Agenda item

Report of the Executive Director (Place).

The Cabinet considered the report of the Executive Director (Place) in relation to the current position of the Levelling Up funding opportunity available to the Council and the proposal to submit up to two bids on or before the submission date of 18^th June 2021, and potentially submitting a total of up to three bids to the fund.

Decision Made:       That:

(1)           the submission of up to two Levelling Up funding bids to Government on or before 18^th June 2021, in accordance with the given bid process, and up to three bids in total from Sefton (given the likely announcement of future bidding rounds), be agreed;

(2)           it be noted that any funded projects may require Cabinet and Council approval if successful, and would be presented for review and approval if successful and at the appropriate time, in accordance with the Council’s Financial Procedure Rules;

(3)           the Executive Director (Place), in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Skills be granted delegated authority to finalise the bid submissions;

(4)           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 Skills) had been consulted under Rule 27 of the Access to Information Procedure Rules of the Constitution, to the decision being made by Cabinet 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 approval needs to be sought prior to the first bid submission date of 18 June 2021; and

(5)           it be noted that the Leader of the Council and the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Regeneration and Skills) had given consent under Rule 46 of the Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules for this decision to be treated as urgent and not subject to "call in" on the basis that it cannot be reasonably deferred because approval needs to be sought prior to the first submission date of 18 June 2021.

Reasons for the Decisions

The Levelling Up bid opportunity may offer a route to funding for capital projects, which the recommendations propose to pursue given the importance of such projects to economic recovery in the borough. The submission of up to two bids on 18^th June 2021, and of up to three bids in total, reflects the ongoing work on the opportunities referenced herein, and on other potential projects, to finalise project details and bid documentation. The recommendations in respect of timescales are due to the given deadline for bid submission, and the importance of pace of development and delivery to economic recovery and the impacts and benefits of such projects.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected:

The option of submitting bids at a later date may remain, but there is a risk of uncertainty on future rounds, criteria and timescales which prompts the recommended submission on 18^th June 2021. There is a risk in working at such pace in respect of delivering a quality bid submission, but this will be mitigated through the quality and quantity of resource necessary to deliver, alongside the best practice and lessons learned from such processes as the Southport Town Deal.

The option of not submitting at all was considered and rejected, given the importance of the projects proposed to economic recovery, and the lack of funding currently available to deliver all elements of Sefton’s economic recovery strategy and action plan.