Recommendations & Conclusions
13 items
2
Recommendation
Twenty-Fourth Report - Selecting towns …
Accepted
The Department has a weak and unconvincing justification for not publishing any information on the process it followed, which does not vindicate its lack of transparency. The Department says that it did not reveal the detail behind its selection of towns so as not to raise local expectations about an …
Read more
The Department has a weak and unconvincing justification for not publishing any information on the process it followed, which does not vindicate its lack of transparency. The Department says that it did not reveal the detail behind its selection of towns so as not to raise local expectations about an unsuccessful town’s likelihood of success in the forthcoming competitive round, and so as not to distort local behaviour to enhance their likelihood of success, despite at that stage not yet having decided which towns would be eligible for the competitive round or how it would be conducted. The Department’s lack of transparency fuelled accusations of political bias in the selection process, and potentially is also a risk to the Civil Service’s reputation for impartiality. The Department exacerbated concerns by misrepresenting the National Audit Office’s report in statements to the press which said that the report concluded the selection process had been ‘robust’; when the report includes no such statement. Now the NAO has published the underlying information used by the Department’s officials to score towns, aspects of it are particularly interesting and we are pleased the Department has agreed to write to us with more detail on how the Department calculated the town-level scores, in particular around the risks from a no-deal Brexit. Recommendation: To avoid accusations that government is selecting towns for political reasons, the Department should be upfront and transparent about how it reaches funding decisions as the Towns Fund progresses, particularly the planned competitive round. The principle of openness and transparency should extend across the whole of government when it is selecting some local areas, but not others, to benefit from taxpayers’ money. 6 Selecting towns for the Towns Fund
Show less
Government response AI summary
The government commits to providing a record of Ministerial recusal, decision criteria, and assessment scores upon completion of all Towns Fund decisions. It also plans to publish Heads of Terms on GOV.UK when agreed with towns.
Read full response →
HM Treasury
3
Recommendation
Twenty-Fourth Report - Selecting towns …
Accepted
It is unclear how much engagement and intelligence gathering, if any, Ministers held with local and regional representatives, to inform their selection of towns from the medium- and low-priority groups. Departmental officials assessed towns against three qualitative criteria using the knowledge of the Department’s area-based teams, rather than consult with …
Read more
It is unclear how much engagement and intelligence gathering, if any, Ministers held with local and regional representatives, to inform their selection of towns from the medium- and low-priority groups. Departmental officials assessed towns against three qualitative criteria using the knowledge of the Department’s area-based teams, rather than consult with local stakeholders, and collectively gave these criteria less weight compared with the quantitative criteria in its assessment. Similarly, Ministers decided they were better placed to make decisions themselves without seeking the views of local stakeholders, such as LEPs, local MPs and directly elected mayors, despite officials recommending to Ministers that they do so. The Department says that Ministers declined, in writing, to engage with elected mayors on the Towns Fund because they speak routinely with mayors on a range of matters that affect local areas. The Department believes that the necessary local partnerships are being developed through the new tier of governance—Town Deal Boards—being created to support planning and spending of the funding at the town level. The Department says it is satisfied that the Town Deal Boards are well constituted and claims they are working well. It is vital that the Boards continue to fully engage local stakeholders and consult with residents as towns develop bids. Recommendation: In its Treasury Minute response, the Department should set out how it will oversee Town Boards, and how it will ensure that all relevant local and regional bodies, and local residents, are involved in planning and implementing Town Deals.
Show less
Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the recommendation and states it is already implemented, citing existing expectations for Town Deal Boards, assessed governance, and requirements for local stakeholder and resident consultation specified in the Towns Fund guidance.
Read full response →
HM Treasury
5
Recommendation
Twenty-Fourth Report - Selecting towns …
Accepted
We are concerned that towns may not have the capacity to deliver their plans and spend the money well. The Department says that the towns most in need of investment would have been disadvantaged in a competitive bidding process because of a lack of leadership, resources or experience of dealing …
Read more
We are concerned that towns may not have the capacity to deliver their plans and spend the money well. The Department says that the towns most in need of investment would have been disadvantaged in a competitive bidding process because of a lack of leadership, resources or experience of dealing with government departments. The Department made £14 million available to towns to help them to develop their investment plans. The Department also made £8 million available for consultancy support to help towns with things like project management and valuing Selecting towns for the Towns Fund 7 real estate. While this funding may help towns to develop their plans, if these towns are indeed the ones least able to bid for funds then it must also raise concerns about their capacity to deliver their plans and spend the money well. The Department says that it is working at pace to agree the funding that will be available for the 13 towns in the first cohort but warns that it could take up to 12 months to agree business cases and issue final approvals before projects can begin. The Department has profiled the funding over the next four financial years but does not know yet whether the profile it has developed aligns with towns’ individual investment plans. Recommendation: From the end of March 2021, the Department should write to the Committee with annual updates to provide assurance that it is spending the money well. The Department’s updates should demonstrate that its due diligence processes have included an assessment of towns’ capacity to successfully deliver their plans.
Show less
Government response AI summary
The government accepts the recommendation and commits to providing annual updates to the Committee on the Towns Fund's progress, including an assessment of towns' capacity to deliver their plans, with a target implementation date of April 2021.
Read full response →
HM Treasury
6
Recommendation
Twenty-Fourth Report - Selecting towns …
Accepted
It is not clear how the Towns Fund fits with other government funding programmes with overlapping aims. The Department confirms that, despite the impact of Covid-19 on government spending plans, the £3.6 billion funding allocated to the Towns Fund is secure. It has no plans to do anything other than …
Read more
It is not clear how the Towns Fund fits with other government funding programmes with overlapping aims. The Department confirms that, despite the impact of Covid-19 on government spending plans, the £3.6 billion funding allocated to the Towns Fund is secure. It has no plans to do anything other than continue with the Towns Fund and to deliver the fund in a way that maximises the long-term economic growth and productivity of the towns. The Department also confirms that many of the bids are aligned with other funds, both from central and local government, and highlights the importance of aligning the Towns Fund projects with other interventions. But the specific aims of the Towns Fund and how it fits with other, similar programmes of government funding such as the Future High Streets Fund are unclear. Recommendation: The Government should use the opportunity provided by the Spending Review to be clear about the strategic fit of the Towns Fund programme with other funding programmes across government.
Show less
Government response AI summary
The government agrees, stating the Towns Fund is a central component of the Levelling Up strategy and that the new Levelling Up Fund, announced at the 2020 Spending Review, will consolidate fragmented funding streams to provide greater clarity and alignment across programmes.
Read full response →
HM Treasury
7
Recommendation
Twenty-Fourth Report - Selecting towns …
Accepted
The impact of Covid-19 is likely to mean that some towns’ plans for how best to spend the money will need to be revisited. We are very concerned about the short-term and long-term effects of Covid-19 on towns, and high streets in particular. The Department tells us that its guidance …
Read more
The impact of Covid-19 is likely to mean that some towns’ plans for how best to spend the money will need to be revisited. We are very concerned about the short-term and long-term effects of Covid-19 on towns, and high streets in particular. The Department tells us that its guidance steers towns to think carefully about investments that increase retail space in towns, given that Covid-19 may have accelerated some of the challenges for the high street. We are also concerned that Covid-19 will reduce towns ability to raise match funding for its plans. The Department says that it will help towns to meet the challenges of Covid-19 by giving towns with exceptionally good and well-evidenced plans more than £25 million, the original maximum funding limit, and that towns that have been more adversely affected by Covid-19 may have a greater likelihood of securing funding. It also plans to bring forward £80 million of the Towns Fund with each town receiving between £500,000 and £1 million. We remain concerned though that as the pandemic continues to affect towns, some will find that their plans need to change to respond to new challenges, and the Department needs to be alive to this. Recommendation: In its Treasury Minute response, the Department should set out how it is responding to the ongoing impact of Covid-19 on towns and their ability to implement their proposals for spending the funding and on the timeline for releasing funding. 8 Selecting towns for the Towns Fund 1 The selection process
Show less
Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the recommendation, stating it has already provided accelerated funding to towns in September 2020, allowed additional time for plan development, and encouraged towns to review plans to address the ongoing impact of Covid-19.
Read full response →
HM Treasury
12
Recommendation
Twenty-Fourth Report - Selecting towns …
Accepted
The Department told us that it is satisfied that the Town Deal Boards are well constituted, meeting departmental stipulations, and coming together well. Boards are involving the private sector and the wider social sector, with examples of some Boards being chaired by private sector business people and others by chairs …
Read more
The Department told us that it is satisfied that the Town Deal Boards are well constituted, meeting departmental stipulations, and coming together well. Boards are involving the private sector and the wider social sector, with examples of some Boards being chaired by private sector business people and others by chairs of charities. The Department expressed confidence that through the Boards the right local coalitions were being developed to put together successful bids and deliver on their plans.27 We heard how some towns are consulting with residents as they develop bids, for example 18 Qq 04–101 19 Qq 29–30, 32, 46–47, 58–59 20 Qq 31, 59 21 Qq 36, 50, 82–84 22 Qq 82–84 23 Qq 49–55 24 Qq 54–55 25 Qq 98–100 26 Q 91 27 Q 61 Selecting towns for the Towns Fund 11 Blackpool, which invited comments from residents on draft versions of its plan through the council’s website.28 We reiterate the vital importance of Boards fully engaging with local stakeholders and consulting with residents as towns develop bids—ensuring this happens will be a key role for the Department’s observers on the Boards.29 28 Q 62 29 Q 85 12 Selecting towns for the Towns Fund 2 Making a success of the Towns Fund Monitoring and evaluating impact
Show less
Government response AI summary
The government states it has already set out expectations for Town Deal Boards regarding stakeholder and community engagement in its prospectus and guidance. It assesses board governance and requires towns to provide rigorously assessed stakeholder engagement plans.
Read full response →
HM Treasury
14
Conclusion
Twenty-Fourth Report - Selecting towns …
Accepted
Given our concerns in the past about the Department’s failure to put in place quantifiable objectives to help it measure the impact of its interventions on local economic growth, we asked the Department how it intended to approach this for the Towns Fund, to properly measure impacts such as job …
Read more
Given our concerns in the past about the Department’s failure to put in place quantifiable objectives to help it measure the impact of its interventions on local economic growth, we asked the Department how it intended to approach this for the Towns Fund, to properly measure impacts such as job creation and improved wellbeing.32 The Department explained that it hopes its monitoring regime will measure outcomes that gauge improvement in the health and vitality of towns.33 The Department expects outcomes to depend on the nature of each project, but it wants to be able to look at a basket of measures at three different levels: the project level, the town investment plan level, and the overall programme level. It outlined how it plans to monitor the impacts of the Towns Deals on employment, income and wellbeing against the baseline of what is happening in those towns and, in due course, compare the performance of towns that have benefitted from the Towns Fund with other, similar towns.34
Show less
Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the committee's observation regarding monitoring and evaluation. It details existing plans for national and project-level impact assessments and commits to publishing its full monitoring and evaluation strategy in Spring 2021, providing annual updates to the Committee.
Read full response →
HM Treasury
15
Conclusion
Twenty-Fourth Report - Selecting towns …
Accepted
The Department told us that it is looking to probe each project to gauge how convinced it is that towns can deliver their plans successfully, and that it will build in robust monitoring and evaluation processes from the start, agreeing key outputs and outcomes such as jobs created and footfall …
Read more
The Department told us that it is looking to probe each project to gauge how convinced it is that towns can deliver their plans successfully, and that it will build in robust monitoring and evaluation processes from the start, agreeing key outputs and outcomes such as jobs created and footfall before projects begin, and tracking them every six months.35 It has developed a prospectus and guidance which sets out a list of possible measures including jobs created, footfall, qualification levels, levels of private investment and commuting times.36 The Department told us that it wants the measures, when chosen, to mean something to local people. As an example, it cited how it is considering how it can reflect and measure sustainable, rather than short-term, employment.37 But we remain concerned that the Department could only set out to us in general terms how it might monitor and evaluate the impact of the Towns Fund; the detailed measures are still to be developed. Capacity to deliver and spend the money well
Show less
Government response AI summary
The government disagrees with the committee's conclusion about a lack of clarity on impact measurement, outlining specific plans for national and project-level monitoring and evaluation, including tracking metrics on employment, income, and wellbeing, and commits to publishing the full strategy in Spring 2021.
Read full response →
HM Treasury
16
Conclusion
Twenty-Fourth Report - Selecting towns …
Accepted
The Department’s rationale for opting for “a deals-based approach” to funding, rather than a competitive bidding process, was because towns most in need of investment would have been disadvantaged in a competitive bidding process due to a lack of leadership, resources or experience of dealing with government departments. The Department …
Read more
The Department’s rationale for opting for “a deals-based approach” to funding, rather than a competitive bidding process, was because towns most in need of investment would have been disadvantaged in a competitive bidding process due to a lack of leadership, resources or experience of dealing with government departments. The Department 30 Qq 60, 72–73 31 Q 60 32 Qq 85–86 33 Q 88 34 Qq 85–86 35 Qq 60, 85 36 Q 85 37 Q 88 Selecting towns for the Towns Fund 13 explained that a deals-based approach to selection enabled it to provide advice and support to help towns develop their bid and build capacity.38 With this in mind, the Department allocated around £14 million of “capacity funding” to towns that are eligible for the Towns Fund, to support them in developing their plans. The Department cited project management as an example of a common area where towns would need some help.39
Show less
Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the implied recommendation to support towns, reiterating its recognition of multiple funding programmes and its support for towns to align funding and develop strategic Town Investment Plans. It notes the Levelling Up Fund includes previous Towns Fund competition money.
Read full response →
HM Treasury
23
Conclusion
Twenty-Fourth Report - Selecting towns …
Accepted
The Department told us that many of the bids are aligned with other funds, both from central and local government, and highlighted the importance of aligning the Towns Fund projects with other interventions.48 But the specific aims of the Towns Fund and how it fits with other, similar programmes of …
Read more
The Department told us that many of the bids are aligned with other funds, both from central and local government, and highlighted the importance of aligning the Towns Fund projects with other interventions.48 But the specific aims of the Towns Fund and how it fits with other, similar programmes of government funding remain unclear. The impact of Covid-19
Show less
Government response AI summary
The government acknowledges the committee's concern regarding the clarity of the Towns Fund's aims and its fit with other programmes. It responds by detailing how the fund aligns with broader strategies and introduces the new Levelling Up Fund to consolidate various funding streams, clarifying a …
Read full response →
HM Treasury
24
Conclusion
Twenty-Fourth Report - Selecting towns …
Accepted
A consistent theme highlighted in the town plans that the Department has seen so far is the impact of Covid-19, leading towns to think about a more diverse range of uses for the high street. The Department told us that its guidance steers towns to think carefully about investments that …
Read more
A consistent theme highlighted in the town plans that the Department has seen so far is the impact of Covid-19, leading towns to think about a more diverse range of uses for the high street. The Department told us that its guidance steers towns to think carefully about investments that increase retail space in towns, given that Covid-19 may have accelerated some of the challenges for the high street. The Department shared with us some example projects such as Darlington’s plan to expand the provision of T-levels and build a new centre to teach T-levels in town, and the repurposing of retail space as a library in Margate.49
Show less
Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the implied importance of considering COVID-19 impacts, stating it has already provided £81.5 million in accelerated funding, adjusted timelines, and requires towns to outline COVID-19 considerations in their proposals.
Read full response →
HM Treasury
25
Conclusion
Twenty-Fourth Report - Selecting towns …
Accepted
How the impact of Covid-19 will influence decisions about how the Department allocates the Towns Fund is unclear. Whether towns that have been adversely affected by Covid-19 will have a greater likelihood of selection, or whether events may mean that some of the plans set out in winning bids are …
Read more
How the impact of Covid-19 will influence decisions about how the Department allocates the Towns Fund is unclear. Whether towns that have been adversely affected by Covid-19 will have a greater likelihood of selection, or whether events may mean that some of the plans set out in winning bids are now less of a priority, is still to be determined. The Department told us that it will help towns to meet the challenges of Covid-19 by giving towns with exceptionally good and well-evidenced plans more than £25 million, the original maximum funding limit, and that towns that have been more adversely affected by Covid-19 may have a greater likelihood of securing funding.50
Show less
Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the implied importance of addressing COVID-19 impacts, stating it has already provided £81.5 million in accelerated funding, adjusted timelines, and requires towns to outline COVID-19 considerations in their proposals.
Read full response →
HM Treasury
27
Conclusion
Twenty-Fourth Report - Selecting towns …
Accepted
The Department has brought forward £80 million of the Towns Fund, with each eligible town receiving between £500,000 and £1 million for projects that will make a difference to the area, such as new green spaces, the creation of pop-up businesses spaces, pedestrianisation of streets to encourage walking or cycling, …
Read more
The Department has brought forward £80 million of the Towns Fund, with each eligible town receiving between £500,000 and £1 million for projects that will make a difference to the area, such as new green spaces, the creation of pop-up businesses spaces, pedestrianisation of streets to encourage walking or cycling, and creating new community hubs to support those living alone.53 The Department told us that towns have told it what kind of immediate measures they may be able to take in this financial year, and the brought-forward funding will support them in this.54 53 Qq 27, 75; Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, Press release, 25 September 2020 54 Q 27 16 Selecting towns for the Towns Fund
Show less
Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the implied importance of accelerated funding to address COVID-19 impacts, stating it has already provided £81.5 million in accelerated funding, adjusted timelines, and requires towns to outline COVID-19 considerations in their proposals.
Read full response →
HM Treasury