The Chief Officer – Finance, Performance and Change presented a report, the purpose of which, was to seek approval from Council for a revised capital programme for 2021-22 to 2030-31 (Appendix A to the report, referred).

She reported that the Council on 24 February 2021 approved a Capital Strategy, incorporating the Prudential Indicators for 2021-22, along with a capital programme covering the period 2020-21 to 2030-31 as part of the Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS).  The capital programme had been updated during the year with new schemes, amendments to existing funding packages and changes to delivery profiles.  New grant awards, outcomes of tender processes and updates on existing schemes which need including within the capital programme had occurred since the programme was last approved by Council on 19 January 2022. 

The Chief Officer Finance, Performance and Change informed Council, that a capital programme covering the period 2021-22 to 2031-2032 will be presented to Cabinet and Council, on 22 and 23 February 2022 respectively, as part of the Medium-Term Financial Strategy 2022-23 to 2025-26, alongside the proposed Capital Strategy for 2022-23 to 2031-32.  She stated that there exist a number of financial pressures arising as a result of current market conditions, impacted by the pandemic and Brexit.

The Chief Officer Finance, Performance and Change reported that the capital programme for 2021-22 to 2030-31 approved by Council in January 2002 is £212.439m, of which £118.094m is met from the Council’s resources, including capital receipts, revenue contributions from earmarked reserves and borrowing, with the remaining £94.345m coming from external resources, including General Capital Grant.  She informed Members that the following new schemes now need to be included in the capital programme, some of which are wholly or partly grant funded, along with others which needed amending:-

• Net Zero Carbon Fleet
• Cardiff Capital Region Metro Plus
• Ewenny Road Industrial Estate
• Porthcawl Regeneration
• Brynmenyn Children’s Hub
• Community Energy Safety Programme / Arbed Phase 1
• ICT Equipment – Schools
• Welsh Government Un-Adopted Roads Pilot
• Heronsbridge Special School Additional Accommodation

There were also a small number of other amendments and changes to grant approvals, reflected in the updated capital programme.

The Chief Officer – Finance, Performance and Change concluded her submission, by advising that the revised Capital Programme, incorporating the schemes outlined above and expanded upon further within the report, were detailed at Appendix A of the report.

A Member referred to the works to Ewenny Road Industrial Estate and the £3.5m Cardiff Capital Region City Deal funding allocation towards this and he hoped that certain external factors had been looked at and that the remediation and infrastructure works on site would go to plan as per the necessary timetable, so as not to hamper progress in relation to the following development works planned for that site.

He also expressed his disappointment regarding the Arbed Project and the previous works undertaken. Therefore, he hoped that residents in the area as well as local Ward Members would be kept informed of progress regarding the remedial works, including the Procurement programme, use of materials being used for the works etc, so that the project is transparent and open to scrutiny during the lifetime (of the project).

In terms of Ewenny Road, the Chief Officer – Finance, Performance and Change, confirmed that this scheme would be monitored in terms of its progress, including any risks regarding costs and timelines for completion of each stage of the works required to be carried out there. All schemes included in the Capital Programme would be monitored for the same reasons and to secure all the different avenues of funding allocated to these. Any cases of delays or slippages to the projects and schemes would be reported back to Council for Members information.

The Chief Executive advised that he gave an explanation at yesterday’s Cabinet meeting on the process to be followed in respect of the Arbed Scheme. Following the submission, and hopefully approval of a business case to Welsh Government, there would be engagement with local residents and local Members over the works to be undertaken including the timescale for these. The approval of the Capital Programme today would allow the for inclusion in the business case submission of the necessary Council funding. 

A Member referred to the Porthcawl Metro Plus works which had an initial estimated cost of £400k. However, this had now been modified due to a more substantial build having been proposed, to £2m. Welsh Water had confirmed that there was a rising main where the bus terminal had been proposed to be positioned. He asked if works required with regards to this had been factored into the overall revised estimate for the scheme and why wasn’t the Council aware of this rising main previously.

The Corporate Director – Communities advised that a site investigation had been initially undertaken before the works proposed had been designed, so the Council were aware of the rising main previously. This was discussed with Welsh Water where it was agreed that the Metro Link shelter would be moved a couple of metres into the site, so as not to interfere with the rising main. The extra costs were not in the main as a result of moving the shelter, but upgrading this and providing further works to make the Metro Link facility both more improved and eco-friendly, which will in turn, provide more benefit to the town than the one planned previously. The £2m would include the cost of moving the shelter away from the rising main.

£1m would also be committed to the Penprisk Scheme, added the Corporate Director – Communities, while in Pyle a commitment will be made to relocate the Railway Station in accordance with a provision of the new Local Development Plan (LDP).

A Member asked if any residents affected by the Arbed Project would be reimbursed in monetary terms, if they had paid themselves previously to make good the work deemed unsatisfactory when undertaken previously some years ago.

The Chief Executive, whilst very much regretting the position the residents of the properties affected at Caerau as a result of the previous failing wall insulation work found themselves in, and emphasising that it was important that the Council took responsibility for the role it did play, wished to stress that for the vast majority of work completed to these properties, the Council had not had any involvement in. The Council had no involvement at all in 79 of the 104 properties where wall insulation work was carried out, and which would now be eligible for the proposed scheme.  He could not accurately respond to this question of any reimbursement at this stage, as the Authority had yet to submit the Business Case. However, he emphasised that the Welsh Government Funding for the works would in all probability, come from its Energy Efficiency Fund, which would likely focus on the removal of the old cladding provided 10 years ago and replacing it with new cladding. 

A Member noted that the delivery of the Metro Plus Scheme was time bound and therefore it was vital that the scheme be completed on time in order to utilise Council funding being allocated to this. He noted that a bid needed to be made to the Cardiff Capital Region City Deal by June of this year. He further noted that the public consultation had just been completed, so he asked if the above target date was possibly too ambitious.

The Corporate Director – Communities confirmed that the Council were applying to the Levelling up Fund for funding for the Pencoed Bridge project. Though we were working towards a bid being made by June 2022, the submission date of this could be subject to change. The Council were considering currently the outcomes of the consultation and working with Network Rail, with regards to the design of the bridge. Then the bid would be submitted around May/June time. The design works would not be completed by the time the bid was submitted, but this was not a requisite in terms of the scheme overall. The scheme was considerable in terms of its size and the extent of the infrastructure works required, so it would not be completed within the timescales of both the Levelling Up Bid/grant.

In terms of Arbed, a Member noted that £855k had been requested as part of the capital programme by the Council and on page 19 of the report pack, the delivery of the project including for the tendering and procurement proposals, would take around 2 years. He asked therefore, why the £855k was being front loaded this year, as opposed to being spread over this and next year to coincide with the estimated lifetime of the total project works. He also asked, would there need to be increased funding required for the project as and when the works progress and in terms of the bid for UK Government funding through its Eco Scheme, is this likely to be secured and, if so, how much would this be.

The Chief Executive advised that he agreed that the profiling of the  allocation of £855k may need to be reviewed once the business case was approved, as it may be that less funding will be required in the first year as inevitably much of the year would be taken up with the engagement plan, surveying the homes and procuring expert contractors. It was unknown at this stage whether UK Government would provide any funding but Welsh Government continue to push this hard as the Community Energy Savings Scheme [ CESP ] was a UK Government sponsored programme and the majority of homes had work done under that scheme. He added that the revised total estimate for all the works in the project of £3.5m was now  deemed to be reasonable with the capital cost of works to each property having increased in the last couple of years. External providers would undertake the work A Member referred to page 25 of the report pack and Unallocated Funds. He noted that there was a considerable variation in this figure in recent years varying from £3m in some years, to £300k in others. He asked why there was such a large variation.

The Chief Officer – Finance, Performance and Change confirmed that Unallocated Funds were part of the overall budget to deal with unknown pressures moving forward. These were often subject to change year on year, depending upon the local authority’s settlements. Whilst there was an allocation in the Fund this financial year, this will roll over to next financial year if it was not required to be used. The Council like other authorities, were experiencing a considerable number of pressures financially speaking, such as an increase in material costs for projects and additional spend for the 2030 Decarbonisation Agenda, so this pot of money may be required to financially support these. She concluded by stating that this was also an estimated fund that would change with the course of time and demands.

A Member asked if residents who may have suffered physically through previous works undertaken at their properties as part of the Arbed Project, would be financially reimbursed through a compensatory payment, for conditions such as, for example lung problems.

The Chief Executive advised that claims such as this would ordinarily be pursued through an Insurance Claim and that was not the purpose of this scheme and funding.

The Leader concluded debate on the report, by apologising to residents affected by works previously carried out as part of the Arbed Project in Caerau. He assured that the Council would work on a Communication and Engagement Plan with both householders and local Members in the area from the start through to completion of the new works.

He also assured Members that the Cardiff Capital Region City Deal was wholeheartedly behind the funding of the Metro Plus Project and welcomed other schemes outlined in the Capital Programme, such as Heronsbridge Special School, the Children’s Hub at Brynmenyn and the Net Zero Carbon Fleet Project.       

RESOLVED:                            That Council approved the revised Capital Programme at Appendix A to the report.