Agenda item

Agenda item

Capital Programme update

Report of the Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer attached

Minutes:

The Executive considered a report of the Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer, which informed Members of requests to increase the capital programme, sought approval for those schemes that could be approved under authority delegated to the Executive and asked the Executive to recommend to Council proposals that required specific Council approval.

 

The proposals which did not require Council approval and only required Executive approval were those which were funded by the use of external resources, use of capital receipts, use of reserves below £10.0m, where the proposal could be funded from existing revenue budgets or where the use of borrowing on a spend to save basis was required.  The following proposals required Executive approval for changes to the City Council’s capital programme:-

 

·                     Growth and Development – Back of Ancoats Mobility Hub.  A capital budget virement of £3.739m was requested in 2023/24 from the Inflation Budget to address construction inflation costs.  £18.761m of grant funding had been received from Homes England for the construction of this innovative scheme that will provide sustainable mobility solutions and car parking to Ancoats Phase 3, thereby supporting the delivery of 1,500 new homes and accompanying jobs.  Despite a thorough design review and cost management process over recent months, the project cost had risen to £24.780m. This increase of £6.019m was driven primarily by construction inflation of 19.9% which totalled £3.739m.

 

The proposals which did not require Council approval and only required Executive approval were those which were funded by the use of external resources, use of capital receipts, use of reserves below £10.0m, where the proposal could be funded from existing revenue budgets or where the use of borrowing on a spend to save basis was required.  The following proposals required Executive approval for changes to the City Council’s capital programme:-

 

·                     ICT - Jadu Forms Migration.  A capital budget decrease of £0.179m was requested and approval of a corresponding transfer of £0.179m to the revenue budget, funded by Capital Fund, to upgrade the platform to the latest version to enable residents to continue to be able to use the Council’s website.

 

·                     ICT – Remote Access Solution.  A capital budget decrease of £0.095m was  requested and approval of a corresponding transfer of £0.095m to the revenue budget, funded by Capital Fund, to support a project for the replacement of Callsign, exploiting existing technologies, simplifying the user experience, and utilising existing licenses already procured as part of an enterprise agreement.

 

·                     Highways Services – Patching Defect Repairs Programme Additional Funding.  A capital budget increase of £0.552m in 2022/23 and £2.206m in 2023/24 was requested, funded by External Contribution, , to address the current funding pressure on the patching programme due to increasing construction and general inflation costs, but also to continue to reduce the backlog of defects and therefore, limiting the Council’s exposure to highways claims.

 

The report highlighted that there had been increases to the programme totalling £0.309m as a result of delegated approvals since the previous report to the Executive on 19 October 2022.

 

Approval had also been given for the following capital budget virements:-

 

·                     £0.164m from the Parks Development Programme (PDP) to match fund an external contribution from the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA). This was a joint project between the Council / Manchester Active and the LTA. It was proposed that the existing tennis facilities located across the city would be upgraded, with a number of improvements being made.

 

If the recommendations in this report were approved the General Fund capital budget would increase by £2.484m across financial years.  This would also result in an increase in the prudential indicator for Capital Expenditure in corresponding years.  Monitoring of all prudential indicators was included within the Capital Monitoring Report during the year.

 

Decisions

 

The Executive:-

 

(1)       Recommend that the Council approve the following changes to Manchester City Council’s capital programme:

 

·                Growth and Development - Back of Ancoats Mobility Hub. A capital budget virement of £3.739m from the Inflation Budget.

 

(2)       Approve the following changes to the Council’s capital programme:

 

·                ICT - Jadu Forms Migration. A capital budget decrease of £0.179m and approval of a corresponding transfer of £0.179m to the revenue budget, funded by Capital Fund.

 

·                ICT – Remote Access Solution. A capital budget decrease of £0.095m and approval of a corresponding transfer of £0.095m to the revenue budget, funded by Capital Fund.

 

·                Highways Services – Patching Defect Repairs Programme Additional Funding. A capital budget increase of £2.758m funded by External Contribution

 

(3)       Note the increases to the programme of £0.309m as a result of delegated approvals.

 

(4)       Note the virements in the programme of £0.164m as a result of virements from approved budgets

Supporting documents: