Agenda item

The Leader presented to Cabinet colleagues the Capital Programme monitoring and additions report for November 2023. This was the third monitoring report of the year on capital activity and provided an overview of the updated capital programme, alongside the projected outturn position as of November of this year. The report provided an update on the level of available capital headroom, detailed the additions to the programme that were identified and sought Cabinet’s approval for these additions.

The first section outlined the movement in the capital budget since the last report was presented to Cabinet in September.

The net value of additions and amendments to the current capital programme in 2023/24 since then was £3m, and a breakdown of these additions was given in Appendix A. The majority of the new additions were being funded via external grants.

As a result of these additions as of November 2023, the current budget for 2023/24 was now £93.2m, which is substantial and challenging to deliver in full.

The report also outlined the level of slippage being forecast against the revised £93.2m budget.

A variance of circa £9.6m was being projected, the majority of which related to slippage, with the balance relating to net underspends.

The slippage being forecasted was largely down to issues encountered in relation to a handful of large schemes, with the full breakdown of slippage available in Appendix B.

The report noted that these figures were subject to continual review and may change between now and the end of the financial year.

At this stage of the year, Cabinet was asked to note the level of slippage, with approval only being sought at the end of the year as part of the outturn report.

The report also detailed the level of capital headroom currently available, which could be used to support new schemes and emerging priorities.

This now stood at £8.259m, and there were no changes to the headroom since September’s monitoring report.

Whilst the level of available headroom is higher than it was a year ago, it was noted that if a few significant issues arose then this would be consumed.  The Council is able to respond to critical issues, as and when they emerged. This required tight control and the clear prioritisation of only the most pressing and urgent issues.

Any opportunity to further increase the headroom should be taken, to make it possible to ensure sufficient funding exists to respond to any issues that arose.

Regular update reports include information on the Council’s compliance with its prudential and treasury management indicators. Appendix D illustrates that the Council complied with all of its indicators, as of 30November 2023.

Comments of Cabinet Members:

§   Councillor Davies noted the reference to the Additional Learning Needs (ALN) grant funding received from Welsh Government. Monies were allocated to a number of schools to improve provision, with £510,000 being allocated to Maes Ebbw to replace and upgrade the outdoor play and learning facilities and upgrading some of the toilets. As Cabinet Member for Education and Early Years, Councillor Davies saw the necessity in making these improvements and was pleased with this funding allocation which would have a positive impact on learning and well-being within the school.

£100,000 was allocated to Ysgol Bryn Derw for the Kimberley Nursery School site and a proportion of which would improve outdoor play facilities.

§  Councillor Batrouni thanked Councillor Davies as a governor of Maes Ebbw School For listening to head teachers, teachers, parents, and children.

§  The Leader thanked the finance team for their work regarding the reports prepared for Cabinet.

Decision:

That Cabinet

1.         Noted the predicated capital expenditure outturn position for 2023/24

2.         Noted the amendments to the capital programme

3.             Noted the available remaining capital resources (‘headroom’) and the earmarked

usage of that resourcing.

4.             Noted the inclusion of the Treasury Management prudential indicators, included

       within the report.