Keith Ramsay – Chair of Board
Decision:
RESOLVED:
That the Chair’s update be noted.
Minutes:
The Chair provided an update on a number of issues, which included updates from Kirklees Council officers.
Clarity on the geographical boundary of the Town Board and whether the Dewsbury Sports Centre is within that geographical boundary.
- David Wildman, Head of Town Centre Regeneration apologised for any previous confusion regarding geographic and funding boundaries. He went on to state the following:
- The geographic boundary for the Town Board was set by Central Government as the Office for National Statistics ONS Built Up Area, this is the area shown in Appendix A of the March 2024 Terms of Reference. In developing the Town Investment Plan it was agreed that the primary focus of investment activities should be the town centre. In response to the Long-term Plan for Towns guidance, issued by the Government, the Terms of Reference were updated (and issued in March 2024) but the geographic boundary for the Town Board remained unchanged as the ONS Built Up Area.
- However, it was agreed by Board members with advice from Government officials that any future funding should focus on the town centre to ensure future investment builds on and aligns with existing regeneration plans and priorities.
- The Sports Centre has always been within the boundary of the geographic area covered by the Town Board. However, the Town Deal funding was allocated to specific schemes (the majority of which are within the town centre to support economic regeneration) through an appraisal and business case process which was approved by Government.
- We await the new prospectus and scope for the long-term plan for Towns but we expect the geographic boundary to remain as is shown within Appendix A of the March 2024 Terms of Reference.
Summary of how the Town Deal projects were identified
- The Chair provided a summary to remind members the process undertaken to identify the Town Deal projects:
- The Strategic Development Framework 2010 was developed in partnership with Kirklees Council and Yorkshire Forward and included an extensive amount of public engagement.
- The Strategic Development Framework 2018 was a refresh of the original 2010 Strategic Development Fund and developed and set out a 25-year vision for the town centre. It was supported by a delivery programme that included projects and actions over the next 5 years.
- Dewsbury Blueprint was launched in Spring 2020 and outlined a 10-year plan to bring more activity into the centre, and make it more attractive and more accessible.
- Dewsbury Blueprint Consultation undertaken in 2020 by Kirklees Council sought to gain an understanding from the public as to how the Blueprint should be shaped, for the benefit of for residents, business and visitors to the town centre.
- June 2020 - Avison Young appointed to prepare and develop the Dewsbury Town Investment Plan (TIP), this included a review of the above documents and consultation results.
- October 2020 – Social Communications appointed to carry out an inclusive programme of consultation and engagement to support the TIP and inform the long list. The “Our Town” 2020 report helped to inform the long list of projects for the TIP.
- October 2020 – Project selection process led by Avison Young in partnership with Kirklees Council and Dewsbury Town Deal Board. Technical work by council, consultants and board to inform the long list of projects was undertaken using Town Fund eligibility and appraisal criteria (in accordance with HM Treasure Green Book). Option assessment was undertaken to refine the long list to short list for inclusion in the TIP submission.
- January 2021 - Dewsbury Town Board endorsed the TIP including short list projects.
- January 2021 - Cabinet approved the TIP paper and agreed additional council match funding.
- January 2021 - TIP submitted to government to seek £25.58m
- June 2021 - Confirmation the TIP had been accepted and council awarded £24.8m.
Ability to move funding on Town Deal projects or use Long-term Plan funding for the Dewsbury Sports Centre
- David Wildman, Head of Town Centre Regeneration, advised that the Town Fund grant could be moved between the approved Town Deal projects, subject to a Project Adjustment Request (PAR) being approved by Government, but that money could not be moved from an approved Town Deal project to something new. A PAR should focus on securing the viability of existing projects and ensuring that interventions are deliverable, good value for money and continue to have a strong strategic fit with the original TIP. Funding recipients must provide an updated Benefit-Cost Ratio and confirm they have updated and reappraised the project business case to show that it still represents good value for money.
- The Long-term Plan funding would not provide sufficient funds for the Capital or Revenue requirements associated with reopening and running Dewsbury Sports Centre.
- Richard Thorpe, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government advised the Board that a cross-government assessment process had taken place in terms of town investment plans; the specific projects put forward determined the actual quantum that Dewsbury was awarded. Any sort of significant changes towards new projects would undermine that assessment process.
Mr Wildman responded to a question from the Deputy Chair regarding funding that was not yet contractually committed and updated the Board that £8-9 million had yet to be contractually committed, with the majority of this being associated with the market project, the urban realm improvement schemes and the Construction Skills Village which are all in the latter stages of development.
Risk management and budget contingency for the Town Deal programme
- Mr Wildman updated on the following:
- Council Officers maintained a risk register for all projects within the Town Deal to capture risks and opportunities.
- Risks were reviewed at a programme level; the Project Management Office reported and processed this monthly.
- Contingency budget was included into each individual project
- Programme level contingency – Uncommitted funding from schemes planned would be held to deal with emerging risks and issues.
Clarity on the Procurement process for the Arcade
- The Chair provided the following update:
- William Birch & Sons Ltd won the tender for the Dewsbury Arcades scheme with a £5,629,259.68 value of contract. The contract was awarded on 28 February 2024, with a formal start date of 5th April 2024. The appointment followed the public sector procurement process and used a recognised, appropriate framework to procure from.
- Early contractor liaison took place to understand the interest in the scheme. All 12 prospective Tenderers on the Yorbuild 3 Lot 1 Over £4m - £10mframework were invited to an open day at the Dewsbury Arcade site and were provided with a comprehensive information pack. Following engagement with contractors the terms of contract were amended, and the tender was re-issued via the Yorbuild Framework to the same operators.
- There was a single bid in response to the exercise and to ensure value for money and due diligence around costings was evaluated against the published award criteria and scored accordingly. Pricing was benchmarked against the initial tender estimates. It was noted that the limited interest in the contract was likely to be due to the specialist nature of the restoration work on a listed building in a town centre setting.
- William Birch & Sons Ltd had shown interest in the scheme throughout the procurement process and were proven specialists in Historic building restoration. The contract overheads and profit were in line with industry standards of between 3% and 5%.
Update on the tenant strategy for the Arcade
- The Chair provided the following update using information provided by Chris Hill, Dewsbury Arcade Project Manager:
- Marketing the Arcade to prospective tenants was underway, a Tenant Brochure had been produced and the Arcade website had been updated with details of the available units and how to register interest.
- Two companies had been procured to help seek tenants on a commission basis from November 2024.
- Toolbox Marketing had been procured to produce a tenant campaign around ‘win a free shop for a year’. The target of this work would be specific sectors like specialist foods.
- A Social Media Content Producer was due to start work prior to Christmas, producing content to promote the Arcade.
- 18 businesses had enquired into taking a lease this year. Firm interest had been received from 7 businesses.
- Work continued on delivering the Heritage Fund activity plan. The Arcade group had good links with Kirklees College and community groups. A Pop-up space had been set up in the Princess of Wales which was now open Mondays and Fridays 10am to 2pm.
RESOLVED:
That the Chair’s update be noted