Any interests not already registered

There were no additional declarations of interest.

The Leader and Portfolio Holder presented the report which detailed the Government’s new £900 million Getting Building Fund (GBF) which had been created to invest in local infrastructure projects to drive economic growth in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. The South East Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP) successfully secured £85million.

The Strategic Head of Property and Commercial set out that Meeting point, 27-37 High Street, Swanley (referred to as The Meeting Place in SELEP documents) had been allocated a grant of £1.49million.  The Council would need to accelerate its delivery programme for the project, to meet the Government’s grant terms and challenging timetable. As a capital delivery budget had not yet been set there was an urgent need to mobilise consultants and undertake enabling words to meet the grant conditions imposed by Government. Therefore Cabinet’s permission was sought to vire funds of £375,000 from the Property Investment Strategy in the Council’s 2020/21 Capital Programme to facilitate an accelerated delivery programme.

Government had stated that projects must be delivered within the timetable it had set and if projects could not meet the timetable, grant funding would not be available or clawed back. Key milestones included works starting on site early 2021 and completion by March 2022. The estimated total was £5.624m of which £375,000 would be needed to mobilise design and technical consultants and undertake enabling works.

Planning permission was approved on 21 May 2020 for a business hub and 17 residential units. Central Government considered Meeting point, 27-37 High Street, Swanley an important project to help with the post Covid-19 economic recovery and facilitate the regeneration. As a result £1.49million had been approved from the BGF Programme Via SELEP. The remaining capital was to be funded from a mix of funding sources.

Members attention was brought to the key risks relating to the project as outlined in Appendices A and B.

Public Sector Equality Duty

Members noted that consideration had been given to impacts under the Public Sector Equality Duty.

Resolved:  That

a)     the Government’s imperative to stimulate local economies with the Getting Building Fund given the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, and via the fund to support the delivery of capital projects through the Getting Building Fund that would promote the regeneration of town centres in deprived areas and create new job opportunities be noted;

b)     ­­­­­the Government’s Getting Building Fund announcement to allocate £1.49m grant funding towards the redevelopment of 27-37 High Street Swanley, administered via the South East Local Economic Partnership be welcomed;

c)     the funding conditions set by Government, particularly the delivery timetable and urgency imposed by government to ensure the project would be delivered is noted;

d)     the virement of £375,000 from the Property Investment Strategy in the Council’s 2020/21 Capital Programme to allow the expenditure of consultancy and enabling works associated with the project be approved;  and

e)     the Strategic Head of Property and Commercial in consultation with the Head of Legal and Democratic Services and the Chief Officer Finance & Trading be delegated authority  ...  view the full minutes text for item 109.

This notice was published on 7 August 2020. The decision contained in Minute 109 takes effect on 17 August 2020.