Agenda item

To consider the report of the Assistant Director Finance.

The Assistant Director Finance presented the report which updated Members of the overall financial performance of the Council’s capital programme for the 2014/15 financial year.  The capital expenditure amounted to £16,502,192, a reduction of £2,772,658 on the planned figure of £19,274,850. The actual expenditure during 2014/15 represented 85.62% of the revised capital programme, and £2.283 million would need to be carried forward to be spent in future years. The report sought approval of the 2015/16 revised capital programme, including a number of further funding requests, and commitments carried forward to be spent in future years, as detailed in an appendix circulated with the report. Further background to a request to replace the existing roof of the Livestock Centre was circulated.

The Assistant Director Finance responded to a number of questions from Members –

• replacement of the roof sheets with solar PV tiles was not financially viable or practical, with the product being double the cost, and with 20% less efficiency in terms of generating capacity than standard Solar PV panels.  They were also difficult to use for retrofit and significantly more susceptible to failure. However, technology for this product range was constantly improving, allowing renewable solutions in otherwise sensitive areas.

• space age technology working with Bartec Auto ID, was being used to help pin-point trees in Exeter as part of a ground-breaking pilot scheme.  Currently tree officers had to use traditional mapping to pinpoint a tree and the information was fed into an iPad and then transferred to a database once back in the office. The City Council had secured funding from the UK Space Agency to help develop a tree management system that would allow officers to report the exact location and details of fallen or damaged trees in the city.

• the Museum shop would provide additional income generation opportunities and the project was still in its early stages after having been approved in April 2015.  Work was currently being undertaken in conjunction with Benbow on preliminary designs in order to come up with a package to enable quotes to be obtained. It was hoped that the shop would open in late November.

• it was now possible to obtain a greater level of information including the length of stay from the new pay and display car parking machines, including the pay on foot machines, although it was acknowledged that they were not able to accept debit card payments. 

• every effort had been made to ensure that the snagging works at Exeter Arena were pursued quickly to avoid the peak season for clubs and users.  Officers had been working with Legacy Leisure and the contractor to avoid any cancellations.

• as part of the energy saving projects, every effort had been made to coordinate the installation of LED lighting in the Civic Centre with a number of office moves. The first stage of the car park canopy installation was about to commence and the canopy would follow shortly. A further report on the progress being made, would be presented in September.

• Wessex Home Loans included a committed figure that was actually far higher than the value of loans eventually paid out. Wessex repayment loans were lent at a rate of 4%, and were available to individuals with a good credit rating and income, but who would not normally be offered a loan elsewhere.  A ‘loan pot’ associated with each member local authority includes a risk of default payments, but every effort was taken to minimise that risk. The funds were in effect recycled and there were currently no bad debts associated with this scheme.

• work required on Turf Locks would be carried out in the winter months. Officers were trying to resolve how to position an 80 tonne crane to be able to carry out the required work and were considering a number of options, including making good an adjacent track.  It was anticipated that the work would be completed by April. 

• funding for the provision of large TV screens in the city centre for the promotion of activities and events also included maintenance as part of an ongoing service contract which will be negotiated with the company providing the screen.

• the necessary internal access doors within Phase 1 to ensure staff accommodation remained secure, would be installed in the next few weeks.

Scrutiny Committee – Resources noted the report and recommended Executive and Council approve the following:-

(1)          overall financial position for the 2014/15 annual capital programme; and

(2)       amendments and further funding requests to the Council’s annual capital programme for 2015/16.