Agenda item

Capital Programme (Monitoring Report)

B Report of the Director of Finance and Support

Decision:

1. Approval is given for the scheme as set out in Paragraph 2.1 of Item 11C of the Cabinet Agenda to be added to the capital programme for 2009-10.

Further details of the appraisal can be seen at Annex A of the same report.

2. Approval is given for the variations to schemes in the capital programme for 2009-10 as outlined in Paragraph 2.2 of item 11C of the Cabinet Agenda. Further details of these variations can be seen at Annex B of the same report.

3. It is noted that:

a) The capital programme monitoring position as at end of September 2009, including forecast outturns, revenue expenditure funded by capital and slippage into 2010-11, as set out at Annex C, D and E of the report presented to Cabinet.

b) The funding arrangements for the 2009-10 capital programme as set out at Annex F of the report presented to Cabinet.

Minutes:

Councillor Mildren addressed Cabinet and commented on the wording in the report that suggested the Market Square was dark and unwelcoming, which it was not at this time, since the German Christmas market had been trading. He then mentioned a number of other schemes and hoped that they would not slip off the radar.

Councillor Clarke addressed Cabinet commenting that he could think of preferable capital projects to the Market Square. He felt that some of the projects were shrouded in mystery and there was no explanation as to what the money was being spent on. He queried the under-spend on lift refurbishment, as he knew of housing complexes where this work was needed.

Councillor Perkins presented the report to Cabinet and described the various schemes it referred to. He explained that if funding from WNDC was not forthcoming for the Market Square lighting project, then it would not go ahead. Where schemes were not being progressed the funding was being used to do other work to enhance the quality of the housing stock. He pointed out that the maintenance and repair of lifts was not from the same funding as refurbishment. He referred to appendix F and confirmed that all proposed projects were fully funded.

RESOLVED

1. That approval be given for the following scheme to be added to the capital programme for 2009-10.

Scheme Reference, Description

Directorate

Narrative

2009-10

Future

Years

Funding Source

2009-10/GF069 Market Square Lighting

Planning & Regeneration

The market square is currently dark and unwelcoming in the evening. The recent addition of the events space in the market square has helped to alleviate this problem during the day, however, the market square is still lacking enough lighting to ensure people feel safe within the square at night. The lighting would extend the time that the square could be used. The project will use the latest LED technology and will: Improve street lighting on the Highway to create a safer environment, ensure sympathetic up-lighting to highlight the architectural features, mask less attractive buildings with blocks of colour, light or art and use text lighting to project lettering on the buildings such as ‘Welcome to Northampton’, or this can be tailored to events.

280,000

£30k LABGI, £250k WNDC

Further details of this appraisal can be seen at Annex A of the report.

2. That approval be given for the following variations to schemes in the capital programme for 2009-10.

Scheme Reference, Description & Directorate	Narrative	2009-10 £	Future Years £	Funding Source
Neutral Budget Impact
2007-08/CS0012 V05 Kitchen Replacement Housing HRA	There are likely to be several additional kitchens in urgent need of repair that cannot be deferred until next year. It is therefore proposed to increase this budget by £28k.	28,000	-	MRA
2009-10/HRA001 V01 Disabled Adaptations (Council Stock) Housing HRA	Due to increased demand for this service it is necessary to transfer £300k to meet the growing waiting list for these essential works, to address customers’ expectations and improve their quality of life.	300,000	-	MRA
2009-10/HRA005 V01 Garage Roofs & Doors Housing HRA	The garage review may limit the amount of garages retained by the authority, therefore expenditure is to be restricted to a first tranche of garages, identified for retention and investment that require immediate works to make them useable. This is judged to be £30k in this financial year, therefore the budget will be reduced to this.	(70,000)	-	MRA
2009-10/HRA006 V01 Disabled Alterations (Minor Adaptations) Housing HRA	There are increased numbers of critical or substantial adaptation requests coming through from occupational therapy. In addition the cost of some adaptations, such as showers over baths and ramps have increased. It would appear that the ageing population is increasing need in this area and the budget needs to be increased to reflect this.	50,000	-	MRA
2009-10/HRA007 V01 Structural Repairs Housing HRA	The climatic condition this summer, which has been a long period of dry weather, has caused an increase in structural issues for council owned homes in a number of areas, which are frequently affected by clay shrinkage. Some of these problems are sudden and severe, therefore additional budget is required to rectify these problems.	100,000	-	MRA
2009-10/HRA009 V01 Environmental Enhancements Housing HRA	The budget for this project can be reduced by £288k. This reduction is due to a combination of reasons: 1) Issues with residents consultation. 2) Design of schemes. 3) Leaseholder consultation. This budget will be reallocated to other HRA capital projects to maximise spend this financial year.	(288,000)	-	MRA
2009-10/HRA013 V02 Adhoc Windows & Doors Replacement Housing HRA	A door and window contract has been let and urgent capital door and window replacements have been identified which exceed the existing budget by £80k. The additional budget will help address issues of poor condition, right to improvement, decent homes and poor security.	80,000	-	MRA
2009-10/HRA014 V01 Door Entry Replacement Housing HRA	Door entry programme includes many properties which will affect leaseholders and consultation will be required under section 20 of the Landlord and Tenants Act 1995, and cannot be completed until late in financial year 2009-10. Therefore £100k is to be deducted from this project and moved to fund other projects within the HRA programme.	(100,000)	-	MRA
2009-10/HRA015 V01 Lift Refurbishment Housing HRA	£100k of this years budget was earmarked for the refurbishment of the existing lift at Eleonore House, however this will now not be completed until 2010-11. There is £100k budget for this project in 2010-11 and no other lifts to refurbish, therefore it is proposed to transfer £100k to other HRA capital projects this financial year and to use next years available funding to cover the refurbishment of Eleonore House Lift.	(100,000)	-	MRA
Movement Between Years
2009-10/HRA016 V01 Woodside Way Housing HRA	The original spend profile for this project had the total HCA grant funding split equally between financial years 2009/10 and 2010-11. After some detailed work with our RSL Partners, Orbit, a new cashflow forecast has been produced which details the work incurred to date and the work that will be completed up to 31st March 2010. A much smaller amount of the grant is now required in 2009-10, therefore the remaining grant will be moved to 2010-11 to reflect when it is needed.	(188,387)	188,387	Homes & Communities Agency

Further details of these variations can be seen at Annex B of this report.

3. That the following be noted:

a) The capital programme monitoring position as at end of September 2009, including forecast outturns, revenue expenditure funded by capital and slippage into 2010-11, as set out at Annex C, D and E.

b) The funding arrangements for the 2009-10 capital programme as set out at Annex F.

Supporting documents:

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Agenda item

Capital Programme (Monitoring Report)

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