Item 9 - Flourishing DIG highlight and issues report Apr24
West Dunbartonshire Council · 16 May 2024
Back to Community Planning West Dunbartonshire Management Board — 16 May 2024 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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Management Board Meeting Development and Improvement Groups (DIGs): Highlights and Issues Report FOR INFORMATION ONLY X FOR DECISION Name of DIG Flourishing Delivery and Improvement Group (DIG). Date of report 22/04/2024 Name and email of lead contact Peter Barry 1 Highlights of activity and progress since last meeting Regeneration Dumbarton Levelling Up Programme • Glencairn House - Clark Contracts appointed as the Principal Contractor. Works starting on site w/c 15 April. • Connecting Dumbarton - works nearly completed, artwork in the underpass remains to be installed. • Masterplan for redevelopment of the Artizan was approved by Infrastructure, Regeneration and Economic Development Committee on 1 November 23. Planning application for Phase 1 works expected in May 24. • Design Team progressing the detailed designs for the Artizan Redevelopment Masterplan, application for Planning Permission in Principle is expected in May 24. • Demolition of units to rear has been delayed due to a requirement to divert Scottish Water pipes, works expected to commence on site in May 24. Alexandria • Restoration of Smollett Fountain mostly completed, Heron was installed w/c 15 April. • Discussions on a potential Business Improvement District ongoing, the traders were successful in securing £20k of seedcorn funding from the ITEM 9
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Scottish Government towards BID development. Officers are supporting the process as and when required. • Shared Prosperity Funded shopfront improvement grants applications being received however progress is slower than anticipated. The businesses struggle with providing the required evidence, however the guidance has been amended to make the process easier. • Alexander Street improvements project has commenced and Page & Park were appointed as a lead consultant. The project originated from the Masterplan and is part of the Green Heritage Corridors projects. It will be funded from the Place Based investment Programme fund. Clydebank Queens Quay District Heating Network • Legal and commercial discussions regarding the West College Scotland and Golden Jubilee connections ongoing • Technical exchange of information is well advanced with the Golden Jubilee and Commercial Discussions around tariff, resilience and liability issues are to be advanced. • Works to connect a further 46 Clydebank Housing Association flats on Dumbarton Road underway, with some publicity planned for the first “Heat On” anticipated before the end of the month. Town Centre • Planning application for the Clydebank Canal-side Activities Centre progressing. The delivery of the project, however, has been put on hold. Y Sort It withdrew their interest in the centre as due to funding cuts they are unable to take on premises and have decided to prioritise their core activities. We will explore opportunities for securing an alternative tenant, and look if the future centre could be advertised as a commercial let opportunity. • £20M UK Government funding from Long-Term Plan for Towns announced for Clydebank Town. A new Town Board chaired by an independent Chairperson (Liz Connolly) will have its first meeting on 10 May. A report seeking approval for the governance arrangements was approved by Infrastructure, Regeneration and Economic Development Committee on 7 February 24. Exxon • Council officers continue to seek additional funding from City Region to contribute towards the costs of the project. • Stage 2 application for Scottish Government Vacant and Derelict Land Fund for greenspace and footpaths was submitted 2023, however due to financial difficulties no funding was awarded for the coming financial year for any projects. • It is hoped that the remaining land acquisitions and/or licences to occupy will be concluded shortly to allow enabling works to begin (actual start date dependent on revised Balfour Beatty Programme).
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• The remediation has taken longer due to further contamination found at the riverside; this has delayed the completion of the remediation by approximately a month. • A new promotional brochure for the site has been produced. Scottish Marine Technology Park • Council continuing to work with the Malin Group to support the relocation of their business to Carless and to help with the identification of additional funding for land remediation • Planning application now submitted • Work complete on the flood mitigation project, and Malin Group have appointed a designer for the Quayside, both of which are being funded by Clyde Mission and the Council, the latter being subject to a further development agreement • With support from the Council, Malin and Strathclyde University submitted a bid to the City Region Investment Zone for Maritime Supply Chain Innovation Centre. (further details below). Place Based Investment Programme (PBIP) Grants • Infrastructure, Regeneration and Economic Development Committee on 1 November 23 approved allocation of £471k of PBIP funds towards Community Grants • Small and Large grants have been widely advertised and we receive a total of 13 eligible applications from all across the West Dunbartonshire. £61,758k were awarded to those applicants following a public voting process. • Large grants – 26 applications were received for a total of £1.8m and were reviewed by the Council Officers w/c 19 February. The following groups were awarded funding: Project Cost 1st Glen Lusset Scout Group £ 54,550.00 Dumbarton Tennis Club £ 40,000.00 Clydebank Community Sport Hub £ 96,900.00 RSPB £ 74,437.45 Milton Village Community Group £ 90,000.00 St Augustine’s Episcopal Church £ 18,280.00 Duntocher Village Hall £ 25,000.00 TOTAL £ 399,167.45
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• All grants have already been distributed to the grantees. We will review the progress after 3 months (for small grants) and 6 months (for large grants) Regeneration Capital Grant Fund • Regeneration Team have issued a call for Expressions of interest (EOI) for Regeneration Capital Grant Fund 25/26 in anticipation of the Scottish government announcing the fund later in the Spring. We have received 5 EOIs from the following groups: • Old Kilpatrick Food Parcels • Flourishing Faifley Community Hub (Knowes pavilion) • Glenhead Centre (Antonine Community Centre Duntocher) • Kilbowie Community heritage Centre - St Andrew’s Church (Clydebank) • RSBP Scotland visitor hub (Gartocharn) • In addition, we are aware of Westbridgend Community Centre (Dumbarton) looking to submit an application again this year (they did not get through to Stage 2 last year). • Submitted EOIs will be assessed by a panel of Council Officers and a number of eligible applications will be chosen to be supported for Stage 1 submission. Regeneration Officers will offer assistance to the prospective applicants. Business Support • During 2023/24, 200 businesses were assisted to start-up through the Business Gateway service which exceeded the annual target of 180 and 30 established businesses were assisted with development of a growth action plan (target 30). • The business grants available through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund are continuing to receive applications. The grants include a Recovery & Growth grant, Early Stage Growth grant, Working Towards Net Zero grant & Enhancing West Dunbartonshire’s Tourism Events & Attractions grant. • A Food & Drink Challenge Fund developed in partnership with the Working4Business group to provide a competitive grant to food and drink manufacturers and producers that could evidence growth projects has provided £5,000 funding to 3 local businesses (Cherry-On-Top, Tartan Rocket & Island Slice Ltd). • Working in partnership with Glasgow City Region and Strathclyde University to provide businesses with green business advice through the development of carbon baseline assessments. This support is funded through UK Shared Prosperity Fund. A process is in now in place to refer local businesses with 4 businesses being referred to date. • Business Support team in partnership with Procurement colleagues have booked a stand at the Supplier Development Programme’s Meet the Buyer 2024 event on 5th June at Hampden Park to promote tender opportunities.
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City Region/Scottish Government/UK Levelling Up • Glasgow City Region will be one of two Investment Zones in Scotland and as a result will benefit from a package of funding and tax relief measures estimated to be worth £160M over 10 years. The details of the offer will be co-produced by City Region and Member Authorities, Scottish Government and UK Govt (DHLUC). Phase two closed at the end of March and involved an open call for detailed project applications from businesses and organisations in the following ‘Priority Clusters’ - Advanced Manufacturing, Health & Life Sciences, and Digital & Enabling Technology. • Malin and Strathclyde University with support from the Council have submitted a Phase 2 bid to support the development of a Maritime Supply Chain Innovation Centre at Carless site. Employability/Learning/Income Maximisation – • Working4U is responsible for delivering services that help people to address the barriers that prevent them from considering work as an option; improve their skill sets and secure employment. This rests on input from employability (Work), community learning and development (Learn) and debt/benefit support (Money) services. • Collectively these services are addressing poverty and disadvantage by supporting people to increase income through work and benefit entitlement, reduce their cost of living and address barriers to work and learning opportunities. • In 2023/2024 Working4U provided work, learning and money support for 8,597 people. Of those: o 362 people were supported through apprenticeships and in work progression; o 1,064 to enter education or training; o 867 people were supported to gain a qualification; o 439 people secured employment. • Community learning and development services contributed to this success by providing access to community-based learning that focussed on the most marginalised people/families in our community. This included support for: o Adult/Youth Literacies; o Community-based vocational courses; o Digital Learning; o ESOL; and o Family Learning. • The Working4U debt and benefit support services assisted residents to: o Manage £1.27m of debt; o Secure £8.3m of benefit entitlements. • More information about Working4U and partner services is provided in Annex A
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• West Dunbartonshire Council is the lead agency for the management and delivering services. Grants have been distributed to private and Third sector organisations to support the No One Left Behind and UK Shared Prosperity aims. • In the forthcoming period we will continue to work with partners through the Local Employability Strategic group, Adult Learning Partnership and Information and Advice partnership to co-ordinate activities that will support people to maximise income, reduce costs and overcome barriers to opportunity. 2 Outline of any issues/risks and how these are being managed Regeneration Inflation and rising costs are a challenge in project delivery. We are looking at adjusting scope to make projects affordable, or seeking additional funding where possible. Tight timescales associated with external funding pose a challenge to project delivery. We are seeking support from external consultants where appropriate, and work collaboratively with other teams to identify solutions. We also continue to engage with the funders. Towns Fund for Clydebank is a new approach to delivery with limited control and engagement from the Council, we are liaising with the Chair as well as our DLUHC contacts to understand how the guidance should be implemented and what will work in Clydebank context. Business Support A delay in finalising the Extend Plus grant agreement with Strathclyde University led to a delay in referring businesses for carbon baseline assessments. A business referral process is now in place which will allow the team to promote to local businesses. Employability The risks for the employability service centres on the ability to secure reliable external training providers capable of delivering services in the local area. We are managing this by providing each grant recipient with a key contact and providing them with the opportunity to identify delivery challenges at an early stage. In addition, late notification of grant awards, which are now a common feature of eternal funding, are causing delays and uncertainty among service providers.
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3 Outline of the main outputs expected before next meeting Regeneration • Alexandria, Alexander Street – public engagement completed, Stage 3 design underway. • Clydebank, Activity Centre – planning permission anticipated. An alternative delivery plan agreed. • Clydebank, Long-Term Plan for Towns – first Board meeting held, community engagement and development of Investment Plan underway. • Dumbarton, Artizan – demolition contract underway • Dumbarton, Artizan – Stage 3 design completed, planning application for Phase 1 works and for Planning Permission in Principle (PPIP for the Masterplan) submitted. • 25/26 RCGF Stage 1 applications submitted by selected community groups and external organisations (subject to Scottish Government timescales) • Exxon enabling works commenced on site Business Support • Increase the number of business referrals to Strathclyde University to receive carbon baseline assessments. • Promote and deliver the business grant support programmes within the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. • Continue to provide Business Gateway service to start-ups and established local businesses. • Attend Meet the Buyer event to promote tender opportunities • Receive feedback from Glasgow City Region regarding Phase 2 Investment Zone bid for Maritime Supply Chain Innovation Centre Employability • Working4U has continued to manage grant support services and deliver Work, Learn, Money activities and over the course of 2023/24 we have assisted 8,597 people: Of these we have o Assisted 362 people through apprenticeships and in-work progression; o Supported 1,064 into education and training; o 867 have gained a qualification; o 439 have secured employment. • In addition we have: o Assisted people to secure £8.3m of additional benefits; and o Manage £1.27m of debt. • As such, we have achieved the targets for these activities and are currently planning our priorities for the forthcoming year.
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4 What are your requirements of partners in the Community Planning Management Board to achieve the outcomes of the DIG? Placemaking Good placemaking will continue to underpin the regeneration, development and improvement work in the town centres as we aim to align funding and resources, with Council, DIG partners and external funding, to achieve our ambitions. Business Support The on-going commitment and support from the community partners will help to maximise the impacts of the business support activity being developed and implemented through the Flourishing DIG. This will assist with reinforcing our efforts to develop a strong local economy that will provide access to opportunity for all in West Dunbartonshire. Employability We will continue to deliver the NOLB, Parental Employability support programmes and UK Shared prosperity activity. We will continue to work in partnership through the Adult Learning Partnership and local employability partnership. We ask the partners to continue with their contribution to the local employability group by attending or sending representation where appropriate to the strategic group; the creative design group (service providers) and the frontline community of interest. These groups are making a positive contribution to identifying and addressing challenges in West Dunbartonshire. In addition, we will be updating our Community Learning and Development Plan and Annual Child Poverty Report. We ask that partners give consideration into their contribution to these processes and associated services. 5 Please outline any good news story you wish to share N/A