1 |
Summary |
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1.1 |
The following decisions are sought: |
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That subject to the views of the Buildings, Land and Contracts Panel approval be given to: |
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i) the budget allocations for 2003-04 as identified in Appendix 3 |
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ii) the budget management strategy for 2002-03 |
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iii) a contribution to the projects at St Bede and Henry Beaufort schools, and dilapidation costs for Unit E, Bar End Industrial Estate from the capital repairs programme for 2002/3. |
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iv) use of £150,000 of the proposed capital receipt from the redevelopment of Bar End to relocate Business Services staff from Bar End Depot to Unit B, Winnall. |
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v) the scheme of work to replace the cooling towers in Elizabeth II Court. |
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2. |
Reasons(s) |
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2.1 |
To enable capital and major repairs budgets to be utilised in support of Property Strategy. |
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3 |
Other options considered and rejected |
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3.1 |
None. |
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4 |
Conflicts of interest declared by the decision-maker or a member or officer consulted |
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4.1 |
Not applicable |
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5 |
Dispensation granted by the Standards Committee |
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5.1 |
Not applicable |
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6 |
Reason(s) for the matter being dealt with if urgent |
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6.1 |
Not applicable |
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1 |
Introduction |
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1.1 |
The purpose of this report is to up-date the Panel on the major and capital repairs programmes for 2002/3, and to propose the budget allocation for 2003/04. |
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1.2 |
The reports also propose that approval be given by the Executive Member for Policy and Resources to fund the dilapidation costs at Unit E, Bar End Industrial Estate from the capital repairs budget, to use £150,000 of the proposed capital receipt from the redevelopment of Bar End to relocate staff within the businesses from Bar End Depot to Unit B, Winnall, and to a scheme of work to replace the cooling towers in Elizabeth II Court. |
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2. |
Capital and Major Repairs 2002/03 |
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2.1 |
The level of commitments against the allocations for the current financial year is shown in Appendices 1 and 2. Traditional Capital Repairs (Appendix 1) are generally significant, programmed repair projects which are aimed at prolonging the life of the County Council's assets, and thus maximising their operational and financial value. Major repairs are typically somewhat smaller, and occasionally reactive works required to maintain the fabric and operational capacity of the built estate. |
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2.2 |
The appendices show that the level of commitment at the end of January was relatively low, at some 30% of capital repairs and 50% of major repairs, although much of the activity on the latter in particular is in the later stages of the financial year in the event of severe weather conditions. Additionally, capital repairs includes the Government funded New Deal for Schools Condition Allocation which is over 40% committed. It is a requirement of this funding that the work be undertaken and paid for by August 2003, and work is programmed to achieve this objective. |
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2.3 |
The priority for capital works in 2002/03 has been to progress the NDS schemes which generally involve a significant design element, and school-funded projects. In determining this priority, it was necessary to reschedule planned programmes of capital repairs (these programmes account for all but £100,000 of the allocations for both capital repairs and NDS, and £200,000 of the major repairs funding), and the winter weather militates against implementation in the current financial year. It is therefore appropriate to carry the uncommitted resources forward to 2003/04 to enable planned works at schools in particular to be undertaken. It will be best to determine the precise approach once the longer term prospects for NDS funding are clearer. |
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The NDS Condition Fund allocations have meant an overall rearrangement of priorities within budgets as follows: |
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1. NDS Condition Fund |
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2. School funded projects |
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3. Landlord's programme |
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This has created an unusual position of deferring the programme by around 3 months. Unusually therefore it is likely that there will be an element of the capital repairs programme to be carried forward into the next financial year. |
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2.4 |
A major programme of capital repairs has already been approved. It is recommended that the following contributions to schemes be added to that programme: · Henry Beaufort School £150,000 · St Bede £150,000
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2.5 |
Relocation of the Businesses Approval has previously been given to the inclusion in the capital repairs programme of a contribution towards the total costs of the necessary repairs and adaptations at the new premises for Hampshire Printing Services at Unit B, Winnall. The opportunity was taken to undertake roof repairs to the building as the same time as other repairs and it is now estimated that a contribution of £320,000 will be required for the total package of works. Members may recall that the business units (their business plans were approved at the last meeting) were moving from leasehold to freehold property, where it now makes sense to invest in our own assets. In addition, it is recommended that the cost of dilapidations for Unit E, Bar End, which is normal to see at the end of a full repairing lease, be met from the contingency fund. |
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2.6 |
The proposed redevelopment of Bar End Depot was reported to the Executive Member for Policy and Resources on 16 October 2002 when approval was given to earmark a proportion of the capital receipts to fund costs associated with the redevelopment of the site. It is proposed that £150,000 of these receipts be used to fund the relocation of those businesses currently sited in Bar End Depot to Unit B, Winnall by September 2003. This will allow the relocation of the Winchester recycling and waste centre. |
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2.7 |
Cooling Towers - Elizabeth II Court The Executive Member for Policy and Resources approved at his meeting on 16 October 2002 an allocation of £250,000 from the capital repairs programme towards the replacement of the cooling towers which provides the air conditioning for the IT Suite in Elizabeth II Court. A scheme of work is now being prepared for this project when both the chillers and wet cooling towers will be replaced with equivalent `dry' plant. The work is due to start in September 2003 and last for around 8 weeks. The work involved will mean an element of disruption in and around Elizabeth II Court and the Courtyard area, which will be closely managed and monitored throughout the contract period. |
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3. |
Capital and Major Repairs 2003-04 |
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3.1 |
The capital repair budget has been enhanced in 2003-04 by the following: · inflation allocation (2.5%) · reinstatement of resources temporarily used to fund OPH strategy (£726,000) · non-recurring addition (£718,000)
As a consequence, the allocations for 2003-04 are: · Traditional capital repairs £6,199,000 · Major repairs £8,107,000
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In addition, the capital programme reflects the New Deal for schools allocation of £14.436m; this allocation has subsequently been increased by DfES to £15m. |
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3.2 |
As is mentioned in the report on revenue repairs, a Corporate Risk Assessment (CRA) has been undertaken to identify areas of high risk to the County Council where it would be appropriate to direct further resources. It is therefore proposed to use the additional resources identified in 3.1 to enable higher priority activity to be undertaken. The May meeting of the Panel will be receiving a report on the CRA. In order not to anticipate the outcome of the report and discussion, it is not proposed at this stage to allocate all the resources, but to retain a contingency for the CRA outcome. This will be in addition to a modest contingency which is held to cover eventualities such as severe weather. To help create a similar minor contingency for Major Repairs, it is proposed to maintain other areas of this spending at their 2002/03 levels. The proposed allocations are shown in Appendix 3. In the case of Major Repairs, it is recognised that the CRA contingency, at £66,000 is not a significant sum. The May CRA report will suggest any necessary changes to the allocations for approval by the Executive Member for Policy and Resources. |
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3.3 |
For Capital Repairs, it is proposed, with one major exception, to increase
this year's allocation by the inflation allowance. The proposed allocations
are: |
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2002/03 |
2003/04 |
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£000 |
£000 |
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Replacement systems and components |
2,000 |
2,050 |
* Ballard Heater replacements |
1,000 |
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Electrical safety |
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1,030 |
Joint funded schemes and landlord's minor works |
1,050 |
1,080 |
Access Initiatives |
160 |
170 |
Land Management |
120 |
125 |
Contingency |
272 |
280 |
CRA Contingency |
- |
1,464 |
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4,602 |
6,199 |
* This now completes the replacement of Ballard heaters at all operational schools and for the time being brings the replacement programme to an end. There are Ballard heaters at non educational sites but at this stage it is proposed to invest funds into improving electrical services in schools and review at a later date Ballard heater replacement in non education sites. |
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3.4 |
This would give an substantial fillip to spending on CRA priorities (likely to be major Health and Safety projects), although it should be recognised that £718,000 (approximately half) of this may not recur. |
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4. |
Conclusions |
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4.1 |
The strategy for managing the current year's capital and major repairs programme will enable considerable resources to be carried forward to next year, when it will also be possible to redirect expenditure to meet the highest priorities of the CRA. |
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.
2 Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act
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APPENDIX 3
