Frequently Asked Questions
We’ve put together answers to Frequently Asked Questions regarding Hastings Town Deal. Please click on the headings of each category to reveal the FAQs and responses.
The most up-to-date information can be found on the individual project pages.
What is the Hastings Town Deal?↓
What is the Town Deal Board?↓
The Town Deal Board are made up of businesses, business and community representative organisations, the public sector and other partners, committed to improving the town.
https://www.hastings.gov.uk/regeneration/towndeal/board/
The Board were responsible for leading the development of our Investment Plan and they are now ensuring it is delivered over a six year period, with Hastings Borough Council having overall responsibility. Completion is due for March 2026.
The plan was submitted to the former government on Friday 29 January 2021 and we were offered £24.3m of funding in June 2021 in what’s called our ‘Town Deal’ or ‘Heads of Terms’.
The agendas and minutes from Town Deal Board meetings can be viewed here: https://hastings.moderngov.co.uk/ieListMeetings.aspx?CommitteeId=555
How was the funding allocated?↓
The funding was split between projects outlined within the Town Investment Plan. Once the allocation of funding was agreed, the board and council started working with project leads, stakeholders and the community to shape and develop the details. This allowed for the projects to be brought to life through business cases.
Once the business cases were approved by the Hastings Town Deal Investment Panel and the Hastings Town Deal Board and then submitted to the former Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), now known as the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), work could start on the projects to deliver jobs, homes, skills, regeneration and actions to reduce our carbon emissions.
Projects are being delivered at different rates across the six-year programme with those described as “shovel ready” being completed first.
This is a great opportunity bringing vital investment into the town. It won’t be able to tackle every issue but it has and will continue to make positive impacts in the community. Additionally, it will provide a strategy, assessing what else is needed to fully achieve our vision in the long term .
You can find out more about the impacts the investment plan will have here
Where can I find the Town Investment Plan document?↓
You can download the document here
How did the board decide what projects to include in the Town Investment Plan?↓
There was an open Expression of Interest process in the summer 2020, where anyone could submit an idea. 155 Expression of interest forms were received, these ranged from general comments about the town, to an idea, to more worked up and developed projects.
These Projects and ideas were assessed using the Town Deal project prioritisation and assessment process, which has been set out by government to make sure that projects fit with the requirements for the Town Deal programme.
The guidance from the former government and the Towns Hub indicated a ‘strong preference’ for projects to be focussed in the main town centre (Hastings town centre) and key gateway employment sites (industrial estates). This recognises the extreme challenges town centres are facing. The investment plan had to explain why target areas were chosen and how they would benefit other parts of the town, including the town centre.
The process was carried out by a subgroup of the Town Deal Board (project prioritisation working group – the PPWG), Town Deal project team officers and an independent expert assessor (Genecon). All those that submitted an idea through the expression of interest form received feedback on their ideas or projects or were requested to submit further information as part of the next stage of the project prioritisation process.
All projects were assessed against:
Local criteria (which will also inform what we measure against) Hastings criteria informed by:
- SWOT, Vision and Theory of change undertaken by board
- Evidence and research – Hastings & Rother Regeneration review, Local Industrial Strategy and Coastal Communities Prospectus
- Local plan survey
- Previous consultation and project bids (across partners)
- COVID 19 specific recovery documents and discussions
- EOIs and ideas submitted via webpage, Accelerated fund proposals, Active transport proposals, Facebook comments, emails, phone calls and My Town website (government website)
- Towns Hub (government appointed expert support for Town Deal towns) and Genecon (independent assessors) feedback and input
- 155 Expression of Interest forms were received, of which 41 were assessed and grouped into 23 projects by independent assessors, Genecon and the Town Deal board project prioritisation working group to move onto the next stage in the assessment process. Following that stage, seven grouped projects were recommended and approved by the board on the 14 December for investment through the Town Investment Plan.
More information on the Project Prioritisation Process can be found in the Town Deal Board minutes and papers.
What types of ideas / projects were received through the Expression of Interest Process?↓
There were 155 Expression of interest forms received, these ranged from general comments about the town, to an idea, to more worked up and developed projects, below shows these EOIs via the type and location.
Education provision ideas and EOIs – Town centre, Baird Ward and Ore Valley = 4 Active transport/Public realm ideas – across borough and outside borough = 70 Revenue ideas and other EOIs – across borough = 26 Town centre sites and building use ideas = 40 St Leonards and west of borough ideas and EOIs = 10 Employment and industrial site ideas / EOIs = 5
Where can I find a summary of the programme from the start to at what stage it is at now?↓
*this presentation was produced in July 2021 and some information will be out of date. Please visit the individual project pages for the latest updates.
Officers from our programme team produced this presentation which tells the story of the Town Deal programme in July 2021. You can watch it here
What is the difference between the Towns Fund and Town Deal?↓
The Towns Fund is a £3.6 billion funding pot that the former government set up to level up towns and cities around the country like Hastings. Our town was one of 101 towns and cities selected to develop proposals for our Town Deal. Our Town Deal is the agreement signed by the former government when our Town Investment Plan (submitted on 29 January 2021) was approved by government.
What is the role of the council?↓
All Town Deals need to have an accountable body, which has to be the local council for that town, in Hastings that is Hastings Borough Council. Hastings Council was responsible for signing the Town Deal with the town deal board and former government and remains the responsible body for the fund to flow through, as well overseeing the governance of the town deal board.
How have the plans developed?↓
A 'Town Deal Board' was established in January 2020 in accordance with the guidance detailed in the Town Fund prospectus. It includes businesses, business community representative organisations, a youth council representative, public sector and other partners committed to improving the town
The Board are leading, supporting, endorsing and championing the development and delivery of the Town Investment Plan from 2020 to 2026, alongside the council as lead partner, with overall responsibility and management for the programme.
How can local people get involved?↓
Some of the projects which are still in the delivery stage offer opportunities for people to get involved and have their say through public engagement surveys, events and consultation. Details for individual projects will be published in the latest section of the blog (homepage).
The programme team has developed the Town Deal blog and social media platforms to keep people informed about the projects and their progress. All public consultations, engagement and progress are shared on these platforms. If you have any specific questions about a project or the programme delivery you can email towndeal@hastings.gov.uk
So where are we in 2024?↓
You can find the latest information on completed projects here:
https://www.hastingstowndeal.co.uk/enterprise-employment-infrastructure
https://www.hastingstowndeal.co.uk/accelerator-projects
And the latest updates on ongoing projects here:
https://www.hastingstowndeal.co.uk/green-low-carbon-skills-economy
https://www.hastingstowndeal.co.uk/town-to-sea-creative-quarter
https://www.hastingstowndeal.co.uk/hastings-castle-world-heritage-destination
https://www.hastingstowndeal.co.uk/town-centre-public-realm-green-connections