Update on Tŷ Pawb budget mitigation measures: Councillors to review financial stability and progress

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An update report on the sixteen Tŷ Pawb “budget pressure mitigation points” is set to be probed by councillors who have previous expressed their concerns over the finances of the council run centre.

The points were first presented to the Employment, Business and Investment Scrutiny Committee back in January (Councillors “very, very concerned” over Ty Pawb finances) with requests for regular future updates.

Back then the forecast financial projections showed, without mitigation actions, net forecast budget pressures of £277,768 in 2023/24 and up to £288,502 in 2026/27. As reported at the time, a contributor to those figures was the huge energy bill of the building with a utility rate increase adding £144k.

It was agreed on 5th March: ‘That the Committee receive an update report in six months’ time that outlines the sixteen mitigation points including the invest to save together with any income or offsetting costs such as solar panels and pre decision outcomes because it will benefit the Executive Board.’

Issues were also highlighted with leases, with councillors now told, “Currently 100% of traders are in possession of compliant tenancies and have been issued with updated market regulations and guidelines.”

Extra information is given, “At the time of writing this report, Tŷ Pawb has a current occupancy level of 70% which equates to 34 occupied and 14 vacant trading units, with 4 applications currently in process”.

A 14% increase in car park revenue has been reported after “persistent issues with the car park exit barrier have been resolved”.

Four paragraphs and a table are dedicated to an “Energy Update from Decarbonisation Team”, that detail how the council’s energy advance purchase arrangements meant the two year window at first benefited the council, and thus the centre, but latterly “The energy for 2023/24 was purchased after the significant rise in energy prices which is why there was a considerable increase in WCBC’s energy prices from 2022/23 to 2023/24. The energy prices for the current financial year, 2024/25, have fallen from their peak in 2023/24, but not to the levels they were at in 2022/23”.

The overview report notes, “The projected net budget pressure for 2023-24 was £277,768. The actual year-end net budget pressure was £195,000, which is £82,768 lower than
projected.

“A forward cost-saving was identified for 2024-25 however, this was achieved in 2023-24, due, in part, to the implementation of the 16 point mitigation plan and additional one-off grant payments being received in relation to the cultural programmes.

Therefore it concludes there is still a gap, “At the time of submitting this report (27th August 2024), the financial projection for Tŷ Pawb 2024-25 is a net pressure of £170,000.”

The ‘financial stability’ of Ty Pawb is seen as a key element of the City of Culture bid, with the finance risk having a “…corresponding impact on Wrexham’s bid to become UK City of Culture 2029”.

The main report is accompanied with a break dow of the 16 ‘mitigation’ actions, with elements from them summarised below:

Income maximisation group that has met four times, has ‘generated an income of £8,700 towards their target of £20k.
Ty Pawb rental costs are seen as ‘competitive’ and a 5% increase was ‘implemented in line with inflation’.
Operating hours review is ‘ongoing’ and several years after opening they are going to ‘trial a full Friday night program’.
A new ‘fit for purpose’ car park system will be in place by January 2025 with new equipment. There is no cost to this known yet but the council are confident it ‘will be funded through part of the anticipated increase in income’.
Carbon footprint will be tackled with £30,000 for rain water harvesting, £60,000 for flat roof solar and £25,000 for wind turbines or equivalent. This appears to be the project that the Lead Member was highly critical over reporting on, however it turns out that criticism was misplaced and inaccurate.
The centre’s roof is ‘not fit for purpose’, with a ‘feasibility study’ taking place to identify a ‘long term solution’ however it appears the finances on how any solution will be paid for is unknown.
Funding has been ‘identified’ to pay for a study to quantify the social return on investment from activities delivered within the centre.
Venue hire is being ‘maximised’ with ‘complimentary bookings are no longer being taken’ for the Useful Art Space, with the report stating “Formalised marketing materials being developed for this space. Income generated via paid hires between March and August 2024 is £2,000.”
A new tiered charging framework is being created for the Performance Space.
Promoting venue hire has had a ‘multi pronged approach’ since April, including groundbreaking activities like ‘a series of social media posts on X, Instagram and Facebook’. Basic promotion of the centre has been a long term regular suggestion from councillors. The impact of such promo several years after opening is noted, with ‘the average number of weekly venue hire enquiries more than doubling’ (with no numbers given).
External hire of the Learning Studio has resulted in an increase of £1,320 revenue.
The ‘Makers Space’ conversion to a rentable retail unit benefit is booked to the ‘income maximisation group’ above.
£10k grant from the Arts Council Wales will be spent on “Specialist support with development of new sponsorship package Arts Award training for 2 x staff members Options appraisal for new systems to expedite receipt of donations Graphic design, production, and marketing for new exhibitions education pack Capital equipment”
There has been an increase in specialist fairs in the centre with 6 additional scheduled, which is ‘double’ the 2023-24 figures.
More activities are taking place in the Market Hall to help make it ‘animated’, therefore “…making it a more desirable and profitable location for permanent traders; thus safeguarding the presence of permanent traders and associated rental income”
Sponsorship is hoped for the 2025 exhibitions programme.