Agenda item

The attached Redditch Town Deal – Town Investment Plan is in draft form.  The final version of this plan will be published for Members’ consideration at the Council meeting on 25^th January 2021.

The Head of Economic Development & Regeneration from North Worcestershire Economic Development and Regeneration (NWEDR) presented a report in respect of the Redditch Town Deal Investment Plan. During the presentation, the following matters were highlighted for Member’s consideration:

·         There were three key themes included in the scope of the Town’s Fund including urban regeneration, enterprise and connectivity (including digital and transport).

·         Any proposals put forward as part of the Town Deal Investment Plan needed to be evidence based and have economic impact in the location.

·         Governance arrangements were outlined in the Government guidelines including establishment of the Town Deal Board. The Board was responsible for creating a long-term vision and interventions in order to support that vision. External consultants were engaged to aid the development of the Town Deal Investment Plan and to carry out an independent assessment of any projects that were proposed to ensure that they aligned with the Board’s vision.

·         That unlocking Redditch was the vision in order to move Redditch from a traditional New Town to a New Town that was fit for the 21^st Century.

·         There were expectations included in the Government guidance regarding public consultation and the Board fully supported the engagement with the local communities and that external consultants undertook comprehensive and targeted market research.

·         The report that had been provided to the Committee was in draft form and the final version of the plan would be available in time for Members’ consideration at the meeting of Council on Monday 25th January 2021.

The Chair invited Councillor Dormer, as Portfolio Holder for Planning, Economic Development, Commercialism and Partnerships to comment on the report and in doing so he thanked the Head of NWEDR, the Regeneration and Implementation Manager and the Board for all of their hard work and time in preparing the Redditch Town Deal Investment Plan. He informed Members that it had been more difficult to engage with members of the public during Covid-19 but that the number of responses and engagement during the public consultation had been very encouraging.

The Chief Executive updated the Committee in respect of the Town Board meeting that had taken place during the previous week and confirmed that it had been agreed that the Town’s Investment Plan was proposing a budget of £25 million. It was further clarified to Members that this decision had been made as Government required Town Boards to demonstrate that projects bidding for more than £25 million would have needed to clearly show that the projects would impact at a regional or national level.

Members raised some concerns in respect of the Redditch Town Deal Investment Plan website and transparency for residents. The low numbers of responses to the public consultation were also queried given the number of people who lived in Redditch. Officers were requested to provide data regarding the demographic of those residents who had provided responses and the types of public consultation that was carried out. Officers undertook to provide information to the Committee outside of the meeting.

Further queries that were raised included the following:

·         The situation of the Police Station including what were the plans and what funding had been received.

·         The future of Library provision and location in the Town Centre.

The Head of NWEDR and the Regeneration and Implementation Manager responded to the queries and informed Members that the Police Station was a key site for the development and the funding that had been provided had been given to enable site development and that discussions were taking place with relevant colleagues in order to progress the project. In terms of the public consultation, it was clarified to Members that there had been engagement through the Government’s ‘My Town’ campaign which had yielded a decent response. A survey was undertaken by an external provider who ensured that there had been a broad range of demographics who had responded to the survey. In addition to this, groups were established, and interviews carried out through a variety of methods for example via telephone and online meeting, which ensured social inclusivity. It was confirmed to Members that here had also been wider distribution of the survey which had included members of the Redditch Partnership, Heart of Worcestershire College (HoW), Redditch Churches and Redditch Community Forum. Members were advised that consultation would usually include road shows however Covid-19 had meant that such events could not take place. Officers confirmed that the website would be live within the next few days and was part of an ongoing project up to 2026.

Members enquired regarding the engagement of education providers in the Borough and noted that they felt it would be beneficial in the future if there were greater engagement in this area. It was confirmed to Members that HoW College had been invited to meetings and included in the process along with all key strategic partners.

Some Members discussed that the plan outlined an ambitious project which hopefully would lead to a positive future for Redditch and once again officers were thanked for their hard work on the project.

In respect of delegated authority being granted to the Head of NWEDR and Head of Legal, Democratic and Property Services, the Chair requested that in order for the Committee be kept informed of decisions made that regular updates were presented to the Committee.

After further detailed discussion Members were informed that a Programme Manager would be involved in the delivery of the project and Members requested that a robust process be undertaken when recruiting the person to the position to ensure that they held the relevant experience for a project of this scale.

The Chair concluded the debate and noted that this project was a very important stage in Redditch’s development and that it was important to work together to ensure the best for residents in the Borough.

RESOLVED that

the Overview and Scrutiny Committee receive regular, six-monthly updates in respect of the Redditch Town Deal Investment Plan.