Terms of Reference
Last updated: 12/08/2022
Long Eaton Town Deal Board - Governance and Terms of Reference – Delivery phase – June 2023
The Long Eaton Town Deal Board was established in response to the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government Towns Fund 2019 prospectus.
In June 2021 the Government offered Heads of Terms for a town deal for Long Eaton. This offered £24.8 million of Towns Fund grant for the delivery of priority projects identified in the Town Investment Plan submitted by Long Eaton Town Deal Board. Under those Heads of Terms the release of funding was contingent on the submission of a Project Summary Document for each project. The core of the Project Summary Document is a statement by the council’s Section 151 Officer that each project has a sound business case that demonstrates that the project can be delivered, and will provide value for money. All the Project Summary Documents have now been submitted to government for approval and as such the role of the board moves into the monitoring and evaluation of the delivery phase.
The role of the Town Deal Board is advisory with Erewash Borough Council having legal responsibility as the Accountable Body for the delivery of the projects.
1. The role of the board is (delivery phase):
- a) To oversee the implementation and delivery of the Long Eaton Town Deal.
- b) To review and endorse any proposed major changes to projects (during the delivery phase).
- c) To monitor and evaluate the progress of the implementation of projects including performance and risk as reported by the Accountable Body.
- d) To endorse the submission of performance and risk monitoring reports to Government.
2. The Board’s relationship with Erewash Borough Council
Erewash Borough Council is the accountable body for delivering the agreed projects in the Long Eaton Town Deal subject to all full business cases satisfactorily meeting the requirements of the Local Assurance Framework and principles of the Treasury Green Book.
The assessment of each business case includes:
- The intended outcomes are desirable (the Strategic Case).
- The project provides value for money (the Economic Case).
- The contracting arrangements are appropriate (the Commercial Case).
- The costs are controlled and adequately financed (the Financial Case).
- The delivery arrangements are effective (the Management Case).
It is the duty of the Council’s Section 151 Officer to assess each business case individually against the above requirements to confirm that projects are deliverable and are value for money or if indeed they do not meet these requirements. On the advice of the Section 151 Officer, the council must approve full business cases before progressing the Town Deal projects.
The Chief Executive will provide officer resources from the council as necessary to enable the board to carry out its duties.
3. Membership
The membership of the Long Eaton Town Deal Board is agreed annually at the start of each municipal year. New members may be added to the membership at the invitation of the board.
Membership will comprise ONE voting member from the following organisations:
|
MP for Erewash |
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Derbyshire County Council |
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D2N2 |
|
Erewash Borough Council – Accountable Body |
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Erewash Partnership |
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Erewash CVS |
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Friends of West Park |
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Heritage Society |
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Long Eaton Civic Society |
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Long Eaton Chamber of Trade |
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Long Eaton Guild of Furniture Manufacturers |
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Long Eaton and District 50+ Forum |
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Militec |
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Sawley Parish Council |
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St Laurence Church |
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Trent College |
|
U3A |
4. Code of Conduct
Board members are expected to comply with the Nolan Principles of Public Life and Erewash Borough Council’s Members’ Code of Conduct.
Board members are obliged to declare any pecuniary interests which could give rise to a conflict of interest at the start of each meeting. Guidance will be provided by the Monitoring Officer at Erewash Borough Council and the board member may be required to abstain from participating in the discussion and voting on the decision itself. When a declaration of pecuniary interest is made this will be included in the minutes of the meeting.
5. Appointments - Chair and Vice-Chair
The board will appoint a Chair from the private Sector and a Vice-Chair from the Accountable Body on an annual basis.
6. Substitutes
If a member of the board is unable to attend a meeting the member may nominate a substitute and inform Democratic Services of the name of the substitute at least 24 hours in advance of the meeting. Apologies for absence will be recorded in the minutes.
7. Voting
Decisions are expected to be reached by consensus but in the event that a vote is needed a matter will be decided by a simple majority of those board members present and voting at that time.
The following conditions apply for votes to be taken:
a) Only one vote per organisation being represented.
b) Votes have to be cast in person (whether remotely on Teams or at a physical meeting) and proxy votes will not be accepted.
c) If there are equal numbers of votes for and against, the Chair will have a second or casting vote.
8. Quorum
The quorum for board meetings is one quarter of the whole voting membership with a minimum of 5 and will have to be reconvened if it is not quorate..
9. Whistleblowing
The board will comply with the Whistleblowing policy of Erewash Borough Council.
10. Complaints
The Board will comply with the complaints procedure of Erewash Borough Council.
11. Publication Statement
Details of the following will be available on Long Eaton Town Deal website and Erewash Borough Council’s website once published or in hard copy on request from Democratic Services:
- The structure of the board and its members
- The Stakeholder Engagement Statement
- Board meeting agendas and minutes
- The Long Eaton Town Investment Plan and relevant accompanying documents
Please note that this is only a sample of the data to be published and not an exhaustive list and that some of the information may be subject to being exempt or restricted from publication.
12. Meetings
Board meetings will be convened on a quarterly basis and agreed at the Annual Meeting. In the event of urgent items which cannot wait until the next scheduled meeting, the Chair can call an extraordinary meeting ensuring that the required notice of meeting is provided.
The administration for the board and its meetings will be carried out by Democratic Services at Erewash Borough Council.
13. Public meetings
Members of the public can observe board meetings but not speak or participate in the meeting itself and as this is not a committee meeting of the council filming and recording will not normally be allowed. Town Deal Board meetings are generally held remotely using Microsoft Office Teams and live-streamed to YouTube to enable the public to watch.
Meetings will generally be open to the public to observe only unless the agenda includes confidential or exempt items for example relating to commercial sensitivity when the public can be excluded.
14. Agendas
Agendas will be published on the council’s website and circulated by email in compliance with the publication deadlines set by the Local Government Act 1972.
15. Review of Terms of Reference
It is recommended that the Terms of Reference are endorsed at the Annual Meeting for each Municipal Year and to take account of new or changed guidance.
