Issue - meetings

Members discussed the Strategic Asset Management Plan and agreed that it was a key corporate strategic tool which set out the Council’s property objectives, focussing on how the Council intends to utilise its asset base to deliver its Corporate Plan over the next five years.

Members were further advised that the council would be establishing a centralised corporate landlord function to create the capacity and expertise to prioritise resources, manage risks and obtain greater value from the council’s estate. It was hoped that this would provide support for the implementation of the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS).

The following Members spoke under Council Procedure Rule 20.1:

Councillor Campbell;

Councillor Bayford;

Councillor I. Gregory.

Councillor L. Fairbrass proposed, Councillor Stummer-Schmertzing seconded and Cabinet agreed the Strategic Asset Management Plan.

Tim Howes, Director of Corporate Governance, and Matthew Hill, Head of Asset Management, introduced the plan and made the following points:

·  The Plan was a high level strategic document which set out the following four individual, albeit connected, objectives.

o  Compliance.

o  A Strategic approach to assets.

o  Reviewing and rationalising the estate.

o  Reducing expenditure and increasing income.

·  The Plan was for the next five years; however it was expected to be reviewed during this period.

The following points were noted in response to comments and questions from Members:

·  When assessing whether to dispose of an asset there were a number of factors considered, which included: current condition, current site value, potential future site value, cost of maintenance/restoration, current usage and future usage.  A balanced view was then taken.

·  As many Local Authorities (LAs) have a large number of assets, the Government was encouraging LA’s to look at their asset base and dispose of assets that do not offer value for money.

·  The Plan offered a high level starting point; however the key detail about implementation would be in the delivery plan.

·  Recent assets sold at action had achieved around the values expected by the Council.  When auctioned, assets are often given a lower guide price to encourage interest and bidding.

·  The Council’s medium term financial plan expected the Council to receive £2.3 million for disposed assets in 2017/18.  There was often a double benefit to the sale of assets, there was income generated from the sale and a reduction in maintenance costs.

·  The Council had a robust community asset transfer template by which any requests to transfer assets to community organisations would be judged against the Council’s needs.  The Equality Act 2010 had replaced the Disability Discrimination Act, compliance was included in the asset management objectives part of the Plan.

·  A focus for improvement was regarding communication with those connected to assets that were considered for disposal.

Members recommended the Draft Strategic Asset Management Plan to Cabinet, subject to the correction of the header on alternate pages.