Towns Fund Programme
Our Story
On 6 September 2019 it was announced that 101 towns had been identified by Government to benefit from the Towns Fund which comprises £3.6billion with up to £25million per town being available. The amount of funding allocated to each town will be based on a Town Deal agreed with Government.
West Bromwich, Smethwick and Rowley Regis have been invited by the Government to create a Town Deal. This is a really exciting opportunity to bring investment into Sandwell.
- West Bromwich Town Fund Boundary Map
- Smethwick Towns Fund Boundary Map
- Rowley Regis Towns Fund Boundary Map
The objective of the fund is to drive the economic regeneration in towns to deliver long term economic and productive growth through: –
- Urban regeneration, planning and land use
- Skills and enterprise infrastructure
- Connectivity
Town Investment Plans
Sandwell Council submitted the Town Investment Plans (TIP) for West Bromwich, Smethwick and Rowley Regis to Government for review in October 2020. A summary of the Town Investment Plans can be viewed here: –
How we developed the projects
The Local Boards and Superboard considered a range of information about each town including statistical evidence, opportunities and strengths, engagement findings, project ideas raised and economic challenges facing the town. A long list of projects was created that met the Governments criteria. This was then narrowed down to a shortlist of projects that have been included in the submission to Government.Following Government approval of the TIPs, the Albion Family in the Park project (Smethwick) did not progress during Phase 2 – Full Business Case Development Stage.
Projects
There are 16 projects across the three towns, 6 in West Bromwich, 5 in Smethwick and 5 in Rowley Regis: –
West Bromwich
- Digital Den
- Central St Michaels, Sandwell Science, Engineering and Manufacturing Centre
- Urban Greening
- Retail Diversification Programme
- Town Hall Quarter
- West Bromwich Connected
Smethwick
- Midland Met Learning Campus
- Ron Davis Centre Expansion
- Grove Lane Regeneration
- Rolfe Street Canalside Regeneration
- Smethwick Connected
Rowley Regis
- Canal Network Connectivity
- Cradley Heath Skills Centre
- Britannia Park Greenspace Improvements
- Blackheath Interchange and Public Realm
- Rowley Regis Connected
Town Deal Boards
To coordinate the three Town Deals in Sandwell, an overarching Towns Fund Superboard (Town Deal Board) was established in July 2020 with three town-level Local Boards established as working groups of the Superboard. This model of the Superboard being supported by the three Local Boards was effective throughout Phase 1 – Development of Town Investment Plans (submitted to government in October 2020) and Phase 2 – Development of Full Business Case (summary documentation submitted to government by March 2022), through robust due diligence and assurance processes.
On 18 May 2022, SMBC Cabinet approved the governance arrangements for the Towns Fund Programme Phase 3 – Delivery. As a result, the Sandwell Superboard structure has been replaced by the three Local Boards who each become a Town Deal Board and inherit Superboard responsibilities: –
You can view Town Deal Board meeting packs by clicking on the links above.
To view historic Sandwell Superboard meeting papers, click here.
The Town Deal Boards comprise a wide range of key stakeholders from community, business, voluntary, public-sector and faith organisations as well as local MPs. To find out more about the roles of the Town Deal Board members, you can view the Towns Fund Terms of Reference. All board members are required to read, sign and complete the Towns Fund Code of Conduct.
