Agenda item

[Report of the Director of Housing, Regeneration and Planning. To be introduced by the Cabinet Member for Local Investment and Economic Growth]

This report relates to the Greater London Authority Good Growth Fund (GGF), which was launched in 2017. The Good Growth Fund is Mayor Sadiq Khan's £70 million regeneration programme to support growth and community development in London.

The Cabinet Member for Local Investment introduced the report which sought authority to enter into two grant agreements; one with the GLA in the event of the GGF bid being successful, and the other 3 with the London Borough of Tower Hamlets (accountable body for the SIP bid) to accept SIP grant funding.

Cabinet noted that the funding would unlock much-needed town centre and public realm improvement projects for Wood Green. It would create opportunities for local residents and businesses to become much more involved in and benefit from the regeneration of Wood Green through meaningful engagement, community empowerment, business training and participatory evaluation.

Since publication of the report, the GLA had announced that an in-principle approval has been granted in respect of the request for GLA funding for up to £972,500 of capital funding. This represented a shortfall of £870,000 from the Stage 2 GLA funding request. No formal explanation has been given as yet for the reduction in the grant awarded in the notification notice.

The Adaptive Wood Green programme comprised the following elements which are funded by GLA:

·           ‘Empower young people in the creation of youth space,’

·           Making Better Places – ‘Improving Air Quality’

·           Building skills and employability with ‘Changing Gears’

·           ‘Intensify the economy through Adaptive Town Centre strategy’

·           ‘High Street Community Civic Centre’.

Improving Air Quality projects GLA funding was also reduced from £520,000 to £400,000.

It was noted that the Turnpike Lane Project and the project management cost have been not been supported for funding by the GLA.

Officers would discuss the proposal with the GLA in detail and consider how the projects would be delivered. Therefore Cabinet are recommended to agree to:

• Accept the GLA grant allocation of £0.9725m; and to Vire £0.870m from the approved capital programme contingency.

Following discussion with Finance and the Cabinet Member for Finance and Strategic Regeneration, it was proposed to allocate £0.87m from the approved capital programme contingency. The approved capital programme contingency currently had an unallocated budget of £1.574m. The allocation from the contingency of £0.87m would reduce the contingency to £0.704m. Whilst this was a relatively small contingency for a capital programme of the size of the Haringey programme, it was very close to the end of the financial year and there are no other known calls on the contingency.

Following questions from Cllr Ogiehor, the following information was noted:

• The two schools to access funding from the improving air quality element of funding were expected to be Alexandra Park Primary, and Noel Park primary school and the other three schools were yet to be identified as set out in the report.
• With regards to the ratio of funding received in relation to population figures, the Council had received positive feedback on the bids and it was important to note that these were widely sought and contested bids in London. The general steer from the GLA was for the Council to focus resources on one single bid. Some Councils had took a risker approach and had completed more than one bid. The Council had a consistent successful track record for seeking this type of funding.
• Taking account the changes above concerning recommendation 3.1.1 and the additional recommendation to vire £0.870m from the approved capital programme contingency.

RESOLVED

1. To agree that in the event of the ‘Adaptive Wood Green’ application to the GLA’s Good Growth Fund being successful, give delegated authority to the Director of Housing, Regeneration and Planning and the S151 Officer, after consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance and Strategic Regeneration.

2. To agree the acceptance of the Strategic Investment Pot (SIP) funding from the 19/20 SIP Consultation for the ‘Central London Inclusive Growth’ bid from the accountable body (London Borough of Tower Hamlets) and to give delegated authority to the Director for Housing, Regeneration and Planning to agree the final terms of the funding agreement in respect of the funding if required. The exact amount is still to be determined but is expected to be over £500,000 (up to a sum of £750,000).

Reasons for decision

Haringey submitted the Stage 1 application for the Good Growth Fund in October 2019 and Stage 2 bid was submitted on 3rd February 2020. The GLA will be notifying successful candidates in March 2020.

The Adaptive Wood Green proposal is for a £1.84m GGF grant and £2.52m match (including £0.40m of SIP and £0.60m of other external partner match funding) funding to contribute to projects with a total value of £4.37m. See table in appendix 1 for details.

If the GGF bid is successful, then the GLA will require Haringey to enter into a grant agreement by a date to be confirmed by the GLA. The decision to enter into the grant funding agreement is a Key Decision as the value of the grant is above £500k.

At the time of writing this report it is not known whether the GGF bid has been successful or not, but in order to meet the deadlines it is necessary to seek conditional approval that, in the event of the bid being successful, Haringey can enter into a grant agreement with the GLA.

The City of London Corporation has determined the funding allocation to be awarded to the successful SIP projects. The recommendation from November 2019 was to award the two ‘inclusive growth’ bids £8m to share. Work is ongoing between the two accountable bodies to determine the exact allocation. This is expected to complete shortly.

Alternative options considered

In January 2018, Cabinet agreed to adopt the Wood Green Strategic Regeneration Framework (SRF), which sets out the overarching vision and objectives for Wood Green. Officers have developed a Development Infrastructure and Investment Funding Study and Delivery Plan, which will set out projects and priorities for the short, medium and long term.

There are a number of projects and priorities in the Wood Green SRF and draft Delivery Plan. All of the projects in the ‘Adaptive Wood Green’ proposal sit within this framework. The projects in the GGF “Adaptive Wood Green” application have been proposed because there is a specific opportunity (in the form of reusing vacant or underused building) or funding already secured which has been used to lever in additional grant from the GLA.

If Cabinet does not agree to enter into the GGF grant agreement with the GLA then some projects may be unlikely to progress.

If Cabinet does not agree to accept SIP funding from the accountable body, the Council will not be able to utilise the expected £750,000 investment in the borough to deliver affordable workspace with digital infrastructure, and support for businesses to help residents from all backgrounds to set-up in business, micro businesses to employ (diversely), and small businesses to expand.

If Cabinet does not agree to accept SIP funding, then the projects to develop the civic infrastructure in Wood Green through a High Street Community Civic Centre and backing small businesses with business support will be significantly affected.

The report recommends that delegated authority for approving the grant agreements within the required timescale is given to the Director of Housing, Regeneration and Planning and ensure if the funding is approved Haringey enters into a grant agreement with the GLA in the deadline.

The alternative option would be to go back to Cabinet in June 2020 with the final grant agreements which may result in delays with project start-up.