Agenda item

To consider proposals to approve all Towns Fund tranche 3 project Full Business Cases and associated documentation for submission to the Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities by 24 March 2022.

Tranche 3 of the Towns Fund Programme comprised the remaining 14 projects, which represented, in total, £63.5m of investment in Sandwell.

To date, 3 of the 17 projects within tranche 1 and tranche 2 of the Towns Fund Programme had successfully followed this process. The remaining 14 projects in tranche 3 of the Towns Fund Programme were due to have Project Summary Documents submitted to Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities (DLUHC) by 24 March 2022. The projects within tranche 3 represented the most complex within the programme and as such, each of the projects had experienced unforeseen challenges and thus delays to the preparation of the Full Business Cases (FBCs). To meet the Government deadline of 24 March 2022, Cabinet was presented with recommendations to streamline the process of preparing the FBCs.

Approval was sought to authorise the Section 151 Officer and the Director for Regeneration and Growth, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Growth, to approve all Towns Fund tranche 3 project FBCs and associated documentation for submission to the DLUHC by 24 March 2022.

Approval was also sought for an Assurance Panel to be established so that the Council accorded with its responsibility as an Accountable Body, could undertake business case assurance and sign off in line with local processes.

Reasons for Decision

To meet the Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities (DLUHC) submission deadline of 24 March 2022, it was proposed to build-in efficiencies to the process to give more time for tranche 3 projects FBC development. Currently there were two main constraints to the tranche 3 project Full Business Cases (FBCs) programme, both of which were having a detrimental impact on the Council and partners’ ability to complete the FBCs and submit the cases to DLUHC by the submission deadline.

The first constraint was the requirement for all FBCs to be appraised by the Council’s Strategic Investment Unit. A regeneration programme, of this scale, had not been in scope for the Borough of Sandwell for many years and as such the unit did not possess sufficient resource to appraise all 14 projects to meet the DLUHC submission deadline. The second constraint related to the requirement for Cabinet to approve the FBCs ahead of DLUHC submission, which would entail lengthy lead-in periods for report preparation and submission.

Alternative Options

The alternative option would be to keep the existing governance arrangements, but this would create a risk that not all Tranche 3 business cases could be approved by the submission deadline of 24 March 2022, which could then lead to a loss of Towns Fund allocations. The Towns Fund investments were critical to addressing a range of issues and delivering tangible improvements in the Borough.

Agreed: -

(1)     that the Section 151 Officer and the Director for Regeneration & Growth be authorised, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Growth, to approve all Towns Fund tranche 3 project Full Business Cases (FBCs) and associated documentation for submission to the Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities (DLUHC) by 24 March 2022;

(2)     that in connection with Resolution (1) above, an Assurance Panel be established to accord with the council’s responsibility as Accountable Body, to undertake business case assurance and sign off in line with local processes;

(3)     that approval be given for an Exemption from 19.1 and 19.2 of the Council’s Financial Regulations to action Resolution (1) above.