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Shipley Towns Fund - Council response to freedom of information Request

romanhaluszczak4

I am now using my public resilience blog to let all Shipley residents know about my freedom of information requests on rhe Shipley proposals.


Please read all the questions and responses and don't let this Slide!


Dear Roman Haluszczak

I refer to your request dated 1 April 2022 under the Freedom of Information Act asking to supply the following information:

Q1. What is the strategy of the engagement company to mitigate this risk?

Q2.Why are other Council websites on the schemes misaligned with the new website?

Q3 How much is the Engagement strategy and the business plan preparation strategy going to cost?

Q4. Will funding of all the schemes cover any associated VAT?

Q5. Will the Council be able to claim back any associated scheme VAT?

Q6. What will the initial ?1.25 m capital advance be spent on?

Q7. How will capital spending on the schemes be accounted for by the Council?

Q8. How will any associated scheme revenue spending be accounted for for and funded?

Q9. When might more specific scheme information be released?

Q10. How will rhese schemes meet local and national objectives?

Q11.How will the outputs, outcomes of these schemes be measured, monitored and reported on?

Q12.Which output and outcome measures have been developed to marry up with question 11?

Q13.What will success look like for the Shipley Town's Fund?

Q14. How will the success of the Town's Fund be measured and reported on?

Q15. Should the ?1.25m advance be deducted from the ?25m scheme costs?

Q16. What input will Shipley residents have into the business case submissions and scheme performance indicators?

Q17. If the government were to reject these business case submissions will the Town's Fund Schemes fall?

Q18. What input will Shipley residents have into periodic annual scheme monitoring and review processes?

Q19. How will scheme feedback by Shipley residents be garnered and reviewed?

Q20. Is the matched funding mentioned in paragraph 4 of the 7th of December Council report treated separately from the ?25m scheme costs?

Q21. How are the Green effects of these schemes going to be measured and reviewed?

Q22. Shipley Towns Fund Schemes are expected to leverage in private sector funding. How will this work for each of the 8 schemes included in the current Towns Fund scenario?

The Council?s response is set out below:

Q1. What is the strategy of the engagement company to mitigate this risk?

Recent engagement activity events took place as set out below:

? Friday 11th February / 4pm ? 7pm Caroline St Social Club,

? Thursday 3rd March / 4pm ? 7pm Victoria Hall (The York Room),

? Saturday 12th March / 12 ? 3pm Kirkgate Centre

Invitations were distributed / hand delivered locally to maximise the reach and attract as many local people as possible to the sessions. In addition, details of the events were shared on Social Media and with a wide stakeholder list.

A website was developed to support the engagement activity. It launched on 10 Feb and included an online feedback form if local people preferred to engage via a virtual platform.

These engagement sessions offered the general public an opportunity to find out more about the investment and to help shape the individual projects via their feedback / input. It also provided a platform to hear from local people about how they would like to see Shipley evolving through this investment.

Q2.Why are other Council websites on the schemes misaligned with the new website?

The websites have different purposes and contain different information.

The Council Towns Fund website has been operating since the Board was set up in Autumn 2020 - https://www.bradford.gov.uk/regeneration/towns-fund/shipley-town-fund/ It holds all of the governance documents and board meeting agendas / minutes.

The website http://www.ourtownshipley.co.uk/ was launched to coincide with the recent engagement activity It holds some further information on the projects and displays the Vision and Strategic Objectives which were informed by stakeholder engagement / workshop exercise.

Q3 How much is the Engagement strategy and the business plan preparation strategy going to cost?

The Engagement Consultancy for Shipley is valued at ?25,000.

The cost of drafting the business cases for the projects ?165,538.65 ? as set out in the answer to Q6, this is funded from the capital advance of ?1.25m.

Q4. Will funding of all the schemes cover any associated VAT?

Q5. Will the Council be able to claim back any associated scheme VAT?

The payment of funds by the Council under any Grant Agreement is believed to be outside the scope of Value Added Tax (VAT), but if any VAT shall become chargeable, all payments shall be deemed to be inclusive of all VAT and the Council shall not be obliged to pay any additional amount by way of VAT.

It is the responsibility of the Beneficiary to determine whether its supplies are subject to VAT or not, and, if necessary, reach agreement with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) as to the correct treatment of the supplies.

The Parties acknowledge and agree that the Council shall not have any liability for amounts due to be paid by the Beneficiary to HMRC.

Q6. What will the initial ?1.25 m capital advance be spent on?

?25m is the Towns Fund / Government funding allocation. The capital advance of ?1.25m forms part of the ?25m. It will be used for project development ? design / technical studies / business case costs ? the Government decision to issue an advance was in acknowledgement that Council?s / projects would not be able to fund this activity at risk. Any unspent capital advance will be spent on project delivery.

Q7. How will capital spending on the schemes be accounted for by the Council?

Each project will have its own financial codes to enable the council to account for income and expenditure.

Q8. How will any associated scheme revenue spending be accounted for for and funded?

Each project will have its own financial codes to enable the council to account for income and expenditure.

Q9. When might more specific scheme information be released?

We will continue to keep the local community via press releases and engagement activity. For example, we recently issued a press release to advise the projects / business cases that had received approval from Government ? see the link for details of the press release - https://www.bradford.gov.uk/browse-all-news/press-releases/keighley-and-shipley-towns-fund-projects-get-the-go-ahead/

Q10. How will rhese schemes meet local and national objectives?

The local and national objectives were set out in the Executive Reports of January 2021 (https://bradford.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s32480/Doc%20CW.pdf) and December 2021 ( )

The January 2021 report set out the aim of the Towns Fund in Section 2:

The overarching aim of the Towns Fund is to drive the sustainable economic regeneration of towns to deliver long term economic and productivity growth. This could be done through:

Urban regeneration:

Ensuring towns are thriving places for people to live and work, including by:

? Increasing density in town centres;

? Strengthening local economic assets including local cultural assets;

? Site acquisition, preparation, remediation, and/or development; and

? Making full use of planning tools to bring strategic direction and change.

Skills and enterprise infrastructure:

? Driving private sector investment and small business development; and

? Ensuring towns have the space to support skills and small business development.

Connectivity:

? Developing local transport schemes that complement regional and national networks; and

? Supporting the delivery of improved digital connectivity.

The same report also set out the objectives of the Towns Fund as described in the Towns Fund Prospectus (November 2019) Towns Fund Guidance (June 2020):

Theme

Example Outputs

Local Transport

? Increase number of bus services

? New or upgraded cycle/ walking routes

? New or upgraded road infrastructure

? Pedestrianised streets

Digital connectivity

? Provision of full fibre infrastructure with local authority as anchor tenant

Urban regeneration, planning and land use

? Remediation and/or development of previously abandoned or dilapidated sites

Arts, culture + heritage

? New or upgraded museums, theatres, community spaces, etc

Skills infrastructure

? Increase in capacity and accessibility to new or improved skills facilities

Enterprise infrastructure

? Increase high-quality and affordable commercial floor-space

? Increase shared workspaces or innovation facilities

In terms of local objectives ? the Town Vision and Strategic Objectives were informed by stakeholder engagement / workshop exercise which took place in winter 2019-2020.

Vision for Shipley:

?To build on the economic success of Shipley as an IT, digital and manufacturing hub, and the rich, unique cultural offer of Saltaire World Heritage Site, to transform it into a well-connected, sustainable, creative and innovative location, supporting tourism, jobs, skills, training and educational opportunities for all.

Shipley town centre will be a diverse, attractive, active heart of activity, showcasing the town?s strong sense of community and building on its distinctiveness as a place.

Wider health, well-being and leisure infrastructure improvements will support an excellent quality of life, making it an outstanding place to live, study, work, shop, play, visit and invest?

Strategic Objectives for Shipley:


Q11.How will the outputs, outcomes of these schemes be measured, monitored and reported on?

Q12.Which output and outcome measures have been developed to marry up with question 11?

Each project will have a Monitoring and Evaluation Plan which captures the project outputs. Regular monitoring of outputs will be undertaken and reporting will take place in line with Government requirements for the funding. Please see the link below for details of the Government requirements / strategy in relation to monitoring and evaluation:

Q13.What will success look like for the Shipley Town's Fund?

The investment will drive the sustainable economic regeneration of towns to deliver long term economic and productivity growth. The funding and projects

Identified will create jobs, promote economic growth and are expected to have a positive impact on health outcomes.

Success is the programme delivered in line with the funding parameters and achieving the planned outcomes as set out in Town Vision and Strategic Objectives - covered in the response to Q10.

Q14. How will the success of the Town's Fund be measured and reported on?

See answers to Qs 9, 11 and 12. All Town Deal Board meeting agendas and minutes are published on the website via this website link - https://www.bradford.gov.uk/regeneration/towns-fund/shipley-town-fund/

Q15. Should the ?1.25m advance be deducted from the ?25m scheme costs?

The capital advance of ?1.25m forms part of the ?25m ? as set out in answer to Q6.

Q16. What input will Shipley residents have into the business case submissions and scheme performance indicators?

As set out in the answer to Q1, the engagement sessions offered the general public an opportunity to find out more about the investment and to help shape the individual projects via their feedback / input. It also provided a platform to hear from local people about how they would like to see Shipley evolving through this investment.

As part of developing the business case, the project sponsors develop the performance indicators to meet vision / town objectives and in compliance with Government guidance on Monitoring and Evaluation ? as set out in the answer to Q11 + 12.

Examples of performance indicators are :

  • # of full-time equivalent (FTE) permanent jobs safeguarded through the project

  • Amount of floor space repurposed

  • # of learners enrolled in new education and training courses

Q17. If the government were to reject these business case submissions will the Town's Fund Schemes fall?

The projects could not be delivered without the Towns Fund investment. Three business cases for Shipley have already been approved ? see the link to the recent press release in the response to Q9.

Q18. What input will Shipley residents have into periodic annual scheme monitoring and review processes?

The Town Deal Board will receive reports on progress. All Town Deal Board meeting agendas and minutes are published on the website via this website link - https://www.bradford.gov.uk/regeneration/towns-fund/shipley-town-fund/

Q19. How will scheme feedback by Shipley residents be garnered and reviewed?

See response to Q 16.

Q20. Is the matched funding mentioned in paragraph 4 of the 7th of December Council report treated separately from the ?25m scheme costs?

Yes, as we discussed at Victoria Hall, the ?25m is the Towns Fund allocation. Any match funding secured by the project sponsor is in addition to the ?25m.

Q21. How are the Green effects of these schemes going to be measured and reviewed?

The Government has stipulated that Investment from this fund should support clean growth.

Q22. Shipley Towns Fund Schemes are expected to leverage in private sector funding. How will this work for each of the 8 schemes included in the current Towns Fund scenario?

The approach to match funding and levering in private funding will vary according to project. As an example, the Capital Assistance to Business Growth Project has been developed based on feedback from stakeholder / business engagement which indicates there is a gap in availability of funding support ? most are aimed at generating new jobs yet business have highlighted a need to improve the productivity of existing businesses. Consequently, the Capital Assistance to Business project, funded by the Towns Fund, will focus on job retention, job creation, and productivity, therefore better meeting the needs of local businesses.

With productivity enhancement in mind, the project will provide business grants with a 10% to 50% intervention rate dependent on the size of the business (The intervention rate refers to the level of funding provided as a percentage of total project / business costs.) The other investment will come from the beneficiary businesses.

In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act, if you are not satisfied with the reply to your request you can ask for a review. A request for a review must be submitted within 40 working days in writing to the Corporate Information Governance Team, City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council, City Hall, Centenary Square, Bradford, BD1 1HY or by emailing foi@bradford.gov.uk.

If you are still not satisfied with the outcome of the internal review you have the right of appeal to the Information Commissioner who can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner?s Office,

Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.

Tel: 0303 123 1113

Web Link: www.ico.org.uk.

City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council is registered with the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) under the provisions of the Data Protection Act 2018. The Council takes its responsibilities under the Act very seriously. To find out more on how we handle your information, please click on the following link: https://www.bradford.gov.uk/privacy-notice

Regards

Siama Kausar

Information Governance Officer

Finance, IT & Procurement Service

Telephone Number: 01274 434506

Email: foi@bradford.gov.uk

City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council

Department of Corporate Resources

City Hall, Centenary Square, Bradford, BD1 1HY

This email, and any attachments, may contain Protected or Restricted information and is intended solely for the individual to whom it is addressed. It may contain sensitive or protectively marked material and should be handled accordingly. If this email has been misdirected, please notify the author immediately. If you are not the intended recipient you must not disclose, distribute, copy, print or rely on any of the information contained in it or attached, and all copies must be deleted immediately. Whilst we take reasonable steps to try to identify any software viruses, any attachments to this email may nevertheless contain viruses which our anti-virus software has failed to identify. You should therefore carry out your own anti-virus checks before opening any documents. Bradford Council will not accept any liability for damage caused by computer viruses emanating from any attachment or other document supplied with this email. Emails may be subject to recording and/or monitoring in accordance with relevant legislation.


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