Purpose

On 10th February 2026, a Service Level
Agreement was entered with Public Practice to facilitate the
recruitment of two new Public Practice Associates, to provide
improved resourcing on the Local Regeneration Fund projects in the
next stages of delivery.
As part of this recruitment, the Council has reached agreement with
Public Practice to access funding from MHCLG, administered by IDeA,
which will provide a part contribution to the cost of one of the
project manager posts covered by the earlier decision. At present
resource for the LRF projects is being capitalised, therefore
external funding for this resource will ensure additional funding
can be utilised for the construction budget.

Content

To enter a grant agreement and accept grant
funding to the sum of £40,000 offered by the Improvement and
Development Agency for Local Government, (IDeA) a company
registered in England and Wales with company registration 3675577,
whose registered office is at Smith Square, London, SW1P 3HZ.
The grant funding relates to bursary funds from the Ministry of
Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), distributed by
IDeA, to the Council to part-pay the core salary of a PUBLIC
PRACTICE Associate.

Alternative options considered

This decision and the agreement are
time-limited which will conclude prior to the timescales of LGR.
The related post is fixed term and not subject to TUPE.