Agenda item

To submit a report by the Head of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer.

The report of the Head of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer was presented for the Executive’s consideration with regard to the above.

The Chair summarized the main potential future capital expenditure and the impact on the capital financial element of the revenue account.  He noted that the 21^st Century Schools project is a challenging long term programme which will require £120m capital funding.  He referred to small projects within the report which is considered to be fundamental and does not put overbearing pressure on the budget.  It is suggested that an asset renewal programme be put in place for these small projects.

The Head of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer stated that he agreed that the 21^st Century Schools project is immense and it will have an impact on the education and schools budget; it will also increase revenue costs of up to £5m.  If the project is funded from Council’s central budget it would have an effect on other services within the Council.

It was RESOLVED :-

·           That a further report be submitted to the January 2017 Executive with regard to potential effect on the Council’s budget in respect of the scale of the 21^st Century Schools projects;

·           That the 2017/2018 capital programme funding is limited to the value of the general capital grant, the level of supported borrowing, the value of the funding for previously agreed projects, which is no longer required, and the value of any unallocated capital receipts which are generated;

·           That the principle is set whereby the items noted in paragraph 6.1 of the report are included in the capital programme each year.  The sum allocated to each heading will be agreed as part of the process for setting the capital budget each year, depending on the level of funding available;

·           That projects which are to be funded from unsupported borrowing will only be undertaken if the reduction in revenue costs or increased income generated is sufficient to meet the additional capital financing costs incurred;

·           That a level of road surfacing work is funded from the capital programme each year.  The sum allocated will be dependent on the funding required to achieve any minimum contract value guarantees, the level of funding available and an assessment of the state of repair of the Authority’s roads;

·           That grant funded projects are added to the 2017/2018 capital programme once the funding is known;

·           That projects that require a level of match funding to enable grant funding to be drawn down are assessed on a case by case basis by the Executive.  The decision whether to commit funding will be dependent on the project, how its fits into the Council’s corporate priorities and the ratio of Council funding to grant funding;

·           That bids for new projects will be assessed in accordance with the scoring matrix that applied in 2016/2017 i.e. priority will be given to projects which assist the Council in achieving its corporate objectives, mitigates corporate risk, achieves future revenue savings and can demonstrate that adequate project management processes have been put in place.