Agenda for MCA - Housing and Infrastructure Board on Thursday, 8th December, 2022, 9.00 am

Agenda and minutes

Venue: South Yorkshire MCA, 11 Broad Street West, Sheffield, S1 2BQ

Items
No. Item

61.

Welcome and Apologies

Minutes:

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting. Apologies were noted as above.

62.

Declarations of Interest by Individual Members in Relation to Any Item of Business on the Agenda

Minutes:

Members declared interests regarding schemes in their own council areas.

 

In regard to item 8, Gemma Smith declared an interest as the developer of the Blue Mans Way scheme. She remained in the meeting but did not take part in any discussion of the relevant scheme.

 

Cllr Frost declared an interest in item 7 as a trustee of the Civic Building. However, he only joined the meeting following discussion of this item.

63.

Urgent items / Announcements

Minutes:

None.

64.

Public Questions on Key Decisions

Minutes:

None.

65.

Minutes of Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 248 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 3 November be approved.

66.

Matters Arising / Action Log pdf icon PDF 310 KB

Minutes:

There were no outstanding items on the Action Log.

 

RESOLVED that the Action Log be noted.

67.

Programme Approvals pdf icon PDF 584 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Board was asked to consider approval requests for two schemes’ progression from Strategic Business Case (SBC) to continue development of their business case.

 

The first scheme was the significant investment and modernisation of Rotherham Markets and Library Complex. RMBC was requesting £3m in grant funding which would include improvement works to the indoor and outdoor markets, library, and public realm and the creation of 455m² of office space. The scheme would also support and retain traders and safeguard around 70 jobs.

 

(Cllr Paul Wood joined the meeting)

 

The second scheme was the redevelopment of the Civic building, including

a renewed frontage facing the Glass Works for which £1.262m grant funding was requested as opposed to the £1.188m set. Plans for the building included a bar, restaurant, coffee shop, office space and a creative space for the community. The scheme would also create or safeguard around 47 jobs.

 

(Cllr Robert Frost joined the meeting)

 

It was noted that the Board’s approval would be subject to recommendation from the Assurance Panel due to be held on 6 December.

 

It was clarified that the schemes would be funded from the respective local authority’s allocation of Gainshare Funding.

 

RESOLVED that the Board approve:

1.    Progression of “Rotherham Markets and Library Complex” project from SBC to Outline/Full Business Case (OBC/FBC) for Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council (RMBC).

  1. Progression of “Barnsley Civic Eldon Street Capital Development” project from SBC to OBC/FBC for Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council (BMBC). 

 

68.

Brownfield Housing Fund Open Call - Project Mandates pdf icon PDF 833 KB

Minutes:

The Assistant Director of Housing & Infrastructure introduced an item on the outcomes of the Brownfield Housing Fund (BHF) Open Call.

 

The Open Call was held between the 5 September and 28 October 2022 and resulted in 39 Expressions of Interest with a total funding ask of £82m; nearly four times the available funding.

 

The submitted schemes had been categorised into four categories:

·       Category 1 – Pipeline

These 13 schemes had the strongest strategic alignment and were recommended for immediate addition to the Phase 3 pipeline.

·       Category 2 – Reserve Pipeline

These 7 schemes would help achieve the strategic ambitions of the BHF, and subject to further clarifications, may contribute to the pipeline once deliverability and timings were confirmed.

·       Category 3 – Future Pipeline

There were 17 schemes considered to be higher risk, particularly in terms of achieving delivery of starts on siteby the end of March 2025.

·       Category 4 – Non-Eligible Schemes

1 scheme was considered ineligible due to there being no housing outputs proposed to be delivered within the BHF timescale.

 

Due to the risks and uncertainties which could lead to schemes being withdrawn from the pipeline, the Category 1 pipeline was proposed to be overprogrammed by approximately 25%. Category 2 schemes could potentially form additional pipeline schemes subject to further investigation.

 

Category 3 schemes were to remain under review, given the need to develop a longer-term housing pipeline and could be put forward should any further funding opportunities become available.

 

The Board was pleased with the success of the Open Call and particularly welcomed the significant number of additional affordable homes being proposed in the schemes. It was also felt that this had been a positive first step in terms of developing relationships with developers across the region.

 

Cllr Wood commented that Sheffield City Council would not be supportive of the Hive Central scheme at Kelham Island if the space specification would be below the Council’s standards, particularly as there was a saturated market for this type of accommodation.

 

RESOLVED that the Board:

1.    Note the outcomes of the Brownfield Housing Fund Open Call and agree for the proposed new schemes set out in paragraph 2.6 to be added onto the Brownfield Housing Fund Phase 3 Pipeline, noting the overprogramming approach being proposed and the risks associated with delivery of the Programme.

  1. Approve the Programme Business Case for the South Yorkshire Brownfield Housing Fund being updated to include the agreed new Phase 3 pipeline schemes.

 

69.

Final Draft South Yorkshire Housing Framework pdf icon PDF 510 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Senior Programme Manager (Development and Planning) presented the final draft South Yorkshire Housing Framework.

 

Following feedback at the previous meeting, some key changes had been made to the Framework, including:

·       Confirmation that the Framework would align with local authority strategies and Local Plans.

·       Emphasising the opportunity to deliver good quality, modern, dense urban living environments across the region.

·       The inclusion of further case studies demonstrating activity across South Yorkshire.

·       A new section considering issues relating to the local economy, skills and training.

·       Grouping collaborative, strategic actions together and highlighting where actions are to be taken forward individually.

 

Feedback had also been received from the Mayor, local authorities, South Yorkshire Housing Partnership and Homes England.

 

The Board welcomed the final draft Framework. In response to questions, the Assistant Director of Housing & Infrastructure advised that the next stage would be to produce a more detailed delivery plan with Housing Directors which could be brought back to a future meeting. The SYMCA Board was due to consider the South Yorkshire Housing Framework at its meeting on 16 January 2023. Local authorities were welcome to consider the Framework internally should they wish.

 

 RESOLVED that the Board:

1.    Endorse the final draft South Yorkshire Housing Framework; and

  1. Recommend that the SYMCA Board approve the final draft South Yorkshire Housing Framework.

 

70.

Revised Draft Connected by Water Plan pdf icon PDF 519 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Board was asked to consider the revised draft Connected by Water Plan which had already achieved a number of successes.

 

The Plan had been launched in January 2022 and had since moved into the implementation phase. With regard to the actions identified in the Plan:

·       7% of actions had been completed.

·       38% of actions remained unchanged.

 

·       55% of actions were being updated (including 12% of actions where Step 1 had been completed and Step 2 was being defined).

 

As the Plan was intended to be a ‘living document’ an updated draft Plan had been prepared and was due to be republished in January 2023 subject to the Board’s endorsement. The key proposed changes to the Plan related to:

·   Adjustments to reflect work in delivery and updates to case studies.

·   Updates to theme introductions to reflect work completed in 2022.

·   Revision of Appendix 1 based on updated South Yorkshire capital flood programme.

·   Addition of an Appendix 2 to record completed/ removed actions.

 

The Board welcomed the updated Connected by Water Plan and commended the collaborative and forward-looking approach.

 

RESOLVED that the Board endorse the Revised Draft Updated Connected by Water Plan.

 

71.

Digital Infrastructure Strategy Implementation Update pdf icon PDF 505 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Superfast South Yorkshire Programme Manager presented an update on the delivery of key activities relating to the implementation of the South Yorkshire Digital Infrastructure Strategy.

 

The partnership between the four local authorities, SYMCA, Government and Openreach, had invested more than £35m to raise the availability of Superfast broadband to circa 99% of premises in South Yorkshire.

 

Technology had since advanced, and Government had set a national target for gigabit coverage of 85% by 2025, although the SYDIS set a more ambitious target of 95% gigabit coverage across South Yorkshire by 2025. Gigabit coverage in South Yorkshire currently stood at around 70%. The majority of the shortfall would be met by the commercial roll out of various suppliers in the region.

 

In terms of Project Gigabit, following an Open Market Review, 80,000 properties in the region had initially been identified which would not receive gigabit capable internet through commercial suppliers in the next 3 years. 

 

Following further assessment of these premises, a priority intervention category of circa 30,000 properties was identified to be taken forward into the pre-procurement market engagement stage, with a further 20,000 deferred premises where further investigation was needed. The 30,000 premises would result in an initial budget requirement for the procurement of £36m with a further £16.5m set aside for the deferred premises.

 

Any remaining properties which were not covered by the procurement process and meet the rurality criteria, could be eligible for gigabit vouchers. Government had recently announced that these would increase in value to £4,500 per premise (housing and commercial). A Project Mandate for a local ‘top up’ to gigabit vouchers had been previously agreed by this Board and a business case was being developed.

 

RESOLVED that the Board note the key activities related to the delivery of the South Yorkshire Digital Infrastructure Strategy.

 

72.

South Yorkshire Housing Retrofit Development pdf icon PDF 516 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Net Zero Project Director updated the Board on the proposed activities to be undertaken to develop the Strategic Case for a South Yorkshire Housing Retrofit Programme.

 

Funding had been secured from SYMCA’s Project Feasibility Fund to build the case for a South Yorkshire Housing Retrofit Programme.

 

The SYMCA and local authorities had identified certain elements where collective actions at a regional scale would deliver better benefits than individual actions at a local level, particularly around the growth of the supply chain, provision of skills and finance mechanisms to attract external investment.

 

Though still in the early stages the work was beginning to take shape and recruitment was planned for a Retrofit Programme Lead to manage the different workstreams and bring them together to form the business case. It was also intended to run some demonstration projects to test interventions across different areas prior to the commencement of delivery at scale.

 

There were a variety of funding types available, all with differing eligibility criteria. The SYMCA was currently exploring the possibility of a neighbourhood approach, where residents of a specific street or community were individually directed to the appropriate funding streams in order to support the retrofitting of their whole home.

 

The Executive Director of Infrastructure & Place added that this was an ambitious and challenging agenda which would require collaborative working as well as a pooling of resources.

 

RESOLVED that the Board note the key proposals set out in Appendix A for progressing the Strategic Case for the South Yorkshire Housing Retrofit Programme.

 

73.

Forward Plan pdf icon PDF 117 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED that the Forward Plan be noted.

74.

Any Other Business

Minutes:

None.