Agenda item
Capital Programme Monitoring 2024/25 - 2nd Quarter Update
To update Committee on the Council’s Capital Monitoring. The report sets out the latest phasing of the programme including the latest estimates of available resources and any additions or changes in forecast outturn since the last monitoring position was presented to the Cabinet on 24th July 2024.
Recommended - That progress on capital expenditure to date and comments be noted.
Minutes:
The Head of Finance submitted a report to provide an update for the Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee on the Council’s Capital Programme Monitoring. It set out the latest phasing of the programme including the latest estimate of available resources and any additions or changes in forecast outturn since the last monitoring position was presented to the Cabinet on 24th July 2024.
The Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Resources, Councillor Vanessa Alexander, presented the report to Committee.
Members of the Committee had submitted a number of questions in advance of the meeting:
1. Disabled Facilities Grants - why is there slippage from one financial year to another, when the allocation to the Council is made annually from the Government via Lancashire County Council?
2. Capital Receipts – Which Council assets are proposed for selling to meet its target of £1.555m from Capital receipts?
3. Operational Buildings – an amount of £267,000 had been included for the Oswaldtwistle Civic Theatre Refurbishment works but to date none of this money has been spent although the Council has commissioned works. The Friends of the Civic have been informed that between £2m - £3m will be needed to make the building compliant with Health and Safety standards. What is the Council’s position on this?
Responses were given to the above questions as follows:
1. The Council aimed to spend all of its Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) allocation. The amount shown in the accounts was money owed back to Lancashire County Council but still sat in the accounts. It would, eventually, be clawed back.
2. The Council assets listed for sale, are publicly available on the Council’s website. It was pointed out that the value of the assets listed would more than meet the value of £1.555m to achieve all its required financing from capital receipts.
3. The Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Resources reported that the building required a structural survey so that they could ascertain the extent of improvements works and repairs required on the building. She referred to Cabinet’s commitment in getting the building up and running again.
Members of the Committee expressed concern about the extent of the problems of the Theatre and requested that a copy of the report was circulated to Members.
The Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Resources explained that Cabinet Members had met with the Theatre Trust and had been advised that they would be pushing to place the Theatre on the Risk Register.
Mr. O’Kane referred to Mercer House and asked for progress report. Councillor Alexander reported that good progress was being made on the building. She explained that there were still some issues to sort out but had potential tenants for the building.
Councillor Addison referred to onerous lease terms and conditions on many public buildings, putting off many organisations from using the buildings and asked if this was an issue being considered. Councillor Alexander reported that Labour had a commitment to not making leases too difficult to comply with.
Resolved (1) That a progress report on the Civic Theatre be submitted to a future Resources O & S Committee; and,
(2) That Committee noted the progress on capital expenditure to date.
Supporting documents:
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Capital Spend Report - QTR2 2024-2025 Resources O&S Dec 24, item 275.
PDF 1014 KB
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Quarter 2 - Appendix 1 - Detailed Breakdown Q2, item 275.
PDF 91 KB