Agenda item

RESOLVED:  1)         That the draft Business Case as set out in appendix 1 to the report be endorsed.

2)         That delegated authority be granted to the Chief Executive, the Deputy Leader and the Portfolio Holder for Development and Regeneration to approve the final Business Case in their capacity as representatives of the Council on the Town Deal Board.

3)            That delegated authority be granted to the Section 151 Officer to approve the final Business Case and sign the Business Case Summary Document for submission to government in the Council’s capacity as Accountable Body for the Town Deal.  

Reason for Decision

To approve the Business Case as the Accountable Body for the Towns Fund to ensure the funding is secured to deliver the Guildhall & Creative Hub project; to deliver the investment priorities in the Town Investment Plan for King’s Lynn and support the long term economic prosperity of the town.

Cabinet did not accept the additional recommendation from the Panel at this stage as the information would be provided further down the line, once the business case had been submitted, as the timeframes for submission were exceedingly tight.

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Cabinet was reminded that King’s Lynn was awarded by Government a £25m ‘Town Deal’ in June 2021, subject to the completion of business cases for the projects approved under the Heads of Terms offer.

The objective of the Towns Fund programme was to drive the sustainable economic regeneration of towns to support long term economic and productivity growth. A Town Deal was a three-way agreement in principle between Government, the lead local authority and the Town Deal Board.

The report summarised the business case for the St George’s Guildhall and Creative Hub project for approval by the Cabinet in the Council’s capacity as the “Accountable Body” to MHCLG and as part of the Council’s role on the Town Deal Board.

Under standing order 34 Councillor Kemp spoke in support of the proposal as an important educational facility.  She made reference to the loss of some storage facilities for some organisations, to which it was confirmed that it was all part of the review of the use of complex.

Councillor de Whalley spoke in support of the business case and encouraged the community to unite behind the bid.

Cabinet debated the report and noted that the results for of the Heritage Lottery Bid were still expected, but all were encouraged to support the project which also had the support of the National Trust.  Thanks were made for the work previously carried out by Councillor Nockolds on the Guildhall.

In summing up the Chair drew attention to the investment being made across the board for the area, and commented on the history of the Guildhall building  and the potential for the project.  He drew attention to the recommendations from the Regeneration and Development Panel who had recommended an additional piece at the end of recommendation 1 as follows:

“…subject to the inclusion of statements that demonstrate greater clarity of operations, finances and the outputs and outcomes of the Creative Hub.”

Cabinet debated the recommendation and agreed that the information requested would be forthcoming further down the line of the project, but at this stage the deadlines were too tight to be able to include the additional information requested.  Cabinet agreed that it would not adopt the additional wording from the Panel.

Cabinet agreed it did not wish to go into exempt session to debate the exempt financial information.

On being put to the vote the recommendations set out in the report were agreed.

RESOLVED: 1)         That the draft Business Case as set out in appendix 1 to the report be endorsed.

2)         That delegated authority be granted to the Chief Executive, the Deputy Leader and the Portfolio Holder for Development and Regeneration to approve the final Business Case in their capacity as representatives of the Council on the Town Deal Board.

3)            That delegated authority be granted to the Section 151 Officer to approve the final Business Case and sign the Business Case Summary Document for submission to government in the Council’s capacity as Accountable Body for the Town Deal.  

Reason for Decision

To approve the Business Case as the Accountable Body for the Towns Fund to ensure the funding is secured to deliver the Guildhall & Creative Hub project; to deliver the investment priorities in the Town Investment Plan for King’s Lynn and support the long term economic prosperity of the town.

Cabinet did not accept the additional recommendation from the Panel at this stage as the information would be provided further down the line, once the business case had been submitted, as the timeframes for submission were exceedingly tight.