Agenda item

(To consider a report from Justin Brown, Assistant Director – Growth, on the Submission of Application for Funding to UK Community Renewal Fund and Levelling Up Fund which is due to be considered by the Leader of the Council on 18 June 2021. The views of the Board will be reported to the Leader of the Council as part of his consideration of this item)

Consideration was given to a report from the Assistant Director – Growth, on the Submission of Application for Funding to UK Community Renewal Fund and Levelling Up Fund which was due to be considered by the Leader of the Council on 18 June 2021. The views of the Board would be reported to the Leader of the Council as part of his consideration of this item.

The Board was invited to:- Consider the report and to determine whether the Board supported the recommendations to the Leader of the Council (Executive Councillor for Resources, Communications, and Commissioning). The recommendations included: Approval of the submission of a Lincolnshire-wide bid to the UK Community Renewal Fund in accordance with Table 1 in the report; Approval of the submission of a Lincolnshire County Council bid to the Levelling Up Fund for transport improvements which supported the growth of the food manufacturing sector in the A16 corridor which connected Boston and Spalding; and the authorisation of the Executive Director for Place to determine the detail of the final form of both bids for submission.

The County Council had the opportunity to make two bids into the funds that the government had made available for regional growth – the UK Community Renewal Fund and the Levelling Up Fund.  Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) was the lead organisation for Community Renewal Fund and had run a consultation programme which had led to projects of sufficient quality to make a bid with a value of £9m to government.  As the local highway authority LCC could make one bid to the Levelling Up Fund and because of the economic impact and because of deliverability it was proposed that the bid submitted by LCC was for £20m for transport improvements on the A16 between Boston and Spalding.  Bids should be submitted on 18^th June 2021.

The following points were raised:

For consideration for the submission of the bids:

·         Improvements to the A16 were important. The A16, an essential route from the north to the south of Lincolnshire, was not designed for growth when it was originally built. As a result of additional routes connecting onto the A16, the road was now regularly congested due to the volume of traffic. The Government needed to be mindful of planning for growth when allocating funding.

·         It was recognised that this was a partnership project, with the County Council working with the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership and other partners, and was also part of an economic recovery strategy which should be welcomed. All of the projects would be delivered as part of a partnership strategy to tackle growth and recovery, particularly as a result of Covid-19 and the UK's exit from the European Union. In addition, the bids clearly show that they would contribute substantially to delivering the economic recovery strategy. 

For consideration by the Council:

·         Some infrastructure projects were not originally designed with growth in mind. Going forward, infrastructure designs should plan for future expansion purposes, such as to avoid traffic congestion. When designing new capital investments, the Council should consider whole life costs and long term growth, while making sure that the Council would not have to finance long term improvements to respond to growth.  The Board advised that some lobbying of the Government might be necessary for a review of the planning system and additional funding, as it was becoming increasingly difficult for the County Council to fund more and more associated projects due to a reduction in funding.

·         Information on the four District Council's Levelling Up Fund bids would have been useful so that they could have been supported, if appropriate, by the County Council.

·         Monitoring the performance of those organisations who had requested finance would be important. This would ensure that the achievement of outcomes was monitored and managed within projects.

RESOLVED:

1)    That the recommendations as outlined in the report and above, be supported;

2)    That a summary of the comments as outlined above be reported to the Leader of the Council (Executive Councillor for Resources, Communications, and Commissioning) as part of his consideration of this item.