Contact: Bevis Ingram, ext 7508

1. Summary

1.1 The following decisions are sought:

1. That the capital programme guidelines are increased by £500,000 to £1,071,000 in 2003/04 and 2004/05 by viring £500,000 from the revenue budget.

2. That the capital programme for 2003/04 to 2006/07 as set out in appendix 1 of the report be approved for submission to Cabinet.

2. Reason

2.1 To approve the capital programme within the guidelines set by the Cabinet.

3. Other options considered and rejected

3.1 Not applicable

4. Conflicts of interest declared by the decision maker or a member or officer consulted

4.1 Not applicable.

5. Dispensation granted by the Standards Committee

5.1 Not applicable.

6. Reason (s) for the matter being dealt with if urgent

6.1 Not applicable.

Approved by: (signature) Date: (date of decision)

Councillor T K Thornber

Contact: Bevis Ingram, ext 01962 847508

7. Summary

7.1 This report proposes the capital programme for 2003/04 to 2006/07 (shown as Appendix 1).

7.2 Prior to the Executive Member considering the capital programme, this report is being presented to the Recreation and Heritage Policy Review Committee to provide the Committee with the opportunity to comment to the Executive Member on the proposals.

8. Introduction

8.1 The Cabinet at its meeting on 23 December 2002 asked Executive Members to prepare proposals for:

· a locally-resourced capital programme for the four-year period from 2003/04 to 2006/07 within the guidelines of the current capital programme adjusted for inflation, and

· capital schemes supported by scheme or programme specific Government grants and borrowing approvals for 2003/04 and those expected to be supported in 2004/05, 2005/06 and 2006/07

· possible capital projects which might be suitable for the private finance initiative (PFI) and attract revenue support from the Government towards their capital element in 2004/05 to 2006/07, subject to further reports on the outline business case for each scheme and the Government support being available.

8.2 For this service, the guidelines for the locally resourced programme are:

8.3 The guidelines include an addition of 2.5% for inflation, in line with the non-pay inflation assumption for the revenue budget.

8.4 Executive Members may vary these guidelines between years provided their total four-year guideline is not exceeded and bunching of payments in any one year or front-loading are avoided.

8.5 In addition, Executive Members may supplement their guidelines with their services' own resources either by virement from their revenue budgets or by using their share of capital receipts obtained in 2001/02 as allocated by Cabinet in July 2002. Executive members may also anticipate in these proposals their share of those capital receipts that have actually been obtained so far in 2002/03.

9. Capital programme 2003/04 to 2006/07 - schemes within the guideline for the locally resourced capital programme

9.1 The Director of Recreation and Heritage is currently reviewing the capital requirements of his services in relation to the corporate strategy and the policy objectives agreed for his Department. A considerable amount of work is needed to develop a detailed programme, but it is already clear that significant capital investment is needed to:

· reverse the decline in the physical condition of buildings and property which, if continued, would bring about further reductions in usage and visits

· restructure and remodel facilities to make them more attractive and better able to cater for the needs of existing and potential users (eg as Discovery Centres)

· enable services to be delivered in new ways to meet user expectations including developing ICT infrastructure to meet e-government targets and underpin service improvement.

9.2 Investment needs to take place as part of a comprehensive plan linked to the service planning process in the Department. In the past, responsibility for capital investment has been fragmented. Major Recreation and Heritage schemes have been funded from the Policy and Resources capital programme where they have had to compete with other corporate priorities (recent examples include the new Lymington library and the current scheme for a replacement library at Alton). Management of the modest Recreation and Heritage programme has taken place on a service by service basis, which has inevitably limited the scope for longer term investment planning. The creation of the new Department provides the opportunity to put in place a more strategic approach to capital investment within a coherent capital programme.

9.3 The proposals set out in this report conform to the existing guidelines for the Recreation and Heritage capital programme. As such, they can do no more than make a start on some of the priorities identified above. The critical need to carry out improvements to library buildings and support the development of Discovery Centres is recognised through the proposal to transfer £500,000 from the revenue budget in each of the first two years of the programme. Many of the older buildings are in urgent need of improvement (particularly for disabled access). Creating a modern attractive environment in all libraries is a key ingredient in the revitalisation of the service. This work would be carried out in conjunction with planned repair and maintenance funded from Policy and Resources programmes.

9.4 The remainder of the programme largely reflects existing levels of programme provision and should therefore be viewed as provisional. Changes will be made to the in response to the priorities emerging from the service planning process.

10. Private Finance Initiative schemes

10.1 No PFI schemes have been identified at this stage. Although this will be kept under review, it is unlikely that any Recreation and Heritage scheme will be large enough to form a viable PFI project in its own right. However, cultural service provision could form part of other major developments that are being considered as potential PFI schemes. The Recreation and Heritage Department will work closely with other departments of the Council where this is a possibility.

10.2 Capital Programme Summary

10.3 On the basis of the position outlined above, the total value of the capital programmes submitted for consideration for the four years to 2005/06 are:

11. Revenue Implications

11.1 The revenue implications of the proposed capital programme are as follows:

11.2 The total revenue implications for the four years of the starts programme, including capital charges, represent a real term increase of 1.1% over the 2002/03 original budget of this service.

Recommendations

1 That the guidelines be increased by £500,000 to £1,071,000 in the first two years by viring £500,000 from the revenue budget.

2 That the capital programme for 2003/04 to 2006/07 as set out in Appendix 1 be approved for submission to the Cabinet.

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background papers

The following documents disclose facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

NB the list excludes:

1. Published works.

2. Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act.

TITLE FILE

Appendix 1

Recreation and Heritage Services

Capital Programme 2003/04 to 2006/07