Governance Revised To Meet Town Fund Guidelines And To Reflect Ambitions On Inclusivity & Community Engagement

In June the board voted to revise the draft Term of Reference it was given by the council in 2020. A significant change was to rescind the co-chair post held by the council and a private sector member of the board. This will be replaced by a post of single private sector chair, choosing a vice-chair or vice-chairs for support. This was to bring us in line with the government’s original guidelines for Town Deal Boards.

The board also reduced the number of council members and has increased the opportunity for even more diverse and skilled citizen participation, which will eventually bring the total voting members of the business and community membership to 10 of the 14 board members.

As the current private sector co-chair’s office was due to expire, it was decided to appoint an interim chair for up to 3 months from the private sector members on the board and to advertise for a chair. This is will be open to anyone from the private sector with relevant skills on or outside the current board. Details will be published in due course.

The interim roles filled were by Pam Warhurst (Chair) and Tony Lawson (Vice-chair). You can read Pam & Tony’s profiles here on Meet the Board.

The main task of the Interim executive is to lead us with the support of the Programme Manager through what will be an intensive period post the announcement of our award of £17.5M. This will include agreeing on the terms of the award with the government and setting the process in motion for full case business planning across the projects in the Town Investment Plan.

Alongside these duties, they will prepare the ground for recruiting, selection and ratification of the new chair.

The board is ambitious to improve inclusivity across the project base and has incorporated that into its new draft Terms of Reference. The dedicated comms team will also ensure we begin the process of effective and inclusive long-term community engagement, throughout the duration of the town board’s project delivery.

The final draft of the Terms of Reference will be proposed for approval at the next available board meeting and then posted here on this site.

Update: The board agreed the revised Terms of Reference at its meeting on 3rd August. They can now be found in our documents section.