Agenda item

Report of the City Treasurer, attached (Appendices to follow).

6.1     Steve Mair, City Treasurer, introduced the report which was now in its second year.  Councillor Tim Mitchell explained that the programme was kept under review by the Capital Review Group on a regular basis.

Recommendations

That the Council be recommended:

1.       To approve the capital strategy as set out in the report.

2.       To approve the capital expenditure for the General Fund as set out in Appendix A of the report for 2018-2019 to 2022-2023 and future years to 2031-2032.

3.       To approve the capital expenditure forecasts for the General Fund as set out in Appendix A of the report for 2017-2018.

4.       To note the expenditure forecast for 2017-2018 for the HRA as set out in Appendix B of the report.

5.       To note the capital expenditure for the HRA for 2018-2019 to 2022-2023 as in accordance with the 30 year HRA Business Plan and as included in Appendix B of the report.

6.       To note the financial implications of the HRA capital programme including the references to the debt cap and the level of reserves as detailed in paragraph 12.33 of the report.

7.       To approve that in the event that any additional expenditure is required by a capital scheme over and above this approved programme the revenue consequences of this will be financed by revenue savings or income generation from relevant service areas.

8.       To approve that all development and investment projects follow the previously approved business case governance process as set out in paragraphs 6.7 to 6.15 of the report.

9.       To approve that no financing sources unless stipulated in regulations or necessary arrangements are ring fenced.

10.     To approve that contingency in respect of major projects is held corporately with bids for access to those contingencies to be reviewed by the Capital Review Group (CRG) and thereafter approved by the relevant Cabinet Member and City Treasurer in the event they are required to fund capital project costs, as detailed in paragraphs 10.43 to 10.44 of the report.  These total £651.505m from 2017-2018 to 2031-2032 but include a sum of £450m which is an allowance for general capital expenditure (eg highways improvements) in future years beyond 2021-2022.

11.     As approved last year, the Council plans to use capital receipts in 2017-2018 to fund the revenue costs of three eligible proposals – the refurbishment of Westminster City Hall (£9m), the Digital Transformation Programme (£2.8m) and a contribution to the pension fund deficit (£10m) under the DCLG Guidance on the Flexible Use of Capital Receipts if considered beneficial to the Council’s finances by the City Treasurer at year end.  Further use of flexible capital receipts to fund the above are also included in the capital programme for these schemes in 2018-2019 (the last year to which the Flexible Capital Receipts scheme is available).

12.     To approve that the financing of the capital programme as set out in paragraphs 12.1 to 12.21 of the report.

13.     To approve that financing of the capital programme be delegated to the City Treasurer at the year end to provide sufficient flexibility to allow for the most effective use of Council resources.

          Reason for Decision

          The Council is required to set a balanced budget and the capital strategy and subsequent capital programme form part of this process, along with the governance process to monitor and manage the programme.