Issue - meetings

The Council is required to have in place a Capital Strategy that sets out how capital expenditure and investment decision are made and reviewed.  This strategy is required to be approved by Council.

Recommendation

That the Executive agrees to recommend the proposed Capital Strategy to Council for approval.

36.1  Cllr Hyman had registered to speak on this item, and the Leader invited him to make his statement. Cllr Hyman referred to paragraph 2.2 of the Strategy, on Project Initiation, which described the review process for capital projects, and asked if this would apply to projects already underway, or only projects initiated after the Strategy was adopted. Cllr Hyman also noted the references to risk assessment in paragraph 2.4 and expressed some concern that the Audit Committee had not been asked to review the Strategy.

36.2  The Leader invited Graeme Clark, Strategic Director, to respond to Cllr Hyman’s question. Mr Clark advised that the draft Strategy was aspirational, in that it set out the approach the Council would be adopting. It had been reviewed by the Value for Money and Customer Service Overview & Scrutiny Committee, which had made some useful contributions that had been reflected in the version of the Strategy now recommended for approval by Council. The Strategy incorporated the good work of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee on reviewing the capital expenditure process, led by Cllr Mike Band. The recommendations from that review had been agreed by the Executive, and the Capital Strategy provided a formal link to the Treasury Framework.

36.3  The approach set out in the Strategy was being used for capital bids coming forward now for 2019/20, and there was also a new framework for project management being rolled out. However, current projects and those approaching their conclusion would not be fully compliant with the approach due the stage they had reached.

36.4  With regard to risk, the Strategy made an explicit link between the ongoing work on risk, the Risk Register and specific projects that reflected that they were typically high-value, resource intensive, and run over a number of years.

36.5  Cllr Hall confirmed that the approach set out in the Strategy would not apply to projects already underway. The Strategy complemented the investment framework, which included the Treasury Management Strategy approved by Council on 24 April 2018. Property and asset investments were outside the scope of the treasury management strategy, and the Capital Strategy would provide the context for capital expenditure and investment decisions of this type. The contribution of Overview & Scrutiny Committee was appreciated and the Strategy was recommended for approval by the Council.

The Executive RESOLVED to

RECOMMEND that Council approves the proposed Capital Strategy.