Agenda and minutes

That the minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 16 January 2017 be confirmed and signed as an accurate record of the proceedings, and that the outstanding actions be noted.

Apologies for Absence were received from Councillors Stephen Cowan, Michael Cartwright, Andrew Jones, Sue Fennimore and Sue Macmillan.

In the absence of the Leader and the Deputy Leader the Members present selected Councillor Ben Coleman to preside the meeting.

To recommend, subject to any changes agreed by the Cabinet Member for Finance, that the draft Revenue Budget and Council Tax Level 2017/18 Report be forwarded to Budget Council.

1.    To approve the General Fund Capital Programme budget at £45.6m for 2017/18 (paragraph 5.1, Table 2 and Appendix 1).

2.    To approve the continuation of the Council’s rolling programmes and the continued use of internal funding for 2017/18 General Fund ‘Mainstream’ Programme as set out in Table 3 (paragraph 5.2) and specifically as follows:

·         Capital receipts and internal borrowing amounting to £5.48m to fund the Council’s rolling programmes as follows:

·         Contributions from revenue amounting to £0.544m to fund the Council’s rolling programmes as follows:

3.   To note existing capital receipts funded schemes previously approved, but now scheduled for 2017/18 (paragraph 5.2, Table 3):

          One off schemes:

·         Schools’ Organisation Strategy - £0.8m

·         Carnwath Road - £ 3.07m

     Rolling programmes:

·         Parks Programme- £0.335m

·         Planned Maintenance/DDA Programme (including Hammersmith Town Hall    refurbishment) – £5.35m

4.    To approve the Housing Programme at £53.2m for 2017/18 as set out in Table 5 (paragraph 7.3) and Appendix 1.

5.    To approve the annual Minimum Revenue Provision policy statement for 2017/18 in Appendix 4.

6.    To approve the Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy (CIPFA) Prudential Indicators as set out in Appendix 5 to the report.

1.    To approve proposed technical budget variations to the capital programme totalling £9.8m (summarised in Table 1 and detailed in Appendix 2).

2.    Note that the Capital Financing Requirement forecast continues to be heavily dependent on the realisation of a small number of high-value capital receipts.  If one or a number of the receipts were not realised in 2016/17 this would significantly affect the CFR forecast.

1          To endorse the revised long term 40 Year Financial Plan for Council Homes as set out in paragraphs 4.18 – 4.21 of this report.

2          To approve the Housing Revenue Account 2017/18 budget for Council homes as set out in Appendix 1.

3          To note the 1% reduction in rents in accordance with the Government’s requirement that social housing rents are reduced by 1% each year for four years from April 2016.

4          To approve a freeze in tenant service charges.

5          To endorse the HRA Medium Term Financial Strategy which plans to deliver further on-going annual revenue savings of £0.4million per annum by 2017/18, rising to £1.6million per annum by 2021/22, with savings coming principally from back office costs.

6          To note that the water regulator OFWAT is not due to confirm the increase in tenants’ water charges until January 2017, and therefore to delegate authority to the Director of Finance & Resources (Housing & Regeneration) to agree the average increase in water charge.

7          To approve a freeze in the communal heating charges.

8          To freeze the rates for parking charges on council estates.

9          To freeze garage charges for tenants and resident leaseholders and to approve an increase for other garage charges of 1% (in line with the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) as at September 2016).

10        To note the risks outlined in paragraphs 4.10 to 4.13 and Appendix 6 of this report.

1.          That approval is given to the future borrowing and investment strategies as outlined in this report and that the Strategic Finance Director be authorised to arrange the Council’s cash flow, borrowing and investments in 2017/18.

2.          In relation to the Council’s overall borrowing for the financial year, to note the comments and the Prudential Indicators as set out in this report and the four year capital programme 2017/18 to 2020/21.

3.            That approval is given to pay the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) investment income on unapplied HRA receipts and other HRA cash balances calculated at the average rate of interest (approximately 0.40% p.a.) earned on temporary investments throughout the year to the 31^st March 2017.

That approval be given to make three non-immediate Article 4 directions which will withdraw Permitted Development rights and mean that planning permission will be required for each of the three categories below. If approved, the three Article 4 Directions will come into force after 12 months of consulting.

1. Office (B1) (a) and Light Industrial (B1 (C) to Residential (C3)

2. Basement Excavation

3. Public Houses (A4) to Shop (A1), Financial and Professional Services (A2), and Food and Drink Premises (A3) and for alterations and demolition

1.            That approval be given to go out to procurement for a 5 year term contract, (with the option to extend for 2 years) using the Restricted Procedure in accordance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 as amended (the “Regulations”).

2.            To note that the award criteria is to be set at 60% Price & 40% Quality and the contract will have a notional annual value of £400,000, subject to market testing.

3.            To note that the current 2017/18 draft estimates for Water Hygiene is £393,900. As there is a mandatory and statutory requirement to provide these services, the budget may need to be revised as a result of market testing. It is anticipated that any increase will be accommodated within the overall managed revenue repairs budget.

1.            That approval be given to the creation of an Affordable Housing Delivery Framework with local Housing Providers using the competitive procedure with negotiation route.

2.            To delegate authority to the Director for Housing, Growth and Strategy in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Regeneration and the Cabinet Member for Housing to implement the procurement strategy identified in Appendix 1 and to take all necessary steps to complete the procurement process.

3.            To delegate authority to the Director for Housing, Growth and Strategy in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Regeneration and the Cabinet Member for Housing to appoint selected providers to the framework agreement and to award subsequent call off contracts.

4.            To approve the appointment of Trowers and Hamlins using the Crown Commercial Services Legal Services Framework under a direct call off to provide specialist legal advice for the procurement process at a contract value of £60,000.

5.            To approve a waiver from the contract standing orders to appoint DS2 Ltd to provide professional advice on commercial aspects of the procurement process at a contract value of £35,000..

6.            To note that the total costs of £95,000 for the above professional services for the period February 2017 to October 2017 will be funded from existing Housing Revenue Account budgets.

7.            Cabinet to note that officers will progress early site investigations and design work as necessary to prepare the identified sites.

8.            Cabinet to note the proposed delivery timetable of the procurement process for the ‘Affordable Housing Delivery Framework’.

1          To approve the procurement strategy outlined in this report for the Council to access the independent health complaints advocacy service (IHCAS) from 1 April 2017 at an estimated cost (for H&F) of £142,032 for the four-year period. This figure includes a proposed fee of £2,306, payable to Southwark Council for carrying out the procurement exercise.

2          That delegated authority be given to the Executive Director for Adult Social Care and the Bi-Borough Director of Law, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care, to finalise the contract arrangements.

This item has been deferred and will be considered at a future meeting.

This report was withdrawn prior to the meeting.

The Key Decision List was noted.

That under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the remaining items of business on the grounds that they contain information relating to the financial or business affairs of a person (including the authority) as defined in paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the Act, and that the public interest in maintaining the exemption currently outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

[The following is a public summary of the exempt information under S.100C (2) of the Local Government Act 1972.  Exempt minutes exist as a separate document.]

That the minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 16 January 2017 be confirmed and signed as an accurate record of the proceedings, and that the outstanding actions be noted.