Agenda item

Report attached.

Councillor Joyce Plummer, Portfolio Holder Resources, reported on the financial spend on Capital Projects during 2018/19.  The full details of expenditure were provided in Appendix 1 of the report and a proposed list of changes to the 2019/20 Capital Programme was shown at Appendix 2.  These will be funded from the amounts not spent but authorised in 2018/19.

Councillor Tony Dobson enquired about waste recycling rates and the Leader of the Council and Councillor Paul Cox responded that these were due to be discussed by the Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee in 2019/20.  Councillor Marlene Haworth enquired about the Harvey Street Garden Area project and the Executive Director (Environment) agreed to provide a written response.  Councillor Glen Harrison thanked the officers for their work in ensuring that nine of the Borough’s parks had achieved green Flag Status.

Approval of the report was not deemed a key decision.

Reasons for Decision

The outturn position for 2018/19 on Capital Expenditure shows a fifteenth year of major capital investment by the Council.  The overall investment by the Council in the year was just over £5.6m against an authorised maximum budget of £10.9m.  The overall programme was underspent by £765,000 this year.

The Council has received applications for net slippage of £1.41m comprising £4.52m of expenditure schemes moving from 2018/19 to 2019/20 and £3.11m of income. These will be submitted for approval to the Audit Committee in July 2019.

The Council has maintained its prudent approach to Treasury Management during the year.  The Prudential Indictors demonstrate small positive movements between last year’s position and the outturn for this year.

Figures reported are the latest available and may be subject to change in finalising the accounts or after the conclusion of the final accounts audit.  If the figures change significantly from those contained in this report an update on the overall position will be made to Cabinet at a later date.

The Capital Programme for 2018/19 was approved by the Council on the 22^nd February 2018.  The programme for 2018/19 outlined continuing major investment in the local community and in the Council’s key priorities.

The report includes further details in respect of the following:

·           Record levels of investment;

·           Positive achievements in managing the programme within overall resources;

·           Two individual projects with significant underspends (purchase of wheeled bins and Rishton regeneration project);

·           One area of significant adverse variance (improvements to Rhyddings Park, Oswaldtwistle);

·           Monitoring and reporting processes;

·           Avoiding additional borrowing;

·           Funding sources;

·           Receipts; and

·           Treasury Management.

Major high spots within the Capital Programme 2018/19 are as follows:

• Work was completed on £2m Accrington Town Square redevelopment, extensively renovating and improving this area for community, retail and recreational use and highlighting the significant heritage of the buildings surrounding the main public realm within Hyndburn.
• The Council completed its major £2m investment into Rhyddings Park extensively upgrading the facilities within the Park and restoring the Coach House and Kitchen Garden for community use.
• The Council also invested almost £250,000 into Rishton as part of a major housing regeneration project.
• The Council implemented a new recycling programme for paper, glass and plastics spending £1.2m on providing new recycling bins to residents to allow the easier disposal and collection of recycling materials and improve the tidiness of our streets.  It also replaced 4 of its key kerbside collection vehicles at a cost of £331,000.
• New cremators were installed at Accrington Cemetery to replace the existing ones which were almost 25 years old and ensure this facility can operate success fully into the future.
• The Council contributed £250,000 towards the major highway improvement to the M65’s Junction 7 and approach roads into Accrington to ease congestion into the Town Centre and improve traffic flow to Church and Oswaldtwistle.
• The Council made Disabled Facility Grants awards of almost £675,000 to ensure that those who have an illness or disability can continue to live independent lives in their own homes, if they wish to do so.

There were no alternative options considered or reasons proposed for rejection

Resolved                         -    That Cabinet notes the report and askes the Audit Committee to approve the Slippage items at Appendix 2 of the report.