Agenda item

A report by the Executive Director of Economy, Infrastructure and Environment.

The Committee is asked to review, comment on and make any relevant recommendations for action to the Cabinet Member in relation to the 2017/18 end of year performance report of the capital programme. 

39.1  The Committee considered a report by the Executive Director of Economy, Infrastructure and Environment (copy appended to the minutes).

39.2  The Capital Programme Manager introduced the report which provides a status position on performance as at 31 March 2018, and highlighted key information for the Committee.  The full year’s data from 2017/18 will now provide baseline information and enable the team to begin analysing trends in future capital programme performance.

39.3  The Chairman informed the Committee that there had been a request from Mr Lea for much more detailed information in the quarterly capital programme performance monitor reports. Mr Lea has been invited to attend the next meeting of this Committee’s Business Planning Group (BPG) in order to discuss his request.

39.4  The Committee made comments in relation to the Quarter 4 Capital Programme Monitor and Annual Report including those that follow. It:

·        Commented that an indication of value against the pie charts in the report and appendices would be a helpful addition, and that the Risk section would benefit from more detail, which could be a Part II appendix for Members only if necessary. Commented that it would be helpful to state if highlight reports had been submitted by all projects, and that there is some inconsistency as the report lists 63 projects in delivery but a member counted 65. The Chairman suggested the feedback from Members will be considered by the BPG alongside Mr Lea’s comments.

·        Commented that since the revised estimate of the capital programme in the September Total Performance Monitor (TPM) there has been a 14% slippage from the revised budget, and queried whether the Cabinet Member and Executive Director are satisfied with this amount of slippage. The Executive Director of Economy, Infrastructure and Environment was not satisfied with the amount of slippage and will seek to improve this in future years. The Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources highlighted that £4m has been saved as a result of projects coming in under budget, in addition to an enhanced rate of return from Gainshare. The £5.5m of slippage was not due to any failure of the team, there were good reasons for most of the slippage in the capital programme, and the team understand the issues and are controlling it. The key focus now is to accelerate the capital programme and get back on track.

·        Expressed concern in relation to the delay with the Lyminster Bypass project that the issues weren’t identified earlier. The Executive Director of Economy, Infrastructure and Environment explained that the delays were due to the Environment Agency altering their flooding mitigation model which has resulted in a different calculation and increased cost. The Council were aware of the initial requirements and officers are maintaining engagement with the Environment Agency regarding this.

·        Queried why the purchase of the Kamelia Kids Children’s Centre in Worthing did not come to the Children and Young People’s Services Select Committee (CYPSSC) for scrutiny. The Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources confirmed this was a non-key decision within the threshold and so was taken as an officer decision. The Leader commented that there is an ongoing dialogue with the Centre and that the purchase of the site gave security to the Children’s Centre, and suggested the member referred it back to CYPSSC BPG if there was any further query.

·        Commented that the Worthing School Re-organisation project was established to manage a bulge in pupil numbers. Since its development some schools in the area have experienced a reduced number of pupils following the last admissions round, and queried whether the funds allocated to the now under-subscribed schools could be reallocated and equally shared around the more popular schools in the area who now find themselves under financial pressure. Also allied to this, whether the provision of temporary classrooms could be similarly reprofiled to allocate extra capacity to more popular schools. The Executive Director of Economy, Infrastructure and Environment explained that the commissioning of this work lay with the Director of Education and Skills and an answer will be requested for the Committee.

·        Thanked officers for the continuing improvement of the capital programme performance monitor reporting.

39.5  Resolved -

1)   That the information included in the report and feedback from members as noted above will be reviewed by the Business Planning Group at its next meeting in September; and

2)   That officers continue to monitor and review any slippage in the capital programme.