Issue - meetings

The Cabinet considered the report of the Director of Built Environment on the economic, financial and legal feasibility of establishing Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) in Sefton and proposals for further development work being focussed on Southport, as the first tourism/retail Business Improvement District in the Borough.

Decisions Made:

(1)       the appraisal of potential Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) set out in paragraphs 11-13 of the report be accepted;

(2)       that further BID development work be focussed on the Southport Town Centre/Seafront area, as defined in Appendix 3 to the report;

(3)       that in-principle support be given for the development of a BID in Southport;

(4)       the private sector-led Southport BID Development Group be invited to prepare a Business Plan and submit it to the Council in due course;

(5)       approval in-principle be given to the use of part of Sefton’s allocation of £100,000 High Street Innovation Fund for (a) local authority BID start-up costs that cannot be absorbed in any other way by the Council or its contractors, (b) approved development costs of the BID Development Group, and (c) the fixed-term salary and on-costs of a BID Development Officer within the Economy and Tourism Division of the Built Environment Department;

(6)       the Director of the Built Environment be authorised to co-ordinate further research and preparations into a BID for Southport, and a further report with a refined statement of costs to the Cabinet, including a request for High Street Innovation Fund;

(7)       the need for a wider vision and investment prospectus to guide the broader development of Southport be noted; and

(8)       it be noted that the proposal was a Key Decision but had not been included in the Council’s Forward Plan of Key Decisions.  Consequently, the Leader of the Council and the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Regeneration and Environmental Services) had been consulted under Rule 26 of the Access to Information Procedure Rules of the Constitution, to the decision been made as a matter of urgency on the basis that it was impracticable to defer the decision until the commencement of the next Forward Plan, because in February 2013, the Cabinet would be receiving a Business Plan for a Business Improvement District in Southport, and Members must have made a prior assessment of the value and importance of BIDs to Sefton in order to determine the application. This assessment had just been completed and is now available for Members to consider.

Reasons for Decision:

To allow preparations for a Business Improvement District Campaign and ballot to commence.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected:

Not to proceed with a Business Improvement District.