The Chief Officer – Finance Performance and Change presented a report its purpose of which was to:

• comply with the requirement of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy’s (CIPFA) ‘The Prudential Code for Capital Finance in Local Authorities (2017 edition)

• provide an update of the capital position for 2021-22 as at 31 December 2021 (Appendix A)

• seek agreement from Cabinet to present a report to Council for approval for a revised capital programme for 2021-22 to 2030-31 (Appendix B)

• note the projected Prudential and Other Indicators for 2021-22 (Appendix C)

The Chief Officer – Finance, Performance and Change explained that the revised programme for 2021-22 currently totalled £49.603 million, of which £28.495 million was met from Bridgend County Borough Council (BCBC) resources, including capital receipts and revenue contributions from earmarked reserves, with the remaining £21.108 million coming from external resources, including Welsh Government General Capital Grant. Table 1 of the report highlighted the Capital Programme per Directorate for 2021-22. She stated that slippage to future years was at just over £30 million and this meant that many schemes were not going to spend their allocated budget during this financial year and therefore will slip into next year. These schemes still remain in the capital programme and therefore the money was still allocated to them.

The Chief Officer – Finance, Performance and Change highlighted table 2 which detailed the Capital Programme 2021-22 Resources. Appendix A of the report provided details of the individual schemes within the capital programme, showing any new approvals, virements and slippage to the revised budget 2021-22. She summarised a number of schemes requiring slippage which were detailed at 4.4 of the report.

The Chief Officer – Finance, Performance and Change explained that since the approval of the last capital report in October there were a number of new schemes which had been incorporated into the capital programme. These were detailed at 4.5 of the report. The revised capital programme was detailed at Appendix B of the report.

She added that with the various schemes requiring slippage into next year, the Council would require borrowing less money than was originally anticipated which meant that the Council would not incur any loan debt for the financial year.

The Deputy Leader stated that the Covid-19 Pandemic had had an impact on our Capital Program but gave assurances that the schemes were still a priority. The additional grant funding from Welsh Government to help expand the Councils fleet of low emission vehicles as well as funding towards the photovoltaic solar panels at the Bryncethin Depot was welcomed.

The Cabinet Member Wellbeing and Future Generations asked about the slippage of the Maesteg Town Hall and how this would impact the competition date.

The Corporate Director Communities explained that the Maesteg Town Hall Scheme was a very important one and the delivery of this had been challenging as it had been going on during the Pandemic. One of the challenges we had was the limited number of staff that were allowed onsite during the restrictions. Another issue was the difficulty in procuring the supplies needed due to the shortage in supply chain, costs of goods etc. She added that it was important that the quality of work was at the forefront, rather than the time taken so slippage was necessary but it was envisaged that the work would be completed around the summer of 2022.

RESOLVED: That Cabinet:

• noted the Council’s Capital Programme 2021-22 Quarter 3 update to 31 December 2021 (Appendix A to the report)

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

noted the projected Prudential and Other Indicators for 2021-22 (Appendix C to the report)