Content

Salford City Council - Record of Decision (Cabinet)
 
I, Paul Dennett, the City Mayor, in consultation with
Cabinet in exercise of the powers contained within the City Council
Constitution do
hereby:

Approve the
proposal to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with the
Government/Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
(MHCLG) to accept £1.5m of Pride in Place Impact Fund over
two years (April 2025 – March 2027).
Authorise the
City Solicitor and Monitoring Officer to execute any legal
documents or contracts pertaining to this approval. 
Note that funding
allocations will be made following further consultation with
MPs.

The Reasons are:
A series of significant
Government/MHCLG funding announcements have been made to support
regeneration across Salford. The Trailblazer Regeneration programme
confirmed up to £20 million for Pendleton on 11 June 2025,
marking a major commitment to long?term neighbourhood transformation. This
was followed by the Pride in Place Regeneration announcement on 25
September 2025, which allocated up to £20 million for Peel
Green to accelerate community?led improvements.
 
Most recently, on 17 November
2025, the government launched the Pride in Place Impact Fund,
providing £1.5 million to deliver rapid,
high?impact
enhancements across Salford. Collectively, these funding streams
demonstrate a sustained and multi?layered approach to levelling up local
areas through both strategic and immediate
interventions.
The
recommendations align with the Council’s priorities and.is
considered operationally, financially, and strategically
advantageous for the Council and for service users.
Options considered and rejected were:
Not
approving the recommendation to enter into the MoU.
Assessment of Risk:

·        
The benefits to the Council and service users of
entering into this agreement outweigh the potential
risks.
·        
A risk register will be developed for the PIPIF Investment Plan,
encompassing risks around the programme and setting out mitigation
measures. This will be reported at the Programme Board as part of
the regular reporting process.
·        
The register will include consideration of key risks around
delivery and expenditure and the risk of clawback to any
underspend.
The source of funding is:
Central Government funding.
 
Legal Advice
obtained: Carol
Isherwood – Lawyer – Manchester Shared Legal
Service.
The MoU which is not intended to be legally
binding nor intended to create legal obligations. It will cover the
period September 2025 to March 2027. We do not consider that any
amendments can be made to the MoU by SCC.
1.   
The MoU cross refers to the Prospectus at Appendix 1
throughout in terms of:

(i)  
How the funding should be spent – see section
2 of the Prospectus– Fund Objectives and Eligible Costs
– section 11 of the Prospectus.
(ii) 
Reporting/supporting evaluation of the Fund –
see section 7 and progress metrics under section 8 of the
Prospectus.
(iii) Payment i.e.
all of the 25/26 funding will be allocated on signature, and the
2026-2027 allocation will be paid between April - June 2026,
subject to submission of a satisfactory monitoring report in
February 2026 (see paragraph 7.3 of the Prospectus).
(iv) Unspent/uncommitted funding as at 31/3/2027 being returned to
government/ MHCLG, as per paragraph 10.4 of the Prospectus and
paragraphs 5.8 and 5.9 of the MoU.
(v) 
Managing funding within the finance governance
framework adopted by local authorities and the existing local
authority accountability and assurance regime, under the oversight
of the Local Authority’s chief financial officer – see
section 4 of the Prospectus and paragraphs 8.1 and 8.2 of the
MoU. 
(vi) Mitigating
fraud and compliance with legislation (as per paragraph 8.3 of the
Mou) and sections 12, 13 and 15-18 inclusive of the
Prospectus.
(vii) Complying
with guidance on Fund branding and communication – as per
paragraph 6.1 of the MoU and paragraph 14 of the Prospectus (which
will be updated in due course).
2.   
The MoU sets out the circumstances in which funding may be
clawed back i.e.   paragraph 5.6 of
MoU states that if the Secretary of State has concerns around
future spending plans based on the experience of local delivery to
date, or wider financial issues or governance affecting delivery,
then the Secretary of State may pay in instalments, withhold or
recover funding.
3.   
There may be cost implications for Salford City Council and
paragraph 5.10 of the MoU states that the Local Authority
accepts responsibility for meeting any costs over and above the
Secretary of State’s contribution, agreed in the annual grant
determination. This includes potential cost overruns and the
underwriting of any funding contributions expected from third
parties.
4.   
Paragraph 6.2 of the MoU requires that Salford City Council agree
to adhere to the guidance and any updates subsequently released by
the Secretary of State or HMG on communications linked to the Fund
and paragraph 6.3 requires Salford City Council to publish
information regarding the delivery of the Fund in its area. e.g. by
publishing a summary of the approved investments.
5.   
Disputes will be settled by consultation between Salford City
Council and government/MHLGC.
 
In light of the above and notwithstanding the
fact that the MoU is
not intended to be legally binding, it is recommended that SCC
enters into grant agreements with the organisations responsible for
the projects it will fund which include mirroring provisions to
those set out in the MoU and Prospectus, enabling SCC to pass key
principles down and claw back funding where the government/MHCLG
requires funds to be returned.
 
Financial Advice
obtained: Grace Rogerson – Finance Manager
The
grant can only be spent on capital. 2026–27 Funding is paid
between April–June 2026, conditional on a satisfactory
monitoring report submitted in February 2026 and regular reporting
is required and participation in evaluations and provision of
monitoring data is expected.
The
council must ensure all funds are committed by 31st March 2027 to
avoid repayment of the grant and need to make sure it is only spent
on eligible expenditure to avoid repayment.
Procurement Advice obtained: 
Not applicable
 
HR Advice
obtained: Not applicable
Equality Impact Assessment and Implications:
·        
An assessment will be undertaken on Investment Plan
and overall the impact of PIPIF funding
to ensure no negative impacts are experienced.
·        
The criteria for the grant funding will
have a positive impact from an equality, diversity, and inclusion
impact, and will include investment in community assets in
Salford.
Climate Change Advice obtained:
It is proposed that the
investment will enhance availability and quality of green space in
the urban centre, mitigating the impacts of climate
change. 
The following documents have been used to assist the decision
process:
This
decision is supported by the accompanying appendix –
Memorandum of Understanding.

Contact
Officer: Alex Fyans, Project
Manager, Place Directorate              
Telephone
number: 07944624057
 
The
appropriate scrutiny to call-in the decision is the Growth &
Prosperity Scrutiny Panel.
 

Signed:
Paul Dennett                                             
Dated: 22nd December 2025
                       
City Mayor
 

For Democratic
Services use only

This decision was
published on 23.12.25                       
                     

This decision will
come in force at 4.00 p.m. on 02.01.26                   
                              
unless it is called-in in accordance with the Decision Making
Process Rules.