Agenda item

    (i)        Joint Report of Assistant Chief Executive and the Corporate Director of Regeneration and Economic Development

  (ii)        Presentation by Head of Strategy, Programmes and Performance, Regeneration and Economic Development

The Chairman thanked the Head of Strategy, Programmes and Performance, Regeneration and Economic Development (RED), Andy Palmer who was in attendance to speak to Members in relation to the RED Capital Programme (for copy see file of minutes).

The Head of Strategy, Programmes and Performance introduced the Capital Programme Manager, Regeneration and Economic Development, Mel Kipling who was also in attendance to offer any additional information and answer questions from Members. 

The Committee was reminded that the priorities were directed from the Council’s “Altogether Wealthier” theme, the Council’s Regeneration Statement and learned that the RED Capital Programme was also important in helping to stimulate private sector investment.  Councillors noted the budget for the RED Capital programme was significant, £96.601 million, and was roughly halved between the General Fund and the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) capital programmes.  It was added that the budgets were fluid, with internal budget transfers and the securing of external funding, and currently there were 192 individual schemes being managed.  Members were given a breakdown of the RED Capital Programme, including the major schemes for the General Fund and HRA, with the decent homes scheme being the main component of the HRA capital programme.  It was noted that following the Housing Stock Transfer, the HRA portion of the RED Capital Programme would no longer be present.  The Committee was given information on the Capital Request Process for the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) 5, noting the four categories of request: what we must do; should do; would like to do; and self-financing schemes.  Additional information relating to areas focused upon with the Capital Requests for MTFP 5 was given, noting that decisions on this would be made in February 2015.

Members learned that the Capital Programme Manager received monthly information regarding expenditure profiles from 38 Managers and there were clear reporting mechanisms from RED to Corporate Finance, the relevant Member/Officer Groups, Management Teams and, in turn, for inclusion in the quarterly updates to Overview and Scrutiny.

The Chairman thanked the Head of Strategy, Programmes and Performance, and the Capital Programme Manager, and asked Members for their questions on the report and presentation.

Members asked questions in relation to: a geographical split of the 192 schemes mentioned; the £6.19 million relating to Disabled Facilities Grant/Financial Assistance Policy (DFG/FAP) within the MTFP 5 request process; and the return rate from Managers in respect of monitoring of the schemes.

The Head of Strategy, Programmes and Performance noted that Members could be provided with information as regards the geographical split of the 192 schemes.  The Capital Programme Manager noted that the £6.19 million relating to DFG/FAP comprised of several grant elements, for example the “Better Care Fund” grant of £2.9 million, and that around £250,000 was proposed as direct DCC contribution.  Members were informed that the return rate for information from Managers was around 80%, noting all the major schemes returned information, with some of the more minor schemes returning information when those schemes progressed.

Resolved:

(i)          That the Economy and Enterprise Overview and Scrutiny Committee note the

        information within the presentation.

(ii)         That the Economy and Enterprise Overview and Scrutiny Committee continue to

        monitor the performance of the RED Capital Programme via the quarterly budget          reports.