The Interim Head of Finance submitted a report, the purpose of which, was to obtain approval from Council for a revised Capital Programme for 2018-19 to 2027-28.

She advised that on 28 February 2018, Council approved a Capital Programme covering the above period as part of the Medium Term Financial Strategy. Since then, additional schemes have been approved by Council including the Enterprise Hub Development Programme, new classrooms at Cwmfelin Primary School, Porthcawl Regeneration and Waterton Depot, along with a number of externally funded schemes.

Since the programme was last approved, a number of new schemes have been progressed which require that Council approve changes to the Capital Programme. These were outlined in in paragraphs 4.2 to 4.12 of the report and the Interim Head of Finance gave a summary of each of these as detailed hereunder, together with any extra resource implications that needed to be committed to each of the schemes so listed.

These schemes were as follows:-

• 21^st Century Schools Band A Programme – Pencoed Primary School
• Cwmfelin Primary School – Accommodation
• Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH)
• Agile Working
• Cemetery Extensions
• Fleet
• ICT Rolling Programme
• Porthcawl Resort Investment Focus (PRIF)
• Registrars
• Welsh-Medium Capital Grant

The Interim Head of Finance reported that since the approval of the Capital Programme, a number of schemes had been progressed which required approval (of Council).

She advised Members that in respect of the 21^st Century Schools Band A Programme, despite site investigation works being undertaken in advance of letting the Pencoed Primary School construction contract, the site required significant cut and fill activities not originally anticipated, resulting in the project costs increasing by £200,000.  It was proposed to meet this additional cost from projected under spends in other Band A schemes.  The Interim Head of Finance informed Cabinet that a budget of £165,000 had been included in the Capital Programme for the provision of additional accommodation at Cwmfelin Primary School.  However, following design development, the original project estimate was deemed insufficient and despite a value engineering exercise being undertaken, a revised project cost had been received of £235,000, resulting in additional funding of £70,000 over and above the approved budget, which it was proposed would be vired from the school modernisation retention budget.

The Interim Head of Finance reported that capital investment of £205,000 had been approved for the establishment of a MASH.  However the MASH had instead moved into Raven’s Court, resulting in costs being considerably less than anticipated, which would release funding of £45,116 for other schemes.  She also reported that capital funding of £1.217m for ICT investment had been approved to deliver agile working, which was dependent on securing a tenant for Raven’s Court.  Following decisions on where to place the MASH, the active marketing of Raven’s Court would no longer be pursued and consequently the investment initially identified was no longer required, which left a balance of £1.201m to be de-committed and used for other schemes.

The Interim Head of Finance also reported that funding of £360,000 towards cemetery extensions at Porthcawl and North Cornelly, however due to further investigation and feasibility works an additional £170,000 was required to be funded by prudential borrowing.  She also reported that a capital budget of £1.64m is required for the purchase of replacement highway maintenance vehicles to be funded from within clients’ existing revenue budgets, through revenue contributions to capital or prudential borrowing.  She then commented on the need following a review of the ICT estate for an increase of £226,375 funded from a revenue contribution from the existing ICT rolling programme budget.

The Interim Head of Finance reported that the procurement exercise for the Porthcawl Resort Investment Focus project had been completed which had increased to £2,924,000; there was a need to revise the match requirement to £1,358,060.  The match funding was made up of a range of external resources and Council funds.  She stated that if opportunities arise to access further external funds, either through ERDF or other sources then these will be targeted in an effort to further reduce the requirement for Council resources. 

She also reported that there is significant commercial interest in the land and building (Ty’r Ardd) which houses the Registrar’s Office and Awen’s Reference Library.  There has been an increase in wedding cancellations due to the works taking place on the adjacent land.  With work increasing on the site, it was likely to cause a further increase in wedding cancellations.   Feasibility work has been undertaken on relocating the Registrar’s Office which can be accommodated on the ground floor of Civic Offices.  This would provide a one-off capital receipt from the sale of the land as well as ongoing revenue savings from the closure of a building.  She stated that the indicative capital budget needed to remodel the area of the Civic Offices affected is £275,000, which includes creating a patio area for wedding photos.  The anticipated capital receipt, indicated in the draft valuation report, is expected to be significantly more than the cost of the works. 

The Interim Head of Finance reported that the Welsh Government had awarded the Council £2.6m in order to create Welsh-medium childcare provision in Bettws, Ogmore Valley, Bridgend Town and Porthcawl with the four projects costing £650,000 each.  

She then advised Council, that the revised Capital Programme included a number of other adjustments which reflect new external funding approvals and changes to expenditure profiles across financial years, which showed a revised programme of £211.185m, of which, £138.408m is met from the Council’s resources, including general Capital Funding from the Welsh Government and £72.777m met from external resources.

She referred Members to the revised Capital Programme that was attached at Appendix 1 to the report, which also included a number of other adjustments required to reflect new external funding approvals and changes to expenditure profiles across financial years. This reflected a total revised programme of £211.185m, of which £138.408m is met from BCBC resources, including General Capital Funding from Welsh Government, and £72.777m met from external resources.

Finally, the Interim Head of Finance referred to the financial implications of the report, stating that any capital receipts released as a result of schemes being removed from the Capital Programme will be re-allocated to other schemes already included within the programme, but funded from external borrowing to reduce potential borrowing costs, therefore reducing the pressure on the Revenue Budget.

A Member was concerned that some of the schemes so listed in the report required additional funding than that was originally proposed, following detailed feasibility and design work having subsequently being undertaken. Due to this an amendment to the report’s recommendation was made, which was duly seconded, namely that the report be deferred and referred to the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee for further consideration. It was also further recommended and carried unanimously, to conduct a recorded vote on this amendment

Members therefore agreed to have an electronic vote on whether or not a recorded vote be taken on the above amendment. The result of this was as follows:-

For (a recorded vote)                Against                    Abstentions

45                                                   1                                 0

A recorded vote was then taken on the amendment, ie to defer the report and in turn, refer it to the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee for consideration.

The result of the recorded vote was as follows:-

For (the amendment)               Against                    Abstentions

Names to be inserted following the minutes being translated

21                                                 26                                0

Therefore, the amendment failed.

A second electronic vote was then undertaken on whether or not further debate should take place on the report, the result of which was as follows:-

For (further debate)                 Against                  Abstentions

22                                                 10                               1

In response to a question regarding accommodation at Cwmfelin Primary School, the Corporate Director – Education and Family Support advised that improvements were needed to the existing buildings at the school, as this had been assessed as a category ‘C’ building and funding was required, in order to expand the current class room sizes, some of which also included cloakroom areas due to a lack of space overall at the school in other areas. He added that, there were 3 mobile classrooms at the school which were in a poor condition. These amounted to 50% of class space overall at the school which was insufficient for learning and teaching purposes. He added that the initial budget allocation, did not include for mechanical and engineering works undertaken at the existing school, nor for the provision of CCTV.

In terms of the re-location of the Registrar’s Office, a Member felt that when this is further considered, adequate car parking provision nearby should also be considered in order to assist in strengthening customer service.

A Member referred to paragraph 4.11 of the report, and funding allocated for projects dedicated to supporting and growing the use of the welsh language in Education and asked for further clarification regarding the funding avenues for this.

The Corporate Director – Education and Family Support advised that there was no capital cost for the Council in respect of the above, as this was being funded by Welsh Government. However, there would be a revenue cost, and a Steering Group had been established to look at the extent of this going forward.

RESOLVED:                      That Council approved the revised Capital Programme as set out in Appendix 1 to the report.