Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from:

Councillor Ashley Baxter

Councillor Sarah Trotter

Councillor Paul Wood

There were no declarations of interests.

The minutes of the meeting held on 28 February 2023 were confirmed as a correct record, subject to an amendment being made to item 16 - ‘South Kesteven Prosperity Fund’. The draft minutes had not clarified whether the item on the Open Door Baptist Church had been voted on and deferred, or simply not considered due to time constraints.

The minutes were therefore amended to make it clear that the application by the Open Door Baptist Church was not considered due to time constraints.

It is likely that the press and public will be excluded during discussion of the following agenda item because of the likelihood that information that is exempt under paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the Local government Act 1972 (as amended) would be disclosed to them.

Members moved, seconded and AGREED to exclude the public and press under paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 due to the likely discussion of sensitive financial information within the submissions under the Prosperity Fund and the Year One update.

Report on the first programme update which follows on from the inaugural and second UKSPF and REPF Board meeting which took place on 8 February and 28 February 2023, respectively.

Members considered a progress report, covering the period 8 February to 20 March 2023. This update provided a summary of the programme report submitted to the Department for Levelling Up Homes and Communities (DLUHC), a Government Department Update, programme resourcing and wider programme communications.

The Head of Economic Development highlighted to members that clarity had been sought from DLUHC regarding the funding of churches and what could be considered eligible activity for funding through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF). Paragraph 7.5.1 of the UKSPF Prospectus stated ‘payments for activities of a party political or exclusively religious nature should not be included in a UKSPF intervention. However, you can fund the works required to provide community events.’

The Year One Update was NOTED by the Board.

a)         Decision deferred pending further information:

·     Business Lincolnshire Growth Hub proposal

b)         Year 1 Prosperity Fund applications deferred pending further information:

·     Arnhem 1944 Fellowship

·     St Wulframs Church

·     Castle Bytham Village Hall

·     Long Bennington Parish Council

c)          Projects approved with further information requested for reference:

·     The Bread and Butter Thing

d)         Year 1 Prosperity Fund applications approved with further information requested for reference:

·     Art Pop Up Stamford

e)         Year 2 Prosperity Fund applications deferred pending further information:

·     Open Door Baptist Church

·     Caythorpe & Frieston Parish Council

·     The Bythams Woodland Trust (BWT)

Members considered a number of applications that were either deferred pending further information, or not considered due to time constraints at the meeting held on 28 February:

Local Business Application - Business Lincolnshire Growth Hub

This was a request for funding from Business Lincolnshire Growth Hub over two years. Members had raised queries at the previous meeting held on 28 February - the following information was provided:

·       Part of the funding would grant access to a qualified growth and business advisor for two and a half days a week to local businesses. There would also be direct access to face to face advisors, for a range of different business needs.

·       The funding also granted access to 24 workshops and events each year provided by Business Lincolnshire.

·       Business Lincolnshire would engage with around 670 businesses across the District across the next two years; this was approximately 10% of businesses based in South Kesteven. The current Corporate Plan target for the District was to engage with 60 businesses per year.

·       There was not a common approach by Councils across Lincolnshire dealing with the procurement of UKSPF activity. However, for those authorities that did not approve funding for Business Lincolnshire, there would be no dedicated Growth Hub support.

·       Not all authorities in Lincolnshire had yet reached a decision on whether to grant UKSPF funding to Business Lincolnshire.

On the basis of the information provided, members were content to approve the funding, and asked that the work be tracked by the relevant Overview and Scrutiny committee. The Local Business Funding was proposed, seconded and AGREED.

Year One Prosperity Fund Applications

Arnhem 1944 Fellowship

Further information had been requested on the benefits and the content of the proposed feasibility study attached to the project to develop an Arnhem/Airborne Forces trail; this information was provided to members to aid their decision.

On the basis of this additional information, the application was moved and seconded. Members were informed by the Armed Forces Champion that the project should grow as it involved sites across Lincolnshire and across to Rutland - it was a largely untold story.

Informal discussions had mentioned the Cabinet Rooms in London and Duxford as being critical parts of the trail.

The application, having been moved and seconded was AGREED.

Note:  Councillor Richard Dixon-Warren left the meeting.

St. Wulfram’s Church

Members had been provided with a full breakdown of costs for the project, along with quotes.

There were two elements to the project for urgent repairs and maintenance:

·       Repairs to the mesh grilles to windows in the spire of St. Wulfram’s

·       Works to clear downpipes and gutters and repair leadwork as necessary to both the south and north sides of the church.

Officers confirmed that the application would be eligible under the terms of the funding due to the amount of community-based activity taking place within the church.

It was confirmed that the quote attached to the application was from December 2022, and therefore the increased costs on top of this quote would have  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.

The following was raised as other business:

·       Officers received a range of applications, all of which were currently presented to members. It was suggested that officers do not present in-depth ineligible applications to the Board. Going forward, there would  be a line in a report referencing applications that had been rejected for being ineligible.

·       A new date was to be confirmed for the next Board meeting, prior to the election on 4 May to discuss remaining applications for this electoral year.

·       Officers to look into creating an automated email thanking applicants for their submissions.

Meeting closed at 4.23 pm