Issue - meetings

Cabinet Member: Finance

Forward Plan Ref: 2018/116

Contact: Katy Jurczyszyn, Strategic Finance Manager (Finance, Strategy & Monitoring) Tel: 07584 909518

Report by Director of Finance (CA7).

The report is the third separate capital programme update and monitoring report and focuses on the delivery of the 2018/19 capital programme based on projections at the end of October 2018 and new inclusions within the overall ten-year capital programme.

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:

(a)         note the report;

(b)         approve the updated Capital Programme at Annex 2 and the associated changes to the programme in Annex 1c; and

(c)         approve the budget requirement of £6.3m towards the extension of Broadband for Business in Rural Oxfordshire.

Recommendations agreed.

Cabinet considered the third separate capital programme update and monitoring report that focussed on the delivery of the 2018/19 capital programme based on projections at the end of October 2018 and new inclusions within the overall ten-year capital programme.

Councillor Glynis Phillips, Shadow Cabinet Member for Finance drew attention to discussion at the Performance and Scrutiny Committee that had queried the capacity of the Council to manage the large number and scale of projects to be undertaken; she also referred to the large amount of capital funding. She commented that additional staff would be required and referred to the need for a transparent process. Monitoring would be important, and she hoped that the Council was up to the task. She welcomed the option of borrowing to build to bring out of county placements for children back in county and supported selling on any additional places. This needed to be pursued alongside a long-term strategy to deal with increased demand.  On paragraph 17 Councillor Phillips sought clarification on whether the £17.4m referred to was additional spend. Councillor Phillips referred to the money allocated to look at a safe pedestrian crossing on Risinghurst Road. A child had been run over in a recent incident and she asked whether it was included.

Councillor David Bartholomew, Cabinet Member for Finance, agreed that it was an ambitious programme requiring sufficient capacity and added that an awareness of the need to monitor and manage it was high on the agenda. Councillor Ian Hudspeth, Leader of the Council, commented that capacity was a crucial issue but that residents would question the Council if it did not put in ambitious bids to central government. He referred to the HIF bid, which if accepted would take the capital programme to over £1b.

Councillor Bartholomew referring to building children’s homes was supportive of the possibility of selling on spare places although there were obstacles to be overcome. Councillor Bartholomew clarified that there was £10m already identified for spend on roads and there was an additional £7.4m.  Councillor Constance, Cabinet member for Environment added that in recent discussions with Skanska she had raised with them their ability to step up in the light of increased investment.

Councillor Bartholomew, introduced the contents of the report. He drew attention to the recommendation to approve £6.3m towards the extension of Broadband for Business in Rural Oxfordshire which was a formality and the project would be fully funded by a grant from DEFRA.

RESOLVED: to:

(a)         note the report;

(b)         approve the updated Capital Programme at Annex 2 and the associated changes to the programme in Annex 1c; and

(c)          approve the budget requirement of £6.3m towards the extension of Broadband for Business in Rural Oxfordshire.