Agenda item

8.1

The Council has, in principle, access to devolved Government funding, known as Gainshare, via the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) to deliver inclusive and sustainable economic development in the City. Government has, in total, made £900m available to South Yorkshire over 30 years starting in 20/21.

Gainshare is being made available to the Council to bring forward projects that benefit the City and align with the South Yorkshire Strategic Economic Plan. SYMCA have agreed that in-principle funding will be available on an annual basis in the form of £6m capital and £4m revenue.

A number of strategic projects have been identified that require access to Gainshare that have either started and are facing significant cost inflation or are ready to progress subject to funding being available.

The number of projects and amount of funding required to take them forward means an approach based on annual allocations will significantly delay delivery and/or result in the opportunity to deliver some projects being lost altogether. In order to address this issue an approach has been developed so that projects are progressed in the form of a programme where beneficial schemes are identified and Gainshare funding brought forward with the agreement of SYMCA to enable earlier delivery.

8.2

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That Strategy and Resources Policy Committee:-

(a) approves the strategy to explore accelerated Gainshare funding options with SYMCA enabling activity and benefits to be realised as soon as possible, as set out in this report;

(b) approves the strategy to progress the existing pipeline of projects and develop

additional projects using year 24/25 Gainshare funding, as set out in this report and subject to Council approval of any future commissioning decisions.

8.3

Reasons for Decision

8.3.1

The underlying benefits of this proposal are:

8.3.2

The creation of a Programme approach to Gainshare that enables the Council to significantly contribute to the outcomes of the South Yorkshire Strategic Economic Plan and deliver critical benefits for the residents and businesses of the City.

8.3.3

It enables the Council to accelerate a strategic capital programme and ensure the delivery of projects that are at risk of not progressing or progressing in a reduced form and/or at a slower rate.

8.3.4

It secures the delivery of the final year of UKSPF in 24/25 and establishes a secure funding stream for economic focussed revenue funding for the future.

8.3.5

The proposal also sets out a governance regime for Gainshare so that Economic Development and Skills Committee maintains oversight of programme performance and future activity

8.4

Alternatives Considered and Rejected

8.4.1

A do-nothing option would see the current Programme of projects progress at a slower rate being reliant on annual Gainshare allocations. This approach could potentially see a number of projects not progress because they can no longer access match funding or meet other funders requirements, or the projects could be reduced in scale as cost pressures mean some elements are no longer affordable. The consequence is that a number of the benefits outline in section 2 will either be reduced or not realised at all.

8.4.2

These benefits are seen as critical to improve the economic situation for many residents and businesses located in the City and failure to deliver may have reputational damage with other local, regional and national partners.

8.1

The Executive Director City Futures submitted a report in respect of Sheffield’s Gainshare Programme.

The Council has, in principle, access to devolved Government funding, known as Gainshare, via the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) to deliver inclusive and sustainable economic development in the City. Government has, in total, made £900m available to South Yorkshire over 30 years starting in 20/21.

Gainshare is being made available to the Council to bring forward projects that benefit the City and align with the South Yorkshire Strategic Economic Plan. SYMCA have agreed that in-principle funding will be available on an annual basis in the form of £6m capital and £4m revenue.

A number of strategic projects have been identified that require access to Gainshare that have either started and are facing significant cost inflation or are ready to progress subject to funding being available.

The number of projects and amount of funding required to take them forward means an approach based on annual allocations will significantly delay delivery and/or result in the opportunity to deliver some projects being lost altogether. In order to address this issue an approach has been developed so that projects are progressed in the form of a programme where beneficial schemes are identified and Gainshare funding brought forward with the agreement of SYMCA to enable earlier delivery.

8.2

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That Strategy and Resources Policy Committee:-

(a) approves the strategy to explore accelerated Gainshare funding options with SYMCA enabling activity and benefits to be realised as soon as possible, as set out in this report;

(b) approves the strategy to progress the existing pipeline of projects and develop

additional projects using year 24/25 Gainshare funding, as set out in this report and subject to Council approval of any future commissioning decisions.

8.3

Reasons for Decision

8.3.1

The underlying benefits of this proposal are:

8.3.2

The creation of a Programme approach to Gainshare that enables the Council to significantly contribute to the outcomes of the South Yorkshire Strategic Economic Plan and deliver critical benefits for the residents and businesses of the City.

8.3.3

It enables the Council to accelerate a strategic capital programme and ensure the delivery of projects that are at risk of not progressing or progressing in a reduced form and/or at a slower rate.

8.3.4

It secures the delivery of the final year of UKSPF in 24/25 and establishes a secure funding stream for economic focussed revenue funding for the future.

8.3.5

The proposal also sets out a governance regime for Gainshare so that Economic Development and Skills Committee maintains oversight of programme performance and future activity

8.4

Alternatives Considered and Rejected

8.4.1

A do-nothing option would see the current Programme of projects progress at a slower rate being reliant on annual Gainshare allocations. This approach could potentially see a number of projects not progress because they can no longer access match funding or meet other funders requirements, or the projects could be reduced in scale as cost pressures mean some elements are no longer affordable. The consequence is that a number of the benefits outline in section 2 will either be reduced or not realised at all.

8.4.2

These benefits are seen as critical to improve the economic situation for many residents and businesses located in the City and failure to deliver may have reputational damage with other local, regional and national partners.