Purpose

The purpose of this
report is to enable consideration to be given Council’s
Investment Plan to be submitted to the Department for Levelling Up,
Housing and Communities (DHLUC) on 27 October 2023. Participation
in the DLUHC Simplification Pilot is conditional upon the receipt
of a satisfactory Investment Plan to be appraised by DLUHC.
 
This proposal directly
supports the following key themes in the Wirral Plan 2021-26:
 
• A prosperous,
inclusive economy where local people can get good jobs and achieve
their aspirations;
 
• A cleaner,
greener borough which celebrates, protects and improves our
environment and urgently tackles the environmental emergency;
and
 
• Safe, vibrant
communities where people want to live and raise their families.
 
This is a key decision
due to the value of the combined funding allocations covering 2 or
more wards.
 
The report primarily
impacts on the Birkenhead and Tranmere, Bromborough, and Seacombe
Wards.
 
Appendix 2 of this
report contain exempt information as defined in Schedule 12A of the
Local Government Act 1972. It is in the public interest to exclude
the press and public during considerations of these items under
Paragraph 3 ‘Information relating to the financial or
business affairs of any particular person (including the authority
holding the information)’.

Decision

The Director of Regeneration
and Place has agreed:
 
1. 
To submit the
Simplification Pathfinder Pilot Investment Plan to
the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and
Communities (DLUHC) on 27 October 2023 as
set out in Appendix 1 of this report;
 
2. 
The principles of the governance of the
Simplification Pilot as set out in paragraph 3.15 of this report;
and
 
3. 
That the above decisions are not subject to removal
of delegation and reconsideration as any delay likely to be caused
by the process for removal of delegation and reconsideration would
seriously prejudice the Council’s interests by given that
such process would render the Council unable to comply with
DLUHC’s deadline for the submission of the Investment
Plan.
 

Reasons for the decision

To
enable the submission of an Investment Plan to secure the
Council’s participation in the DLUHC Simplification Pilot
programme. The benefits of the pilot to the Council over the
current, separate funding arrangements are important and bring
multiple benefits. These include greater levels of flexibility,
reducing the administrative burden of delivering three parallel
programmes, as well as extending the completion date for all three
funds to 31 March 2026. It will also simplify the change control
process and increase the level of local decision making.
 
The
Policy and Resources Committee on 4 October 2023 delegated the
decision to the Director of Regeneration and Place in consultation
with Group Leaders. This Officer Decision Notice will be brought back
to a future meeting of Policy and Resources Committee for
information.

Alternative options considered

The Council has been
invited to join the Simplification Pilot and Policy and Resources
Committee has already approved this approach at its meeting of 13
September 2023. The Council could take the option of withdrawing
its participation, but this would result in significant pressure to
spend the Future High Street Fund grant by March 2024 and risk
clawback, withheld funds or reputational damage if some funding
remains unspent. Furthermore, on 4 October 2023, Policy and
Resources Committee authorised the Director of Regeneration and
Place to submit the Investment Plan.
 

Addendum:

 
Please note, an
updated version of Appendix 1 has been published to address
previous formatting issues.