Agenda item

This report gives an update on the progress of funding bids submitted including any resulting capital or revenue implications for the Council should the bids be successful.

Members considered the Projects Update – Growing Fenland and CCC Capital Community Fund report presented by Councillor Boden.

Members made comments, asked questions and received responses as follows: 

·         Councillor Mrs French said it is great to see the amount of money coming into Fenland. Her only disappointment is that we have still not heard about the March High Street Fund. £900,000 out of £1million was allocated towards this and her concern now is that if we do not get something put in before the deadline and we do not get the fund, then March will lose that sum. She added that Councillor Count has been pushing the Government behind the scenes so hopefully we will soon get some news. If not, we will have to relook at what we can do for March as we were hoping to get this Government funding. In respect of civil parking enforcement, the Town Councils had each agreed to put in £100,000.  An enlightening meeting was held some weeks ago and she is hoping to have a draft report from the consultant before Christmas.

·         Councillor Boden asked Councillor Mrs French to ensure that the application made to the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA) on civil parking enforcement incorporates all the potential capital costs, taking into account all the costs incurred in starting up. Councillor Mrs French confirmed that the business plan would be ready for the deadline.

·         Councillor Boden said we hoped that we would soon hear from Government regarding the March High Street Fund; it is essential that we put in the application with the CPCA even if it is provisional based on our receiving money from the Future High Street Fund. Not only has the Mayor of the CPCA agreed to the £900,000 but he has also agreed to underwrite a further £1.1 million for which we are very grateful. We are hoping and waiting for the Government to announce who will be receiving what as this money will transform March town centre.

·         Councillor Mrs Laws raised her concern that it seems a long time, particularly in her experience with the Whittlesey Interactive Flood Signs, between announcing to the community that funding has been received for any project and the delivery of these projects. She said this was not a criticism of officers, who she appreciated were dealing with a huge amount of legal work behind the scenes. Councillor Boden said this was a justified concern. He advised that there are two elements, the first was the interrelationship between the CPCA and FDC for all these funding schemes. It took a lot of sorting which mainly caused the delay and secondly, our specific legal requirements for each individual project. However, we now have full agreement in respect of the interrelationship between the CPCA and FDC, which means those initial delays will not be repeated and future schemes will have a far shorter delay. We just need to ensure that scheme-specific legal details are sorted out, but these will vary between each scheme. Councillor Mrs Laws thanked Councillor Boden and passed on her thanks to officers for their work behind the scenes.

·         Councillor Hoy said although it is good that the CPCA have provided the monies, credit needs to go to FDC officers. She also wanted to place on record her thanks to Terry Jordan of Wisbech Town Council for the high quality bid he wrote for Wisbech Market Place, which turned an idea into reality. Councillor Boden agreed that officers had put in a lot of hard work behind the scenes to produce reports as quickly and comprehensively as possible to ensure that when they get to the CPCA, they go seamlessly through the system before being presented to the board for approval.

Cabinet AGREED to note the content of the report and projects due to be submitted to the next CPCA Board Meeting on 27.01.21 as set out in appendix E. 

CCC Capital Communities Fund:

·           No further action required

Growing Fenland:

·           To approve the capital and/or revenue costs as set out below: