Torquay Towns Fund Board

Read the terms of reference and minutes of the Torquay Towns Fund board.

The Town Board is responsible for overseeing the development of a town investment plan for Torquay following Government’s invitation to bid for up to £25M of investment from the Towns Fund. This paper summarises for Board Members the intended decision making process that will shape how the Investment Plan is developed.

Recommendations

Board members confirms the arrangements set out in this paper

Background

The role of the Board and the detail of the opportunity was set out to Board members at the initial meeting of the Board in January 2020. The prospectus that Government has asked places to work to sets out the broad parameters of the unique opportunity that Torquay has and provides some context for the way in which Town Board’s are expected to function.

The principle role of the Board is to be the vehicle through which the vision and strategy for the town is defined. It will produce a Town Investment Plan, which will be submitted to Government by Torbay Council, and inform the Town Deal, including the amount of investment secured through the Towns Fund.

Develop and agree an evidenced based Town Investment Plan
Develop a clear programme of interventions
Coordinate resources and influence stakeholders

The prospectus sets out that although the Town Deal Board serves an advisory function to the Lead Council, all members are expected to adhere to the Nolan Principles, set out clear Terms of Reference, and agree to a Code of Conduct.

The Board is made up of voting members drawn from the local community in line with the requirements of the prospectus and non-voting members of the TDA programme team. While the expectation is that the Board will reach decisions by consensus where votes are required each voting member will have one vote with the Chairman having the casting vote in the event of a tie.

As guidance is developed the precise role of the Board will become better defined but its broad responsibility may include

Recommending to the Council a prioritised Investment Plan of projects in support of the Board’s defined objectives.
Recommend to the Board a budget for investment programme administration costs.
Approval of business cases for projects.
Direct and advise the TDA programme team in their programme management role

Terms of reference

The main purpose of the Town Deal Board is to:

Lead the development of the Town Investment Plan in line
Make decisions on the investment plan and the prioritisation of projects in support of the Board’s objectives
Working with the Council to ensure that good governance standards are met
Directing the LEP Management Team and Programme Management Office (PMO) who are the executive for programme management
Receiving reports on financial progress, programme and outputs and preparing monitoring reports for government
Commissioning research to create an evidence base to support project selection and prioritisation. Commissioning evaluation reports to measure programme and project effectiveness which will inform revisions to the SEP and Business Plan
Keeping the Assurance Framework under review and adapting it to meet the requirements of new funding programmes

Membership

Vince Flower (Chair, TDA)
Kevin Foster (Vice chair, MP)
Cllr Swithin Long (Torbay Council)
Kevin Mowat (Torbay Council, Director of Place)
Susie Colley (Torquay Chamber)
Jason Garside (Torbay Leisure Hotels)

Community Board representatives

Laurence Frewin (South Devon College)
Julie Brandon (Torquay Town Centre Community Partnership)
Mike Watson (Stagecoach)
Jim Parker (Torbay Together),
Carolyn Custerson (English Riviera Tourism BID),
Dr Andrew Robertson (Torbay Hi Tech Cluster)
David Ralph (Heart of SW LEP)

A quorum is 6 voting members including the Chair or Vice Chair and a representative of the Council as lead authority. Each voting member has 1 vote and in the event of a tied vote Chair will have a casting vote.

Conflicts of interest

The Board will conduct itself in accordance with Nolan Principles of public life. Board members will also maintain an up to date register of interests.