Agenda item

The Grantham Future High Streets Fund - Mid-Year Update was presented by the Leader of the Council.

The Leader confirmed the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to have paid the entirety of the capital funding allocation for the Future High Street Fund to the council, totaling £5,556,042.

Following this monetary confirmation, the report outlined details of the following five subsections -

·       Subset One: Public Realm Projects (This included raising the Grantham Market Place carriageway to the same level as the existing York stone paved areas and resurfacing of the carriageway and upgraded traffic signals at the Station Road/ A607 Junction. Works started on 19 August 2024 and were anticipated to last a duration of 16 weeks, concluding in December 2024. The works were completed under the forecasted budget which allowed for the release of circa £426,000 remaining funding. Confirmation of the final value of this was awaited from LCC Highways, following their negotiation of compensation events with Taylor Woodrow. In anticipation, Officers were developing a programme of additional works, including street furniture and improving power supplies to the marketplace.)

·       Subset Two: Conduit Lane Toilet Refurbishment (Renovations to male, female and disabled public toilets within the block, as well as the staff toilets available to the Markets team. Works started on 11 November 2024 and were anticipated to take between 8 to 10 weeks)

·       Subset Three:Upper Floor Grants Programme (Allowing owners of retail properties within the town centre to convert vacant and underutilised upper floor space into high-quality residential units. All 22 grants have now been allocated to applicants to the full programme value of £550,000.)

·       Subset Four: Grantham Town Team (The newly appointed Grantham Engagement Manager joined the Council on 22 July 2024 and work begun to re-establish the Grantham Town Team.)

·       Subset Five: A summary of engagement with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. (Monthly Officer meetings continued to take place with MHCLG Funding Delivery Managers to provide updates on progress and discuss issues. Council Officers were discussing any potential underspend with MCHLG on the programme and, as reported in previous updates to elected Members, the Council was not the only grant recipient experiencing difficulties with programme delivery, particularly around costs. MHCLG confirmed over 50% of programmes have submitted project change requests and were anticipating this percentage to rise.)

During discussions, Members commented on the following:

-       The reliability of the financial data in Subset One was queried. The Leader confirmed the data for finances spent to be bulletproof and the data for finances yet to be spent to be subject to standard building industry variation.

-       Members queried the composition of the Town Team. It was confirmed that the Town Team consisted of four members: namely, John Manterfield, Nigel Rivers, Roy Redmond, and Susan Swinburn. These were joined by The Leader, The Chairman of Grantham Town Council, and the Cabinet Members for both Corporate Governance and Licensing, and Property and Public Engagement. They were then supported by SKDC Officers, who were not entitled to vote.

-       It was queried how the above appointments had been made to the Town Team. The Leader confirmed recruitment to be their responsibility and that they had made the appointments in consultation with Officers and the Leader of the Town Council. A Member suggested that appointments had been made due to patronage. The Leader rebuked this, citing that there had been no financial or other incentive to himself for the appointments to be made. Albeit the Leader did concede there was not a codified application process. 

-       It was noted whilst there was representation on the Town Team from individuals involved in local business, transport, and the Civic Society, there were no individuals on the Town Team actively involved in the retail sector. It was queried how proactively retailers had been sought for their involvement.

-       A Member suggested there may have been individuals rejected from joining the Town Team due to their political views. This was rebuked by the Grantham Engagement Manager.

-       A Member questioned the political independence of the four individuals appointed to the Town Team citing that Sue Swinburn had ran as an independent candidate against Cllr M. Bailey in May 2023. The Member’s view was that it was more appropriate for the Town Team to comprise of elected Members to increase transparency. The Leader expressed concern that politicizing the Town Team could deter members of the public from engaging.

-       The Chairman reminded the Committee that it was not the role of the Committee to determine the personnel and appointment process of the Town Team.

-       It was queried and confirmed the Station Road roadworks were on target to finish by the documented completion date.  

-       A Member suggested an impact assessment should be undertaken to gage the disruption caused to road users by the roadworks.

The report was noted by the Committee.