Agenda item

Report of the Head of Finance

The Head of Finance presented the report to Members.  She drew attention to two amendments required at appendix b in relation to off street parking prior to consideration by Cabinet.  The first is the current budget figure in which should state £628,00 and secondly, officers would be looking further into the unspent budget provision to be carried forward into future financial years.

Councillor N J Rushton, as Corporate Portfolio Holder, spoke in support of the report.  He added that the capital programmes were something to be proud of and were only achievable due to the Council’s aspirations.

A discussion was had regarding the acquisition of sites in accordance with the new housing supply section as detailed in the table at appendix b.  Councillor S Sheahan asked for further clarification on the imbalances in relation to the acquisitions of sites and units.  As a result, the Head of Housing agreed to provide a further report to the Committee detailing the different funding streams and acquisitions being used to improve the housing stock.  He also agreed to provide a summary of the current cost of acquiring properties in the various ways in comparison to building them to Councillor S Sheahan prior to consideration of the item by Cabinet.

In response to a question from Councillor S Sheahan, the Head of Housing explained that due to the slow movement of the off street parking schemes in the district, the budget has been realigned and Members were assured that the funds allocated would not be lost but carried forward to the next financial year. 

The Head of Finance also assured Members that each underspend would be individually assessed to ensure it could be delivered.  She added that in some cases, schemes might not have a carry forward in one financial year but over five years.  In response to a question from Councillor D Bigby, the Head of Finance confirmed that the funds allocated for electric charging points would be carried forward.

The following responses were given to questions from Councillor D Bigby:

-     In relation to the failure of the Future High Street Fund Bid, the Corporate Portfolio Holder confirmed that he was still committed to the regeneration of Coalville and the funds allocated for this would remain.

-     The Corporate Portfolio Holder confirmed that he remained committed to reducing the Council’s carbon footprint and agreed that greener options should be considered as part of the fleet replacement programme.  However, he highlighted that the current vehicles available were not suitable for several reasons.  The Head of Housing concurred that there were challenges with electric fleet vehicles such as range time and load capacity which made it difficult to have a fully electric fleet, but technology was moving very quickly which helped.

-     The Corporate Portfolio Holder confirmed that the current plan was to pay the HRA debt off as scheduled but this was always subject to change.

-     In relation to the Green Homes Grant Scheme, the Head of Housing confirmed that the bid was submitted prior to Christmas and a response was expected by the end of January.  He explained that the decision was taken to submit a lower bid based on solid and reliable data to increase the success rate, there would be more opportunities to bid for further funding going forward. 

-     In relation to the wider green homes work, the Head of Housing reported that it was due to be completed by the target date and would form part of the new Asset Management Strategy being considered by Scrutiny later in the year.

It was moved by Councillor J Hoult, seconded by Councillor G Hoult and by affirmation of the meeting it was

RESOLVED THAT:

Comments made by the Committee be provided to Cabinet when it considers the report at its meeting on 2 February 2021.