Agenda item

The Executive Director of Finance and Resources discussed the report detailing the proposal to grant a twelve year lease to Redditch Youth and Community Enterprise (RYCE) for the use of the REDI Centre.

In the course of the presentation it was highlighted that;

·         The item would be discussed at the Executive Committee on the 10^th July 2018.

·         RYCE currently used the REDI Centre and had done so since January 2014 under a meanwhile lease arrangement whereby no rent was paid.

·         As detailed at 3.2 – 3.7 of the report RYCE had successfully secured grant funding for feasibility and design reports for the building to ensure that it was fit for purpose for the future.

·         A final Stage 3 bid had been presented to the Big Lottery to provide £465k, £350k of which would be for capital works. Part of the condition of any grant allocation will be that the lease arrangement in place had to be ten years or over following the completion of the building work so a lease of twelve years was being proposed.

·         The improvements would help ensure better access for all, in particular disabled people and also enable additional community services to be based there.

·         It was proposed that the rent would be £7k for the lease period.

·         All the arrangements would be subject to further discussion with the Big Lottery.

·         The Council had to consider Best Value and the report included consideration of the financial value and community value. The social value included over 1,200 attendances each month.

·         Risks included that the RYCE income appeared ambitious but RYCE had confirmed that it could achieve an income of £30-40K per year.

·         There were a lot of legal considerations to take into account due to the involvement of the Big Lottery and this would limit what the building could be used for over the next twelve years.

In response to Members’ queries the Executive Director of Finance and Resources confirmed that;

·         In relation to the risks associated with the grant and the dependence on RYCE diversifying income streams, the Council would be meeting with RYCE quarterly going forward to ensure that they could meet the Big Lottery expectations.

·         Regarding the impact on other organisations in the vicinity no challenge had been presented as yet. The potential risk referred to was that hirers could move to the centre from elsewhere.

A representative from RYCE explained that the improvements would provide for a Changing Place in Redditch. For there to be a Changing Place there had to be a number of things in place, for example a shower hoist, a moveable wash basin and a privacy area. A Changing Place contractor would be involved. The funding would also provide the opportunity to put in place new lifts and three new toilets capable of taking a wheelchair and improvements to the grounds. The focus was on improving access for disabled people.

The Chair referred to the good work of RYCE and proposed that the Committee recommend that the Executive Committee consider recommendations 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3 in the report.

This was seconded by Councillor Chance, with the whole Committee voting in favour of the proposal.

RECOMMENDED that

the Executive Committee take into account the following three recommendations;

1)    a 12 year lease is granted to RYCE for the use of the REDI Centre subject to commence when the Lottery funding for works on the building is approved;

2)    approval of a rent of £7k per annum is agreed for the period of the lease; and

3)    should the Lottery grant be unsuccessful that a further report be presented to Members on the future opportunities for the centre.