Purpose

Report seeking approval to expend NCC capital
funds to determine a construction price for works to Berwick
Maltings theatre. This is necessary to enable the submission of a
Full Business Case to unlock Borderlands Growth Initiative grant
funding.

Content

RESOLVED that:
 
 

1.   
Cabinet delegate authority to the Executive Director
of Place and Regeneration to submit the Full Business Case (FBC)
for the Maltings Theatre redevelopment to the Ministry of Housing,
Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and Borderlands
Partnership Board.
 

Cabinet delegate
authority to the Executive Director of Transformation and Resources
to accept the offer of £25,500,000 in funding from the
Borderlands Inclusive Growth Deal, and to finalise and sign the
Grant Funding Agreement with the Borderlands Partnership, subject
to agreement of terms and receipt of appropriate legal
advice.

 

Cabinet delegate
authority to the Executive Director of Place and Regeneration, in
consultation with the relevant Portfolio Holder, to enter into any
contracts relating to the project, including pre-construction and
subsequent construction contracts, subject to confirmation of
associated funding being in place and compliant procurement
processes having been followed.

 

Cabinet approve the
allocation of £500,000 from the Council’s Climate
Change Capital Fund to the Maltings Theatre project, increasing the
Council’s total budget allocation to
£2,837,415.

 

Cabinet authorise
expenditure of up to £6,883,201 by the Council to undertake
improvement works to the Gymnasium building at Berwick Barracks and
to enable submission of the Full Business Case for the theatre on
the understanding that £4,045,786 of this is subject to
approval of the Borderlands funding.

 

Cabinet requests that
full Council approves a capital funding allocation of
£4,045,786 to the Berwick Maltings Theatre project to
temporarily cashflow the Borderlands funding which will
subsequently be reimbursed subject to approval of the Full Business
Case. The funding has been identified using virement from other
Council-funded capital projects as shown in Table 2.

 

Cabinet requests that
full Council approves additions to the 2026-27 Capital Programme
totalling £4,045,786 (for all schemes listed in table 2) in
order to replace the amount of money vired to the Berwick Maltings
Theatre project in 2025-26, which will enable those schemes to
complete.

 

Cabinet approve the
updating of the Capital Programme within the Council’s Medium
Term Financial Plan to reflect the revised profile contained in
Table 4 of this report.