Agenda item

REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR – ENTERPRISE

 

To provide the committee with an update on the progress of the Enterprise Directorate.

RESOLVED: That the Committee noted the report.

 

REASON FOR DECISION: The report followed the request of the committee for an update on the progress of the Enterprise Directorate and is for information only.

Audio recording – 25 minutes 22 seconds

 

Councillor Tamsin Thomas, as Executive Member for Enterprise, presented the report entitled ‘Enterprise Portfolio Update’ and advised that:

 

·             The initiation phase for the Churchgate project had been completed, with a comprehensive programme of viability assessments and market due diligence having taken place.

·             The project had been taken through the acquisition and initial public consultation phases to explore viable options that were being scrutinised by the Project Board.

·             There had been delays to the viable options report to achieve the right level of scrutiny. However, it would ideally be presented to the appropriate committees in springtime.

·             Viability included balancing elements such as housing delivery and future ownership, while understanding which elements would contribute financially in the long-term.

·             Appointment of a Churchgate Project Manager had strengthened their capacity.

·             The Economic Development Strategy (EDS) and its evidence base had been approved, and the upcoming Budget would help with its implementation.

·             A recent Member workshop on the EDS had been productive and highlighted opportunities in the district.

·             North Herts Museum had exceeded 30,000 visitors last year and had delivered 6 exhibitions over the last two.

·             Event bookings at Hitchin Town Hall had increased on the previous year to 668.

·             Inflationary pressures on Cultural Services had been offset by the increased income and efficiencies they had produced.

·             The Estates Team managed over £30M in Council assets that generated roughly £1.8M in net income per year.

·             They had modernised leasing arrangements and progressed long-standing projects such as The Arena, supported projects like the Museum Collection Facility, and were bringing forward option papers for projects such as Charnwood House and Riverside Walk.

·             A strategic portfolio review would also be undertaken to seek opportunities on asset disposal.

·             The Property Services Team oversaw 76 premises, responded to approximately 1,400 service requests and completed over 9,000 compliance checks annually.

·             They had modernised their systems through new facilities and compliance tools and made major repairs at several sites such as Baldock Community Centre.

·             They had also worked on decarbonisation of Council assets through the installation of Solar PV and EV charging points at the District Council Offices.

·             Budget projections showed a 1% increase on the net position of the directorate on the previous year.

·             Expenditure had increased due to Churchgate resourcing but income had also increased due to rent settlements and improved performance at Churchgate. 

·             The Enterprise Directorate were currently resourced at 87% capacity, with four vacancies to be resolved.

·             50 projects were live and the majority were on track.

·             A filled vacancy in the Estates Team had accelerated progress on projects, and they anticipated that filling other vacancies in February would have a similar impact.

·             The highest risk projects were Churchgate and the Museum Collection Facility which were managed through established risk management and project governance frameworks.

·             All Project boards followed ‘PRINCE 2’ framework, and larger projects like Churchgate were governed by a project board comprised of Members and Senior Officers.

·             The role of project boards was to build the business case for projects, before referring them to committees for consideration to allow Member involvement and the opportunity for added value.

 

The following Members asked questions:

 

·             Councillor Claire Winchester

·             Councillor Paul Ward

·             Councillor Ralph Muncer

·             Councillor Martin Prescott

·             Councillor Daniel Wright-Mason

·             Councillor David Chalmers

·             Councillor Jon Clayden

·             Councillor Sadie Billing

 

In response to questions, Councillor Tamsin Thomas advised that:

 

·             A topline exercise had been conducted to prioritise projects that would benefit from acceleration before Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) took place.

·             Projects like Charnwood House could be progressed on different timelines to LGR.

·             It would be important to address vacancies to ensure the delivery of major projects.

·             New access to business databases would help to build relationships with businesses in the district.

·             The EDS would ensure that economic opportunities from projects like Churchgate would be realised.

·             An estimated cost for Churchgate could not be provided due to the range of variables across the proposed options. However, the project had been approved on the basis that it would be financially viable and worthwhile over a 40-year period.

·             The Council were seeking an organisation that would be able to uphold the community covenants associated with Charnwood House.

·             A decision on the viable options for Churchgate was scheduled to be made at the next Project Board meeting on 27 February.

·             Small businesses in rural villages were supported by the Council through the administration of the Shared Prosperity Fund and the encouragement of initiatives like Herts Futures.

·             The EDS recognised that the economy of the district extended beyond its boundaries, as acknowledged by the ‘Looking in’ and ‘Looking out’ framework.

·             Support had been given to small businesses in the form of response schemes and grants during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

In response to questions, the Director – Enterprise advised that:

 

·             There had been slippage on the action areas within the EDS, but additional officers would help to deliver on these once recruited.

·             Funding for digital car parking signage in Hitchin would be within the proposed 2026/27 Budget, which would improve the clarity of parking spaces available in Hitchin, and aim to promote the usage of Lairage Multi-Storey Car Park.

·             A Member briefing on Churchgate would be held before the viable options report was presented to Cabinet.

·             There may be an opportunity for the report to be presented to the Committee prior to consideration by Cabinet, depending on the outcome of the next Project Board meeting.

·             Opportunities for Member and public involvement on Churchgate via consultation would be plentiful throughout the course of the project.

·             More detail on the work to promote growth of small businesses in rural areas would be provided once recruitment to the Economic Development Team had taken place.

·             The Community Lottery grant funding in 2024/25 had been a one-off opportunity but they would continue to look for more opportunities like this.

 

In response to questions, the Principal Estates Surveyor advised that:

 

·             8-9 sites had been put forward in response to a Call for Sites exercise as part of the Local Plan Review, and those would be reviewed with the Planning Team in due course.

·             The development on Radburn Way had been deemed financially unviable due to no secure site access, therefore, the site had been allocated as an open space habitat reserve.

·             The proposed development on The Snipe in Weston had not been progressed as the developer had been unable to deliver on the formula within the conditional contract. There were ongoing discussions with the adjoining landowner to progress the site in alternative ways.

·             An Options Paper for Charnwood House was being produced, and the likely preferred option would be to go back to market to obtain a fully costed offer from a partner to deliver an acceptable community project. However, there was more work to do before conclusions could be drawn from this.

·             There were interested parties who would be kept informed of Charnwood House going forward.

 

In response to questions, the Churchgate Project Manager advised that:

 

·             They were working with the Parking and Planning Teams to ensure that Churchgate would be aligned with Council initiatives to embrace active travel and climate resilience.

·             It was recognised that Churchgate would provide immense economic value and regenerative benefits, despite it still being in its early stages.

·             While there was an urgency to progress the project before LGR, there was also priority given to structuring the risk and delivery of the project properly to ensure its viability.

·             Timeframes for the delivery of the project would be clearer after the next phase.

·             The next stage of public engagement for Churchgate would be likely to take place alongside a public announcement on the next stage of the project.

 

In response to questions, the Chief Executive advised that:

 

·             Constraints would be placed on the Council once a new Shadow Authority was live as financial decisions over a certain threshold would need approval from them, therefore, this would need to be factored into timelines for Churchgate. 

·             The District Council Offices would continue to be used in the short-term after LGR, however, until they knew the structure of unitary authorities in Hertfordshire, its medium to long-term use would be unknown. 

 

In response to questions, Councillor Paul Ward advised that:

 

·             There were 5,500 enterprises in the district, and 90% of those employed 0-9 people, as referred to in the EDS.

·             8,800 people were self-employed in the district.

 

Councillor Ralph Muncer highlighted the importance of building resilience into the proposed parking signage in Hitchin. 

 

Councillor Paul Ward advised that the Economic Development Team should reach out to Members to utilise their knowledge on small businesses in their respective areas.

 

Councillor Martin Prescott highlighted that local authorities could be doing more to support small businesses.

 

Councillor Jon Clayden proposed and Councillor Paul Ward seconded and, following a vote, it was:

 

RESOLVED: That the Committee noted the report.

 

REASON FOR DECISION: The report followed the request of the committee for an update on the progress of the Enterprise Directorate and is for information only.

 

N.B. Following the conclusion of this item, there was a break in proceedings and the meeting reconvened at 21:12.