Decisions

SYMCA and Homes England previously commissioned Cushman and Wakefield to develop a robust Housing Pipeline in July 2023 to ensure that we have a robust pipeline of business case ready schemes in anticipation of any future funding opportunities becoming available, including through further devolution:
• Stage 1 – Creation of prioritised Housing Pipeline.
• Stage 2 – Stakeholder engagement and preparation of high-level Delivery Plans for each site.

This resulted in:
• A prioritised Housing Pipeline comprising 183 sites with an indicative capacity of 31,710 new homes for targeted intervention;
• High level Delivery Plans for each site, including an understanding of the extent of the type of intervention required.
• Timings more clearly understood as to delivery timescales; and
• Identification of investment propositions for external investment.

ELB considered the outputs of the housing pipeline work in Jun-24 and confirmed their support for the SYMCA contribution of £100k to jointly commission Stage 3 with Homes England in the districts of Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham. Stage 3 is already well underway in Sheffield through the Sheffield Growth Board with funding support from Homes England.

Stage 3 will continue the co-design, co-ownership, and co-funding approach with Homes England. Homes England have confirmed their commitment to provide £150,000 to supplement SYMCAs £100,000.

£100,000 has been allocated in the SYMCA Capacity and Capability Fund, but there is potential for it to be funded from the recycled BHF revenue pot, subject to revenue being capitalised and returned into the pot this financial year from BHF schemes in Doncaster.

Progression of South Yorkshire Housing and Place Pipeline Stage 3 and commitment to provide £0.1m SYMCA grant.

Barnsley Council proposes to implement a three-phase project to secure the Alhambra as a viable and sustainable economic asset for Barnsley town centre.

The delivery of the project requires Barnsley Council to draw down a maximum of £63m of its SY Gainshare allocation over the period 2024-2050: This is made up of £36m capital to deliver Phases 1 and 2 and up to £29m revenue to finance the interest payments.

The OBC was approved Sep-23, with draw down of development grant (£4.6m) approved at Programme Board Apr-24.

BMBC have requested a further £1.25m development funding to be released to fund their continued investment as the project progresses (uplift the release of development cost funding from £4.6m to £5.85m).

Approval of change control for D0063 Health on the High Street and award of an additional £1.25m development grant to Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council.

At the 4th June 2024 MCA Board, SYMCA secured delegated authority to the Head of Paid Service in consultation with Mayor Ros Jones - in her position as the Portfolio Lead for Housing & Infrastructure – to approve the project.

Progression of D53 Fishlake Flood Risk Management Scheme to full approval and award of £0.1m to City of Doncaster Council.

A scalable bus improvement project which will deliver bus priority along the A61 corridor from Meadowhead roundabout in the South to Sheffield city centre in the north.

The project was originally approved in Feb-23 under the old framework, and SCC has claimed development grant of £250k in full. There has since been some movement in the expected submission date of the business case due to the preparatory work involved.

SCC request further upfront development grant be released to aid progress of the project. The request results in 14% (£1.4m) of the total costs being drawn down during development.

Approval of change control for CRSTS11 A61 Chesterfield Road to release a further £1.15m development grant to Sheffield City Council.

DEFRA is providing funding to help local planning authorities in England implement mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) in the planning system. SYMCA has been allocated a grant of £26,807 to assist with the delivery of BNG implementation work carried out in 2024/25.

Biodiversity Net Gain is an approach to development that ensures habitat for wildlife is left in a measurably better state than it was in prior to the development. This became mandatory under Schedule 7A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as inserted by Schedule 14 of the Environment Act 2021 in February 2024).?

The intention is to use the grant for:
• SYMCA seeking legal advice on behalf of the four Local Authorities (and SYMCA itself) to develop a common approach to entering either Section 106 agreements or Conservation Covenants with private landowners
• To assess how SYMCA can use the funding to help deliver environmental priorities, such as tree planting, whilst meeting the legal requirement of BNG

Grant acceptance is required by 28th June, resulting in the acceptance of the grant award on behalf of the MCA Board, and inclusion in MCA papers thereafter.

Approval to accept DEFRA grant funding of £0.02m regarding the Biodiversity Net Gain programme.

In March 2023 the MCA board approved the revised Assurance Framework. The revised Assurance Framework provides for a one-stop governance process. This change was designed to improve the pace at which schemes can be developed and delivered. Strategic Business Cases are undertaken within authorities with Outline Business Cases undertaken at MCA Board level.

The Framework allows for schemes that are accepted into the programme to access development funding. Development funding is a key component in supporting the development of quality schemes at pace and is distributed on conclusion of the Strategic Business Case. Accordingly, there was an unintended discrepancy where the intention for a one-stop process was undercut by the need to seek separate approvals for development funding release and OBC approvals.

Therefore, in July 2023 the MCA board granted approval to delegate authority to the Head of Paid Service in consultation with Portfolio Leaders and the Section 73 and Monitoring Officer to approve the release of development cost funding in line with the Assurance Framework to enable schemes to progress as efficiently as possible.

Progression of ATF4E Athersley Active Travel Links and Bolton upon Dearne Active Travel Scheme and release of development funding of £0.4m to Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council.

The SYMCA requires a supplier to provide Waste Management on an ongoing basis and this contract is a replacement of an existing contract.

To award contract to Veolia ES (UK) Limited for a 3-year term commencing 1st August 2024 with an option of a two-year extension. The estimated value of the contract is £222,000.

Tram replacement bus service at a cost of £162,321.60 for operation of tram replacement bus services during planned engineering works during the summer school holidays.

The contract will start on Saturday 20 July 2024 and is anticipated to end Sunday 1 September 2024.

Without this service, the tram network would not be linked effectively.

A tender was issued, and two bids were received based on the various requirements for the service.

Prior to tenders being issued the tram timetable was not known so LOT 2 had two options. Now that the tram timetable is known, we are recommending awarding Lots 1, 2a and 3. A summary of bids is included below.

Bidders:

Bidder 1 - First South Yorkshire:
• Lots 1, 2a and 3 on a Minimum Cost basis at £162,321.60.

Bidder 2 – [redacted]

Lot 1, 2a and 3 Lot 1, 2b and 3
[redacted] [redacted] [redacted]
First SY £162,321.60 [redacted]

Should works overrun a separate agreement on a daily cost will need to be agreed with the operator.

Recommend award:

First South Yorkshire Min Cost at £162,321.60

Option 2 – at a cost of £162,321.60

Continuation of existing Epicor and ARM finance system support and maintenance contract with Aspera Solutions.

Renew support with Aspera at a total cost of £58,069.00.