Remaining hopeful for the outcome of our TIP

As we approach the end of May, we remain patiently waiting for news from the Government about Hereford’s Town Investment Plan. While no official date has been given, we are expecting the offer to arrive imminently in conjunction with the Prime Minister’s expected speech on Levelling Up. We spoke to our Chair, Lauren Rogers, on what happens next.

“If you’re part of one of the projects we’ve submitted, you will have received an invite to an update this week so we can keep you in the loop with what we know so far and so that you can put forward your questions.

There are currently 48 towns and cities waiting to hear from Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and our Chair has been in touch with several Boards in these towns about their own progress and preparation for what happens next which we expect to be:

Step 1 – The offer is announced

When the announcement is made by the MHCLG, we will hold a board meeting to discuss the offer. We have two weeks to agree the process and our approach, and we will of course inform you of our decision. At the end of this two weeks we confirm back to MHCLG on what basis we accept their offer.

Step 2 – A mountain of paperwork

We then have eight weeks to complete all the initial paperwork. We’ll be providing templates to the successful projects so that the outline business case, monitoring and evaluation framework, and scheme of local assurance for the next 12 months can all be completed. We’re continuing to use Rose Regeneration to support us all during this phase as it will be critical it’s fully completed within this time frame.

The offer from the Government will be a major milestone for all of us involved in the Towns Fund scheme here in Hereford – with much more work, tough decisions, and many further milestones to come.

If you’re involved in a potential project and would like to know more, you can contact me directly on laurenmurrayrogers29@gmail.com.”