Agenda item

The Director for Corporate Services to submit a report to approve the Council’s Capital Programme for 2018/2023 for all funds and the sources from which that funding will be taken as proposed by the Strategic Planning Development Day held on 16 January 2019 and the Corporate Committee.

Members had before them a report prepared by the Director for Corporate Services which sought approval for the Council’s Capital Programme for 2019/20.

The Leader moved the recommendations in the report and stated that

(a)  he was pleased to present the proposed Capital Programme for 2019/20 which had been recommended for approval by the Corporate Committee following the review at its meeting on 30 January 2019.  These capital schemes were also presented to Members at the Strategic Planning Development Day held on 16 January 2019. The report outlined the proposed capital schemes for the forthcoming year along with how the schemes would be funded.  This covered the capital programmes for both the General Fund and the Housing Revenue Account; 

(b)  the Capital Programme was integral to the budget framework and sat alongside the other key strategies presented to members at this meeting such as the Treasury Management and Capital Strategies; 

(c)  in particular the requirement for an undated Capital Strategy had been a key focus for the Council over recent months in order to provide an overarching document which set the policy framework for the development, management and monitoring of capital investment.  The Capital Strategy sought to align with the priorities set out in the Council Plan. The Strategy aimed to drive the authority’s capital investment ambition whilst ensuring capital expenditure and capital financing were sustainable in the long term;

(d)  however, Members may have noticed that the Capital Programme was relatively light which was a reflection of the need for condition surveys to be undertaken on Council’s assets to help inform the future capital requirements.  Officers would prioritise this work during 2019 with any associated capital requirement arising from the work being presented to Members in due course as the Capital Programmes and Strategies were further developed. 

The motion was seconded by Councillor de Burle. 

There was a Councillor query relating to the £2m loan and external funding in respect of Gretton Court Extra Care listed on Appendix B and whether this was in partnership with the County Council. The Director for Corporate Services advised that the project needed a business case which would assess the loan and the work to be done.

There were questions asked by a Councillor relating to a new ICT system for Customer Services and would that be forthcoming over the coming year, the Councillor also requested an update on the Country Park Masterplan and the S106 agreement to ensure this money was not lost through being out of time.  The Councillor referred to a previous instance on the Doctors Lane development when S106 contributions expired due to agreement not being reached within the time limit. 

The Leader requested that officers respond to the Councillor after the meeting and copy in all Councillors to the response.

There was a general discussion around S106 agreements being out of time and a particular reference to a County Council highways scheme and it was noted that this was due to issues in reaching agreement with all the parties involved.

The Director for Growth and Regeneration reassured the Council that there was no issue with the S106 linked to the Country Park  Masterplan being out of time and the Council was currently appointing consultants. She further advised that the Council was working on the design, access and inclusion with the friends and residents of the Country Park. 

On being put to the vote, the motion was unanimously carried.

RESOLVED that

(1)  funding for capital schemes in respect of General Expenses for 2019/20 and the sources that funding will be taken from, be approved as set out in Appendix A to the report;

(2)  funding for capital schemes in respect of the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) and the sources that funding will be taken from be as approved by the Place Committee and set out in Appendix B to the report;

(3)  delegated authority be given to the Director of Corporate Services to amend the amount in the capital programme for DFG’s once funding confirmation has been received as referred to in para 3.3. of the report.