To consider a report on the performance of the Council’s capital projects and make recommendations to the Cabinet.

To consider lessons learned from the Harbour View Hotel project.

(Note:  The Director of Pride in Place – Alan Denby, The Cabinet Member for Place Development and Economic Growth - Councillor Chris Lewis and The Cabinet Member for Housing and Finance - Councillor Tyerman (housing) have been invited to the meeting for this item.)

The Board reviewed the submitted report which set out the latest position on the Capital Projects.  The Cabinet Member for Place Development and Economic Growth advised that many of the projects showing as red were being developed by the Council’s Regeneration Partners Wilmot Dixon and Milligan who would be providing outline business cases on where they think the market could be for these projects. 

The Board asked a number of questions in relation to the use of acronyms, how the Capital and Growth Board operates and links in with Councillors, why some of the previous information requested and the lessons learned from the Harbour View project were not included in the report, what progress was made on the Edginswell Station and how were Ward Councillors kept informed of projects in their Wards.

Members found the information contained within the submitted report useful but requested sight of the wider schemes so that they could have an overview of the whole Capital Programme.

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Finance, Councillor Tyerman, advised that he had recently joined the Capital and Growth Board to enable political oversight and it was proposed to create a Cross Party Sub-Board that sat below the Capital and Growth Board to allow wider Member interface and the ability for the Members of that new Group to feedback to their individual groups.  The Director for Pride in Place, Alan Denby, acknowledged that the Council needed to get to a position of a greater grip on the capital projects and ensure consistent methodology was applied.  It was proposed to have a summary programme with milestones and public costings available for the next meeting.

The Director of Pride in Place advised that the lessons learned from the Harbour View Project had not been included as the project had not been completed but that it was expected to be completed in the next few weeks and then officers would work on the lessons learned liaising with those who were involved.  Mr Denby also advised that the report was written in February and lots of work was progressing such as finalising Levelling Up proposals for six different workstreams, which involved a great deal of officer resource and impacted on delivery of other workstreams.  Mr Denby gave assurance that it was part of the normal business as usual to consult with Ward Councillors but this was an area that needed improvement due to the huge volume of work and limited number of staff, which was something that would be explored as part of the upcoming Local Government Association Peer Challenge to find a way how to prioritise or invest in extra resources to deliver the Council’s priorities.

Members were advised of the complexity of the Edginswell Station project and that ongoing negotiations were taking place with the Department for Transport and Network Rail with a view to reducing the costs of the scheme and some of the commissioning arrangements.  It would not be possible for work to start in May but if an outcome was agreed it should start in October.  Torbay Hospital were also supportive of the project.

The Board noted that there were some legal issues around the transfer of land from TorVista Homes Ltd to Torbay Council which were being worked through and should be resolved by June/July.

Resolved:

1.         that the Director of Pride in Place be recommended to ensure that future Capital Project Monitoring reports include:

a)         reference to the projects that are being developed with the Council’s Regeneration Partners under the project name;

b)         the project inclusion date, initial budget and projected budget;

c)         an appendix of the list of current capital projects;

d)         on each of the notes for the projects a date of the update(s);

e)         identifying projects of tier 2 or tier 3; and

f)          a glossary of acronyms or put in full the first time they are used;

2.         that the Director of Pride in Place be requested to provide an update on lessons learned from the Harbour View Project to a future meeting and to get feedback from Councillors and others who were involved at the time; and

3.         that the Director of Pride in Place be requested to provide a written update on the transfer of land from TorVista to the Council to all Councillors.