The Interim Head of Finance presented a report in compliance with the requirement of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy’s (CIPFA) Prudential Code for Capital Finance 2018, provided an update on the Capital Programme from 1 April to 30 June 2019; sought agreement to report to Council for the approval of a revised capital programme for 2019-20 to 2028-29 and to note the projected Prudential and Other Indicators for 2019-20.

The Interim Head of Finance reported that Council on 20 February 2018 approved a capital programme covering the period 2019-20 to 2028-29 as part of the Medium Term Financial Strategy.  Since then, there have been schemes that have slipped from 2018-19 and additional schemes requiring approval as a result of additional sources of funding.  The monitoring of capital expenditure had previously been included within the Financial Performance Quarterly Monitoring Reports to Cabinet and the monitoring of the Prudential Indicators had been included within the Treasury Management Quarterly Monitoring Reports to Cabinet.  With the development of the Capital Strategy 2019-20, both the Capital Programme and the Capital Strategy and the Prudential Indicators had been incorporated into one report. 

The Interim Head of Finance reported on the monitoring of the revised capital programme for 2019-20 which totalled £54.471M, of which £36.665M is met from within the Council’s resources, with the remaining £17.806M coming from external resources.  She provided details of the individual schemes within the capital programme, which showed the budget available compared to the projected spend.  One scheme, namely junction improvements at Heol Mostyn, Pyle will slip into 2020-21 and there would also be re-profiling of Maesteg Town Hall.  In addition, new externally funded schemes had been incorporated into the capital programme, namely, Welsh Medium Childcare Provision; Schools Maintenance Grant and ICT Grant; Transport Grant and Highways Refurbishment Grant and Coychurch Crematorium.  She detailed the new schemes funded by the Council to be included in the capital programme, since the approval of the programme in February, namely, Data Centre; Heol Mostyn Junction, Pyle; Evergreen Hall and Investing in Communities.  She stated that a number of schemes within the Capital Programme are awaiting confirmation of external funding and once known, it may result in some schemes being re-profiled.        

The Interim Head of Finance reported that the Council approved in February 2019 the Capital Strategy for 2019-20, which included the Prudential Indicators, together with some local indicators.  She stated that the capital strategy is intended to give an overview of how capital expenditure, capital financing and treasury management activity contribute to the provision of services along with an overview of how associated risk is managed and the implications for future sustainability.  To this end, a number of prudential indicators were included and approved by Council.  The Chief Finance Officer is required to establish procedures to monitor both performance against all forward-looking prudential indicators and the requirement specified. 

The Interim Head of Finance also reported on the monitoring of the Capital Strategy which requires the monitoring of non-treasury management investments and other long term liabilities. 

The Leader commended the proposals in the capital programme and was pleased to see investment being made in the Coychurch Crematorium which had been approved by the Joint Committee.

RESOLVED:               That Cabinet :

·     noted the Council’s capital programme for the period 1 April 2019 to 30 June 2019;

·     agreed that the revised Capital Programme be submitted to Council for approval;

noted the projected Prudential and Other Indicators for 2019-20.