The Senior Finance Manager (Client) introduced his report summarising the financial position of the Cobtree Manor Estate as at 30 September 2019.  The report covered the activities at the Golf Course, Kent Life, the Manor Park and the Café/Visitor Centre.  The report also included updates on the Service Level Agreement, the car park loan agreement (repayment agreement) and the updated five year cash flow projection.

Financial Position

The Senior Finance Manager (Client) advised the Committee that:

·  The summary totals showed a positive variance of £5,409 for the Charity at the end of September 2019.  The forecast for the year was for an operational surplus of £55,920, compared to a provisional surplus of £35,596 for 2018/19.

·  There were no issues to report at this stage in respect of the Cobtree Golf Course and Kent Life.

·  In overall terms, the Manor Park was operating within budget but there were some underlying issues:

The new Apprentice post was still vacant resulting in an under spend in employee costs.

Expenditure on electricity was under investigation.  It appeared that a meter reading was taken resulting in previous bills being amended to reflect actual usage. 

A significant sum had been spent on replacement play area equipment to ensure that there are sufficient spare parts in place for the summer.

There had been a delay in implementing the new arrangements for locking the gates, resulting in an over spend in controlled running costs.

Car park income continued to be high and the profit share element of the café contract had generated more income than was forecast.  These two income streams together with the under spend in employee costs meant that the issues outlined above were covered.

·  In terms of residential properties, some works had been undertaken to Stream Cottages which meant that there was currently an over spend against the profiled budget, but assuming there was no further major expenditure the position should be corrected by the end of the year.  The shortfall in rent income appeared to be a system issue.

During the discussion on the financial position of the Cobtree Manor Estate, it was suggested and agreed that the Officers should investigate the feasibility of installing solar panels on site to generate energy for the Estate.

Service Level Agreement

The Senior Finance Manager (Client) said that the draft Service Level Agreement (SLA) presented to the last meeting of the Committee had been amended to take into account comments made by Members.  It had been the intention to bring the final version of the SLA to this meeting but the Officers were continuing to review the document to ensure that it accurately reflects the complex nature of the relationship between the Charity and the various Council departments, particularly the roles of the Leisure Manager and the Cobtree Manager.  It was the aim to report the SLA back to the Committee for approval in January 2020.

During the discussion on the SLA, Members indicated that a representative of the Borough Council’s Legal Services Team should be in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 45