To consider the recommendations of the Mayor on the Capital Plan Budget proposals for 2016/2017 to 2019/2020.  Included in this report are the following documents:

 

·         Capital Plan Update – Quarter 3 2015/2016

·         Capital Strategy

·         Asset Management Plan

Further to the meeting of the Council held on 3 February 2016, Members considered the recommendations of the Mayor in relation to the Capital Plan Budget 2016/2017 to 2019/2020, 2016/17 Capital Strategy and Corporate Asset Management Plan 2015 to 2019.  The report also set out the quarter 3 2015/2016 Capital Plan monitoring information.

 

In accordance with legislation, the Chairman advised recorded votes would be taken on the objections.

 

It was proposed by the Mayor and seconded by Councillor Mills:

 

(i)        that the latest position for the Council’s Capital expenditure and funding for 2015/16 be noted;

 

(ii)       that 2016/17 Capital Strategy (set out at Appendix 1 of the submitted report) be approved;

 

(iii)      that prudential borrowing of £10 million for an Investment Fund to enable acquisition of properties for investment purposes to be funded from future rental income be approved and that purchases within the Fund to besubject to specific criteria:

 

-       Rate of Return expected to exceed 6% per annum net of costs

-       Property assessed as an asset life in excess of 50 years (or repayment period)

-       Tenants assessed as reasonable credit quality and pre lets agreed if possible

-       Independent valuation of asset to support purchase price

-       Any UK property to be considered subject to no more than 50% in any county area.

-       Any sale proceeds of assets purchased to be reinvested in fund.

 

and that the allocation of the Fund, if the criteria is met, be agreed by Executive Director  of Operations and Finance in consultation with the Chief Finance Officer and the Mayor and Group Leaders with the Overview and Scrutiny Co-ordinator being notified in advance of any decisions;

 

(iv)      that prudential borrowing of £3 million for essential capital repair works be approved with the cost of borrowing to be included in future year revenue budgets and that the allocation of the budget be agreed by the Executive Head – Business Services in consultation with the Chief Finance Officer and the Mayor and Group Leaders with the Overview and Scrutiny Co-ordinator being notified in advance of any decisions;

 

(v)       that prudential borrowing of £0.350 million to upgrade and update the Council’s CCTV equipment be approved with the cost of borrowing to be included in future year revenue budgets offset by any future external contributions and any resulting revenue savings;

 

(vi)      that prudential borrowing of £1.0 million for an IT Investment Fund for 2016/17 to 2019/20 be approved with the cost of borrowing to be included in future year revenue budgets and that the allocation of the Fund be agreed by Executive Director of Operations and Finance consultation with the Chief Finance Officer, the Executive Head – Customer Services and the Executive Lead for Customer Services;

 

(vii)     that the reallocation of £0.5m within the existing schools capital allocation to provide two mobile accommodation buildings at Paignton Community Sports Academy be approved to meet an immediate need for pupil places;

 

(viii)    that the allocation of £0.350m to improvements at The Strand in Torquay in line with the proposed Corporate Plan Delivery Plans be approved and that the Council determine whether this is funded from:

 

Option 1:  prudential borrowing when the scheme is deemed to be self financing; or

 

Option 2: the Comprehensive Spending Review Reserve;

 

(ix)      that the Council will not take up the option in 2016/17 of using capital receipts to fund one off revenue costs of transformation to meet future budget reductions;

 

(x)       that, subject to approval of (iii) to (ix) above, the budget forecast for 2016/17 to 2019/20 at Appendix 2 be approved as the Capital Plan;  and

 

(xi)      that the Corporate Asset Management Plan for 2015 – 2019 (as set out in Appendix 4 of the submitted report) be approved.

 

In accordance with Standing Order A14.4 an objection was proposed by Councillor Ellery and seconded by Councillor Morey:

 

that the Council formally objects to the Mayor’s capital budget proposals on the basis of the allocation of £0.35 million to the improvements at the Strand in Torquay, as there has been no matrix applied to prioritise capital projects within Torbay.

 

In accordance with the Constitution at F3.9, the Council therefore requires the Mayor to consider this objection by 10 am on 19 February 2016 either:

a)         submit a revision of the draft Capital Plan as amended by the elected Mayor (the “revised draft Capital Plan”), with the reasons for any amendments made to the draft Capital Plan, to the Council for its consideration; or

b)         inform the Council of any disagreement that the elected Mayor has with any of the Council’s objections and his reasons for any such disagreement.

 

A recorded vote was taken on the objection.  The voting was taken by roll call as follows:  For: Councillors Barnby, Bent, Brooks, Bye, Carter, Cunningham, Darling (M), Darling (S), Doggett, Ellery, Hill, Kingscote, Lewis, Morey, O’Dwyer, Robson, Sanders, Stockman, Stocks, Stringer, Sykes, Thomas (D), Thomas (J), Tolchard and Tyerman (25);  Against:  Councillors Amil, Excell, Haddock, King, Mills, Morris, Parrott and Stubley (8);  Abstain:  Mayor Oliver and Councillor Winfield (2);  and Absent:  Councillors Lang and Manning (2). Therefore the objection was declared carried and the Chairman advised that the Mayor would consider the objection and publish his response for consideration at the Council meeting on 25 February 2016.

 

In accordance with Standing Order A14.4 an objection was proposed by Councillor Carter and seconded by Councillor Sanders:

 

that the Council formally objects to the Mayor’s capital budget proposals on the basis that:

 

this Council notes that £10.5 million (£161 per capita) has been spent on Torquay waterfront projects, £20.1 million (£1,201 per capita) spent on Brixham waterfront projects and £0.6 million (£12 per capita) spent on Paignton waterfront projects within the last 9 years as per figures set out in the table below:

 

	Total project
Project	cost £m	Approx. Dates
Torquay
Tqy Town Dock	1.20	2007/08-2008/09
Tqy Townscape Heritage	0.70	2008/09-2010/11
Mallock Memorial	0.20	2010/11
Princess Promenade	4.00	2011/12-2013/14
Haldon/Princess Piers	3.10	2009/10-2015/16
Princess Pier decking	0.40	2015/16
Inner Harbour Pontoons	0.90	2013/14-2015/16
	10.50
Paignton
Paignton Geopark	0.60	2011/12-2012/13
	0.60
Brixham
Bxm Harbour Regen	19.70	2007/08-2012/13
Harbours Major Repairs	0.30	2013/14
Bxm Breakwater	0.05	2013/14
	20.05

 

In light of the lack of investment in Paignton seafront and harbour side that the Mayoral project for Torquay seafront and harbour side be deleted and that public consultation be undertaken to ensure that appropriate projects are brought forward for the Paignton seafront and harbour side.

 

In accordance with the Constitution at F3.9, the Council therefore requires the Mayor to consider this objection by 10 am on 19 February 2016 either:

a)         submit a revision of the draft Capital Plan as amended by the elected Mayor (the “revised draft Capital Plan”), with the reasons for any amendments made to the draft Capital Plan, to the Council for its consideration; or

b)         inform the Council of any disagreement that the elected Mayor has with any of the Council’s objections and his reasons for any such disagreement.

 

A recorded vote was taken on the objection.  The voting was taken by roll call as follows:  For:  Councillors Barnby, Bent, Carter, Cunningham, Darling (M), Darling (S), Doggett, Ellery, Hill, Kingscote, Lewis, Morey, O’Dwyer, Robson, Sanders, Stockman, Stocks, Stringer, Sykes, Thomas (D), Thomas (J), Tolchard and Tyerman (23);  Against:  Mayor Oliver and Councillors Amil, Bye, Excell, Haddock, King, Mills, Morris, Parrott, Stubley and Winfield (11);    Abstain:  Councillor Brooks (1);  and Absent:  Councillors Lang and Manning (2).  Therefore the objection was declared carried and the Chairman advised that the Mayor would consider the objection and publish his response for consideration at the Council meeting on 25 February 2016.

 

In accordance with Standing Order A14.4 an objection was proposed by Councillor Darling (M) and seconded by Councillor Darling (S):

 

that the Council formally objects to the Mayor’s capital budget proposals on the basis that:

 

This Council notes that the emerging Government policy in respect of the development of social housing means that funding for this provision will effectively end.  Torbay also has less than half the national average of the number of affordable homes as part of our housing stock.  In light of this, the Council should permit borrowing to facilitate a programme of affordable housing up to the value of an additional £2.5 million to ensure the provision of social housing in Torbay.

 

In accordance with the Constitution at F3.9, the Council therefore requires the Mayor to consider this objection by 10 am on 19 February 2016 either:

a)         submit a revision of the draft Capital Plan as amended by the elected Mayor (the “revised draft Capital Plan”), with the reasons for any amendments made to the draft Capital Plan, to the Council for its consideration; or

b)         inform the Council of any disagreement that the elected Mayor has with any of the Council’s objections and his reasons for any such disagreement.

 

A recorded vote was taken on the objection.  The voting was taken by roll call as follows:  For:  Councillors Carter, Darling (M), Darling (S), Doggett, Ellery, Morey, Sanders, Stockman, Stocks, and Stringer (10);   Against:   Councillors Amil, Barnby, Bent, Brooks, Bye, Cunningham, Excell, Haddock, Hill, Kingscote, Lewis, Mills, Morris, O’Dwyer, Parrott, Robson, Stubley, Sykes, Thomas (D), Thomas (J), Tolchard, Tyerman and Winfield (23);  Abstain: Mayor Oliver and Councillor King (2);  and Absent:  Councillors Lang and Manning (2).  Therefore the objection was declared lost.

 

In accordance with the Standing Order A14.4 an objection was proposed by Councillor Thomas (D) and seconded by Councillor Bent:

 

That the Council formally objects to the Mayor’s capital budget proposals on the basis that a matrix scoring criteria (as referred to in the Capital Strategy at paragraph 2.5) is required for approval by Council as part of the Capital Strategy, to enable the Council to prioritise Capital Plan projects.  This matrix to be used to approve and prioritise existing schemes on the reserve list and new schemes within the Capital Plan.

 

In accordance with the Constitution at F3.9, the Council therefore requires the Mayor to consider this objection by 10 am on 19 February 2016 either:

a)         submit a revision of the draft Capital Plan as amended by the elected Mayor (the “revised draft Capital Plan”), with the reasons for any amendments made to the draft Capital Plan, to the Council for its consideration; or

b)        inform the Council of any disagreement that the elected Mayor has with any of the Council’s objections and his reasons for any such disagreement.

 

A recorded vote was taken on the objection.  The voting was taken by roll call as follows:  For: Councillors Barnby, Bent, Brooks, Bye, Carter, Darling (M), Darling (S), Doggett, Ellery, Hill, Kingscote, Lewis, Morey, O’Dwyer, Robson, Sanders, Stockman, Stocks, Stringer, Sykes, Thomas (D), Thomas (J), Tolchard, Tyerman and Winfield (25);  Against:  Councillors Amil, Excell, Haddock, King, Mills, Morris, Parrott and Stubley (8);   Abstain:  Mayor Oliver (1);  and Absent:  Councillors Cunningham, Lang and Manning (3).  Therefore the objection was declared carried and the Chairman advised that the Mayor would consider the objection and publish his response for consideration at the Council meeting on 25 February 2016.

 

(Note:  Councillor Cunningham had left the meeting for a short period and during the recorded vote on the above objection.)

 

In accordance with the Constitution at A14.4 an objection was proposed by Councillor O’Dwyer and seconded by Councillor Thomas (D):

 

That the Council formally objects to the Mayor’s capital budget proposals on the basis that currently any spending in respect of the £10 million Investment Fund has no clear strategic direction, no set parameters and no requirement for clear business plans.

 

In accordance with the Constitution at F3.9, the Council therefore requires the Mayor to consider this objection by 10 am on 19 February 2016 either:

a)         submit a revision of the draft Capital Plan as amended by the elected Mayor (the “revised draft Capital Plan”), with the reasons for any amendments made to the draft Capital Plan, to the Council for its consideration; or

b)         inform the Council of any disagreement that the elected Mayor has with any of the Council’s objections and his reasons for any such disagreement.

 

A recorded vote was taken on the objection.  The voting was taken by roll call as follows:  For: Councillors Barnby, Bent, Brooks, Bye, Carter, Cunningham, Darling (M), Darling (S), Doggett, Ellery, Hill, Kingscote, Lewis, Morey, O’Dwyer, Parrott, Robson, Sanders, Stockman, Stocks, Stringer, Sykes Thomas (D), Thomas (J), Tolchard and Tyerman (26);  Against:  Councillors Amil, Excell, Haddock, King, Mills, Morris and Stubley (7);  Abstain:  Mayor Oliver and Councillor Winfield (2);  Absent:  Councillors Lang and Manning (2).  Therefore the objection was declared carried and the Chairman advised that the Mayor would consider the objection and publish his response for consideration at the Council meeting on 25 February 2016.

 

(Note:  At this juncture Councillors Morris and Winfield left the meeting.)

 

In accordance with the Constitution at A14.4 an objection was proposed by Councillor Lewis and seconded by Councillor Darling (S):

 

That the Council formally objects to the Mayor’s capital budget proposals on the basis that in light of the earlier objection in respect of the Capital project matrix scoring criteria, that the Strand scheme should be prioritised alongside other schemes using the matrix and not treated as a standalone scheme.

 

In accordance with the Constitution, Standing Orders – Budget and Policy Framework, paragraph F3.9, the Council therefore requires the Mayor to consider this objection by 10 am on 19 February 2016 either:

a)         submit a revision of the draft Capital Plan as amended by the elected Mayor (the “revised draft Capital Plan”), with the reasons for any amendments made to the draft Capital Plan, to the Council for its consideration; or

b)         inform the Council of any disagreement that the elected Mayor has with any of the Council’s objections and his reasons for any such disagreement.

 

A recorded vote was taken on the objection.  The voting was taken by roll call as follows:  For:  Councillors Barnby, Bent, Brooks, Bye, Carter, Cunningham Darling (M), Darling (S), Doggett, Ellery, Hill, Kingscote, Lewis, Morey, O’Dwyer, Robson, Sanders, Stockman, Stocks, Stringer, Sykes, Thomas (D), Thomas (J), Tolchard and Tyerman (25);  Against:  Councillors Amil, Excell, Haddock, King, Mills, Parrott and Stubley (7);   Abstain:  Mayor Oliver (1);  and Absent:  Councillors Lang, Manning, Morris and Winfield (4).  Therefore the objection was declared carried and the Chairman advised that the Mayor would consider the objection and publish his response for consideration at the Council meeting on 25 February 2016.

 

In accordance with the Constitution, Standing Orders – Council, paragraph A14.4 an objection was proposed by Councillor Tyerman and seconded by Councillor Kingscote:

 

That the Council formally objects to the Mayor’s capital budget proposals on the basis that there is no mechanism for the Council to determine a choice of funding between the options set out in paragraph 3.8 of the submitted report.

 

In accordance with the Constitution at F3.9, the Council therefore requires the Mayor to consider this objection by 10 am on 19 February 2016 either:

a)           submit a revision of the draft Capital Plan as amended by the elected Mayor (the “revised draft Capital Plan”), with the reasons for any amendments made to the draft Capital Plan, to the Council for its consideration; or

b)           inform the Council of any disagreement that the elected Mayor has with any of the Council’s objections and his reasons for any such disagreement.

 

A recorded vote was taken on the objection.  The voting was taken by roll call as follows:  For:  Councillors Barnby, Bent, Bye, Carter, Cunningham, Darling (M), Darling (S), Doggett, Ellery, Hill, Kingscote, Lewis, Morey, O’Dwyer, Robson, Sanders, Stockman, Stocks, Stringer, Sykes, Thomas (D), Thomas (J), Tolchard and Tyerman (24);  Against:  Councillors Amil, Excell, Haddock, King, Mills, Parrott and Stubley (7);  Abstain:  Mayor Oliver and Councillor Brooks (2);  and Absent:  Councillors Lang, Manning, Morris and Winfield (4).  Therefore the objection was declared carried and the Chairman advised that the Mayor would consider the objection and publish his response for consideration at the Council meeting on 25 February 2016.

 

The Chairman referred to the recommendations of the Overview and Scrutiny Board in respect of the Capital Plan budget (as set out on page 174 of the submitted report) and invited the Monitoring Officer to update the Council in respect of these recommendations.  The Monitoring Officer confirmed that recommendation 5 had been incorporated in the submitted Capital Plan;  recommendation 7 would come into force on the day it is approved by Council as it was a revision to the current Corporate Asset Management Plan 2015-2019;  and recommendation 8 would be treated as an objection to the Capital Plan Budget and in accordance with Standing Orders A14.4.  Therefore, the objection was proposed by Councillor Lewis and seconded by Councillor Darling (S):

 

That the Executive Director – Operations and Finance and Chief Finance Officer (or their nominees) work with the Mayor, Group Leaders and Overview and Scrutiny Co-ordinator to prioritise current potential capital projects (with the aim that the prioritised list is available when the next Capital Plan Monitoring Report is presented).

 

A recorded vote was taken on the objection.  The voting was taken by roll call as follows:  For:  Councillors Barnby, Bent, Bye, Carter, Cunningham, Darling (M), Darling (S), Doggett, Ellery, Hill, Kingscote, Lewis, Morey, O’Dwyer, Robson, Sanders, Stockman, Stocks, Stringer, Sykes, Thomas (D), Thomas (J), Tolchard and Tyerman (24);  Against:  Councillors Amil, Brooks, Excell, Haddock, King, Mills, Parrott and Stubley (8);  Abstain:  Mayor Oliver (1);  and Absent:  Councillors Lang, Manning, Morris and Winfield (4).  Therefore the objection was declared carried and the Chairman advised that the Mayor would consider the objection and publish his response for consideration at the Council meeting on 25 February 2016.