The Chief Officer – Finance, Performance and Change submitted a report, in respect of a Capital Programme update for the above mentioned quarter period.

She reminded Members, that on 26 February 2020, Council approved a capital programme covering the period 2020-21 to 2029-30 as part of the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS). The capital programme was last updated and approved by Council on 22 July 2020. This report provided an update on the following areas:

 Capital Programme 2020-21 Quarter 2 update;

 Capital Programme 2020-21 Onwards;

 Prudential and Other Indicators;

 Capital Strategy monitoring

Turning to the Capital Programme, the Chief Officer – Finance, Performance and Change, referred to paragraph 4.1 of the report. This section of the report provided Members with an update on the Council’s

capital programme for 2020-21 since the budget was last approved by Council and incorporates any new schemes and grant approvals. The revised programme for 2020-21 currently totals £53.541 million, of which £27.850 million is met from Bridgend County Borough Council (BCBC) resources, including capital receipts and revenue contributions from earmarked reserves, with the remaining £25.691 million coming from external resources, including General Capital Grant.

Table 1 in this section of the report, showed the capital programme for each

Directorate from the July 2020 (Quarter 1) approved Council position to quarter 2.

Table 2, then summarised the current funding assumptions for the capital

programme for 2020-21. The capital resources are managed to ensure that

maximum financial benefit for the Council is achieved. This may include the

re-alignment of funding to maximise government grants, she explained.

The Group Manager – Finance, Performance and Change then referred to Appendix A of the report, which provided details of the individual schemes within the capital programme, showing the budget available in 2020-21 compared to the projected spend.

A number of schemes had already been identified as requiring slippage of

budget to future years (2021-22 and beyond). At quarter 2 the total requested slippage was £13.875 million. Details of these schemes were shown at paragraph 4.4 of the report.

She advised that since the last capital report in July 2020, there have been a number of new externally funded schemes approved and internally funded schemes, which have been incorporated into the capital programme. These were included on page 123/124 of the report, with a Revised Capital Programme included at Appendix B (to the report).

In February 2020, Council approved the Capital Strategy for 2020-21, which

included the Prudential Indicators 2020-21 to 2022-23 together with some local indicators.

Appendix C to the report, detailed the actual indicators for 2019-20, the estimated indicators for 2020-21 set out in the Council’s Capital Strategy and the projected indicators for 2020-21 based on the revised Capital Programme. These showed that the Council is operating in line with the approved limits. 

The Group Manager – Finance, Performance and Change concluded, by giving a short narrative on the Council’s Capital Monitoring Strategy.

The Deputy Leader advised that this was a 10 year long term programme and he was pleased to announce that the £220m committed to capital works over this period, would play a significant part in our recovery from the present situation. This would include progression of the Council’s 21^st Century Schools Programme, which would continue and benefit the next generation.

The Leader added that he was pleased to see reference to £1.28m investment towards Energy Efficiency savings in Council buildings. This was a commitment to cut carbon dioxide emissions. He was also pleased to note that the Authority had secured £300k for 11A Nolton Street where works were continuing for a planned occupation following the current ‘firebreak’ period. Finally, he announced that he was also pleased to see the continuing investment in buildings within the Bridgend town centre, with the provision of a further 10 Affordable Homes and the provisions of Safe Routes in local communities, as well as other initiatives as referenced to in the report.

RESOLVED:                           That Cabinet:

•          Noted the Council’s capital programme for 2020-21 for the period to 30 September 2020 at Appendix A to the report;

•           Agreed that the revised Capital Programme (Appendix B) be submitted to Council for approval;

•           Noted the projected Prudential and other Indicators for 2020-21, at Appendix C to the report.