Purpose

A report granting ‘in principle’
approval to the Smethwick to Birmingham Inclusive Growth Corridor
Transport Package was approved at Cabinet on 17 January 2024. The
scheme is part of the Council’s programme of transport
infrastructure projects funded through the City Region Sustainable
Transport Settlement, a government fund overseen by the Department
for Transport and devolved to the West Midlands Combined
Authority.

Projects within the programme are reported to Cabinet individually.
Each project must progress through the West Midlands Combined
Authority (WMCA) Single Assurance Framework (SAF) process to enable
funding to be confirmed and allocated to the Council through grant
agreements. There are multiple stages to the SAF process
corresponding with the submission of Strategic Outline Business
Cases (SOBC), Outline Business Cases (OBC), and Full Business Cases
(FBC). Early drawdown of funding can occur following approval of
the SOBC meaning that separate grant agreements may be required at
different stages in a project’s progression. In addition,
where projects are delivered in phases, each phase may require a
separate FBC and subsequent grant agreement.

At Cabinet on 13 March the power to authorise acceptance of CRSTS
grants was delegated to the Cabinet Member for Regeneration &
Infrastructure in order to avoid the need for multiple reports to
Cabinet itself.

On 14 August 2024, the Cabinet Member for Regeneration &
Infrastructure exercised this delegated power to authorise the
Executive Director – Place, in conjunction with the Executive
Director – Finance & Transformation, and the Monitoring
Officer to accept £350,000 of CRSTS grant for the purposes of
developing the Outline Business Case and carrying out of detailed
design in relation to the Smethwick to Birmingham Inclusive Growth
Corridor Transport Package.

The grant offer is conditional on completion of the Grant Agreement
which is contained at Appendix A. In addition, the quarterly
forecast should not exceed the in-year Funding. Sandwell MBC is
also required to report to WMCA on the on-going monitoring and
assurance of the project and, where required, provide WMCA with
access to the required information.

Content

That approval be given to accept the sum of
£350,000 City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS)
funding from the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) on behalf
of Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council for the purposes of
developing the Outline Business Case and carrying out of detailed
design for the Smethwick to Birmingham Inclusive Growth Corridor
Transport Package.

Reasons for the decision

On the 1 April 2022 the Secretary of State for
Transport confirmed the full funding allocation of the City Region
Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS) programme for the period
April 2022 to March 2027 as submitted to Government by the West
Midlands Combined Authority following its approval at WMCA Board on
14th January 2022. This includes the £19m funding allocated
to Sandwell MBC for the Smethwick to Birmingham Inclusive Growth
Corridor Transport Package which comprises of multi-modal corridor
transport improvements along A457 Grove Lane, B4135 Cranford
Street, and improvements to other adjacent roads. A feasibility
study which includes developing options and modelling these options
to take a preferred proposal forward is required in the first
instance followed by the development of an OBC to allow Sandwell
MBC to take the scheme to the next stages leading towards delivery
of the identified package of measures. The WMCA has agreed to allow
a proportion of the £19m of funding to be used for developing
this project and this includes this initial commission for a
development of an OBC and detailed design costing approximately
£350,000.

Atkins has been approved as the preferred consultant for the
development of the OBC. The use of the Birmingham Professional
Services Framework to engage Atkins was approved on 12 February
2024.

Approval will ensure sufficient time is given to produce a
comprehensive options appraisal, an Outline Business Case (OBC) and
detailed design work with the funding already allocated and to
ensure that funding deadlines are met and there are no delays in
the delivery programme.

Alternative options considered

Alternative funding options to develop and
deliver the Smethwick to Birmingham Inclusive Growth Corridor
Transport Package were explored as part of a joint WMCA submission
for the Governments Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF) bid, however,
Sandwell Council, along with the wider WMCA were unsuccessful in
achieving the funding required. The £19m allocated within the
CRSTS programme is specifically for the development and delivery of
the Smethwick to Birmingham Inclusive Growth Corridor Transport
Package, however, if during the monitoring and evaluation processes
highlight risk of not being able to deliver the project on time and
within budget, funding guidelines stipulate that alterative options
for the remaining funding will be explored and this may not
necessarily be within Sandwell but could be awarded to another
project within the WMCA area, resulting in a loss of investment in
Sandwell for transport infrastructure improvements.