Culture Heritage and Tourism Programme: Update and Recommendation of Priority Projects
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, as set out in Appendix 1.
Following assessment of these projects and discussion with officers from Stirling and Clackmannanshire Council funding allocations for each of the projects and been recommended as detailed in Appendix 1. It should be noted that for 5 of these projects, the proposed funding is not sufficient to fully delivery the scheme, and other match funding will be required to be secured by the partners to enable the projects to progress. .
The endorsement of these recommendations is a key decision stage for the CHT Programme as a whole, notwithstanding the pressures of deliverability of the overall programme within the lifespan of the City Regional Deal.
Lena Schelling, RPMOProgramme Analyst
Email address: schellingl@stirling.gov.uk
City Region Deal contact: Brian Roberts, Chief Operating Officer, Stirling Council.
Email address: robertsb@stirling.gov.uk
Recommendations
The Joint Committee is asked to:
- Agree that the projects listed in Appendix 2, as recommended by the Culture, Heritage and Tourism project board, are progressed as the priority projects within this programme;
- Agree the proposed project funding allocations as set out in Appendix 2 are applied;
- Agree that project owners are required to secure the remaining project funding and provide a business case for approval by Committee, within 18 months.
Legal & Risk Implications and Mitigation
There is a risk that the other match funding required for some of the projects may not be secured, or may be insufficient to enable the project to progress. If this occurs, the project and scope would need to be reassessed by the CHT Project Board and further consideration of options by the Joint Committee.
If any of the projects cannot be progressed due to lack of financial viability, it may be that the funding could be relocated to the other agreed projects, or consideration of a new alternative project.
The legal considerations and risks associated the delivery of individual projects will be set out in full at each stage of the business case process for each project.
Background
The Stirling and Clackmannanshire Deal document signed in 2020 allocate £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.
The Forthside Square project was not taken forward for recommendation due to lack of detail available on funding arrangements and overall detail of the project at this stage. It was also considered that there were other alternative funding and delivery arrangements for this project through the planned redevelopment of Forthside.
Considerations
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.
Each project business case will be reviewed on an individual basis and will require approval by Government and Joint Committee prior to funding being made available.
It should be noted that for 5 of the projects recommended for approval within Appendix 2, that the proposed allocations of City Region deal funding only forms part of the total funding required to deliver the project. Project partners will be required to secure the other match funding to enable the full project to be delivered prior to City Region Deal Funding being released for these projects. A Full Business Case will be required for these project, and partners will need to identify with this business case how the total project funding is being provided and provide confirmation that this funding is secured.
It is recommended that a period of up to 18 months is set to enable the lead partner on the projects to secure the total project funding, and provide a full project business case, which will required to be approved by Joint Committee and Government.
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
Tourism, events and culture directly relate to a number of Stirling Council’s objectives, including current Strategic Priorities 3, 4, 5 and 9; as well as Stirling’s 10-Year Thriving Stirling Strategy, its Economic Strategy, Sport, Physical Activity and Healthy Living Strategy, Climate Strategy and our Covid Recovery Plan.
Consultations
Comprehensive review of the built environment (involving selected stakeholders from key organisations) to catalogue culture, heritage and tourism assets and properties, including development and investment opportunities which could potentially be supported by funding through the CHT Programme.
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
Email address: schofieldj@stirling.gov.uk
Kevin Wells, Strategic Director: Place, Clackmannanshire Council.
Email address: kwells@clacks.gov.uk
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.