Agenda item

Report of the Director of Business Investment & Culture

The Cabinet Member for Jobs and Regeneration considered a report of the Director of Business and Investment which indicted that the Council has successfully raised £2.2m funding from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to support the refurbishment of St Mary’s Guildhall and had achieved a Stage One award of £78,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund which will enable officers to develop a Stage Two application for revenue and capital funding of £1.7m. In February 2020, Cabinet approved up to £3 million capital support for the project to be funded through prudential borrowing to bridge any remaining funding gap on the basis a financial return would be achieved on this investment. 

The report sought approval to submit a Stage Two National Lottery Heritage Fund application; the preferred scheme for capital works; arrangements for the closure of St Mary’s Guildhall to enable work to take place to deliver the associated refurbishment; and the delegations necessary to implement these decisions.

The main elements of the Phase One funded scheme were detailed in the report. It is expected that re-opening will be phased starting in March 2021 with a full opening scheduled for Summer 2021 and initial programming will contribute to the delivery of the City of Culture activities and key events. The decision on the award of the £1.7m National Lottery Heritage Fund grant will be made in December 2020 and if approved the project is expected to commence in January 2021. If successful, the National Lottery Heritage Fund revenue activity programme will commence delivery in July 2021 and will continue until March 2024. The National Lottery Heritage Fund capital works will commence when the Phase One capital works are near completion and will be completed by June 2021. Details of the works to be undertaken were contained in the report.

Should the National Lottery Heritage Fund application be unsuccessful, the report indicated that the Council will proceed with a scheme without this support. The capital scheme would require slightly scaling back, value engineering of the education learning space and some of the proposed interactive and Augmented Reality experiences.

RESOLVED that the Cabinet Member for Jobs and Regeneration:-

(1)  Approves the detail of the preferred capital scheme for the refurbishment /modernisation of St \Mary’s Guildhall set out in the £5.6m preferred option

(2)  Delegates to the Director of Business, Investment and Culture, following consultation with the Cabinet Member for Jobs and Regeneration and the Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities, authority to approve and submit a Stage Two funding application to the National Lottery Heritage Fund for £1.7m to support the project outlined in the report

(3)  Delegates to the Director of Business Investment and Culture, following consultation with the Director of Finance, authority to obtain the necessary consents, procurement, contractor appointment and contract extensions for the professional design team.

(4)  Delegates to the Director of Business, Investment and Culture, following consultation with the Director of Law and Governance, authority to enter into the necessary legal agreements to give effect to the above recommendations.