1. A-Z of Services
  2. A
  3. B
  4. C
  5. D
  6. E
  7. F
  8. G
  9. H
  10. I
  11. J
  12. K
  13. L
  14. M
  15. N
  16. O
  17. P
  18. Q
  19. R
  20. S
  21. T
  22. U
  23. V
  24. W
  25. X
  26. Y
  27. Z

Agenda item

Capital Budget Monitor and Additions

Minutes:

The Leader presented the report, which provided the capital monitoring position as at September 2021.

 

The Council set an extensive capital programme that reflected seven years commitments. Table one in the report showed how that changed over the financial year and how the Council’s capital commitments and spend in the city totalled £285m over the life of the programme, across all service areas.

 

The Council was also being asked to approve, as usual, new, or extended, capital projects to be added to the overall programme. Table two within the report detailed these new capital projects, which totalled £1.931m, and how each of the projects were funded.

 

Table three in the report showed the forecast position as at September 2021 which was the focus of this report. The current position showed a small, expected underspend of £216k and Appendix C within the report showed the details of this.

 

The table also highlighted that there was reprofiling undertaken since the last report totalling £6.550m. Details of where this reprofiling occurred was also contained within the report. However, when combining this and new additions/amendments to the programme, this still left a capital programme of £65.985m for 2021/22, which was extremely high, when compared with previous years. Further work on forecasting and reprofiling would continue throughout the remainder of the year to ensure that the capital programme reflected a more realistic timescale for the projects to be delivered and officers were asked to continuously review projects and update the project profile as schemes progressed.

 

In terms of monitoring spend, the report confirmed low spending of £16.465 million against a budget of £65.985m (25% to date). This pattern was not uncommon, as usually a lot of the cost was profiled for the last half of the year.  However, this brought with it the risk of slippage, hence the need for robust monitoring throughout the rest of the year.  In saying this, progress was being made on a number of projects, details of which were noted in the report.

 

The reported capital headroom (budget for which there was currently no committed expenditure), was £6.1m, which included £1.2m of unallocated Joint Venture monies. The demand for capital expenditure in Newport exceeded the level of resource and the Council needed to prioritise carefully where it would spend this capital resource accordingly

 

The report referenced a piece of work that the Leader requested in relation to the financial and delivery risks arising from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and Brexit. Whilst work in this regard continued, it was apparent that there was uncertainty within the construction industry at this time, with particular challenges being experienced in relation to the price of materials such as steel and wood, which were currently in high demand and short supply. Project and budget managers were requested to closely monitor the ongoing impact of this and manage their schemes robustly.

 

The report asked Cabinet to note and approve:

 

§  the changes to the programme which occurred since the position was last reported. This included approval of the new capital projects and amendments, which totalled £1.931m and £132k respectively.

§  the current available capital resources (‘headroom’) and prioritise future capital expenditure in order to maintain expenditure within the current affordability envelope.  

 

Comments from Cabinet Members:

 

Councillor Harvey, important services such as flying start and violence against women came under this budget.  There was a lot of services the council provided across the Newport, which residents might not be aware of and Councillor Harvey was pleased with the report and that the Council was still supplying and providing services to over 140,000 residents within Newport.

 

Councillor Cockeram, also referred to the cost of raw materials in terms of trade and the effect on the building projects within Newport, this may have caused delay in some works, however this was out of our control. The cost of wood and steel was on the increase but projects would continue to be delivered.

 

Councillor Jeavons referred to page 47and the City Services Grants.  Managers would have to work robustly work harder to get this in place by the end of the year. The reverse slippage against the new order of vehicles, which often took time to be in place.

 

Councillor Hughes mentioned the sheer scale of work carried out by the council in terms of supporting the environment and listed the many environmental projects within the city as well as the recent Environmental  award received, which was recognised nationally. The Cabinet Member also thanked officers for their contribution and hard work.

 

Decision:

 

That Cabinet:

 

1.      Approved the additions and amendments to the capital programme (Appendix A), including the use of reserves and capital receipts requested in the report

2.      Approved re-profiling of £6,550k into future years

3.      Noted the update on the remaining capital resources (‘headroom’) up to and including 2022/23

4.      Noted the capital expenditure forecast position as at September 2021

Supporting documents: