Agenda item

A report by the Director of Property and Assets regarding the proposal to award the contract for the Joint Venture Partnership for County Council property development. 

The Committee is asked to review the draft decision report attached as Annexes A and B and make any comments to the Executive Director for Place Services ahead of the decision being taken.

123.1  The Committee considered a report by the Director of Property and Assets regarding the proposal to award the contract for the Joint Venture Partnership (copy appended to the signed minutes).

123.2  The Cabinet Member for Finance introduced the report and commented that the Joint Venture (JV) aims to generate profit for the council whilst minimising risk by developing within a partnership.  Recommendations from this Committee in 2019 and 2020 have been taken into account in the development of this proposal.  Thanks were noted to Members for their input and to the Technical Project Manager for his work and expertise in bringing the partnership to fruition.

123.3  The Director of Property and Assets introduced the report commenting that councils traditionally sell surplus land for a capital receipt, however a JV partnership enables the council to take advantage of generating added value by receiving 50% of the development profit.

123.4  The Committee made comments including those that follow. It:

·       Expressed general support for the aims and principles of the JV partnership. 

·       Sought clarity on the governance arrangements for the JV and how Members can have oversight and input into the operation of the JV programme.  Welcomed future opportunities for pre-decision scrutiny of the properties or land being added into the JV.

·       Commented on the proposed submission of an annual oversight report to this committee that an annual report would not provide sufficient oversight of the progress and achievements of the scheme, particularly in the early years of the partnership.  Members agreed that a report should be brought to the committee on a 6-monthly basis for the initial two years of the JV partnership, or at key milestones as appropriate, so that the scrutiny committee has a good overview of progress.

·       Commented that the JV supervisor is a key post and that appropriate recruitment to this role is vital to ensure a successful partnership. 

In order to consider restricted Annex B, the public and press were excluded from the meeting under Part I of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, paragraph 3 Financial or business affairs.  The public meeting was closed at 1.25pm and the Committee entered private Part II discussion until 1.57pm.  The Part I public summary of the Part II restricted discussion is as follows.  It:

·       Commented that skills and experience learned in the Partnership could benefit the council.

·       Commented on the importance of the governance arrangements proposed.

123.8  Resolved:-

1)   That the Committee support the ambitions of the JV Partnership and moving forward to award the contract for a delivery partner;

2)   That the Committee review the progress of the JV Partnership more frequently than currently proposed in the report, particularly in the first two years;

3)   That the Committee welcome the opportunity to review specific developments at an early stage, that is when an asset is declared surplus to requirements and transferred into the JV; and

4)   That the Committee request consideration be given to how skills learned from the Partnership can be imported to the council’s property team.