Levelling Up, regeneration and the exciting opportunities for the future of North East Lincolnshire… with the Government’s confidence in the Grimsby town centre strategy the “icing on the cake”.
These are the topics highlighted by the leader of North East Lincolnshire Council, Cllr Philip Jackson, during his Leader’s Speech at the most recent Full Council meeting at Grimsby Town Hall, described as “exciting times for both Grimsby town centre and Cleethorpes.”
“It was pleasing to see reference to our key relationship with the Department for Levelling Up in the prelude to the Chancellor’s Budget speech,” he told the chamber. “The Government’s aim is to develop a further 20 Levelling Up partnerships across the country, modelled on the ‘deep dive’ that the Department for Levelling Up undertook in partnership with this council last year. That deep dive cemented an already credible working relationship between our officers and senior civil servants and it also raised awareness of our borough’s challenges and opportunities at the senior ministerial level.
“It is the strength of that relationship that led to us unlocking key infrastructure investment in our A180 bridge network; that enabled us to work closely with DEFRA to resolve significant strategic issues affecting our seafood sector; that has cemented our working relationship with Homes England; and that enabled us to have frank and honest dialogue with the Cabinet Office leading to the rapid implementation of revised Border Control Post arrangements to ensure that local trade and commerce was supported. This type of working relationship is not common to all or every local authority and we should recognise that. Our engagement continues as we strive to work together to support positive and lasting change in Grimsby and the wider borough.
“Moving on to the Levelling Up Fund bids and some background on the second round of the bidding, the outcome of which was announced last month. There were 526 bids, valued at more than £8 billion, submitted to the Government for the £2.1 billion of available funds. Only 111 of those 526 bids were successful – around one in five. No local authority was successful in more than one bid and many local authorities received nothing. Therefore, we did very well indeed with our successful bid for Cleethorpes.
“We received £18.4 million for three projects in the resort as part of the Cleethorpes Masterplan. This will enable us to move forward with plans for a new, iconic building on Sea Road, the improvement and modernisation of Pier Gardens and a major upgrade of Cleethorpes Market Place. These projects will help transform Cleethorpes from an already good to a great resort, levering in further private investment. Indeed, more details of the proposed exciting redevelopment of the derelict Pleasure Island site have recently been announced.
“The icing on the cake was the Government further demonstrating its support for, and confidence in, our Grimsby Town Centre strategy. In the Budget, we received a second tranche of round two Levelling Up funding – £20 million towards the Freshney Place Leisure Scheme. The council has now entered into a lease agreement with Parkway Cinema, which will occupy the cinema unit within the new scheme. In addition, the council has also entered into a Pre-Construction Services Agreement with Morgan Sindalls regarding the construction of the scheme. The PCSA will refine and finalise both design and costings for the construction phase. Members will be aware that E-Factor has started on the transformation of St James’ House into a business and conference centre and work has begun on the refurbishment of Riverhead Square.
“The Cabinet recently gave approval to move forward with the first phase of a brownfield town centre housing scheme that will see the development of about 130 new green homes in the Garth Lane area of Alexandra Dock, with the scope for future phases to further develop the wider dock area, in line with the Grimsby Town Centre Masterplan. The council continues to work closely with Onside, which are developing the new Horizon Youth Zone at the West Haven Maltings site. Onside has secured significant investment from several funders, including the council, that will enable work to commence in the next few weeks. Exciting times for both Grimsby town centre and Cleethorpes.
“We recently hosted a visit from Arts Council England and the Heritage Lottery Fund. It is clear from the visit and feedback that we have a strong and credible story to tell about how the arts, culture and heritage are integral to our regeneration ambitions. As we now also have a National Portfolio Organisation designation and as we continue to engage jointly with the Arts Council, Heritage Lottery and Historic England, our platform for celebrating our past, recognising the opportunities that lie ahead, and securing further investment is firmly established.
“Turning to Children’s Services, following our latest monitoring visit, which took place in February, Ofsted has published its letter confirming that improvements are continuing to be made as part of the council’s transformation plan. While the overall improvement plan is still in its infancy and there is still much to do, Ofsted has acknowledged that we are realistic in our outlook and about the challenges facing the service. The recent visit focused on our support for children with long-term experience of the care system, and young people and care-leavers aged 16 to 17 and 18 to 25.
“I am pleased to say that the inspectors noted a strengthened leadership, renewed policies and strong relationships between children and young people and their personal advisers. The work that our advisors do was highlighted as a strength, with young people benefitting from frequent visits, practical advice and support, and consideration of their abilities, meaning that they are moved towards independence at a pace that works for them.
“While staff turnover remains a challenge, Ofsted inspectors were clear that leaders are addressing this. They commended the well-managed induction package for new social workers and talked about how leaders ‘recognise the need to increase political and corporate understanding, scrutiny and continued investment, to ensure that there are the right conditions and infrastructure to drive the whole service improvements that are required’. The letter highlighted some things that we can do as corporate leaders to further support our care-experienced young people, and some areas that are already being looked at.
“There is still much to do to address the long-standing, deep seated issues within Children’s Services. We have an improvement plan and we are pressing on with that, with help from our partners and from Ofsted. Young people are being threaded into a lot of our ambitious regeneration plans – the work that we’re doing to develop Cleethorpes to bring in businesses and create jobs, the work that we’re doing in Grimsby town centre, with the Onside Youth Zone.
“Our application to the Department for Education for a new 150-place Free Special School, focused on children with social, emotional and mental health difficulties, has been successful. This is a big step forward in developing local capacity and in-borough provision to support children and families. We have also been successful in securing a £1 million grant from the Department as part of the Delivering Better Value in SEND national programme.
“Turning to the wider regional economy, hardly a day goes by without some announcement about new net carbon-zero plans or investments in and around our two Ports of Grimsby and Immingham or across the wider Humber footprint. In January, I attended the launch of the Humber Energy Board’s Humber 2030 Vision – decarbonising the UK’s largest industrial cluster. Last week, Maritime UK chose the Port of Grimsby to launch its Offshore Wind Plan, focusing on maximising the value of offshore wind to the maritime supply chain. Earlier this week, I was at the House of Commons for a Humber Westminster gathering of local authority leaders, MPs and key private sector representatives from around the estuary where Levelling Up minister Dehenna Davison confirmed that the full business case for the Humber Freeport is in the final stages of government approval. To take full advantage of all these exciting developments and opportunities, North East Lincolnshire and our geographical neighbours must do all we can to ensure we have the right infrastructure and that our workforce has the appropriate skills.
“That leads me to devolution. As members will know, the Government is keen to progress this agenda and I have received ministerial confirmation that government officials will now engage with officers to discuss Greater Lincolnshire devolution. The Chief Executive is engaged in initial discussions. This is just the beginning of what I hope is a process leading to formal negotiations for a Greater Lincolnshire devolution deal. Our focus will be to ensure that communities and businesses benefit from any devolution deal, while we also continue to highlight the strategic significance of the Humber economy to the UK and beyond. As I have previously stated, any formal decisions in respect of devolution will be considered and debated in the council chamber.”
About the author