DECISION

1.    To approve the inclusion of £17.083m of the additional capital schemes and amendments to existing capital schemes, as set out in the report, into the council’s 2020-24 Approved Capital Programme for the General Fund.

2.    To note the detail of the first 1,000 new council homes delivery programme and approve the scheme-specific budgets and identified funding sources within the previously approved total budget of £232.768m.

3.    To approve the allocation of £5.000m to enable the direct delivery of Landon Walk scheme as part of the HRA first 1,000 council homes programme, including the purchase and installation of the modular homes, instead of via a loan agreement to PLACE Ltd, currently included in the General Fund approved capital programme funded by £3.820m of borrowing.

4.    To approve the inclusion of £1.400m for the delivery of the Sewardstone Road scheme to be funded by RTB receipts (£0.560m) and borrowing (£0.840m) (from the reduction in borrowing achieved through the removal of the PLACE Ltd scheme to fund this) as part of the General Fund programme.

5.    To approve the inclusion of £2.980m for the purchase of additional buy-backs to be funded by borrowing (£2.980m) (from the reduction in borrowing achieved through the removal of the PLACE Ltd scheme to fund this).

6.    To approve the funding sources for the additions and amendments to schemes in the Approved Capital Programme 2020/21 to 2023/24 as set out in para 4.7, Table 1 of the report.

7.    To agree that approval to proceed to award contracts for works and services be delegated to the Corporate Director of Place, in consultation with the Corporate Director of Resources, subject to the procurement process and approval through the capital governance process and tenders being within agreed budgets. .

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR OF PLACE (A. SUTCLIFFE) CORPORATE DIRECTOR OF RESOURCES (K. BARTLE)

(Interim Head of Capital Delivery, (J. Abraham)

Reasons for the decision

Additional capital schemes have progressed through the capital governance process since the current capital programme was approved by Full Council in March 2021. Funding sources have been identified for these schemes and allocated. In accordance with the council’s financial regulations, formal approval from Cabinet is required for these schemes to be included in the 2020-24 Approved Capital Programme. The report includes changes to existing capital schemes which have progressed through the capital governance process and require approval. It also includes detail of the schemes which form part of the first 1,000 homes programme and individual scheme budget allocations from the total approved  budget of £232.768m. 

Alternative options

An alternative route for capital programme approvals is through the Quarterly Monitoring Report prepared by Corporate Finance. The next opportunity for approvals to incorporate additional schemes into the programme is late July 2021.

In order to maintain the pace of delivery, this report seeks approval for the schemes listed, between quarterly monitoring, an approach which was agreed by the Mayor in Cabinet in June 2019. 

Councillor Rachel Blake, Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Adults, Health and Wellbeing introduced the report that sought approval for additions and amendments to the 2020-24 Approved Capital Programme.

During discussion, including contributions from Councillor Peter Golds, Leader of the Conservative Group and Councillor Mohammed Pappu, Chair of Overview and Scrutiny Committee it was noted that

·         the reference to the Savills ‘report’ in paragraph 5.3 of the report should more accurately read as ‘advice’ and referred to an ongoing exercise to help the council map its growing capacity and use of reserves. The cabinet asked that officers provide a briefing for the overview and scrutiny committee to aid understanding of how this work related to the council’s capital programme.

·         new community spaces built as part of the council’s home building programme would provide for wider community use, even where the primary use was faith-related.

The Mayor moved the recommendations as set out and they were agreed without dissent. It was:

RESOLVED

1.    To approve the inclusion of £17.083m of the additional capital schemes and amendments to existing capital schemes, as set out in the report, into the council’s 2020-24 Approved Capital Programme for the General Fund.

2.    To note the detail of the first 1,000 new council homes delivery programme and approve the scheme-specific budgets and identified funding sources within the previously approved total budget of £232.768m.

3.    To approve the allocation of £5.000m to enable the direct delivery of Landon Walk scheme as part of the HRA first 1,000 council homes programme, including the purchase and installation of the modular homes, instead of via a loan agreement to PLACE Ltd, currently included in the General Fund approved capital programme funded by £3.820m of borrowing.

4.    To approve the inclusion of £1.400m for the delivery of the Sewardstone Road scheme to be funded by RTB receipts (£0.560m) and borrowing (£0.840m) (from the reduction in borrowing achieved through the removal of the PLACE Ltd scheme to fund this) as part of the General Fund programme.

5.    To approve the inclusion of £2.980m for the purchase of additional buy-backs to be funded by borrowing (£2.980m) (from the reduction in borrowing achieved through the removal of the PLACE Ltd scheme to fund this).

6.    To approve the funding sources for the additions and amendments to schemes in the Approved Capital Programme 2020/21 to 2023/24 as set out in para 4.7, Table 1 of the report.

7.    To agree that approval to proceed to award contracts for works and services be delegated to the Corporate Director of Place, in consultation with the Corporate Director of Resources, subject to the procurement process and approval through the capital governance process and tenders being within agreed budgets.