FOI release

Cost of bids associated with 'Levelling Up'

Case reference FOI2022/00329

Published 25 April 2022

Request

Q1. Could you tell me the amount the authority has spent on producing bids for funding through the schemes named below*, since 2019? Please also provide a breakdown of this figure, for each scheme.

Q2. Can you also confirm whether the council hired external contractors to produce all or part of the bid in each instance?

*The Community Renewal fund, Future High Streets, the Levelling Up Fund, and Towns Deals

Response

Q1. Community Renewal Fund:

Amount: £20,714

External contractors to provide project assurance and legal governance / funding agreements. The council utilised capacity funding provided by the government to administer the Community Renewal Fund scheme in Herefordshire. The council did not directly apply for funding itself.

Future High Streets:

Amount: £0

Levelling Up Fund:

Amount: £0

Town Deals:

Amount: £114,155

External contractors to provide support for the Towns Fund bid writing and project development. Again, this utilised capacity funding provided by government in order to develop the Town Investment Plan, overseen by the Hereford Stronger Towns Board. The council is developing business cases for three Town Investment Plan projects, with development works currently on-going. The three projects are Greening the City, Hereford Museum and Art Gallery Redevelopment, and Maylord Orchard Library and Learning Resource Centre.

Further details on the Town Investment Plan can be found on the 'Stronger Hereford' website, via the link below which I trust is helpful:

https://strongerhereford.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/S20098D-Hereford-TIP-Document-NEW-FINAL-1.pdf

Q2. Please see the response to Question 1.

Documents

There are no documents for this release.

This is Herefordshire Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.

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