Purpose

Report seeking approval to expend NCC capital funds to determine a construction price for works to Berwick Maltings theatre. This is necessary to enable the submission of a Full Business Case to unlock Borderlands Growth Initiative grant funding.

Decision

RESOLVED that:

1. Cabinet delegate authority to the Executive Director of Place and Regeneration to submit the Full Business Case (FBC) for the Maltings Theatre redevelopment to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and Borderlands Partnership Board.

1. Cabinet delegate authority to the Executive Director of Transformation and Resources to accept the offer of £25,500,000 in funding from the Borderlands Inclusive Growth Deal, and to finalise and sign the Grant Funding Agreement with the Borderlands Partnership, subject to agreement of terms and receipt of appropriate legal advice.

1. Cabinet delegate authority to the Executive Director of Place and Regeneration, in consultation with the relevant Portfolio Holder, to enter into any contracts relating to the project, including pre-construction and subsequent construction contracts, subject to confirmation of associated funding being in place and compliant procurement processes having been followed.

1. Cabinet approve the allocation of £500,000 from the Council’s Climate Change Capital Fund to the Maltings Theatre project, increasing the Council’s total budget allocation to £2,837,415.

1. Cabinet authorise expenditure of up to £6,883,201 by the Council to undertake improvement works to the Gymnasium building at Berwick Barracks and to enable submission of the Full Business Case for the theatre on the understanding that £4,045,786 of this is subject to approval of the Borderlands funding.

1. Cabinet requests that full Council approves a capital funding allocation of £4,045,786 to the Berwick Maltings Theatre project to temporarily cashflow the Borderlands funding which will subsequently be reimbursed subject to approval of the Full Business Case. The funding has been identified using virement from other Council-funded capital projects as shown in Table 2.

1. Cabinet requests that full Council approves additions to the 2026-27 Capital Programme totalling £4,045,786 (for all schemes listed in table 2) in order to replace the amount of money vired to the Berwick Maltings Theatre project in 2025-26, which will enable those schemes to complete.

1. Cabinet approve the updating of the Capital Programme within the Council’s Medium Term Financial Plan to reflect the revised profile contained in Table 4 of this report.