Cabinet

Decision made on 24/07/24.  Decision to proceed with the decarbonisation project utilising the grant funding and £2,723,464 council contribution.

No comment was made by cabinet members during the cabinet committee regarding the project.  The report is thin.  Paragraph 2.11 states that the notional return is less than the council’s current target rate of return in its capital strategy of 5%.  Paragraph 4.2 states that further work is required to obtain definitive costs for the project.  Paragraph 2.10 says the cost of the project have increased by £1.545m (41%) with no detail as to how these costs have increased by this size, making it impossible to consider if such an increase is justified or supportable.  As a result the Council's costs have rised by £2.074m (320%).

Paragraph 2.11 gives no indication where the additional Maidstone Council contribution of £2.074m will come from, nor does it indicate how the revenue financing costs will be met, where will the compensating cuts be made?

Further due consideration is given to the financial aspects of the project, considered alongside the potential other uses of this capital expenditure and what purpose it could serve.