Issue - meetings

1. To approve the four-year General Fund Capital Programme budget of £135.5m for the period 2026/27-2029/30 detailed in Appendix 1.

2.    To approve rolling programmes included within this four-year Strategy. These are perennial capital investments required across the Borough to keep items of public infrastructure in good working condition.

3.    To delegate approval of the detailed programmes for use of the rolling programmes, in recommendation 2, to the relevant SLT Director in consultation with the Executive Director, Finance and Corporate Services and the relevant Lead Cabinet Member.

4. To approve the four-year Housing (HRA) Capital Programme of £318.8m for the period 2026/27-2029/30 as set out in Appendix 1.

5. To approve the Capital Strategy 2026/27, as set out in the report.

6. To approve the annual Minimum Revenue Provision policy statement for 2026/27.

Councillor Rowan Ree (Cabinet Member for Finance and Reform) introduced the report that presented the Council’s Capital Strategy 2026/27 and four-year Capital Programme for the financial years 2026/27 to 2029/30. He noted that the Council was investing over £450m in building a better borough including improving housing stock, upgrading schools, place shaping, investing in parks, regenerating high streets, and improving the CCTV network.

Councillor Jose Afonso asked when the Civic Campus was due to open. The Leader said there would be a phased opening, starting in February and completing in the summer. He explained that, despite a delay due to an accident involving a subcontractor, the Civic Campus scheme was significantly lower cost than the scheme the Administration inherited. He added that the Civic Campus scheme was designed to rejuvenate the central belt of the borough with an arthouse cinema, public sky park, affordable work space for local start-up entrepreneurs, restaurants, cafes, shops and other public facilities, and over 200 new homes for local people of which 52% were genuinely affordable.

Councillor Afonso noted the ‘third, third, third’ deal (a proposal to cover the cost of the bridge where a third would be paid by the Council, a third by Transport for London, and a third by the Department for Transport) was not mentioned in the papers. The Leader said the deal was between the Mayor of London and the Government at the time. The Council never accepted it. The Leader recounted the history of the discovery of the bridge’s structural failures and it’s closure due to the risk of catastrophic collapse. He urged members to engage with the detail and support the Council in finding a practical solution.

The report and recommendations were unanimously agreed.

RESOLVED

1. To approve the four-year General Fund Capital Programme budget of £135.5m for the period 2026/27-2029/30 detailed in Appendix 1.

2.    To approve rolling programmes included within this four-year Strategy. These are perennial capital investments required across the Borough to keep items of public infrastructure in good working condition.

3.    To delegate approval of the detailed programmes for use of the rolling programmes, in recommendation 2, to the relevant SLT Director in consultation with the Executive Director, Finance and Corporate Services and the relevant Lead Cabinet Member.

4. To approve the four-year Housing (HRA) Capital Programme of £318.8m for the period 2026/27-2029/30 as set out in Appendix 1.

5. To approve the Capital Strategy 2026/27, as set out in the report.

6. To approve the annual Minimum Revenue Provision policy statement for 2026/27.