Agenda item

ORDERED that Executive approve the spend outlined in the report on the £655,000 grant funding provided by MHCLG to support the recovery of the riots that took place in Middlesbrough on Sunday 4th August 2024.

The Executive Member for Neighbourhoods submitted a report for Executive’s consideration.

 

The report sought approval to spend £655,000 of grant funding provided by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to support the recovery of the recent riots that took place in Middlesbrough on Sunday 4 August 2024.

 

On Sunday 4 August 2024, Middlesbrough was the focus of a protest originally linked online to an incident in Southport. Protests were planned to take place in several other areas across the country. Approximately 400 people attended the protest and marched through the centre of Middlesbrough. The protest led to a riot occurring within the town that lasted late into the evening.

 

The riot caused significant damage to property and caused a high level of fear and alarm amongst many citizens who live and work in the affected areas. Over £300,000 of damage was caused to Teesside University buildings alone, multiple streets in the centre of Middlesbrough were targeted with houses and vehicles being damaged. Cars were set on fire and businesses looted. Some residents were at home during the riots with children and families and were terrified by the damage to their homes and property. Many residents, particularly those from ethnic minority communities, remain distressed by the violent disorder they witnessed and the fear they experienced at the time.

 

The day after the riots Middlesbrough showed its true nature and over 300 volunteers arrived at the entrance to Albert Park to help clean up and show support for those impacted. Many had been out earlier that morning and began the clean-up work and to begin the repair of those communities that at suffered from the effects of the riot.

 

Later that week misinformation spread of a repeat of the riots and businesses, educational establishments and health providers closed their doors and the town emptied in fear. Thankfully this did not transpire.

 

MHCLG originally allocated £600,000 to Middlesbrough Council via the Community Recovery Fund (CRF). MHCLG said the funding should be used as areas best saw fit, in partnership with local communities. More recently MHCLG has provided an additional £55,000 in revenue funding, bringing the total grant to £655,000.

 

OPTIONS

 

The alternative was to not accept the grant funding, however this was not recommended as the impact was still evident and the grant funding would help key partners to respond to the riots and support the recovery.

 

ORDERED

 

That Executive approve the spend outlined in the report on the £655,000 grant funding provided by MHCLG to support the recovery of the riots that took place in Middlesbrough on Sunday 4th August 2024.

 

REASONS

 

The Council and its partners established a multi-agency recovery structure, with Gold and Silver recovery groups set up to work on a plan to support residents and find a way of returning to a state of normality.

 

The constituents of the Gold recovery group included senior representatives from the following organisations: Middlesbrough Council; Thirteen Group; Cleveland Police; Office for the Police and Crime Commissioner; Teesside University; Tees Esk and Wear Valley Mental Health Trust; Middlesbrough Voluntary Development Agency; Probation Service and Cleveland Fire Brigade.

 

This group set the key objectives for silver group along with the three key areas of focus for grant funding:

 

1.    Engagement

2.    Events within neighbourhoods

3.    Youth Provision

 

It was imperative that the Council and its partners worked ‘with’ the community and not do things ‘to’ them. Therefore, Gold group asked Silver to develop key areas of work that fit into the three key areas of focus for the grant funding. This resulted in the subgroups being established as set out in paragraph 3.4 of the report. Gold group then approved the recommendations put forward from Silver group as set out in paragraph 4.7 of the report. A proportion of the funding would be distributed in the form of grants, direct to community groups, to allow them to lead on activities.

 

The constituents of the Silver group included representatives from the following organisations: Cleveland Police; Middlesbrough Council; Office for the Police and Crime Commissioner; BME Network; Thirteen Group; Fire Brigade; Teesside University; Local Resilience Forum; Mayors Office; Exec member for Community Safety. The following voluntary and community organisations were also included in Silver group: MVDA; Streets Ahead; Amal Project; Investing in People and Cultures; Localmotion; Hindu Cultural Centre; Mosques; Caritas and Ubuntu. This group had established the following multi agency subgroups that had an input into the proposals for spending the £655k grant funding:

 

·      Communications Group

·      Young People and engagement

·      Community Conversations

·      Hate Crime and Community Tensions

·      Community Engagement and Participation

·      Victims and Perpetrators

 

The proposals set out in paragraph 4.7 of the report were in line with the conditions of the grant. Those grants supported a range of projects that would help the town in respect of increasing its level of resilience and community cohesion.