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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Room C - Council Offices, Monkton Park, Chippenham, SN15 1ER. View directions

Contact: James Hazlewood  (Senior Democratic Services Officer)

Items
No. Item

59.

Apologies and Substitutions

Minutes:

Apologies for absence had been received from Committee Members Councillor John Thomson, and from Councillor John Noeken.  An apology for absence had also been received from Councillor Dick Tonge.

 

It was noted that Councillor Lionel Grundy was substituting for Councillor John Thomson, and Councillor John Brady was substituting for Councillor John Noeken.

 

60.

Minutes of the previous meeting

To confirm and sign as a correct record the minutes of the Cabinet (Capital Assets) Committee meeting held on 6 November 2012.

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

Resolved:

 

To approve as a correct record and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 6 November 2012.

 

61.

Leader's Announcements

Minutes:

The Leader noted that she had agreed to taken item 7 (Additional Land Required for School Provision in Tidworth) as the first substantive item, as Councillor Lionel Grundy had to leave early for a prior engagement.

 

62.

Declarations of interest

To receive any declarations of disclosable interests or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

 

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

 

63.

Additional Land Required for School Provision in Tidworth

To consider the attached report of the Corporate Director.

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Lionel Grundy, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, introduced the report which invited the Committee to consider the procurement of a primary school at North East Quadrant in Tidworth, including an opportunity to acquire additional land adjacent to the new school to facilitate future expansion.

 

It was noted that negotiation with Persimmon Homes was ongoing regarding a price for the acquisition of the land adjacent to the school site.

 

The Committee noted that population projections were set to rise for Tidworth, with the Army moving another regiment to the area by 2020.  In addition, it was noted that due to parents wanting to use primary schools that fed into the Wellington Academy, applications for primary school places in Tidworth were rising.

 

(Note: Councillor Mark Connolly, Member for the Tidworth Division, was unable to attend the meeting, but had expressed his support for the proposals, noting that the existing primary schools were already near capacity, and had built or were building additional classrooms.)

 

Resolved:

 

That Cabinet (Capital Assets Committee):

 

1.    Approves delivery of the proposed new school at Tidworth NEQ within a proposed budget of £3.5m and from within the already approved capital programme in accordance with the Council’s statutory obligation to provide sufficient school places; and

2.    Agrees to delegate authority to the Service Director for Business Services in consultation with the Service Director for Schools and Learning to commission and deliver the building project, including negotiation and completion of the required construction contract(s) and ancillary documentation in accordance with Part 11 of the Council’s Constitution (Contract Regulations); and

3.    Confirms their authority to proceed with the acquisition of land adjacent to the school site on NEQ in Tidworth and delegates the completion of necessary legal transactions to the Service Director Business Services in consultation with the Service Director for Schools and Learning.

 

Reasons for Decision

 

Delivery of a new school in Tidworth will enable the Council to meet its statutory duty to provide sufficient school places and will comply with the terms of the NEQ Section 106 agreement. Acquisition of additional land adjacent to the new school site will facilitate future expansion of the school as expected to be necessary by 2018.

 

64.

Capital Monitoring

To consider the attached report of the Chief Financial Officer.

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

Councillor John Brady, Cabinet Member for Finance, Performance and Risk, introduce the report which reflected the position of the 2012/2013 Capital Programme as at 30 November 2012, and which detailed changes to the budget made since the previous monitoring reports.

 

Resolved:

 

That the Cabinet (Capital Assets Committee):

 

1.    Notes the budget movements undertaken to the capital programme in Appendix A, including reprogramming of expenditure of £18.025 million into 2013/2014.

2.    Notes total budget increases of £0.389 million as shown in Appendix B.

3.    Notes the current spend against the budget to date in Appendix A.

 

Reasons for Decision

 

To inform Cabinet (Capital Assets) Committee of the current position of the 2012/2013 capital programme and highlight changes and note budget reprogramming into 2013/2014.

 

65.

Additional Capital Grants 2012/13

To consider the attached report of the Chief Financial Officer.

 

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

Councillor John Brady, Cabinet Member for Finance, Performance and Risk, introduce the report which recommended the treatment of additional unringfenced grants recently received from Central Government in 2 areas.

 

During debate, it was noted that, although option 2 would reduce borrowing, and therefore generate direct revenue savings, option 1 would see allow capital programmes to be expanded with this unexpected windfall, and would also generate indirect savings, for example reducing reliance on services by increasing the overall capital spend on Disabled Facilities Grant.

 

Resolved:

 

That the Cabinet (Capital Assets Committee) approve the unringfenced funding be spent in the areas earmarked by government departments and increase the budgets accordingly (Option A as set out in the report)

 

Reasons for Decision

 

Additional unringfenced grants have been received that could be allocated to new projects or be utilised on existing schemes.

 

66.

Trowbridge Town Hall

To consider the attached report of the Corporate Director.

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Toby Sturgis, Cabinet Member Waste, Property Environment and Development Control Services, introduced the report which provided an update on developing plans by the recently formed Trowbridge Town Hall Trust for the transfer of the Trowbridge Town Hall to them under the Council’s Community Asset Transfer policy.

 

The Leader also welcomed Tracy Sullivan and Councillor John Knight who were attending on behalf of the Trowbridge Town Hall Trust. 

 

In relation to Paragraph 10 of the report, the Committee requested that officers maintain a flexible approach and to review the situation again at the end of 2013, rather than using this as a fixed deadline.

 

The Committee noted the update report.

 

67.

Urgent items - Department for Transport Invitation to Bid for "Local Pinch Point Fund"

Any other items of business that the Leader agrees to consider as a matter of urgency.

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The Leader noted that a late information report had been circulated, which she had agreed to accept due to the need for Cabinet to be briefed on the matter before the subsequent meeting.

 

The Corporate Director (Resources) introduced the report on behalf the Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport.

 

As part of the 2012 Autumn Statement the Government announced the creation of a Local Pinch Point Fund worth £170 million to remove bottlenecks on the local highway network which were impeding growth. Bidding Guidance was issued on 3 January, and the deadline for bids to Department for Transport (DfT) was 21 February.

 

Having regard to the eligibility criteria, it was considered that the dualling of the A350 north of Chippenham (between the Malmesbury Road roundabout and Jacksom’s Lane) would be a particularly strong candidate for Wiltshire.  This site causes demonstrable problems relating to the local economy and congestion, a scheme is both deliverable and affordable within the opportunity offered by the Fund, and the improvement does not require planning permission, and can be undertaken without land acquisition.  Furthermore, the Wiltshire Core Strategy is clear on the priority for improvement along the A350 corridor.

 

The Cabinet expressed support for the bid to proceed, and noted that the Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport would use delegated authority to endorse the bid for submission to DfT.  It was also noted that the bid submission stage did not constitute any financial commitment on the part of the Council.