Agenda item

2021/22 Capital Bids

Meeting of Budget Planning Committee, Tuesday 5 January 2021 6.30 pm (Item 36.)

Report of Director of Finance

***Please note that appendix 3 to this report is to follow***

Purpose of report

To update Budget Planning Committee on the capital bids that have been proposed for 2021/22 and those schemes planned for 2020/21 that have been delayed into 2021/22.

Recommendations

The meeting is recommended:

1.1 Note the capital bids for the 2021/22 budget and the schemes that have not been completed or started in 2020/21 and are proposed to be taken into 2021/22.

1.2 To provide feedback on the capital bids and 2020/21 schemes not yet started to take into the 2021/22 budget to help inform the Executive’s proposed budget.

1.3 Note the proposed Capital Strategy for 2021/22 (appendix 3, to follow).

Decision:

Resolved

(1) That the Capital Bids for the 2021/22 Budget, and the schemes that have not been completed or started in 2020/21 and are proposed to be taken into 2021/22, be noted.

(2) That the Executive be provided with the following feedback in relation to the Capital Bids and 2020/21 schemes not yet started (slippage):

· Bid CAP2116 – New Chargeable Garden & Food Waste - That consideration be given to a pilot for food waste collections

· Bid CAP2116 – New Chargeable Garden & Food Waste - The use of smaller filters be considered in relation to compost recycling, to allow use of the compost in the domestic market as well as agriculture

· On street Recycling Bins (slippage) - That discussions take place with Town/Parish Councils regarding the possibility of siting additional recycling bins across the district

· Vehicle Replacement Programme (slippage) - That consideration be given to hydrogen powered replacement vehicles, as well as electric vehicles

· Bid CAP2105 Bicester Dovecote - That discussions take place with Bicester Town Council regarding ownership of the Dovecote

· Bid TBC – Solar Panels at Castle Quay - Acknowledgement that the proposed solar panels will be externally funded but the item needs to remain on the Capital programme

(3) That the proposed Capital Strategy for 2021/22 be noted.

Minutes:

The Committee considered a report from the Director of Finance which detailed proposed Capital Bids for 2021/22, and those schemes which had been planned for 2020/21 which would be delayed until 2021/22 (slippage).

The Assistant Director – Finance explained that if all bids and slippage were approved, the Capital programme for 2021/22 would total £22.8 million.

The Committee then heard more details from each Director regarding bids and slippage in their directorates.

In response to questions regarding bid reference CAP2115 – IT Shared Services, the Business and Systems Implementation Manager explained that the bid would cover a mixture of service implementation, costs of third party providers, a small amount of hardware and cloud based technology.

In connection with bid reference CAP2116 – new chargeable garden & food waste, the Corporate Director - Communities explained that work was ongoing regarding the proposal to introduce food waste collection, but the bid had been included to ensure funding was available to implement the service if the proposal was approved.

In response to questions from the Committee regarding new refuse collections vehicles, the Corporate Director - Communities explained that the policy of the Council was to purchase vehicles rather than lease them, as they were maintained by an in-house Fleet Management team. Electric vehicles were being considered as an alternative to diesel vehicles, however choices were limited as larger capacity vehicles were not yet readily available as electric.

The Committee requested that Executive give consideration to running a pilot food waste collection scheme, to ascertain the level of interest from residents and also any impact on the level of green waste collected.

In relation to the compost resulting from the green waste collections, the Committee asked if consideration could be given to using smaller filters, to give an improved quality of compost that could potentially be used in the domestic market.

With regard to slippage of the vehicle replacement programme, the Committee asked that consideration be given to hydrogen powered vehicles as well as electric vehicles.

In connection with the slippage of the on street recycling bins scheme, the Committee requested that discussions take place with Town/Parish Councils regarding the possibility of siting additional recycling bins across the district, as there were some high usage areas public areas that currently did not have recycling bins.

With regard to bid reference CAP2105 - Bicester Dovecote, the Leader of the Council clarified that the site had come in to the ownership of Cherwell District Council as a result of the transfer of the old library site in Bicester. The Committee felt that as an historical asset Bicester Town Council may wish to take ownership of the Dovecote, and requested that relevant discussions take place.

In relation to bid reference TBC – solar panels at Castle Quay, the Corporate Director – Commercial Development, Assets & Investment explained that the scheme would be funded via an external grant so there would be no cost to the council. The bid did however need to included on the Capital programme.

Regarding the slippage of the Disabled Facilities Grants (DFG) scheme, the Corporate Director – Adults & Housing Services advised the Committee that a delay of three months was anticipated. This was as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic and the first national lockdown in March 2020 when work on all schemes had stopped. There were also ongoing issues with the supply chain as a result of the pandemic.

The Committee having considered the Capital bids and slippage, the Assistant Director – Finance presented the draft Capital Strategy for 2021/22. It was a requirement of the Prudential Code for Capital Finance for the Council to have a strategy, that gave an overview of the capital programme, how it would be financed and the overall levels of debt the Council would have.