February 2024 (draft Minute 403.c) the Executive agreed the carry forward of any unallocated sums for each of the Area Constituency Committees into 2024/25 for one year only.
4.2 The financial position of the budget allocated to the Selby and Ainsty ACC through the Economic, Regeneration, Tourism and Transport Project Development Fund is therefore as detailed in Table 2 below:
Table 2. Selby and Ainsty ACC Budget Allocation:
|
Item |
Value |
|
Budget Available (2023/24 carried forward and 2024/25) |
£100,000 |
|
Value of projects approved to date |
£0 |
|
Balance of budget available |
£100,000 |
|
Projects submitted for consideration in this report |
|
|
Interactive Towns |
£20,000 |
|
Real Time Bus Information |
£60,000 |
|
Village Cinemas |
£20,000 |
|
Balance of budget available if the above projects are recommended to and approved by the Corporate Director |
£0
|
5. CONSIDERATION OF THE RECOMMENDED SHORTLIST
5.1 ACC Members are asked to agree to endorse proposed Project Shortlist referred to in Section 3 above. The shortlisted schemes selected will then undergo a detailed project scoping and approval process (see Slide 1 of Appendix A for an overview of the approval processs).
6.0 CONSULTATION UNDERTAKEN AND RESPONSES
6.1 Members of this Committee have been consulted throughout the process.
7.0 ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS CONSIDERED
7.1 Members may choose not to formally endorse the priority projects presented in this report.
7.2 Members may choose not to progress any of the additional schemes outlined in this report and may choose to seek further suggestions from Elected Members or Officers.
8.0 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
8.1 There are no direct financial implications arising from the recommendations of this report. Subject to the endorsement of this Committee, the proformas at Appendix A will be presented to the Corporate Director for allocation of the budget.
9.0 LEGAL IMPLICATIONS
9.1 There are no direct legal implications arising from the recommendations of this report. However, it is noted that any procurement going forward will be carried out in accordance with the council’s procurement and contract procedure rules.
10.0 EQUALITIES IMPLICATIONS
10.1 There are no direct equality implications from the recommendations in this report, though some of the priority projects recommended for progression will have positive longer-term impacts on equality, as detailed in the Scoping Forms. Initial Equality Impact Assessment Screening Forms for the projects that have undergone the Project Scoping process are included at Appendix B.
11.0 CLIMATE CHANGE IMPLICATIONS
11.1 There are no direct climate change implications from the recommendations in this report. Project Scoping Forms, Climate Change Impact Assessment and Equalities Assessments will be completed for each of the shortlisted projects.
12.0 REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS
12.1 To enable allocation of the Economic, Regeneration, Tourism and Transport Project Development Fund available to this Committee.
|
13.0 |
RECOMMENDATIONS
It is recommended that the Committee:
|
|
|
i) endorse the Project Shortlist for the following projects: - Interactive Towns - Real Time Bus Information - Village Cinemas
ii) subject to endorsement, request that Project Scoping Forms are completed and presented to the Corporate Director (Community Development) for the relevant projects to be funded from the Selby and Ainsty Area Constituency Committee budget allocation.
iii) subject to funds remaining, consider whether they wish to progress the project which is recommended for rejection – Town Centre WiFi extensions.
iv) if no endorsements for the above listed projects are secured, issue a further call for potential schemes to Selby and Ainsty ACC members.
|
APPENDICES
· Appendix A - Selby & Ainsty ACC Budget Shortlisting Recommendations
Nic Harne
Corporate Director – Community Development
County Hall
Northallerton
13 June 2024
Report Author – Sarah Fenwick, Regeneration & Economic Project Manager
Presenter of Report – Julian Rudd, Head of Service, Economic Development and Regeneration
Note: Members are invited to contact the author in advance of the meeting with any detailed queries or questions.