Introductory Statement

1. This Delivery Plan has been considered and approved by the PORT Membership Forum at their meeting on the 13 February 2002. The Plan has now also been approved by the East of England Development Agency on 22nd March 2002.

Purpose of the Scheme

2. The primary purpose of the scheme is to regenerate Tilbury; to recreate its previous economic strengths based upon its location on the Thames and to ensure that first and foremost the benefits accrue for the people of Tilbury.

3. The main themes of the scheme are:

• improving skills levels and job prospects through training,
• business and economic development,
• tourism development, environmental and access to the river front improvements,
• community development and empowerment in the regeneration process.

Relationship between Strategic Objectives & key projects including 2001/2002 Review

4. The employment prospects, education and skills of local people, with emphasis on young people and those with disadvantages, (Strategic Objective SO1) are addressed by the development of targeted training programmes which have been supported by the Scheme during the first five years. Training programmes commenced over the last five years include Passport to Work, starting in business courses, bricklaying, carpentry and forklift truck instruction as well as recording and music sessions. These programmes are designed to assist the young and unemployed to better compete for jobs created, to start businesses and to increase participation in the regeneration process through community development initiatives. The Community Resource Centre (CRC) is the focus of many of these training programmes, with support from other specialist training providers. This will add to the cohesion of the training programmes being offered within Tilbury. The major refurbishment at the CRC has now been completed with some limited building work soon to be finalised. The CRC, which is run by the community for the benefit of the community, is becoming well known as a 'drop-in' centre for introductory training programmes and business support, as well as a community resource for regeneration activities.

5. Since the commencement of the Scheme a total of 3700 training weeks have been provided. Success of the Passport to Work project has resulted in a smaller number of people requiring basic skills training in order to return to work. The need has now shifted so that more specific 'up skilling' is required as well as more in depth training to tackle long term unemployment. Further targeted training programmes will be developed over the remaining 2 years of the Scheme. It is hoped to build upon the 700 training weeks achieved this year.

6. The Strategic Objective (SO2) relating to sustainable economic growth and wealth creation is primarily addressed by the business support activities of the Princes' Trust and inward investment. The youth and community business worker in partnership with the Enterprise Agency is continuing to provide start up business services. The fund for small business development is available to qualifying micro businesses although take up has been slow. Additional focus will be made to work with potential entrepreneurs in groups to develop community businesses and further efforts will be made to promote the fund. The Port of Tilbury has completed the construction of the new road, which marks the 1st stage in the development of the 45-acre Fortress Distribution Park. The 1st building is now complete and operational and consists of a 200,000 sq ft distribution warehouse for a company in the paper products industry. An encouraging demand study has confirmed the need for the provision of premises for small firms in Tilbury. The construction of these enterprise workshops was dependent on the completion of the new road, which is now complete and open. Progress continues to be made in the design and funding for the enterprise workshop development. The finalisation of the preparation of the development brief will enable detailed planning permission to be obtained in the last quarter of 2001/2002 or the 1st half of the 2002/2003 Delivery Plan period. Following the completion by consultants of the business plan to create a flexible community arts and activity centre at the Riverside Station Social Club, planning approval has been obtained for the change of use and refurbishment of the grade II listed building. A Co-ordinator and care taker have been appointed to over see the building works and to develop the marketing strategy to enable activities to be undertaken at the venue. Progress with the refurbishment of the building has been good within the confines of the financial resources available. Already promotional activities have been held in the autumn and at Christmas.

7. Good progress has continued to be made this year to protect and improve the environment, (Strategic Objective SO3). The riverside promenade continues to be a popular riverside walk and the rebuilding of the 'Hairpin' bridge is complete and open improving the access from Tilbury Town to the riverside. A footpath and cycleway provides a link with the bridge and Tilbury Riverside. Whilst construction works will create short-term disruption, the integration of new and existing pedestrian and cycle routes will ultimately enable the community to enjoy the improvements made to the riverfront. A programme of works to improve the street scene and road signage throughout Tilbury has been completed, as have improvement works to Tilbury Town station. The Board was also successful in receiving additional SRB capital funding for environmental improvement projects to the Daisy Fields Park and to Tilbury riverside. Following consultation exercises the proposals are being implemented in the last quarter of 2001/2002.

8. Further progress has been made supporting projects aimed at providing facilities for young people and the unemployed thereby helping those excluded members of the community to become more actively involved, and projects are being extended which tackle crime and improve community safety (Strategic Objective SO6). The music project continues to engage young people with the Kick-Start programme gathering momentum. Community safety projects include upgrading street lighting, streetscape and crime reduction measures, including the extension of CCTV coverage, in areas of high vandalism, car crime and at Tilbury Riverside. A programme of crime reduction measures to support retail businesses in Tilbury has been introduced. Additional funds were received from the Home Office to enable the programme to be extended. It is hoped that by the year-end some 11 small businesses will have been helped to improve the security to their premises.

9. A main theme of the PORT Scheme is to help develop the community's ability to fully participate in the regeneration of Tilbury by the design, implementation and management of projects. The Prince's Trust youth and community business worker, located at the CRC, is helping to develop community run businesses. The Tilbury community development officer, who is also based at the CRC, has enabled capacity building projects to be planned to encourage more local people to become involved and to contribute to local regeneration, (Strategic Objective SO7). An action plan is being followed which identifies projects and programmes to widen community involvement. Co-ordination meetings are regularly held between community development officers from the PORT II Scheme, focusing on the Broadway Estate, Sure Start and other community groups to develop cohesion with the various agencies in Tilbury. This year a number of training courses, entitled 'Turning Point', have been held to encourage more community involvement in the regeneration process. Over 500 people have become involved in voluntary community work or have assisted other projects in the Town. Three additional people have been recruited to assist the Community Development Officer to build community capacity. This work of extending community involvement has fed into the Council's Area Governance proposals. All three community Board members are representatives on the Tilbury Community Forum, with other community members from PORT funded projects also being involved.

Target Area

10. The target population for the Scheme is the 11,658 people living in Tilbury as well as the 4,000 who work in the ward. Projects included in the scheme are intended to provide training for unemployed people; to create new community and small businesses; to improve physical security, especially for the 1,000 older people in the community, and to improve the environment, particularly along the river-front to assist in the development of a visitor attraction package associated with Tilbury's rich heritage.

11. The scheme is focused primarily on the geographic area as identified by the ward of Tilbury (now two wards, Riverside and Tilbury St Chads). Industrial sites and buildings such as the Grain Terminal within the Port of Tilbury as well as the Thurrock Park Industrial Estate are also included as being inextricably linked to Tilbury Town and its future prosperity.

Management Arrangements

12. The PORT Membership Forum meets annually to review achievements and to approve the annual Delivery Plan. It comprises- the Thurrock Council, the Port of Tilbury, representatives from the Tilbury community, including the CRC Management Committee, Learning and Skills Council, Thurrock College, the Adult Community College, the Princes' Youth Business Trust, Thurrock Enterprise Agency, Essex Police, the Tilbury Job Centre, English Heritage, Sure Start and local businesses.

13. The members of the PORT Membership Forum have agreed that Thurrock Council will act as the Accountable Body for the Partnership with responsibility for the realisation of the Delivery Plan and receipt and use of the SRB grant.

14. Thurrock Council has delegated authority to the PORT SRB Board comprising of nominated representatives from each of the members of the Partnership as follows: Thurrock Council-2 members; the Port of Tilbury-2 members; Tilbury Community representatives-3 members; Essex LSC; Thurrock College; Prince's Youth Business Trust; English Heritage; the Tilbury Job Centre; Cargill plc and Sure Start each have one member, the Scheme Manager is also a member. Persons nominated to the board are representatives of the members of the Partnership.

15. The SRB Board will meet every 2 months, or more often, as necessary and a quorum shall be at least 5 members including at least one member from Thurrock Council as the Accountable Body. Each member of the board shall have one vote in the event of decisions requiring a ballot.

Administration of the Scheme

16. The Council administers the Scheme preparing agendas and minutes for Board, Forum and working party meetings. The Council have appointed a Special Projects Officers, reporting to the Scheme Manager, who prepares returns to EEDA, assists in the appraisal and monitoring of applications, projects spends and the delivery of outputs.

17. The PORT Partnership have agreed a Memorandum of Agreement, attached to the delivery plan, which sets out in detail the agreement and responsibilities of the partners. The administration of the Scheme has been assessed against 'best practice' guidelines and a code of conduct has been agreed to improve its administration. Advice, following external audit, to improve the administration of the Scheme has been implemented and is attached as an update to the Code of Conduct.

Financial Management

18. Thurrock Council has put in place effective arrangements for monitoring and safeguarding public money, and has established clear lines of responsibility and accountability for the receipt and payment of public funds. The fourth annual report for year four of the Scheme (2000/2001) has been produced and distributed. The District Auditor has assessed and has not qualified the financial management systems for the fourth year.

19. The Director of Finance, Thurrock Council, manages the financial management structure based on the Council's existing system.

Involvement of the Local Community

20. The scheme is designed to enable the Tilbury community to fully participate in the development, management and implementation of projects designed to benefit the community. The PORT Board members from the community act as the link both for information, decisions and project development to the wider community. Community representatives from the PORT Board are represented on the newly established Tilbury Community Forum, which feeds into one of 4 Area Committees which in turn reports through the Local Strategic Partnership for Thurrock. This is the structure for Area Governance in Thurrock in order that the community has greater involvement in local democracy. Community capacity building and training programmes, which have been instigated in the first half of the Scheme, will continue and will be augmented by the work of the community development officer. The Board has approved the appointment of community development assistants to work with the community to develop and implement regeneration projects. Three people have recently commenced part time positions to assist more Tilbury people to become fully involved in the PORT Scheme. Both the CRC and the community newspaper 'About Tilbury' have been incorporated into companies limited by guarantee. Along with the Tilbury Riverside Project these businesses have each won Thurrock Small Business Awards. This is an indication of the progress that is being made by the community in managing regeneration projects and programmes.

Monitoring, Review and Evaluation

21. The progress of the scheme and individual projects will be monitored in accordance with guidance set out in the SRB Guidance Manual. Day to day project and programme management of the Scheme will be undertaken using System K, a bespoke computer system now fully functional. In addition the Council is using and adapting its existing management information systems to ensure reliable monitoring information is provided to the PORT Board. EEDA and external auditors annually inspect these systems.

22. The production of the fourth annual report highlighting the achievements in 2000/2001 and future regeneration projects has been produced and distributed. The publication was circulated widely within the community, to the East of England Development Agency and is used for marketing purposes. The partnership has also participated in a review and evaluation carried out by EEDA. A fifth annual report will be produced this year and consideration given by the Board to commissioning an independent evaluation of the Scheme.

Project Appraisal System

23. Applications are developed and received from individuals, groups and the working parties. Applicants must complete a PORT Scheme form, which is then appraised, using the latest recommended appraisal techniques, by the Special Projects Officer. The full appraisal report is then passed to a panel comprising the Scheme Manager, the Accountable Body's Financial Services Manager and a Board member. If the project passes this assessment, with or without amendments and conditions, it is passed to the Board for consideration.

24. Approved projects must sign and comply with conditions set out in the Project Implementation Agreement. Projects are regularly monitored to assess if they are complying with conditions and achieving their outcomes. All revenue projects are subject to re appraisal prior to approval for the following year's funding. Scheme specific projects, such as the community development officer and assistants' posts, are input into the Delivery Plan and are appraised and approved by the full partnership. A diagram is included in the appendix.

Publicity

25. The publicity campaign will continue to raise awareness in the community and amongst businesses regarding the economic and social welfare benefits of the scheme to Tilbury. The development of a PORT Scheme web site is progressing well. In addition to informing a wider audience it will inform the community and businesses of the Schemes achievements and how to become involved. The achievements that have taken place in the first five years of the Scheme have been reported in local newspapers, particularly the community newspaper 'About Tilbury' as well as the local radio. Additional display material has been completed this year to enable greater publicity of the Scheme to be provided at exhibitions.

26. The Scheme has been promoted to the local community through activities such as the Christmas fair, Tilbury Festival and various weekend functions. All projects, especially these publicity measures, plus individual construction projects will continue to acknowledge EEDA support through the SRB Fund wherever practicable.

Exit Strategy

27. The Partnership is committed to securing an effective forward strategy for the scheme. Thurrock Council, the CRC Management Committee and the Port of Tilbury as well as the other partners have a continuing vested interest in maintaining the benefits that will accrue year on year from the scheme. Certain construction projects will be complete, requiring no further public expenditure by the end of the SRB scheme period. Others projects are planned and are working towards being self-financing by the end of the Scheme.

28. It is the plan of the Scheme that at the end of the 7-year period sufficient progress will have been made in developing an enterprise culture for community and smaller businesses. In addition to this enterprise culture additional visitors will be attracted to Tilbury to enable projects such as the Enterprise Workshops, the CRC and the Riverside Station Arts Activity Centre to be self-sustaining. A network of mutual support between the community businesses, youth projects and environmental schemes will be developed to help sustain these projects.

29. The positive benefits to the economy, the environment and the image of Tilbury over the lifetime of the Scheme should enable the majority of projects to be self-sustaining and encourage further inward investment. The ability of each project to be self-sustaining is examined as part of the appraisal process. Where there could be delays in the timetable for self-sufficiency then these projects are investigating alternative sources of funding support. As the Scheme reaches its final 2 years greater attention is focussed upon projects being self-supporting or having access to alternative funding.

30. Since the PORT Partnership was established the SRB 5 Broadway community development programme has been implemented and Sure Start is successfully operating in Tilbury. There have also been developments in the Council's Area Governance strategy, with Tilbury being a pilot for this approach. The Government has also launched their replacement of SRB for local regeneration, Neighbourhood Renewal. The PORT Partnership together with other partners in Tilbury submitted a bid for funding as part of a pilot programme, but was unsuccessful. The formulation of an inclusive forward strategy for the PORT Scheme should take account of these developments, especially as they relate to the involvement of the community.

31. The 3 main options for the PORT Scheme forward strategy are:

• Do nothing. Each project will have developed plans for self-sufficiency or will have obtained funding from elsewhere.
• Continue with the current partnership arrangements seeking funding for projects from a variety of sources as opportunities arise.
• Develop into a business entity (such as company limited by guarantee) to become the implementation arm of the area committee and local strategic partnership (lsp).

32. The Board is currently assessing these options to prepare the forward strategy during 2002/2003.

Capital/Revenue Changes

33. To date the £1,110,000 SRB expenditure has levered into Tilbury over £15m from the private and public sector, mainly in capital projects. This leverage ratio is expected to continue during the remaining two years of the Scheme with the private and public sector contributions being mainly in capital projects.

34. To continue to enable local people to benefit from these economic development capital projects there is a need to maintain and expand the level of revenue-supported projects. EEDA's permission was obtained last year to change the capital/revenue expenditure ratio as detailed in the Funding profile, Schedule B.

Attachments

35. The hard copy of this Delivery Plan includes a diagram showing the relationship between Thurrock Council, the Accountable Body, and members of the Partnership who are responsible for delivering the projects described in the Delivery Plan. A map of Tilbury, the partnership Memorandum of Agreement, up dated code of conduct, and a project appraisal flow chart are also available.

 
Schedules and Annexes
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