Agenda and minutes

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Contact: Chris Ward 

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Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies for absence / Changes in membership

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Councillors T Dixon, I Macpherson and K Wood.

2.

Declarations of Interest

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor J Ng declared a personal interest as a member of Beaconsfield Town Council.  

3.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 454 KB

The minutes of the meeting held on 9 December 2021 to be confirmed as a correct record.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 9 December 2021 were agreed as a correct record.

4.

Public Questions

Public Questions is an opportunity for people who live, work or study in Buckinghamshire to put a question to a Select Committee.

 

The Committee will hear from members of the public who have submitted questions in advance relating to items on the agenda. The Cabinet Member, relevant key partners and responsible officers will be invited to respond.

 

Further information on how to register can be found here: https://www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/your-council/get-involved-with-council-decisions/select-committees/

 

No questions have been received.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

No public questions had been received.

5.

Chairman's update

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chairman reported that the Budget Inquiry report was presented to Cabinet on Tuesday 15 February. The report was well received and thanks were passed on from the Leader and Cabinet to Members of the Inquiry Group. Each recommendation was considered by the relevant portfolio holder and the formal response had been published on the council website.  The Chairman thanked all Members involved for their work in the Inquiry.

6.

12 Month Update on Budget Scrutiny Recommendations pdf icon PDF 262 KB

The Committee will consider a 12-month review of recommendations from the 2021 Budget Scrutiny Inquiry Group.

 

Contributors:

Councillor Martin Tett, Leader

Councillor John Chilver, Cabinet Member for Finance, Resources, Property and Assets

Richard Ambrose, Service Director for Corporate Finance (Section 151 Officer)

 

Paper:

12 month update report

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received a report which provided an update and narrative for each of the recommendations made by the 2022 Budget Scrutiny Inquiry Group.

 

During the Member discussion it was noted that the inquiry had raised areas of concern over the past two years (e.g. resource for Planning with the pending White Paper and affordable housing in Buckinghamshire). Addressing these would be subject to either national guidance or council strategy being published. The 2022-23 budget inquiry process may benefit from re-visiting the previous year’s recommendations.

7.

Work Programme pdf icon PDF 321 KB

The Committee will discuss the work programme and agree the items for the next meeting.

 

Contributors:

All Committee Members

 

Paper:

Work Programme attached

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received an updated version of the work programme to cover the remainder of the municipal year.

8.

Overall Property Strategy pdf icon PDF 1 MB

For Members to understand the council’s Overall Property Strategy and to receive an overview of Council Access Points, their customer usage and plans to utilise council property for other purposes.

 

Contributors:

Councillor John Chilver, Cabinet Member for Finance, Resources, Property and Assets

John Reed, Service Director for Property and Assets

Lloyd Jeffries, Service Director for Business Operations

 

Papers:

Overall Property Strategy Presentation

Confidential appendices

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received a report on the Overall Property Strategy which was presented by Councillor J Chilver, Cabinet Member for Finance, Resources, Property and Assets. The report also provided an overview of Council Access Points, customer usage and plans to utilize Council Property. The following key points were highlighted by the Cabinet Member:

 

·       The Strategic Asset Management Plan would be refreshed by the end of Q2 2022. The Plan would be an amalgamation of various strategies, policies and plans. An Agricultural Estate Management Plan would be promoted over the same period.

·       The Council’s property portfolio comprised of multiple areas including operational, community, highways, agricultural estate, investment portfolio & development opportunities and regeneration opportunities. The Council also owned/partly owned property companies: Conseil, Aylesbury Vale Estates and Buckinghamshire Advantage.

·       The estate was valued at £1.978b across over 1,700 properties. Assets under management were over £70m. The annual revenue budget was £41m and there were around 120 staff working across the property team.

·       The Overall Property Strategy had several aims including:

o   Support the Council’s Corporate Plan objectives and the medium-term financial planning of the organization;

o   Support provision of the housing including market, key worker and affordable;

o   Support the wider decarbonization agenda;

o   Reduce operational footprint of the corporate estate and roll out the wider corporate landlord across the estate.

·       Council tenants had been supported through the pandemic through signposting to grant opportunities.

·       The office estate had been adapted to meet social distance guidance during the pandemic and was now being adapted further to support hybrid working.

 

During the open discussion, Members raised the following points:

 

·       Developing the strategy had been challenging due to harmonising five legacy processes, data and property information into one single unitary database. The Cabinet Member gave an example of the legacy County Council putting aside 5% of its property income into reserves to cover voids and rental income fluctuation whereas other legacies did not. The new harmonized policy was 2.5%.

·       Covid had impacted rental income as well as the delivery of new construction projects through delays in the supply chain and contractor staff availability. This had led to some capital slippage increase. Inflation had led to increased costs of construction and energy.

·       Property data had been collated whilst maintenance collation was ongoing. An options review of assets was also in process. A Member had hoped that the service would be further ahead on this project after two years.

·       The Cabinet Member had limited involvement in the timetables, processes and procedures relating to devolution as this was within the Communities portfolio. It was acknowledged that the transfer for Green Street Community Centre, High Wycombe, had taken a long time in part due to extensive community consultation. Any transfers needed to ensure the business could be supported by due diligence. A pilot transfer was commencing soon for a community centre in Aylesbury to the Town Council.

·       Highways had a large number of small pieces of land that was surplus to requirement. These may have been a result of potential  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

9.

Date and time of the next meeting

The next meeting will take place on 7 April 2022.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Thursday 7 April 2022.

10.

Exclusion of the Public

To resolve that under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting on the grounds that discussion will involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Act.

 

Paragraph 3 – information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority that holds that information).

Additional documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED –

 

That pursuant to Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of Minute No 12, on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Act as defined as follows:

 

Minute 11 – Overall Property Strategy

 

Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information) (Paragraph 3, Part 1 of Schedule 12A, Local Government Act 1972) (The need to maintain the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure, because disclosure could prejudice the Council’s position in any future process or negotiations).

11.

Overall Property Strategy

To consider the confidential appendices.

Minutes:

This item was undertaken in confidential session as part of the confidential appendices related to Minute Item 8.