Agenda item

The Leader presented the report which confirmed an update on the 2020/21 capital monitoring and the changes to the capital programme since the last report.

As indicated in the previous capital report presented to Cabinet, a significant review and re-profile of the capital programme has been undertaken which has led to £27.5m being re-profiled (“slipped”) from 2020/21 into future years, across various programmes including the 21st Century Schools’ Band B Programme.  This now reflects a more realistic timescale for the projects to be delivered and officers are asked to continuously review projects and update the project profile as the schemes progress.

In addition, a further £2.8m of projects have been added to the programme, including a number of grant- funded highway and infrastructure improvement schemes benefiting Newport. This takes the overall capital programme to £204.4 million, which highlights the extensive investment in a number of areas of Newport including schools, heritage assets, highways and regeneration and environmental schemes.

In terms of monitoring, following the re-profiling of budgets and additions to the programme, the 2020/21 capital budget is £39.5 million.  The report noted that against this there is a very small underspend against the 2020/21 programme of £375,000.  In-year expenditure against the budget is currently low, however, this can be attributed to Covid-19, and expenditure is expected to increase significantly in the following three quarters of the year.  The Leader confirmed officers will continue to monitor this closely and reflect the impact in future reports to Cabinet. 

The Leader was pleased to report that the schemes which have been approved and already started are progressing well, as highlighted in the report.

The reported capital headroom (budget for which there is currently no committed expenditure), is £23.3m.  The demand for capital expenditure in Newport exceeds the level of resource and the Council needs to prioritise where it spends this capital resource accordingly.  The Capital Strategy will be looked at in the coming months alongside the Medium Term Financial Plan and will need to be approved by Council with regard to the long-term funding of the Capital Programme and the impact on the revenue budget of the future programme.  Within the headroom figure are capital receipts, the figure as at July is £5.2 million.

The Leader invited her Cabinet colleagues to comment:

Councillor Giles referred to the capital spend on schools and the limitations imposed on the authority with having to identify capital monies within the budget and only when that is identified will Welsh Government provide match funding; the aspirations for spend on schools are far in excess of that indicated in this report.   

Councillor Cockeram referred to the three new children’s homes being developed and confirmed that Newport is leading the way with this initiative which is enabling children to be brought back home from out of catchment areas.  The Leader and Deputy Leader visited two of the homes recently with Councillor Cockeram both of whom are extremely proud of this strategy and delighted to visit these schemes from the perspective of the impact that this can have on children’s lives by way of their personal development.  The Leader also emphasised the moral obligation the authority has in respect of ensuring a better outcome for the lives of our looked after children. Both the Leader and Deputy Leader look forward to revisiting the homes on completion of the refurbishment.

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In summary the report asked Cabinet to:

•           approve the additions to the Capital Programme requested in the report (Appendix A);

•           approve slippage of £27.5 million noting the re-profiling of the programme this gives rise to;

•           note the available remaining capital resources (‘headroom’) until 2022/23;

•           note the capital expenditure forecast position as at July 2020;

•           note the balance of and approve the allocation of in-year capital receipts.

Decision:

Cabinet voted and unanimously agreed the report.