That:

a)    The Director for economy and place, following consultation with the Section 151 Officer, the Cabinet member for environment and economy and the Cabinet member for infrastructure and transport, be authorised to approve expenditure required to deliver the public realm projects which will be procured in line with the council’s contracts procedures rules[1];

b)    The Director for economy and place, following consultation with Section 151 Officer, in consultation with the Cabinet member for environment and economy and Cabinet member for infrastructure and transport, be authorised take all operational decisions necessary to deliver the balance of the programme, including grant schemes and information and engagement projects within the total project budget of £3.6m; and

c)    The Section 151 Officer be authorised to reduce the grant element of the overall budget to up to £1.8m from the £2m originally estimated and approved at Council so that the overall capital programme budget for this project is £3.6m.

1.             Do nothing – the council is not statutorily obliged to deliver this programme. Not delivering the programme would mean that the council would not have to incur up to £1.8m of capital expenditure to match fund the programme activities. This option has been discounted as the council would lose the grant funding and the ability to deliver the activities as detailed in Heritage Action Zone – Leominster decision taken on 23 July 2020.