The purpose of this report is to seek agreement from Cabinet to present a report to Council for approval for a revised capital programme for 2017-18 to 2026-27.

The Group Manager Financial Planning and Budget Management sought agreement from Cabinet that the revised Capital Programme for 2017-18 to 2026-27 be submitted to Council for approval.

The Group Manager Financial Planning and Budget Management reported that since the approval of the capital programme, a number of schemes had been progressed which require the approval of Council.  She stated that the establishment of a Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) is fundamental to driving the transformation of children’s social care by creating a single point of contact for frontline staff.  In order to establish the MASH, capital investment of £205,000 would be required from the Council for the procurement of furniture and ICT infrastructure.  The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing clarified that the Council would be liable for 40% of the total cost, with remaining 60% recharged to the Council’s partners, with South Wales Police being the main partner.                          

The Group Manager Financial Planning and Budget Management also reported that the current Storage Area Network (SAN) was at the end of its usable life and the purchase of a new SAN, including seven years warranty and support is approximately £400,000.  All data is replicated to RCT Council and vice versa, to provide a Disaster Recovery solution.  She also reported on the need to replace old desktop computers that had come to the end of their life and which had been purchased with a five year extended warranty.  She stated that 200 desktop computers were purchased in 2012, 2013 and 2014, with the first batch of 200 computers coming to the end of their warranty; the second batch would come to the end of warranty in March 2018.  She stated that the purchase of replacement desktop computers would be a total of £240,000, to be purchased in two batches of £120,000.  She also reported on the need to purchase additional PC’s as the benchdesk facilities in Civic Offices have no consistent approach to ICT delivery.  The proposed cost would be £120,000, met from an established earmarked reserve.  The Corporate Director Operational and Partnership Services clarified that the desktops to be purchased came with a significant amount of software which explained the unit price of £600.  

The Group Manager Financial Planning and Budget Management reported that the Council has very limited Video Conferencing facilities to enable staff and Councillors to attend virtual meetings and to collaborate more efficiently.  The cost of digitisation of meeting spaces would be £150,000 to be met from a revenue contribution to the capital budget from the directorate revenue budget. 

The Group Manager Financial Planning and Budget Management also reported on the need to rectify a structural issue at the Brynmenyn Homelessness Unit, which provides 16 units of temporary accommodation at Tondu.  The estimated cost of the works is £120,000 to be met from revenue budgets.  She also reported that an opportunity had arisen to purchase a replacement mayoral vehicle at a cost of £23,000, as the previous mayoral vehicle was 7 years old with a mileage in excess of 90,000 miles.  The cost of the new vehicle would be met from the directorate revenue budget. 

The Group Manager Financial Planning and Budget Management reported that a number of other adjustments were required to the capital programme to reflect new external funding approvals and changes to expenditure profiles across financial years.  She stated that the proposals would result in a revised capital programme of £175.031m, of which £117.536m is met from the Council’s resources, including general capital funding from the Welsh Government and £57.495m from external resources. 

The Leader commented that the establishment of a MASH is a key priority in the Corporate Plan and accommodating staff in a single location was important as they would otherwise be located at several locations.  The Deputy Leader commented that the ICT items were vitally important to the way in which the Council does its business. 

RESOLVED:           That Cabinet agreed that the revised Capital Programme be submitted to Council for approval.