Archived decisions

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

Decision Report

1. Executive Summary

1.1. The purpose of this paper is to seek approval for the re-profiling of £0.5m of the Policy and Resources capital repairs budget from 2009/10 to 2010/11 and for additions to the 2009/10 capital repairs programme. The report also provides an update on the revenue and capital budget position and sets out various additions/amendments to the capital repairs programme.

2. Contextual information

2.1. The revenue budget for 2009/10 reported in March 2009 was £16.091m. This figure has been increased following confirmation of detailed school budget allocations which added £29,000 and to allow for the carry forward from 2008/09 of the unspent winter contingency of £361,000. The full amount available in 2009/10 is therefore £16.481m.

2.2. The total capital repairs resources for 2009/10 presented to the March meeting are set out in Table 1 below.

Table 1: Total capital repairs resources

Changes to these allocations are set out in section 3 of the report and are mainly to incorporate agreed carry forward amounts from 2008/09.

3. Revenue and capital budget position 2009/10

Revenue budget

3.1. Appendix 1 shows the level of commitment against the revenue budget as at 31 July 2009. This is explained in part by the inclusion of £3.128m of budgets which are delegated with no buy-back arrangement and therefore treated as 100% committed. The figure also includes full-year commitments under the engineering term maintenance contracts. After excluding these figures the remainder of the budget shows a commitment of 46% which is in line with previous years.

New Deal for Schools

3.2. The report in March 2009 identified Hampshire County Council's initial proposal to accelerate £2.484m of New Deal for Schools (NDS) spending in response to the Government's request to bring forward capital spending plans relating to schools as part of their strategy to counteract the impact of the recession on the construction industry. The proposal was subsequently increased by a further £3m and agreed by the Government at the higher level. The 2009/10 programme is therefore increased to £13.196m and the 2010/11 programme reduced to £845,000. The NDS spending period runs to August so for example the 2009/10 allocation extends to August 2010.

3.3. In line with this agreement plans are in place to accelerate schemes to the value of £5.484m to be delivered by August 2010.

3.4. The impact of the considerably smaller NDS programme in 2010/11 is being worked through in detail as part of the integrated service planning process but major new work streams such as Building Schools for the Future (BSF) and Hampshire Workstyle will require significant resources.

Capital repairs

3.5. The Policy and Resources and Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) capital repairs budgets for 2009/10 of £6.458m and £11.461m respectively have been increased to include the agreed carry forwards from 2008/09 and now total £9.79m and £13.255 respectively. The overwhelming majority of the carried forward amounts related to committed programmes of work.

3.6. The combined position for these Policy and Resources and DSG capital repairs budgets is shown at Appendix 2 and at 39% is in line with expectations at this stage in the year.

3.7. Proposed additions to the programme are listed at Appendix 3.

3.8. The strategic use of capital repairs resources to achieve maximum impact has been a long-standing policy of the Panel and there have been recent examples of this policy in action such as the agreement to vire £711,000 of carried forward capital repairs resource to revenue to support initial costs of Hampshire Workstyle and other key projects.

3.9. As part of the three year budget strategy agreed last year all locally resourced capital programmes including Policy and Resources capital repairs were reduced by one-third in 2009/10 and 2010/11 to create capacity for a programme in 2011/12 of a similar size.

3.10. In order to continue to support key projects and also to continue to also smooth the transition to the lower level of programme it is proposed to re-profile £0.5m of resources from 2009/10 to 2010/11.

Other allocations

3.11. It was planned to spend only £3,000 of the smaller grant funded allocation for Sure Start Early Years capital repairs in 2008/09 with the balance to be carried forward making the 2009/10 available resources £712,000. The majority of this funding has been committed to a single larger scheme at Shepherds Spring in 2009/10.

3.12 As previously reported to the Panel work to deliver smart metering also known as Automated Meter Reading (AMR) in schools is underway. It is proposed to install the new meters through the utility suppliers and meter operating companies. This approach should ensure minimum disruption to energy supplies and ensure interoperability between current and future utility suppliers. In other words, when supply contracts change there will be no need to fit new metering. In addition, it will ensure that the metering will be suitable for billing purposes.

3.13 It is likely that the roll out of smart metering will be applied across the estate using a strategic approach, in the following order:

· Apply to all prime electricity metering

· Apply to prime gas metering starting with the highest users

· Apply to all other prime utility metering (oil and water) starting with the highest users

3.14 All Smart meters are to be suitable for use for billing purposes and be compatible with Hampshire's SAP billing system. The Carbon Trust suggests savings of 5-12% are realistic, if the consumption readings are acted on locally and it is anticipated that payback could be achievable in one year.

3.15 The installation of the smart metering system is anticipated to be complete by January 2014, with electricity and gas complete by March 2011 to meet the start of the Carbon Reduction Commitment.

4. Recommendation(s)

That the Panel advises the Executive Member for Policy and Resources that:

4.1. The proposed re-profiling of £0.5m from 2009/10 to 2010/11 as set out in paragraphs 3.8-3.10 be approved.

4.2. The various additions to the programme as set out in Appendix 3 be approved.

CORPORATE OR LEGAL INFORMATION:

Links to the Corporate Strategy

IMPACT ASSESSMENTS:

1. Equalities Impact Assessment:

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

2. 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 proposed budget allocations will support crime prevention issues.

3. Climate Change:

How does what is being proposed impact on our carbon footprint / energy consumption?

How does what is being proposed consider the need to adapt to climate change, and be resilient to its longer term impacts?

The proposed budget allocations will support climate change proposals.

Revenue Maintenance 2009/10 Appendix 1

Commitment as at 31 July 2009

Notes

1. Budget figure includes amounts carried forward from 2008/09 and minor adjustments relating to schools allocations.

Capital Repairs 2009/10 Appendix 2

Commitment as at 31 July 2009

Notes:

1. Amounts include fees and have been adjusted to include the value of the year end carry forward totals.

Appendix 3

Additional Accelerated New Deal for Schools (NDS) and Corporate Risk Assessment (CRA) schemes