Agenda and minutes

            There were no declarations of interest.

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“ 1.0    Relevant Background Information

1.1  The capital investment detailed in the Investment Programme 2012-15 is as follows:

-             ­£75m in council facilities – delivered through the Council’s capital programme and financed through a combination of one-off revenue payments, loans, grants and capital receipts.

-             ­£20m in partnership projects and £50m levered from sources outside of the council – delivered through the Council’s City Investment Fund and financed through an annual £6m rate contribution and capital receipts. Additional private investment will also be explored as more definition is put round the projects.

­  -      £5m in smaller regeneration partnership  projects – delivered through the Local Investment Fund and financed through re-allocation of existing resources.

1.2  Now that the finances have been agreed Members and officers must turn their attention to delivery. It was agreed at the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee on 20th January that a workshop for Members would be held on 3rd February to discuss delivery issues followed by party group briefings and finally an implementation plan would be presented on 23rd March to the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee for approval.

1.3  The issues to be covered in the workshop are as follows:

-             Governance arrangements to support moving projects from concept to construction;

-             Policy frameworks for prioritisation of City Investment Fund and Local Investment Fund projects;

-             Prioritisation of non-recurrent capital expenditure;

-             Capacity to deliver – internal and external;

-             Monitoring and review arrangements.

2.0Key Issues

2.1Governance arrangements

      A physical project, regardless of size, goes through four key stages. These are:

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-             Concept – initial appraisal including feasibility, financing and design option – should the project be considered to move forward to the next stage.

-             Design – detailed design appraisal, quantifying social, economic and environmental impacts, community consultation and engagement and affordability and sustainability. Should the Council invest?

-             Pre-Construction – specification, tender documents, evaluation of submissions and deliverability.

-             Construction – deliver the project on time, to the appropriate quality and within budget.

-             Hand-over – Management of facilities, assessment of outcomes and running costs.

      The workshop will consider the role of Members and the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee at each of the five project stages in the context of the Capital Programme, City Investment Fund and Local Investment Fund. 

2.2Policy Framework

      In order for Members to prioritise individual projects and to allocate resources within the Capital Programme, City Investment Fund and Local Investment Fund agreement will need to be reached on the criteria to be used. The workshop will include the assessment of social, environmental and economic impacts and how the investment principles which have already been agreed by Members will underpin investment decisions.

2.3Prioritisation of non-recurrent capital expenditure

      Members are aware that with the new Finance Act, if the full budget for the capital programme loan repayments is not needed in a particular year, that element of the budget which is not required may be reallocated in that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.