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ITEM EX9

EXECUTIVE – 30 April 2002

REPAIR AND MAINTENANCE OF BUILDINGS : PROPOSED REVENUE BUDGET 2002/2003

Report by Director of Environmental Services

 

Introduction

  1. In December 2001 the Executive considered a proposal for the apportionment between services of the provisional Repair and Maintenance Budget for 2002/2003 and asked Service Departments for their observations on the provisional apportionment.

  2. This report therefore:

    1. proposes a revised apportionment of the repair and maintenance budget between services taking account of the transfer of the Council’s Homes for Elderly People to Oxfordshire Care Partnership (OCP);

    2. gives the observations of service departments on apportionment of the repair and maintenance budget.

    Revised Apportionment of the Repair and Maintenance Budget

  3. With effect from 28 January, OCP assumed responsibility for the repair and maintenance of all of the Council’s Homes for Older People. The cost of repairing and maintaining the homes will be re-charged to the Council by OCP.

  4. It is therefore necessary to allocate a proportion of the non-delegated repair and maintenance budget equivalent to the potential provision for repairs to Homes for Older People in 2002/2003 (£316,200 exclusive of professional fees) specifically to cover these costs.

  5. Annex 1 (download as .rtf.file) gives a revised apportionment of the repair and maintenance budget in the former committee format, taking account of this transfer of funds.

  6. The total assessed need for repair and maintenance of County Council buildings for 2002/2003 (excluding schools) has now been confirmed and is £50,576,200. The total base budget of £5,461,900 is 10.8% of assessed need.

    7. Observations of Service Departments

  7. Education, Cultural Services, the Fire Service, the Registration Service, Environmental Services (Highway Depots and Staff Housing) – No comment on the apportionment of the budget, but some suggested minor amendments to the proposed programme of repairs for 2002/2003.

  8. Social Services – Expressed concern about the level of budget provision for repairs to Social Services buildings and suggested some minor amendments to the proposed programme of repairs for 2002/2003.

    9. Addressing the Problem

  9. The current level of under-funding is not sustainable. By strict prioritisation the budget has been used to ensure that the Council’s buildings have been kept safe and available for use, but as the need for urgent works continually increases there is an increasing risk of services being directly affected.

  10. £100,000 has been allocated for improvements to the Council’s buildings in 2002/2003 but this will not have any significant impact on the assessed need. Consultants have been appointed to give advice on the possible use of a ‘priming’ or similar arrangement to allow the value of the Council’s assets to be used to provide funds for investment.

  11. In 2001/02 it was intended that all of the budget allocated for planned maintenance works should be used for that purpose. This was not achieved because the programmed works had to be stopped to deal with the overspend on urgent works. If the problem is to be addressed then it is essential that at the very least the funding allocated for planned maintenance is used for that purpose. That is unlikely to be achieved again this year unless a contingency is identified to deal with any unavoidable pressures on urgent works which cannot be dealt with from the urgent works allocation.

    12. Environmental Implications

  12. Because of the under-funding of repairs and maintenance the cyclical internal and external decoration of County Council buildings ceased 10 years ago. The internal and external environments of many buildings have deteriorated significantly as a consequence, in some cases contributing to low staff morale. Failure to replace boilers and other heating plant results in the inefficient use of energy.

    13. Financial Implications

  13. Successive annual reports to the former Operations Sub-Committee highlighted the financial consequences of under-funding repairs and maintenance (poor value for money provided by ‘patch and mend’ day to day repairs and high future repair costs).

    14. Staff Implications

  14. Managing and controlling the continually increasing demand for repairs to Council buildings against a severely under-funded budget continues to be extremely time consuming and is not a cost effective use of limited staff resources. The poor state of decoration and repair can adversely affect staff morale.

    15. Implications for People Living in Poverty

  15. This report deals with the allocation of the County Councils budget for the repair and maintenance of its own buildings. Any implications for people living in poverty are indirect.

    16. RECOMMENDATIONS

  16. The Executive is RECOMMENDED to:-

          1. agree the revised allocation of the budget for repair and maintenance of County Council buildings set out in Annex 1 to the report;

          2. note that it is unlikely that even the inadequate amount allocated for planned maintenance will be used for that purpose unless a contingency is identified to deal with any unavoidable pressures on urgent works which cannot be dealt with from the urgent works allocation.

DAVID YOUNG
Director of Environmental Services

Background papers: Nil

Contact Officer: Greg Lowe, Property Client Section Tel: Oxford 815532

March 2001

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