Decision

The following approvals have been signed in respect of the Maryport Future High Street Fund (FHSF):-

§  An Officer Non Key Decision Notice to submit a Project Adjustment Request (PAR) to DLUHC, signed by the Assistant Director for Thriving Places on 9 August 2023 to repurpose the Wave project; and

§  A Request for Exemption from the Contract Procedure Rules, to award a contract for £133,558 to Buttress Architects to carry out detailed design development work to RIBA Stage 3, signed by the Assistant Director of Commissioning and Procurement on 23 August 2023.

Approval is also required to make funding available at risk, in the event the PAR is not accepted by DLUHC – the amount is estimated at £153,558 (approved Buttress contract of £133,558 plus estimated project survey costs of £20,000).

Decision taken:  Approval for design development (through the appointment of Buttress Architects) and additional survey work to be undertaken at risk on the Maryport Future High Streets programme.

Reasons for the decision

It is a requirement of the FHSF programme that all DLUHC grant funding is expended by 31 March 2024.  A Construction Programme Timeline is appended to this report, which demonstrates that, unless approval is given for design delivery and project survey work to be undertaken without delay, it would not be possible to defray all of the DLUHC funding by 31 March 2024 (Cumberland’s match-funding has been moved to the end of the programme, as this can be spent after this date.)

Alternative options considered

Not proceed to make funding available at risk with a repurposed project at the Wave Centre.  Under this option, the funding would be handed back to Central Government, leading to a loss of almost £5 million of regeneration investment in Maryport.  (Should the Council wait for the PAR to be approved then this would reduce the time available for design development and survey work, resulting in the build period slipping beyond the Grant Funding deadline.)