Issue - meetings

[Report of the Director for Housing, Regeneration and Planning. To be introduced by the Cabinet Member for Finance and Strategic Regeneration]

Cabinet are being asked to approve receipt of funding from MHCLG.  Haringey has been shortlisted to receive circa £850,000, as a ‘Good Growth 3 Accelerator fund’ from the MHCLG. This will be awarded in addition to the £972,500 granted by the GLA in March. The accelerator funding will support the GGF3 funding to unlock much-needed town centre and public realm improvement projects for Wood Green.

The Cabinet Member for Finance and Strategic Regeneration introduced the report which sought approval for the receipt of additional grant funding to the Good Growth Funding round 3 (GGF3) and to agree to the variation of the existing GGF3 Grant Agreement by way of a Deed of Variation of the GGF3 Grant Agreement for the receipt of the accelerator grant.

Haringey had submitted a bid for GGF3 in September 2019 for a project called ‘Adaptive Wood Green’. This bid had been successful, and Haringey received a grant of £972,500 in March 2020. Subsequently, the Wood Green Regeneration team submitted a bid for funding from the Mayor of London’s ‘Getting Building Fund’, which was also successful, and the Council would receive £850,000 as a ‘Good Growth Fund 3 Accelerator’.

The GGF3 accelerator would fund three new projects in Wood Green, alongside the original six GGF3 funded projects to unlock much needed town centre and public realm improvement projects for Wood Green.

RESOLVED

1. To approve the receipt of additional grant funding to the Good Growth Funding round three (GGF3) via the Good Growth Fund Accelerator and agree to the variation of the existing GGF3 Grant Agreement by way of a Deed of Variation of the GGF3 Grant Agreement for the receipt of the accelerator grant.

2. To receive the total value of the additional grant funding from the GLA which is £850,000.

Reasons for decision

Haringey was awarded £972,500 from the Good Growth Fund in March 2020.

In June 2020, the Wood Green Regeneration Team applied for the Mayor of London ‘Getting London Building Fund’, and in August 2020 were shortlisted to receive £850,000 in the form of the ‘GGF Accelerator Fund’.

In March Cabinet approved the decision to enter into a grant agreement for the initial grant of £972,500. Haringey entered into this grant agreement with the GLA in October 2020.

In November 2020, the GLA confirmed that LBH had been awarded £850,000 GGF Accelerator Funding.

As the accelerator fund is also above £500,000, the decision to enter into the grant funding agreement is a Key Decision.

We therefore require Cabinet to approve the additional funding, and approve its inclusion into the pre-existing GGF3 grant agreement via a Deed of variation.

Alternative options considered

Do not accept additional Accelerator Funding - If Cabinet does not agree to allow the accelerator fund to be accepted, then the three identified projects will be unlikely to progress. This would also fail to make best use of available external funding to support limited Council budgets.