Agenda item
Representations and Questions on the Budget
The Leader of the Council to receive and respond to representations and questions from members of the public and individual members of the Council relating to the 2023/24 budget proposals.
Recommended - That the committee give consideration to the questions submitted and the responses from the Leader of the Council.
Minutes:
The Scrutiny and Policy Officer reported that 7 valid questions had been submitted by members of the public or individual members of the Council. None of those who had submitted questions were in attendance. The questions would be asked through the Chair.
The Chair submitted the 7 questions and responses were provided by the Leader.
- Public - Of the buildings which HBC own, which buildings have "loans" against them and how much?
Response - The Council owns all its operational buildings with none of them being subject to loans or borrowing
2. Public - How much per head has been spent in each of the townships?
Response - The Council spend is not always in relation to the areas where it is raised i.e. High business rates are collected in Altham although the cost of services provided will not be at the same level. There is no specific information for how much is collected or spent in individual areas and spend is allocated on a basis of identified need.
3. Councillor - Can a review of events funding take place, allowing the council to pay for 1 event per townships per year to the tune of £3000 per township. (Tenders would need to be made by groups the year by December the year before) if nobody tenders for that year, then no event is held?
Response - This is an interesting idea that could be looked at in formulating future budgets. There would need to be clear identification of the need for funding and the type of events to be undertaken to ensure any potential funding was going to achieve desired objectives such as increasing the footfall on the high street. The Leader also added that this has already happened to some degree with the recent invitation to apply for events funding including events in other towns and successful bids in Great Harwood and Rishton.
4. Public - Over the past 12 months, how much money has been provided to Hyndburn Leisure and Accrington Stanley/Stanley Community Trust?
Response – Hyndburn Leisure
Pass ported Grants include Total Payments of; Household Support Fund £360k (most of which was distributed to eligible residents), Self-Isolation Grants £10k, Covid Marshalls & other £1k, Sport England £71k, LCC – Weight Management £101k.
Accrington Stanley Community Trust - £400 for Veteran Family Day and £200,000 out of a total grant of £236,000 towards the cost of an extension to the sports hub.
5. Public - £250k has been allocated to King Georges Playing Field. Has there been any financial cost to the Council now Accrington Stanley no longer wants this site? Also if Livingstone Road land is to be made available to the Club how much will it cost to terminate the current leaseholders lease? Will HBC then sell it at market rate or give it away like they did with Highams?
Response - The Council’s priority is to invest in new drainage and grass playing surface at the King George V Playing Field in order to bring this sports facility back into sustainable use, making it a good quality sports facility again. Until the drainage and playing surface is improved, it is not possible to use the field for sport. The only financial cost to the Council as a result of Accrington Stanley deciding not to take a lease for King George V is routine maintenance to the field and pavilion. Otherwise, there has been no additional cost to the Council.
The Council is in discussions with the current Livingstone Road leaseholder about relocating from Livingstone Road to King George V Playing Field. Unfortunately, and as the Committee would expect, we cannot share the terms of the current Livingstone Road lease in public; this would be a potential confidentiality breach. To be helpful, discussions with the Livingstone Road leaseholder involve ending the current lease, and the granting of a new lease at King George V.
The Council’s priority is to invest in King George V; to make it a good quality sports facility for the community. Until terms are agreed for King George V, it is not possible to draw conclusions on the future use and any new terms for Livingstone Road. The Committee is advised that the Council is required by S123 of the Local Government Act 1972 to achieve best consideration when disposing of land property, and therefore this is always the Council’s starting point for any disposal. However, there are exceptions whereby disposal at under value is permitted under the same 1972 Act, under the general Disposal Consent. This permits granting of a lease at less than best consideration if the Council is satisfied that the lease is likely to contribute to the promotion or improvement of the economic, social or environmental well-being of the area. The terms for a lease at under value at Highams were considered and approved by Cabinet on the 10th October 2018.
6. Public - Can a breakdown of the funding for the following projects be provided. (Who's funding what)?
1) Market Hall, Burtons Chambers, Market Chambers
2) Wilsons Playing Fields
Response -
1) The 3 Town centre buildings are included in the Levelling Up Bid and the costs associated with this scheme are forecast at £23.5m, of which the Council has been successful in securing £20m from the Department for Levelling Up Housing & Communities, a £1.5m contribution from Lancashire County Council and £2m from Council Reserves. A full breakdown of the expected costs in the bid can be seen on the attached link on the Councils website. LUF-bid-summary-3097.pdf (hyndburnbc.gov.uk)
Market Hall - Total (Financial cost) £10,996,109
Burtons Chambers - Total (Financial cost) £8,590,935
Market Chambers - Total (Financial cost) £3,412,955
Members will have the opportunity for more in depth scrutiny of the levelling up bids at the Special Scrutiny meeting on 23rd March.
2) The Leisure Transformation Project includes the undertaking of providing a new Leisure site based at Wilsons playing fields. The initial designs and plans submitted have an expected build cost including meeting the Councils commitment to a zero carbon site of approximately £12m. It is expected that £2m of this site will be funded from grant from Sport England and the remaining £10m will be funded £5m from Council reserves and £5m from borrowing (although this figure is likely to reduce due to the use of capital receipts from sale of other surplus land and buildings)
7. Public - The Levelling up Fund Investment and Leisure Investment - how does the Council intend to ensure that it receives value for money from its investment? What KPIs will be used when assessing contractors’ suitability to undertake the work? Can the Council ensure that any tender is open to public scrutiny rather than it being decided behind closed doors?
Response - The procurement process will be managed in line with the Councils procurement framework guidelines. The process will include using specialist project management and professional services to ensure that key performance targets are met and that the Council obtains the maximum value for money for its investment.
The Chair thanked members of the public and Councillors for their questions and their engagement in the scrutiny process.
Resolved - That the questions from members of the public and individual members of the Council, and the responses received be noted.