City of York Council (Logo)

Meeting:

Executive

Meeting date:

18/07/2024

Report of:

Chief Finance Officer – Debbie Mitchell

Portfolio of:

Cllr Katie Lomas and Anna Baxter – Executive Members for Finance, Performance, Major Projects, Human Rights, Equalities and Inclusion


Decision Report: Capital Programme Outturn 2023/24 And Revisions To The 2024/25– 2028/29 Programme

 


Subject of Report

 

1.           The purpose of this report is to set out the capital programme outturn position for 2023/24 including any under/overspends and adjustments, along with an update to the future years programme.

 

2.           The report contains details of the capital investment made during 2023/24 and how this has supported delivery of the Council Plan.  Key areas of investment are listed below with further details contained in the body of the report.

·        £7.7m on the expansion and improvement of school facilities across the city

·        £12.1m on construction of new council housing

·        £5.3m on purchasing and upgrading new houses for shared ownership

·        £8.3m on the modernisation of and ongoing repairs to council homes

·        £10m on the purchase on electric buses funded by Department for Transport

·        £6.6m on improvements at Tadcaster Road

·        £6.2m improvements at Station Gateway

·        £3.5m on new Library facilities

 

 

3.           Some of the direct outcomes from this investment include:

·        Creation of new Enhanced Resource Provision (ERP) facilities at Huntington and Lakeside Schools

·        Completion of Fulford School Expansion Scheme

·        The Lowfield scheme has been completed with 126/140 of the properties now occupied.

·        Construction underway to providing Passivhaus properties at Burnholme and Duncombe Barracks

·        20 second hand properties purchased to provide shared ownership properties part funded from Homes England grant and also DLUHC grant as part of devolution deal.

·        848 households benefited from tenants choice, the standing water, heating and voids programme.

·        301 private properties and 110 council properties supported with adaptation works to their homes.

·        96 Retrofit measures completed at 28 council homes and 141 energy efficiency measures installed at 120 private homes in the city.

·        560 Concrete Street lighting columns replaced.

·        Preparation towards the removal of Queen St Bridge as part of the Station Gateway Scheme

·        Completion of the rollout of tap on/tap off payment readers on York buses

·        Improvements at Rawcliffe Bar Park and Ride and Monks Cross Park and Ride sites.

·        Completion of the cycle ramp at St Mary’s to complete the link from Scarborough Bridge to Marygate Car Park

·        20+ carriageway repair and replacement highway schemes completed. 10 footway schemes completed.

·        Significant progress has been made in building the new Library at Clifton

·        New Changing Places facilities at Oaken Grove and Silver Street completed.

 

4.           The report shows an outturn of £98.377m compared to an approved budget of £119.723m, an overall reduction of £21.346m. The revisions in the report show a revised start budget for 2024/25 totalling £215.874m.

5.           The net variation of £21.346m is made up as follows:

 

·        Proposals to re-profile budgets of £23.054m of schemes from 2023/24 to future years (currently approved budgets in the capital programme but requires moving to or from future years in line with a changing timetable of delivery for individual schemes)

 

·        Adjustments to schemes increasing expenditure by a net £1.708m, mainly due to additional grant funding being received and adjustments relating to the Housing Shared Ownership scheme.

       

6.           The level of re-profiling reflects the scale of the capital programme, and that it contains a number of major and complex projects. The overall capital programme continues to operate within budget, due to careful management of expenditure against the budget.

 

7.           The main areas of re-profiling included within the £23.054m include:

·        £4.162m – School Improvement Schemes

·        £3.069m – Station Frontage Scheme

·        £1.170m – Highway Schemes

·        £1.082m – Replacement Vehicles

·        £1.209m – Housing Major Repairs

·        £1.217m – Shared Ownership Scheme

·        £1.209m – Resettlement Homes

·        £1.139m – LED Scheme West Offices and Hazel Court

 

8.           Table 1 outlines the variances reported against each portfolio area.

 

Department

Current Approved Budget

£m

Outturn

 

 

£m

Increase/ decrease

 

£m

Reprofile

 

 

£m

Total Variance

 

£m

Paragraph

Ref

Children’s services

11.625

7.685

0.222

(4.162)

(3.940)

13 – 35

Adult Social Care

1.236

0.804

(0.162)

(0.270)

(0.432)

36 – 39

Housing & Community Safety

35.854

34.155

1.541

(3.240)

(1.699)

40 – 66

Transport, Highways & Environment

56.539

46.773

0.315

(10.081)

(9.766)

67 – 107

Regen, Economy & Property Services

3.656

1.682

0.101

(2.075)

(1.974)

108 – 119

Customer & Corporate Services

4.033

3.619

-

(0.414)

(0.414)

120 – 121

ICT

2.063

0.006

(0.332)

(1.725)

(2.057)

122 – 127

Communities & Culture

4.146

3.630

0.294

(0.810)

(0.516)

128 – 133

Community Stadium

0.271

0.000

(0.271)

-

(0.271)

134 – 135

Climate Change

0.300

0.023

 

(0.277)

(0.277)

136

Total

119.723

98.377

1.708

(23.054)

(21.346)

 

 

 

Financial Strategy Implications

 

9.           The slowdown in the capital programme over the second half of the year has reduced the need for external borrowing. Capital expenditure funded by borrowing was estimated to be £105m at Monitor 1 whereas the year end position showed capital expenditure funded by borrowing totalled £30.5m. This has substantially supported the savings across Treasury Management that has supported the overall council revenue position. 

 

Recommendation and Reasons

 

10.        Executive is asked to:

 

·        Note the 2023/24 capital outturn position of £98.377m and approve the requests for re-profiling totalling £23.054m from the 203/24 programme to future years.

·        Note the adjustments to schemes increasing expenditure in 2023/24 by a net £1.708m

·        Recommend to Full Council the restated 2024/25 to 2028/29 programme of £421.368m as summarised in Table 3 and detailed in Annex 1

·        Agree to a contribution of £200k from capital contingency to the York Museum Trust to fund roof works at York Castle Museum

 

Reason: to enable the effective management and monitoring of the Council’s capital programme

Background

 

11.        The 2023/24 capital programme was approved by Council on 23 February 2023 and updated for amendments reported to Executive in the 2022/23 outturn report, which resulted in an approved capital budget of £284.648m. There have been subsequent monitoring reports in June 2023, September 2023, November 2023 and January 2024. A budget of £119.723m for 2023/24 was agreed at budget council 2024.

 

Consultation Analysis

 

12.        The capital programme was developed under the capital budget process and agreed by Council on 23 February 2023. Whilst the capital programme as a whole is not consulted on, the individual scheme proposals and associated capital receipt sales do follow a consultation process with local Councillors and residents in the locality of the individual schemes.


Options Analysis and Evidential Basis

Children and Education Services

13.        Total expenditure within the Children’s Services and Education Capital Programme for 2023/24 was £7.685m against a latest approved budget of £11.625m.

 

14.        The majority of this expenditure was incurred under five major scheme headings where there was significant work and progress in 2023/24.  These schemes were: Schools Condition and Maintenance Works (£2,175k); the creation of ERP units at Huntington School (£1,048k) and Lakeside Primary (£860k); Phase 1 of the improvement scheme at Clifton Green Primary (£874k), and the completion of the Fulford expansion (£786k).

 

15.        The major expansion at Fulford School is being funded by the local authority to deal with secondary place pressures.  The scheme has been organised by South York Academy Trust at their school.  The project is complete, however some remaining expenditure will be incurred in 2024/25 so the amount of £205k is required to be re-profiled into 2024/25.

 

16.        The scheme at Millthorpe School was completed in 2022/23. The expenditure in 2023/24 was for remaining retention payments. The remaining £49k on this budget is proposed to be reprofiled into 2024/25 at this point to fund any remaining costs.

 

17.        The scheme at Danesgate to make significant adaptations and re-modelling to improve the layout of the buildings for young people with Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) needs was completed over the summer of 2022.  Only £25k of the remaining budget was spent in 2023/24.  The remaining amount of £204k requires reprofiling into 2024/25.

 

18.        The remaining budget of £30k for the Manor School project is no longer required and is proposed to return back to unallocated Basic Need.

 

19.        Only £21k of minor expenditure was incurred within the remaining unallocated Basic Need budget so an amount of £202k requires reprofiling into 2024/25.

 

20.        Phase 2 of the Applefields School expansion was completed in 2022/23.  Final payments have now been made and the remaining budget of £31k is to be transferred to the Phase 3 scheme. The first elements of Phase 3 have been carried out in 2023/24 with significant work proposed in 2024/25.

 

21.        A significant programme of work has been carried out to the maintained school estate under the various School Condition and Maintenance headings in the programme in 2023/24 including £202k contribution from developer contributions.

 

22.        One of the larger schemes completed during 2023/24 was the significant programme of work at Clifton Green Primary, including a third phase of roofing replacement and pipework. 

 

23.        At Huntington School, the first phase of a roof replacement programme was completed over the summer of 2023.  Roof works were also completed at Headlands and Westfield Primary Schools.

 

24.        A significant programme of essential improvement work has been carried out at Ralph Butterfield Primary where improvements to pipework and a hygiene suite have been completed together with an electrical supply upgrade.

 

25.        At Yearsley Grove Primary works completed included the first phase of pipework replacement, roof replacement and an electrical supply upgrade.  An electrical supply upgrade at Wigginton Primary was also completed.

 

26.        Window replacement projects have been completed at Elvington and Fishergate Primary Schools with some further work on LED lighting at Fishergate Primary also finished.

     

27.        Expenditure in 2023/24 totalled £2,175k, resulting in net reprofiling of £1,700k into 2024/25. This will fund outstanding payments and retentions with any remainder available to fund further works in 2024/25 and future years.

 

28.        The project to provide a second site for the Enhanced Resource Provision (ERP) based at Haxby Road Primary on the site of Lakeside School was completed in early 2023/24.  Two new classrooms have been created with a new build onto the side of the existing building, together with break out rooms, a sensory room, toilets and a kitchenette.

 

29.        Under the general SEND investment scheme, expenditure of £11k was incurred in 2023/24 on a contribution to some internal works at Lord Deramore’s Primary to create a space to support young people with SEND.  The remaining £126k requires slipping into 2024/25 and will be available to contribute to capital works in schools to support the aims of the Safety Valve agreement.

 

30.        The expenditure under this scheme in 2023/24 related to outstanding payments and retentions for work carried out in 2022/23.  The remaining £52k requires reprofiling into 2024/25 and added to the available budget for allocation.

 

31.        The remaining budget of £56k on the Southbank Expansion scheme is no longer required and can therefore be vired back to unallocated Basic Need.

 

32.        The Healthy Child Capital Fund (£93k) requires reprofiling into 2024/25 whilst the future use of this budget is planned.

 

33.        The Children in Care Residential Commissioning scheme budget for 2023/24 has been mainly used to fund the purchase of 88 Bellhouse Way to develop a welcome centre to provide accommodation and support to unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, as set out in the report to the Executive on 25th January 2024.  The remaining £592k requires reprofiling into 2024/25.

 

34.        Two new schemes are requested to be added into the programme for 2024/25.  The first is to recognise in the capital programme the new grant from the DfE provided to support local authorities with potential capital costs to meet the phased expansion of early years childcare provision for working parents of all children 9 months to 3 years old and also for the provision of 8am to 6pm wraparound care for primary aged children.

 

35.        The second is a scheme for £104k which will be fully funded by a Section 106 developer contribution secured towards the creation of 16 new Early Years places as a result of the development at Lowfield Green.

 

Adult Social Care

 

36.        Regarding the Ashfield Pitches scheme the access road to the Ashfield site has been upgraded to bring it up to the standard to be adopted by Highways. A small residual budget of £36k is carrying forward into 2024/25 to finalise the scheme.

 

37.        The disability equipment budget is used to supply equipment such as ceiling track hoists, stair climbers, ramps and specialist beds and seating with the aim of helping customers remain living in their own homes.

 

38.        The Telecare scheme supplies customers with alarm and response equipment to keep them safe in their own homes and avoid the need for formal care.  Of the total spend of £271k, approximately £165k has been spent in 2023/24 on switching existing customers from analogue to digital equipment in time for the national digital switchover. The digital switchover work will continue into 2024/25.

 

39.        Members agreed in January 2020 to set aside £150k to purchase the ambulance station adjacent to Haxby Hall if the site became available in two years. As the scheme is now completed and the site did not become available the budget for this scheme has now been removed.

 

Housing Services

Major Repairs

40.        As previously reported the year was a particularly challenging one for in the Planned Investment team in building services. The first 6 months was spent procuring contractors to undertake Home Modernisation, Major Voids, Damp, Energy Retrofit, Windows, Fire Remedial and External Painting. There was only little construction works completed in this period as there was no contractors in place to undertake works.

 

41.        As we moved in to the second half of the year, the procurement activity ended but there were issues identified during mobilisation meaning that we couldn’t proceed with a number of the successful contractors which delayed spend.

 

42.        There are still 16 different procurement exercises ongoing which are related to the Capital Investment Programme, but it is unlikely to hamper the delivery of the 2024/25 programme significantly.

 

43.        Despite the difficulties mentioned above a total of £8.3m was spent and the following works were delivered:

                    New kitchens, bathroom and rewires to 28 tenanted properties.

                    Damp remediation works to 29 tenanted properties.

                    56 Major voids completed to which home modernisation and some damp works were delivered. 20 more we open at the end of the year and will be completed in the very near future.

                    42 properties received new roofs.

                    76 properties received new energy efficient ‘A rated’ windows.

                    391 properties received a new external door.

                    17 communal areas had fire remediation works following fire assessments.

                    46 properties received a kitchen or bathroom ahead of their planned replacement year.

                    163 flats/communal areas/blocks received external painting works.

                    Works commenced on the social housing decarbonisation fund with works to 42 properties commencing although these did not complete in full before the end of the year.

                    Stock Condition Surveys commenced in January 2024 and 2,679 surveys were completed by the end of March.

 

44.        The underspend on building repairs is proposed to carry forward into 2024/25. This increases the budget for 2024/25 to £13.1m. The service is confident that the programme will be accelerated to deliver much needed improvements to our properties.

Housing Delivery

45.        Final works to complete the adoptable highways at Lowfield Green are ongoing, with final road surfacing expected in late Spring/early Summer. This work has been delayed due to pending Yorkshire Water approval which has resulted in an underspend in the financial year of £211k. Works to widen the site access via Dijon Avenue will follow on from the completion of the highways surfacing. All 140 homes at the Lowfield Green site are now complete along with two areas of public open space for the enjoyment of new and existing residents. Not all the market sales properties have been sold at year end although there remains interest and 2 have been transferred to the resettlement scheme funded by DLUHC.

 

46.        Construction continues to progress on the two certified Passivhaus sites, Duncombe Barracks and Burnholme led by contractor Caddick Construction. Duncombe Barracks commenced in late 2022 and the construction of the superstructure is now significantly advanced. The site team have successfully achieved the required airtightness on a number of plots which is significant milestone in the delivery of Passivhaus projects and progress to internal fit-out is imminent.  The site will deliver 34 new homes with first handovers anticipated in late 2024. Burnholme will deliver 78 new homes across 11 terraces. This site is also anticipated to handover the first homes in 2024. Both sites are 60% affordable housing supported by grant funding from Homes England. The site team have encountered delays with the timber frame construction however, by adapting the process and increasing the off-site construction they have significantly increased the pace of timber frame erection which will continue to benefit Burnholme and increase the efficiency of delivery in the coming financial year.

 

47.        Following the commitment for all future council housing sites to be developed as 100% affordable, Ordnance Lane has undergone a process of evaluation and redesign in order to achieve this target. They types of housing has been altered to reflect affordable housing need which has increased the number of smaller homes and the overall number of properties on the development has increased from 85 to 101 homes. All new homes on Ordnance Lane will be built to Passivhaus standards and utilise renewable technologies to ensure the homes are affordable for new residents. The retained Married Quarters building is to be refurbished and retrofitted to a high standard. The project received OPE grant funding of £2.4m to carry out enabling works. Utility diversions have been ongoing and caused some delay with entering the enabling contract which is now anticipated to commence late Spring 2024. Work to assemble the tender for the main works contractor is ongoing and the tender issue is planned for Summer 2024.

 

48.        Procurement is for a multidisciplinary team to lead the design of Willow House and wider South Walmgate masterplan has been concluded and engagement activities will begin in Summer 2024. The engagement provides an opportunity for stakeholders to influence the design of the new homes at Willow House but also wider opportunities for housing, placemaking and area improvements in the South Walmgate area. This project has been allocated York and North Yorkshire Devolution Brownfield Housing Fund and work is ongoing to enter the grant agreement to support enabling works on this site.

 

49.        The Housing Delivery programme continue to deliver low-cost home ownership through two grant funded schemes; Homes England’s Second-Hand Shared Ownership and YNY Devolution funded Second Hand Shared Ownership with retrofit. Combined these two schemes will deliver 40 new affordable homes and to date 34 homes have been acquired and matched to purchasers. The final 4 properties in the YNY funded programme are expected to be secured by the end of Q2 2024.

 

50.        In November 2023, an additional £1.3m of grant funding was secured through the Local Authority Housing Fund to support the purchase of an additional 10 homes, 7 homes for Afghan resettlement households and a further 3 homes to contribute towards meeting wider temporary accommodation needs in the city. To date, all homes are either under offer and progressing through the conveyancing process or purchased.

 

51.        The Housing Delivery team have made significant progress on the refurbishments of both Glen Lodge and Bell Farm in the year. All design work has been completed and procurement has concluded for a contractor at Glen Lodge and Hobson Porter have been awarded the contract with work due to commence in mid-May 2024. Hobson Porter have worked successfully with the council on recent developments, such as Marjorie Waite Court.

 

52.        Bell Farm has been designed to RIBA 3 and the tender process is nearing conclusion with a preferred bidder allocated for the refurbishment and retrofit. It is expected that the council will enter a construction contract in June 2024 with work starting onsite later in Summer.

 

Healthy and Sustainable Homes

53.        During the year, adaptation works have been undertaken to 110 council properties, to help Council tenants to be able to live independently in their own homes. Works undertaken have included 60 level access showers, 15 stairlifts, 13 ramps and 8 toilets being provided, in addition to a range of other adaptations including door widening, dropped kerbs and paving areas, kitchen and bathroom alterations, level access doors, garden fencing etc. In addition, minor adaptations work has also been undertaken, involving smaller scale works such as the provision of handrails, half-steps, and door entry systems are undertaken, doors, banisters.

 

54.        A budget underspend of £70k occurred due to adaptation works in several properties not being completed by the end of financial year but as the works are underway and committed, the underspend will be carried forward to 2024/25 and spent.

 

55.        Energy efficiency works carried out on council properties of £1.2m of which £786k was funded by Government grants and the remaining £400k funded via HRA.  Under the SHDF1 scheme, a total of 28 council homes have been improved, carrying out 96 different retrofit measures, with this scheme finishing at the end of March 2024. This involved external wall insulation to 1 property, 17 properties receiving cavity wall insulation, 2 properties receiving loft insulation, 17 properties being fitted with hybrid air source heat pumps, 26 properties receiving solar photovoltaic panels, 10 properties receiving new windows, 4 properties receiving flat roof insulation, 10 properties receiving new external doors, and 9 properties getting smart heating controls.

 

56.        The SHDF2 scheme has started with expenditure of £443k in 2023/24 and will continue for 2024/25 with a budget of £1.7m of which £590k is external grant.

 

57.        The ROSSY (Retrofit One Stop Shop York) Project is a 21-month long project, which runs from 1 March 2024 to 30 November 2025. The purpose of the project is to resource and create an end-to-end, home energy-efficiency retrofit, online platform that will take York residents through the entire retrofit journey, ultimately providing them with retrofit installs to meet their priorities and budgets.

 

58.        City of York Council has been awarded £146k to project manage the scheme, including costs such as labour, overheads, travel, as well as a capital grant of £188k to deliver energy efficiency measures to two council properties. This has been added into the capital programme.

 

59.        Spending on Disabled Facilities Grants totalled £2,074k funded from Government Grant of £1,596k and £478k Council Prudential Borrowing and was in line with budget. Via the DFG process the team has carried out major adaptation works to 301 properties, including 190 level access showers, 47 stair lifts, 30 ramps and 11 toilets being provided, with a range of other adaptation works being undertaken too.

 

60.        A number of schemes have been running to improve the energy efficiency of private housing in York and the surrounding area to support the councils net zero ambition.

 

61.        The LAD3 (Local Authority Delivery Phase 3) energy and retrofit scheme was completed in 2023/2024, with home energy efficiency improvements and retrofit works being undertaken in 173 homes, with works being undertaken in properties in York, Selby, Craven and Harrogate. Of these works, 141 measures were installed in 120 homes in York, with works being completed in October 2023. Of these works, 13 measures were installed in 12 homes in York, with works being completed in October 2023. Works undertaken included 7 properties receiving external wall insulation, 1 property receiving underfloor insulation, 1 property receiving cavity wall insulation, 31 properties receiving loft insulation, 10 properties receiving hybrid air source heat pumps, 81 properties receiving solar photo voltaic panels, and 10 properties receiving smart heating controls.

 

62.        A grant of £2,383k was given for the scheme from the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), with £1,624k being spent during the project. The balance has been repaid to the grant provider.

 

63.        The HUG1 (Home Upgrade Grant Phase 1) energy and retrofit scheme was completed in 2023/2024, with home energy efficiency improvements and retrofit works being undertaken in 26 homes, with works being undertaken in properties in York, Selby, and Harrogate. Of these works, 13 measures were installed in 12 homes in York, with works being completed in October 2023. Works undertaken included 9 properties receiving solar photo voltaic panels, 2 properties receiving air source heat pumps, and 2 properties receiving loft insulation.

 

64.        A grant of £498k was given for the scheme from the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), with £292k being spent during the project, and the remaining £206k will be repaid to DESNZ in the new financial year.

 

65.        Following the successful HUG2 application in early 2023, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by City of York Council to secure £1,242k of grant funding, which included capital funding to deliver the works and revenue funding to provide staffing resource to enable the project delivery. The funding obtained allows City of York Council to target energy efficiency and retrofit measures to a mix of properties and include:  fabric measures and heating upgrades to 60 off-gas rural properties. Works are due to be commenced in early 2024/2025 with our procured delivery partner Clear Climate.

 

66.        In April 2023 City of York Council received an initial capital grant of £95k from DESNZ, with this being upfront funding to enable the delivery of the scheme at no cost to the council.

 

Transport, Highways & Environment

 

67.        Capital expenditure on various schemes within Transport, Highways & Environment totalled £46.773m in 2023/24.

 

 

 

Major Projects

 

68.        The planning application to dual the York Outer Ring Road was heard at Planning Committee on Tuesday 19th March 2024. Committee were unanimously minded to approve the application, and as per the planning processes the application has been sent to the Secretary of State for consideration. A milestone review will now be undertaken, and other work is continuing for example on the business case.

 

69.        The York Station Gateway scheme is now progressing with delivery, with Package 1 (Utility Diversionary Works) now complete, and Package 2 (Highways Works) midway through construction. A further highways package 4 (Loop Road Works) is expected to commence in Summer 2024 and Packages 2 and 4 programmed for completion in March 2025. The Package 3 (Station Works) will commence in March 2025 and run for approximately two years. Meanwhile, the multi-storey car park that is funded and will be delivered by Network Rail will commence delivery in August 2024 with a one-year delivery programme.

 

70.        Expenditure for 2023/24 totalled £6.2m funded from the Transforming Cities Fund.

 

71.        Package 2 of the scheme required the acquisition of two areas of land: an area of the station long stay car park owned by Network Rail; and an area of land to the front of George Stephenson House owned by Canada Life. Both parcels of land have been acquired in August and September 2023 at a total cost of £2.54m (excluding fees). A further parcel of land currently in the station car park is required for the delivery of Packages 3 and 4 of the scheme and negotiations are taking place for completion in Spring 2024.

 

72.        The year 2023/24 saw some significant progress with the Haxby Station transport scheme, including approval of the outline business case by DfT and the subsequent commitment to fund the scheme (to delivery) by Government, in a series of announcements pertaining to Network North and the Local Transport Fund.  The Prime Minister visited the proposed site of the new station himself in February 2024 and which coincided with the planning application for this scheme being formally submitted (expected determination summer 2024).  Outline design has now been concluded, with procurement for a detailed design and build contractor taking place during the spring/summer 2024.  Subject to planning consent, construction work on-site is now expected to proceed from the beginning of 2025, with the station being complete and open for public use by the beginning of 2026.

 

Transport Schemes

 

Hostile Vehicle Mitigation

73.        In August 2022 Members agreed a budget of £3,441k for the delivery of the scheme to install Hostile Vehicle Mitigation measures at key locations around the city centre. The works began in April 2023, and installation works have been completed at 10 of the 11 sites, with the installation works at Parliament Street planned for late summer 2024. As previously reported, the cost of the scheme has increased due to changes in the in the method of working to mitigate access issues during the works, and difficult ground conditions due to utility services and archaeological requirements. The delay in timing has also increased costs to the project.

 

74.        With one set of measures still to complete the latest estimate of completing the scheme is £4.4m which is £1.0m higher than the budget. A contribution of £0.1m has been made from the Shared Prosperity Fund leaving an overspend of £0.9m that needs funding. This is considered at the end of this section.

 

Tadcaster Road Improvements

75.        As previously reported, the Tadcaster Road project has had an overspend due to a number of issues affecting the planned works, including limitations on working times to reduce the impact on residents and issues such as shallow services and tree roots affecting the works on site. Although the scope of the scheme was reduced once these issues were identified, the current cost of the completed works was £1.2m higher than the available budget. This is considered at the end of this section.

 

76.        There remain contractual issues around the scheme which need to be resolved. If these increase costs they will be reported through Executive in late monitors.

 

EV Schemes

77.        The main focus of the work in 2023/24 has been the installation of EV charging equipment at the Hazel Court depot, which is substantially complete. Significant progress has also been made in obtaining all the necessary legal permissions for the final two upgrades of EV charging equipment in car parks, and in preparation for the next phase of the HyperHubs roll out.

 

St Mary’s Ramp Cycle Route

78.        The existing steps from the end of St Mary’s to Marygate Car Park have now been replaced by a ramp to allow easier access for cyclists to the off-road cycle route through Marygate Car Park leading to Scarborough Bridge Footbridge. This completes the route linking the footbridge to the existing off-road route through Bootham Park Hospital.

 

ZEBRA Grant

79.        The council was awarded grant funding from the government’s Zero Emission Bus Regional Area (ZEBRA) fund to support the purchase of electric buses, and £10m grant funding has been awarded to First York for the purchase of 53 electric buses.

 

Other Transport Schemes

 

80.        Improvements at Rawcliffe Bar and Monks Cross Park & Ride sites were carried out in 2023/24 as part of the BSIP programme, and 55 new battery-operated real-time information displays were installed across the city.

 

81.        Following the grant funding awarded to First York in 2022/23, funding was provided to the other six bus companies operating in York for the purchase and installation of ‘Tap Off’ Readers on their bus fleets, meaning all buses operating in York now have these readers installed.

 

82.        Full upgrades of traffic signals were carried out at the Malton Road/New Lane and Tadcaster Road/Sim Balk Lane junctions, along with minor upgrades to equipment at other junctions in the city.

 

83.        A new pedestrian crossing was installed on the Inner Ring Road at St George’s Field, and the existing build-outs on Skeldergate were amended to improve facilities for cyclists, as part of the council’s Active Travel Programme.

 

84.        A new footbridge was installed at PROW no.6 in Skelton as part of the PROW upgrades programme, and a number of smaller schemes to improve safety were completed, including improvements at the Askham Lane/ Ridgeway Roundabout, the Wheldrake Lane/ Elvington Lane junction, installation of a new Vehicle Activated Sign on Heslington Lane, and improvements to signage on Howard Link and New Lane Acomb. A refresh of flood warning signage was also carried out.

 

85.        The Hopgrove Lane South study assessed the feasibility of creating a left turn filter lane at the Hopgrove Lane South/ Malton Road junction. The initial study report identified that the left turn lane would reduce delays for drivers, but highlighted some road safety concerns and the potential for increased traffic through nearby villages, which was confirmed by subsequent traffic modelling work. The scheme was not progressed further due to these concerns. As a result of this decision it has been necessary to class previous years expenditure (£23.7k) as abortive and this has been written off to revenue.

Highway Schemes (including footways)

86.        The total spend across all Highways Capital Schemes was £8.170m in 2023/24. It was split between government funding £3.339m (including £1.764m Potholes, £1.575m Highways grants) and £4.831m Corporate Prudential borrowing. This was an underspend of £2.354m compared to budget. Approximately half of this underspend (£1.17m) will carry forward to 2023/24 to deliver schemes that were not completed in year and the remainder used to offset overspends at Tadcaster Road and Hostile Vehicle Measures.

 

87.        The Department for Transport announced an additional £360k for Highway Maintenance in each year of 2023/24 and 2024/25 (£720k total). £360k grant for 2023/24  has been transferred to 2024/25. The total budget of £720k will be used for works done on B1228 Elvington Lane A1079 Hull Road scheme.

 

88.        The Highways Asset Management team are responsible for maintaining over 800km of carriageways and footways across the City of York Council area, our teams manage a wide range of highways assets serving this network including (but not limited to) streetlighting, bridges and drainage assets.

 

89.        An overview of the outcomes of capital investment across the service area in 2023/24 is given in the paragraphs below.

 

90.        In 2023/24 more than twenty Carriageway Repair & Replacement schemes were successfully delivered, including approximately;

 

·        50,000m2 new Surface Course

·        17,500m2 new Binder Course

·        1,100m2 new Base Course

 

91.        Twenty Large Patching Schemes were successfully delivered with a total area covering in excess of 15,000m2.  

 

92.        Four Surface Treatment schemes were successfully delivered with a total area covering approximately 50,000m2. 

Ward Schemes

93.        The residual committed ward committee schemes were completed during the year at a cost of £824k compared to a budget of £1,326k an underspend of £502k.      

 

Footpaths

 

94.        Footway repair and replacement schemes have been successfully delivered at the following listed locations:

 

·        Forestgate

·        Manor Park Road

·        Coda Avenue

·        Myrtle Avenue

·        Heslington Lane

·        Keble Park South

·        Fordlands Road

·        Fifth Avenue

·        Eastbourne Grove

·        Blake Street

 

Highway Structures

 

95.        More than forty Structural Reviews have been carried out in order to update the information on the Council’s structural asset management system and to update assessed bridge capacities as required. General inspections of all of the Council’s structures have also been completed.

 

96.        Principal inspections have been undertaken on Piccadilly Bridge, Bondhill Ash Bridge, Crichton Avenue Bridge and Strensall Footbridge and headroom surveys have been undertaken on twenty individual structures.

 

97.        East guided bearing replacement has been completed on Millfield Railway Bridge and bridge joint replacements have been completed at Rawcliffe Ings Bridge.

 

98.        The load capacity of Bishopthorpe Bridge has been assessed, a strengthening feasibility report has been produced and options developed to improve the structure.

 

99.        A paint inspection was carried out at Skeldergate Bridge and contracts have been commenced for the partial painting of the structure with a focus on the bridge elevations.

 

100.    An inspection and assessment report has been carried out at Westfield Beck Culvert.

 

101.    Tender documents developed for painting, repair, waterproofing and resurfacing works at Lendal Bridge.  

 

Concrete street lighting columns

 

102.    560 concrete street lighting columns have been replaced in Haxby and Wigginton under the 2023/24 programme.

 

Drainage

 

103.    In 2023/24 more than twenty individual improvement schemes have been completed, which have alleviated localised flooding issues as part of the specific Proactive Investigations & Repair Programme. This programme will continue into 2024/25.

 

104.    In 2023/24 drainage improvement schemes were carried out and improvement works successfully completed at the following listed locations within the City of York Council geographical area:

 

·        Lawrence Street

·        A59

·        Elvington Lane

·        Murton Village

·        Kent Street

·        Appleton Road, Bishopthorpe

·        School Lane, Askham Richard

·        Oakland Drive

·        Murton

·        Walton place

·        Thief Lane

·        Eva Avenue

·        Naburn Lane

·        Maple Avenue Bishopthorpe

·        Main Street Bishopthorpe

·        Mount Vale Drive

·        Chestnut Grove

·        Heslington lane

·        Huntington Road

 

Funding the Scheme Overspends

 

105.    As reported at the beginning of the section there have been significant overspends incurred in finalising the Tadcaster Road scheme and Hostile Vehicle Measures. The proposed funding of these overspends is summarised below in Table 2.

 

 

Overspend

£’000

Underspend

£’000

Tadcaster Road

1,191

 

Hostile Vehicle Measures

877

 

Ward Committees

 

-502

Highway Schemes

 

-1,039

Integrated Transport

 

-497

Flood Signage

 

-30

Total

2,068

-2,068

Table 2 Funding Highways and Transport Underspends

 

106.    The majority of the additional costs are proposed to be funded from the Highway Schemes budget. There was an underspend of £2.35m across Highway Schemes and the year end proposals are that £1.04m is used to fund the scheme overspends and £1.17m is carried forward to fund schemes that were not completed. This does reduce the Highway Maintenance funding available for schemes however as the council has received additional Dft allocations totalling £720k there remains significant funding available for planned maintenance. The saving from Ward Committees is a saving that can be transferred to fund these costs without impacting planned schemes. It is also proposed to allocate £497k from Integrated Transport budgets. The council was provided with additional grant of £561k in the final quarter to fund Traffic Signal improvements. It is proposed that this grant replaces CYC funding without impacting the overall transport programme. The flood sign scheme has been completed and a £30k saving identified.

 

Fleet

107.    The final 2023/24 spend for Vehicle Replacement Programme was £2.646m. 50 new vehicles have been replaced across the different departments throughout the council. A sum of £1.082m has been slipped into future years.

 

Regeneration, Economy & Property Services

108.    Castle Gateway – In November 2023 Executive agreed the way forward to deliver some of the masterplan proposals, and work has now commenced to revise designs for the Castle / Eye of York and assess the potential for the delivery of Affordable Housing at Castle Mills.  The strategic importance of St George’s Field as a parking location was acknowledged and proposals for improving parking provision there, with coach drop off facilities, are being progressed.  The proposals, including a business case, must be reported back to Executive for approval prior to delivery.

 

109.    Following the Executive decision in November 2023 approving the write off of up to £1million for the St George’s field car park project (SGF), a detailed review of the total costs for SGF from 2016/17 to 2022/23 was carried out and an analysis made of any costs which could definitely be useful against retained capital asset. The final calculated amount to be written off for St. George’s Field in the 2023/24 financial statements is £778k.

 

110.    York Central - The project funding position remains as per the update provided in the Quarter 3 monitor.  Good progress continues to made on the delivery of site access infrastructure by Homes England and Network Rail. A formal developer agreement is now in place with McLaren Property and Arlington Real Estate, which represents a really significant milestone for the project and the City. 

 

111.    The delivery of the main highway infrastructure by Homes England is progressing with the phase 1 delivering the alternative route around the National Railway Museum expected to be complete by the end of 2024 allowing the stopping up of Leeman Rd to be certified. The majority of the site preparation and drainage and utility diversion work is complete and road construction commenced. Footway construction has commenced on Station Rise on the city side of Leeman Rd tunnel. Phase 2 of the scheme to connect the road through to Water End is expected to be complete in mid 2026. Approximately 50% of the ground improvement works have been completed for the embankment between Water End and the Railway. The main developer for the site has been appointed by Homes England and the initial phase of the NRM redevelopment has commenced with the re-roofing of Station Hall and preparatory works for the Central Hall ongoing.

 

112.    The Guildhall project (GH) achieved practical completion in April 2022 and has now operated successfully as a business and events venue for almost 2 years.  The complex is home to a range of businesses which employ over 100 individuals.  The business club and co-working spaces host many more jobs on a flexible basis and the main hall and meeting rooms have been used for over 350 events in the last year including the launch of the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority. 

 

113.    The project, which was delivered through the pandemic, did encounter delays and incur additional costs, however the agreed Final Account has now been settled with the contractor rectifying all defects on time. The final bills have been paid to the contractor. There remains £127k for the scheme which is slipped to 2024/25.

 

114.    When approved for delivery - the project business case included an income stream assumption of £310k to contribute to the annual repayment costs of the borrowing undertaken to deliver the project – which included an assumption of £150k from the restaurant unit at the site.

 

115.    The restaurant unit was marketed and previous offers were progressed to Agreement for lease at £175k pa in 2017 and £150k in 2022 – unfortunately the lack of certainty on a completion date caused the 2017 deal to fall and in 2022 the change in the UK economic outlook between offers in June and signing an agreement in early 2023 saw that deal fall away – with the cost of the fit out cited as a major concern.

 

116.    CYC is not in a position to offer a capex contribution towards fit-out costs - However given some of the concerns raised by previous interested parties, and more recent informal discussions with industry representatives, – re the unit access / internal fit out costs, it may be prudent for the Council to retain a modest amount of capital project monies in order to attract a tenant.

 

117.    UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) - Phase 1 of Acomb Front Street (Improvements to City Centres & High Streets project) has been delivered with a spend of £185k in 2023/24 and design work on phase 2 is underway with significant public engagement on the proposals and £30k spend in 2023/24. Total spend across the budget line was £223k. The work was funded through the UKSPF capital allocation of £161k with the balance provided as a contribution from the UKSPF revenue budget.

 

118.    Following an Executive decision in October 2023, £300k earmarked for UKSPF Enterprise Infrastructure spend in 2024/25, has been moved to UKSPF Improvements to City Centre & High Streets project 2024/25. There is thus now a budget in 2024/25 of £675k for this work.

 

119.    £400k capital has also been allocated through the Rural England Prosperity Fund.  This will be spent in 2024/25 on community and business projects in designated rural areas of the CYC area.

 

Customer & Corporate Services

 

Crematorium Waiting Room

120.    The rapid increase in the cost of construction coupled with contractual issues has led to a delay in this work.  The cost of the original agreed waiting room is no longer affordable.  Alternative solutions are now being looked at as facilities including the waiting room at the Crematorium are in a poor condition and continue to deteriorate.

Register Office Phase Two

121.    All work related to this capital bid have been completed other than an upgrade to the toilets which is expected to be completed in the next few months.

 

 

 

Customer & Corporate Services - IT

 

122.    The ICT capital programme had a budget of £3,722k for 2023/24, The ICT development plan capital expenditure totalled £3,619k, £103k slipped to 2024/25.

 

123.    The work of the ICT service supports and enables the council, partners and the city on many different levels.

 

Digital Programme

124.    The most significant financial investment in year was attributable to the staged roll out of the councils Voice and Data Managed Services contract. A rolling programme of upgrades has been successfully undertaken through the year as the investment in core underlying network infrastructure is implemented. Ongoing work has also continued to ensure that ICT services remain available, secure and supportable, and this has included but is not restricted to, investment in our storage and Citrix platforms and ensuring that our operating systems and corporate and directorate systems were updated appropriately and with minimal impact on our customers.

 

125.    A number of systems have been implemented, replaced, upgraded or continued to be further developed this year, these include:

·        Additional Citrix nodes to increase capacity and performance have been purchased and installed.

·        Document management system upgrade currently being implemented.

·        Nutanix storage upgrade was installed October 2023.

·        Significant progress is being made with the Network upgrade and associated telephony.

·        Identification and deployment of applications previously only available in Citrix over to laptops and desktops.

·        Implementation and commissioning of the new Citizen Access platform replacing the ageing Revenues and Benefits System.

·        In Adults Social Care, supporting the adaptation and take up of the Yorkshire/Humberside Shared Care Records platform.

·        Highway’s Alloy has launched for both asset and case management.

·        Parking system Taranto upgrade to Version 2.14.

·        The move of Civica Technology Forge off premise and into the Cloud.

·        A new Customer Relationship Management solution has been procured and is being rolled out with Green Waste charging as a priority.

·        Digital preservation and archiving Preservica was implemented to support the work to ensure Archives accreditation is maintained

·        We have progressed work across multiple services area to prepare for and mitigate the Digital Switchover from analogue to digital phone lines in 2025.

 

Digital Staff

126.    The majority of our work under this theme has been our involvement on the Working as One programme where ICT have provided significant support and resource commitment into the establishment and progression of this fast paced and evolving council priority.  Our involvement has included:

 

·        Ongoing provision and refresh of standardised ICT kit aligned to worker styles including the specification, sourcing, configuring, delivery and support of the equipment necessary to allow the delivery of secure hybrid working ensuring staff have the right equipment at the right time to meet the demands of their role. This included the roll out of a significant number of docking stations through the CYC estate.

·        Engagement in floor plate design and the planning for, sourcing and installation of essential ICT equipment to allow for welcoming of new partners into West Offices. This included ensuring that the required levels of secure access and effective working were enabled and maintained for the new and evolving occupancy mix of the building.

·        Investment in the equipment available in meeting rooms to improve the experience for customers.

·        The ongoing development of the Matrix Booking system.

·        Ongoing commitment to the testing and roll out of the M365 applications, in particular this year including further investment in Teams and Micollab to incorporate incoming and external telephony services as we work toward the decommissioning of Skype. 

·        Identification and deployment of applications previously only available in Citrix over to laptops and desktops.

·        Ongoing improvement works relating to ICT service provision for staff at Hazel Court.

·        Digital City

 

127.    Some of the key activities during the year included:

·        Supported the access to ultrafast and future proof Broadband Services within the harder to reach parts of York including parts of the city centre such as Gillygate and the surrounding areas, and also within our more rural areas like Stockon-on-Forest through maintaining the levels of private sector interest and investment in our city.

·        Virgin Media O2 (VMO2) have expanded their fibre network as part of their ‘Project Lightning’ programme to upgrade connectivity across the city.

·        Early planning discussions have taken place with Open Reach ahead of their build programme that will also expand the access to ultrafast and robust Broadband services across the city through their network and numerous internet service providers.

·        Project Gigabit is the Government’s flagship £5billion programme to enable hard to reach communities to access gigabit capable broadband. This targets homes and businesses not included in commercial plans to deliver fast and reliable broadband that will level-up most rural and remote communities as well as tackling pockets of poor connectivity in urban areas. Along with West Yorkshire and a small element of North Yorkshire, we are part of the Lot 8 project within this programme, and the project is now starting to gather momentum and includes approximately 4,500 premises in York that are set to benefit from this government funded programme. We are working closely with Quickline Communications (who were awarded the contract by Building Digital UK BDUK ) and BDUK resources on a local area review, to refine the data on the initial areas of intervention, and further details and confirmation will follow as this multi-year regional project progresses into establishing the phased build programme.

 

 

 

Communities & Culture

Future Libraries Investment Programme

128.    The three library projects have been combined and are reported within a single FLIP (Future Libraries Investment Programme), under the corporate project management structure. The capital budget this year is £5,400k which includes funding from education totalling £255k for Clifton Library and a Project Support Fund allocation of £22k. £1,300k was slipped at Monitor 3 with a proposal to a further slip £631k at year end.

 

129.    Works at Clifton are 11 months into a 13-month on-site build and are progressing very well. Old buildings have been demolished, improved local school footpath links completed and the new two storey building are complete. Work is currently focused on the café area which links the old to the new two storey building. It is currently anticipated that the facility will open during Autumn 2024.

 

130.    The new library at Haxby is open and has been very successful, with visitor levels rising to record levels and additional improvements with the installation of a changing places toilet facility. This makes the Oaken Grove Community Centre where the library is co-located the only facility in Haxby and Wigginton to have a changing places facility which makes this venue truly accessible.

 

131.    Public consultation has taken place on the development of Acomb Library and the results fed into an external funding bid to the Arts Council, under the Library Improvement Fund and the Council have been successful in achieving a grant of £250k towards the overall project budget.  The grant bid focussed on what residents told us and that included a larger children library, café, and area for quiet study.  A detailed feasibility is now underway and will be reported to Executive to sign off the final vision, business case and refurbishment plans.

 

Westfield Multi Use Games Area Provision

132.    Following preliminary investigation works at the York Acorn Sports and Social Club we approached Acomb Sports Club as a potential site for the Westfield MUGA within the ward.  Build is not expected to take place this year, it is proposed that the £192k budget is slipped to 2024/25.

 

Changing Places Toilets

133.    £244k has been awarded to provide two facilities, one at Oaken Grove, Haxby and the refurbishment of Silver Street in the city centre. Silver street is now complete and ready for registration. Haxby Oaken Grove will be complete and open to the public by the end of May 2024. All monies have now been received from the Department of Levelling Up and all schemes fully approved.

Community Stadium

134.    The Outturn position for the Community Stadium was reported to Executive in February 2021. At that time a total forecast spend of £47,295k was reported an overspend of £1.2m. Since that time there have been final payments relating to retention payments and the completion of the roads and footways at the site. These have all been completed within the budget agreed. There remained £271k set aside in 2023/24 to fund any outstanding works but those completed are now of such a small nature they are classed as business as usual and funded within revenue budgets.

 

135.    It was reported in 2021 that there was still some risk that there would be further contractual claims arising from the build given the delays to construction. There have been no claims submitted to the council for additional costs. The scheme has therefore been delivered within the cost reported in February 2021.

Climate Change

136.    The Climate Change programme has a budget of £1,461k for 2023/24, during the year £1,161k was slipped to 24/25. (£400k of the Northern Forest Land purchase budget, £634k for match funding requirements of the Public Sector Decarbonisation Schemes (PSDS) and £127k potential match funding of the Harewood Whin scheme from Mayoral Combined Authority’s Net Zero Fund.) At year end it's requested a further £277k be slipped for PSDS.

          Key achievements since M3 include:

·        Being awarded £3m of funding from the Combined Authority Net Zero Fund for new renewable energy feasibility studies, LED lighting improvements of street lighting and office buildings, and renewable heating replacement at Council housing blocks

·        Securing £4m of Innovate UK funding to launch a Retrofit One-Stop-Shop for York

·        Completing the planting of 2,500 new trees as part of the Green Streets Programme

·        Increasing the number of schools in York to have received free solar panels through the Solar for Schools partnership to 8, including 4 maintained schools.

·        Strengthening the city’s commitment to tackling climate change with the ambition for the York to be a climate ready city by 2030

·        Expanding the number of Council buildings to have received a Heat Decarbonisation Plan (35)

·        Initiated the Harewood Whin Green Energy Park project, with £245,000 of Net Zero funding from the Combined Authority


York Museum Trust

137.    During 2023/24 the York Museum Trust (YMT) identified Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) within the roof of the Castle Museum. This led to the closure of the Female prison from September 2023 and only able to reopen in mid December once the problem had been fully identified and emergency repairs made within the planning constraints of a listed building. This cost c £95k including professional advice and was funded from YMY reserves.

 

138.    There is a further need to protect the roof so that the RAAC that has been isolated does not deteriorate. Works including a new roof covering, external roof repairs and ceiling repairs in the toy gallery have been identified which should protect the building from needing more substantial refurbishment. The estimated cost is £200k and given the costs and lost income that YMT have incurred from the initial discovery there has been a request that CYC pay for these works.

 

139.    YMT have worked closely with officers across the council to ensure that appropriate remedial works are undertaken and that costs are properly controlled.

 

140.    It is proposed that these costs are funded from the Capital Contingency. The Contingency stands at £1,376k and will reduce by £200k to £1,176k upon allocating to the YMT scheme.

 

Funding the 2023/24 Capital Programme

141.    The 2023/24 capital programme of £98.377m has been funded from £44.385m external funding and £53.992m of internal funding. The internal funding includes resources such as revenue contributions, Supported Capital Expenditure, capital receipts and reserves.

 

142.    The overall funding position continues to be closely monitored to ensure the overall capital programme remains affordable and is sustainable over the 5 year approved duration.

 

Update on the 2024/25 – 2028/29 Capital Programme

 

143.    The restated capital programme for 2024/25 to 2028/29 split by portfolio is shown in table 3. The individual scheme level profiles can be seen in Annex 1.

 

Gross Capital Programme

2024/25

 

£m

2025/26

 

£m

2026/27

 

£m

2027/28

 

£m

2028/29

 

£m

Total

 

£m

Children’s services

17.074

5.275

1.045

-

-

23.394

Adult Social Care

0.952

0.705

0.728

0.752

0.776

3.913

Housing & Community Safety

52.071

21.416

15.301

14.638

14.350

117.776

Transport, Highways & Environment

87.233

47.983

29.041

19.170

20.195

203.622

Regen, Economy & Property Services

47.580

0.275

0.275

0.275

0.275

48.680

ICT

2.923

3.170

2.820

2.820

2.820

14.553

Customer & Corporate Services

1.813

0.370

0.369

0.200

0.200

2.952

Communities & Culture

4.501

-

-

-

-

4.501

Climate Change

1.727

0.250

-

-

-

1.977

Revised Programme

215.874

79.444

49.579

37.855

38.616

421.368

Table 3 – Restated Capital Programme 2024/25 to 2028/29

 

144.    Table 4 shows the projected call on Council resources going forward.

 

2024/25

 

£m

2025/26

 

£m

2026/27

 

£m

2027/28

 

£m

2028/29

 

£m

Total

 

£m

Gross Capital Programme

215.874

79.444

49.579

37.855

38.616

421.368

Funded by:

 

 

 

 

 

 

External Funding

84.344

43.500

18.868

6.495

6.030

159.237

Council  Controlled  Resources

131.530

35.944

30.711

31.360

32.586

262.131

Total  Funding

215.874

79.444

49.579

37.855

38.616

421.368

 

Table 4 – 2024/25 –2028/29 Capital Programme Financing

 

145.    The Council controlled figure is comprised of a number of resources that the Council has ultimate control over.  These include Right to Buy receipts, revenue contributions, supported (government awarded) borrowing, prudential (Council funded) borrowing, reserves (including Venture Fund) and capital receipts.

 

146.    In financing the overall capital programme, the Chief Finance Officer will use the optimum mix of funding sources available to achieve the best financial position for the Council. Therefore, an option for any new capital receipts would be to use these to replace assumed borrowing, thereby reducing the Councils’ borrowing levels and associated revenue costs.

 

Organisational Impact and Implications

 

147.    The report has the following implications:

 

·                    Financial - are contained throughout the main body of the report.  Given the forecast financial position of the Council and the need to reduce expenditure, there will be a review of the capital programme.  This review will need to identify ways in which capital expenditure can also be reduced.

·                    Human Resources (HR) - There are no direct HR implications as a result of this report.  Any variations to the capital programme that have staffing implications will follow appropriate consultation and HR policies and procedures.

·                    Legal - Whilst this report itself does not have any legal implications, the schemes within the capital programme themselves will be in receipt of legal advice where necessary

·                    Procurement Whilst this report itself does not have any procurement implications, schemes within the capital programme are all procured in accordance with the procurement legislation.

·                    Health and Wellbeing, reductions in spend in some areas could impact on the health and wellbeing of both our staff and residents.  The impact of any reductions in the capital programme will be carefully monitored so that implications can be considered and mitigated where possible.

·                    Environment and Climate action, as this report is mainly for information to update on the progress of delivery of schemes within the programme, there are no direct environment and climate action implications as a result of this report.

·                    Affordability, Affordability, as this report is mainly for information to update on the progress of delivery of schemes within the programme, there are no direct affordability implications as a result of this report. A number of the schemes will contribute to affordable and more efficient homes.

·                    Equalities and Human Rights -– as this report is mainly for information to update on the progress of delivery of schemes within the programme, there are no direct equalities and human rights implications as a result of this report.  All individual schemes will be subject to Impact Assessments in the usual way.

·                    Data Protection and Privacy, As there is no personal data, special categories of personal data or criminal offence data being processed, there is no requirement to complete a data protection impact assessment (DPIA).  This is evidenced by completion of DPIA screening questions AD-06078.

·                    Communications, the information set out in this report does not have any specific communications implications.  The finance and performance monitor report elsewhere on this agenda includes details of the communications activity in relation to the overall council finances.

·                    Economy, there are no direct implications related to the recommendations.

 

Risks and Mitigations

 

148.    There are a number of risks inherent in the delivery of a large scale capital programme. To mitigate against these risks the capital programme is regularly monitored as part of the corporate monitoring process, and the project management framework. This is supplemented by internal and external audit reviews of major projects.

 

Wards Impacted

 

149.    All wards are impacted by the issues detailed in the report.

 

Contact details

 

For further information please contact the authors of this Decision Report.

 

 

 

Author

 

Name:

Patrick Looker

Job Title:

Head of Service Finance

Service Area:

Financial Services

Telephone:

01904 551633

Report approved:

Yes

Date:

16/05/2024


Background papers

 

·        Capital Budget Report – Full Council 23 February 2023

·        Capital Programme Outturn 2022/23 and Revisions to the 2023/24-2027/28 Programme – Executive 15 June 2023

·        Capital Programme Monitor 1 2023/24 – Executive 14 September 2023

·        Capital Programme Monitor 2 2023/24 – Executive 16 November 2023

·        Capital Programme Monitor 3 2023/24 – Executive 25 January 2024

·        Capital Budget 2024/25 to 2028/29- Executive 25 January 2024     


Annexes

·        Annex 1 – Capital Programme 2023/24 to 2028/29