HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

Decision Report :

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1) Summary of Decision Area:

1.1. This report seeks approval to a re-profiling of capital repairs resources from 2008/09 to 2009/10 in line with a long-standing approach to maximising the strategic impact of resources and also recommends additions to the capital repairs programme of works.

2) Issues Covered in Report:

2.1. This report updates the Panel on the current revenue and capital repairs budget position including New Deal for Schools (NDS) allocations, sets out the reasons for the proposed re-profiling of resources and lists the proposed additions to the capital repairs programme of works.

3) Recommendations:

3.1. That the Buildings, Land and Procurement Panel advises the Executive Member for Policy and Resources that approval be given to the re-profiling of £2m of the Policy and Resources 2008/09 capital repairs allocation to 2009/10 to impact on key corporate initiatives such as Hampshire Workstyle and the achievement of carbon reduction targets.

3.2. That the Buildings, Land and Procurement Panel advises the Executive Member for Policy and Resources that approval be given to the additions to the capital repairs and NDS programmes as set out in Appendix 3.

MAIN REPORT

1) Purpose of the Report:

1.1. This report updates the Panel on the current revenue and capital budget positions, sets out a proposal to re-profile capital repairs resources into 2009/10 and proposes additions to the 2008/09 capital repairs programme of works.

2) Contextual Information:

2.1. The 2008/09 revenue budget reported to the Panel in April 2008 totalled £15.724m. Since that date the schools figures have been confirmed £29,000 lower than the estimate and the addition of the agreed carry forward from 2007/08 of £327,000 has resulted in a final budget for the year of £16.022m.

2.2. The Policy and Resources capital repairs budget for 2008/09 has been increased both by resources carried forward from 2007/08 of £1.093m and a one-off addition of £400,000. This one off amount was agreed as part of the final accounts process to improve the quality of life in the County's older persons residential homes by installing double-glazing and other building maintenance improvements. The total budget for the year is £10.439m

2.3. The capital repairs budget funded from the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) for 2008/09 has been increased by the value of the carry forward from 2007/08 of £2.019m giving a total budget of £13.2m.

3) Revenue budget 2008/09:

3.1. Appendix 1 shows the level of commitment against the revenue budget as at 27 August 2008. As in previous years this is explained in part by the inclusion of £3.025m of budgets which are delegated with no buy-back arrangement and therefore treated as 100% committed. The remaining £12.997m shows commitments of 70.7%. This is still a high proportion of the budget but the figure also includes the full-year commitments under the engineering term maintenance contracts of £6.789m. Excluding these figures the remainder of the budget shows a commitment of 46.6%.

3.2. The new engineering term maintenance contracts for all parts of the County Council except the Winchester headquarters buildings have now been in place for a year. A comparison of actual 2007/08 costs and projected 2008/09 costs (including schools) after adjusting for inflation indicates that an annual saving of £276,000 will be achieved. However the 2007/08 actuals already included the part year effect of the new arrangements so the underlying improvement is likely to be higher. The cost reduction will enable reserves to be re-directed to engineering improvement work such as underground heating pipe work or the replacement of boiler electrical switch gear.

4) New Deal for Schools (NDS):

4.1. The 2007/08 allocation after adjustments made during the budget process was £11.618m of which £10.227m was funded by grant. The grant funded allocation can be spent up to the end of August 2008. The outturn position is still being finalised but it is anticipated that commitments at this level will be confirmed as has been the case in previous years.

4.2. The 2008/09 allocation, supported entirely from borrowing approvals, totals £8.183m.

5) Capital repairs:

5.1. Progress against the combined Policy and Resources and Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) programme is shown at Appendix 2. The overall level of commitment at 39% is in line with expectations at this stage in the year.

5.2. Work to deliver the improvements to the quality of life in older persons residential homes has already been commissioned. The £400,000 identified during the final accounts process will have been invested by the end of the financial year in double-glazing and other building improvements at Bishops Waltham House and Copper Beeches,.

5.3. The strategic use of capital repairs resources to achieve maximum impact has been a long-standing policy of the Panel. This has been achieved both by pooling of resources where possible and making contributions to support major corporate projects. A number of significant corporate projects in particular Hampshire Workstyle and initiatives to deliver reductions in CO₂ emissions have been identified and in order to enable targeted contributions to be made it is proposed to re-profile £2m of capital repairs resources from 2008/09 to 2009/10. This proposed re-profiling would leave a Policy and Resources capital repairs allocation of £8.439m in 2008/09 which would be sufficient to deliver the existing programme for the year.

6) Proposed additions to the programme:

6.1. It is proposed to add the schemes shown in Appendix 3 to the capital repairs and NDS programmes.

7) Outline of Options

7.1 The Capital Repairs programme provides funding to improve County Council properties and provide better, safer and more sustainable buildings to benefit all occupants.

7.2 The alternative to re-profiling resources as proposed in 5.3 would be to retain the funds in the current financial year and spend them on other works. This option has not been recommended as this would reduce capacity to support significant corporate projects.

7.3 The schemes listed in Appendix 3 form part of an overall programme aimed at tackling key strategic risk areas and delivering prioritised improvements to schools and other buildings.

8) Option Analysis/comparison

8.1 See 7 above

9) Conclusions:

9.1. The overall position on both the revenue and capital repairs budgets is favourable with commitments in line with expectations at this stage in the year.

9.2. Opportunities exist to maximise the use of resources in support of key corporate projects and approval is sought to carry forward £2m to 2009/10.

10) Summary Recommendations:

10.1. That the Buildings, Land and Procurement Panel advises the Executive Member for Policy and Resources that approval be given to the proposed re-profiling of £2m of capital repairs resources from 2008/09 into 2009/10 as outlined in 5.3.

10.2. That the Buildings, Land and Procurement Panel advises the Executive Member for Policy and Resources that approval be given to the proposed additions to the capital repairs and NDS programmes as set out in Appendix 3.

CORPORATE OR LEGAL INFORMATION:

COMPREHENSIVE RISK & IMPACT ASSESSMENT:

Race and Equality Impact assessment

Race and equality impact assessment has been considered in the development of this report and no adverse impact has been identified.

Crime prevention issues

The County Council has a legal obligation under Section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 to consider the impact of all the decisions it makes on the prevention of crime. The proposals in this report have no impact on the prevention of crime.

Revenue Maintenance 2008/09 Appendix 1

Commitment as at 27 August 2008

Capital Repairs 2008/09 Appendix 2

Commitment as at 27 August 2008

Notes:

1. Additional one-off sum of £400,000 approved as part of the final accounts process.

2. Figures exclude allocation of amounts carried forward from 2007/08.

Appendix 3

Additions to the capital repairs and NDS Condition programmes