CHT Programme Board: Update and Recommendations for Endorsement
Executive summary
This paper seeks to provide an update on the activity of the Culture Heritage and Tourism (CHT) Programme Board in ensuring adequate consideration is given to key decisions and recommendations from the programme, as well as providing the Joint Committee with a list of recommended projects for endorsement.
Agreement has been reached between Stirling and Clackmannanshire Council on the funding split will be £9.5M Stirling Council and £5.5M Clackmannanshire Council. The CHT Programme Board have in parallel agreed on the projects to be taken forward, which can be found in Appendix 1.
The endorsement of these recommendations is a key decision gate for progressing the CHT Programme as a whole, notwithstanding the pressures of deliverability of the overall programme within the lifespan of the City Regional Deal. The Joint Committee are also urged to take into consideration the resource and time pressures teams are under to undertake the work necessitated by the business case development stage and delivery of these.
Lena Schelling, RPMOProgramme Analyst
Email address: schellingl@stirling.gov.uk
RPMO contact: Claire Farmer Head of RPMO
Email address: farmerc@stirling.gov.uk Telephone number: 01786 233422
Recommendations
The Joint Committee is asked to:
- Review and endorse the recommended projects that are to be progressed to business development stage. (Refer to Appendix 1 for full recommendation)
Implications
There is a risk that due to a lack of resources available at partner level, that the business case development stage will adversely impact on the deliverability of the projects selected.
There is a risk of deliverability affecting the larger projects proposed, as there exists a dependency on securing match funding from other funding partners, to deliver the projects in full.
Legal & Risk Implications and Mitigation
Can support be provided to those requiring assistance to procure expertise from external consultants to support with design and business case development.
There is a risk that for projects dependent on match funding, if this is not secured then the allocated amount would need to be redistributed across other projects.
Background
The Stirling and Clackmannanshire Deal document signed in 2020 aligns £15m for Developing Cultural, Heritage and Tourism (CHT) Assets in the region.
The Programme Business Case setting out the aims and objectives of the CHT programme was approved by the Joint Committee in March 2023.
The principal aim of the CHT Programme is that it will stimulate increased levels of activity within the associated sector(s) of the economy, so that (through the quality of Stirling and Clackmannanshire’s cultural, heritage and tourism assets and experiences) the region’s status as a leisure destination will be strengthened, increasing visitor spending, encouraging business growth, stimulating investment, and creating employment opportunities. Officers have developed projects which meet this aim.
The Culture, Heritage and Tourism Programme Board was established to provide advice and ensure adequate consideration is given to key decisions and recommendations from the programme.
In line with the agreed governance structure outlined in the approved CHT Programme OBC (Appendix 2), the recommendations in this paper are being presented to the COG for approval, before final approval and decision on which projects should be taken forward for funding is sought from the Joint Committee.
Timeline of CHT Programme Board Activity
June – The Board met on the 26th June to discuss the projects for consideration. In advance of meeting on the 26th June, the Programme Board were provided with the project profiles for seven projects, as follows:
1. The Albert Halls
2. The Alloa Heritage and Enterprise Centre
3. Bannockburn House
4. City Park
5. Forthside Square
6. The Smith Art Gallery & Museum
7. Stirling Wayfinding Project (trail)
The board members scored the projects according to the approved criteria, and the results of the scoring were discussed at the meeting. Overall, there was little to separate each project and it was felt that additional information to inform future discussions would be welcomed.
July – Board members were issued with additional information regarding some projects following requests made for this at the meeting in June. This information was provided and shared with all board members in advance of the Programme Board meeting again in August.
August – The CHT Programme Board met again Thursday 1st August to continue discussions regarding the projects listed above. Discussions also included themes of deliverability as well as regional impact of the projects. Based on the scoring and these discussions, the Board agreed a list of projects for recommendation, as included in Appendix 1.
Forthside Square was not taken forward for recommendation due to lack of detail available on funding arrangements and overall deliverability.
There was also some discussion on the idea of a regional trail, however this was not progressed for recommendation as this project was not proposed or included for consideration at the time of creation of project profiles for scoring by board members.
Considerations
In looking at the CHT Programme as an opportunity to deliver, we are considering the following:
- In line with guidance from Scottish government and the governance outlined in Appendix 2, any projects taken forward and awarded a proportion of the £15 million allocated funding, will require projects to be scoped and defined through business case development. Whether a Full Business Case or Business Justification Case will be required is dependent on the CRD funding amount requested.
- Noting that each business case will be reviewed on an individual basis and is subject to approval by government and Joint Committee for funding to be made available.
Resource Implications
Financial Details
The full financial implications of the recommendations are set out in the report.
This includes a reference to full life cycle costs where appropriate. Yes
Finance Officers have been consulted and have agreed the financial implications
as set out in the report. Yes
Staffing
The full implications on staffing are set out in the report. Yes
Exempt Reports
Is this report exempt? Yes (please detail the reasons for exemption below) No
Equalities Impact
Have you undertaken the required equalities impact assessment to ensure that
no groups are adversely affected by the recommendations? Yes No
Legality
It has been confirmed that in adopting the recommendations contained in this report,
the Joint Committee is acting within its legal powers. Yes
Sustainability and Environmental
It has been confirmed that sustainability and environmental issues have been
considered within the report. Yes
Policy Implications
[LIST DETAIL OR NONE]
Consultations
[LIST DETAIL OR NONE]
Background Papers
Have you used other documents to compile your report?
Yes ☒ (please list the documents below) No
- CHT Programme OBC – 4th Iteration
Appendices
Please list any appendices attached to this report. If there are no appendices, please state “none”.
- CHT Programme Board Recommendations
- CHT Programme OBC – Governance Structure
Approved by:
Jillian Schofield, Service Manager – Culture, Events & Tourism, Stirling Council 07.10.2024
Kevin Wells, Senior Manager Development, Clackmannanshire Council 07.10.2024
Appendix 1
| Stirling Council | Clackmannanshire Council | ||||||||
| Projects | CRD Ask | Total Project Cost | CHT Split (£9.5M) | Projects | CRD Ask | Total Project Cost | CHT Split (£5.5M) | ||
| City Park Event Space | £0.754M | £0.754M | £0.754M | The Alloa Heritage & Enterprise Centre | £9.7M | £24.7M | £5.5M | ||
| Stirling Wayfinding Project | £0.335M | £0.335M | £0.335M | ||||||
| The Albert Halls | £7M | £20M | £5,170,714 | ||||||
| Bannockburn House | £1.4M | £2.1M | £1,032,131 | ||||||
| The Smith Art Gallery & Museum | £3M | £8.6M | £2,213,155 | ||||||
| TOTAL | £12.49M | £9,500,000 | £9.7M | £5.5M | |||||
CHT Programme Board Recommendations
We recommend, in terms of the CHT Programme and its candidate projects, based upon the evidence before us, including the additional information which we had requested following our previous meeting at which we had discussed the outcome of the scoring process – which had grouped the projects fairly equally – applying our differentiating criteria of deliverability and regionality:
In making this recommendation, we recognise that the CHT investment can most impactfully be allocated essentially as ‘seed funding’ for the larger projects (Albert Halls, The Smith Art Gallery & Museum and Bannockburn House and the Alloa Heritage and Enterprise Centre) and that the smaller projects (Stirling Wayfinding Project and City Park) can progress quickly, and in full.
End
Appendix 2
In line with the agreed Governance Structure outlined in the approved CHT Programme OBC (below), the recommendations have been presented to the COG for approval, before decision and agreement on which projects should be taken forward for business development is sought from the Joint Committee.