Update

Date

Completed?

Note

1^st

4/12/13

6 months after publication

2^nd

4/12/14

12 months after publication

3^rd

Recommendation[1]

Cabinet

Member[2]

Response[3]

Timetable[4]

Lead Officer[5]

That the Committee endorses Prudential borrowing for the types of capital schemes that provide revenue return;

Cabinet

Noted

Completed

That the Cabinet Member for Corporate Services authorises the Property & Procurement Manager to produce a brief and succinct stand-alone Capital Strategy which will:

a)           enable wider engagement with the Capital Programme; and

b)           enable capital projects to dovetail with relating strategies and plans such as the Asset Management Plan and Commissioning & Procurement Strategy. 

Cabinet Member for Corporate Services

Agreed with the amendment to authorise the Head of Finance and Resources rather than the Property & Procurement Manager as this work will be completed as part of the Budget Strategy work for 2014/15

By March 2014

Paul Riley

That the Cabinet Member for Corporate Services authorises the Property & Procurement Manager to:

a)      advertise across the Council the process and timeline for the development of the Capital Programme; and

b)      actively encourage ideas and proposals from all officers and  Members.

Cabinet Member for Corporate Services

Promotion of this type already forms part of the annual budget strategy but is usually limited in success by the level of available resources.

A specific stage to the budget strategy will be developed during 2014 to ensure this is given higher priority.

Up to December 2014

Paul Riley

That the Cabinet Member for Corporate Services authorises the Property & Procurement Manager to establish a Capital Programme Sounding Board with cross party representation to evaluate proposals put forward and improve the transparency of the process for establishing a rolling Capital Programme.

Cabinet Member for Corporate Services

Agreed that this will form part of the Committee’s own budget strategy working group in future years.

Up to December 2014

Paul Riley

That Cabinet Member for Corporate Services also actively encourage ideas and proposals from the community; students and local businesses.

Cabinet Member for Corporate Services

Active encouragement is endorsed and will be brought forward in the development of the budget strategy in future years.

Up to December 2014

Paul Riley

That Cabinet Member for Corporate Services recognises the importance of local involvement and the inclusion of the third sector and smaller, local developers as well as big developers in capital projects and partnership and authorises the Property & Procurement Manager accordingly.

Cabinet Member for Corporate Services

A small business database and procurement advice will be developed to assist in this objective

June 2014

Paul Riley

In recognising the need to build on officers’ Project Management skills, that the Cabinet Member for Corporate Services works with the Head of Human Resources to ensure that these skills are used, retained and enhanced in order to ensure the delivery of a successful Capital Programme.

Cabinet Member for Corporate Services

The organisation currently has several PRINCE 2 qualified officers (a specific project management qualification) and has negotiated a bespoke project management programme as part of the core skills for all managers. Three programmes will be run between March and July 2014. In addition high level projects are monitored through the Corporate Leadership Team to ensure that they are progressing according to schedule

March 2014 and onwards

Dena Smart

That the Cabinet Member for Corporate Services authorises the Property & Procurement Manager to develop an Asset Disposal, Management and Acquisition Strategy that:

a)   facilitates aspirational area development plans to enable both short-term and long term planning and to allow opportunities to be taken when they arise; and

b)   includes assets owned by other public bodies.

Cabinet Member for Corporate Services

This will be completed as part of the Asset Management plan review in 2014

By December 2014

Paul Riley

That the Cabinet Member for Corporate Services facilitates the delivery of a coherent approach to capital led regeneration, by actively seeking to improve relationships with partner agencies including Kent County  Council, Network Rail, NHS and other relevant public sector organisations.

Cabinet Member for Corporate Services

Partnership working with external agencies in relation to capital led regeneration is on-going and forms a key part of the Council’s approach.

On-going

Dawn Hudd

That the Leader and Cabinet Member for Economic and Commercial Development drives forward  the Capital Programme either through disposal, acquisition or swapping to stimulate economic growth, regeneration and the future shape of the Borough, by exploiting the Councils assets to their full potential.

The Leader and Cabinet Member for Economic and Commercial Development

The Commercial Projects Manager post has been recruited to and is now in place.  All potential opportunities are identified at the earliest point and considered with Property Services, Legal and Finance.

On-going

Paul Riley/Dawn Hudd

That the Cabinet Member for Corporate Services requests the Head of Human Resources to establish a skills inventory in order:

a)   to facilitate and promote flexibility of internal expertise; and

b)      to compliment the skills that it makes economic sense to buy in for specific projects.

Cabinet Member for Corporate Services

Within the Depot there is a thorough inventory of specific technical skills already in existence.

The recent IiP report flagged that the organisation needed to develop a more structured approach to succession planning and the development of a skills inventory will be part of this process.

Commence May 2014

Dena Smart

That the Council consider the appointment of a dedicated external funding officer on the basis of the post becoming self-funding and enabling both the council and the community in accessing funding opportunities that could help deliver the Council’s Capital Programme.

The Committee recommends that this post is initially funded for a 2 year term and financed from the Revenue underspend 2011/12.

Cabinet

The Council has an officer within the Housing and Community Services division with a lead for external funding for both the council and other organisations and groups, including parishes and the voluntary and community sector

Completed

John Littlemore

That the Cabinet Member for Corporate Services commissions a taskforce/asset strategy group with the internal expertise and involvement of Development Control, Legal, Property and Procurement, whose primary role will be to assess commercial skills, to ensure viability assessments and briefs for a contract specification.

Cabinet Member for Corporate Services

The Commercial Projects Manager post is in place and has the commercial skills required to asses viability and develop briefs.  The postholder is working with the relevant internal teams to ensure a coherent council wide approach is taken.

On-going

Dawn Hudd

That Cabinet ensures that opportunities that may arise in the short term and long term are not lost, by having the vision and awareness of the tools available to set up a Joint Venture Partnership.

Cabinet

A commercialisation Framework Document has been drafted to provide delivery models appropriate to a range of business opportunities.

On-going

Dawn Hudd