Agenda item

Report by Dr Carlton Brand, Corporate Director

Councillor Dick Tonge, Cabinet Member for Finance, presented a report which sought approval of a final package of assets and services to be transferred to Salisbury City Council; provided detailed information in relation to the financial impact this would have on Wiltshire Council; and recommended the process and timescale for other potential asset and service transfers to parish and town councils.

Issues highlighted in the course of the presentation and discussion included: the number of services and properties to transfer; that some land tenure and ownership issues had proved intractable and costly to resolve, so the Council had agreed to agency agreements as an alternative to full transfer of ownership; the s106 monies to be transferred, and the restrictions placed on these; the ambitions of other towns, and how the Council had learnt from the experience thus far; the revenue implications to the Councils; the support that can be provided to Councils during the transfer; that the aim was for packages to be broadly cost neutral for both parties, and that this meant that assets and liabilities would be devolved.

Cllr Dick Tonge, in giving his presentation explained that the deal for Salisbury, particularly in relation to the funding of CCTV assets, may not be replicated in other towns. Cllr Tonge also made a minor amendment to recommendation (e).

Cllr John Thomson state, in response to a question from Cllr Bob Jones MBE, that discussions with Cricklade on the transfer of some assets were being dealt with separately and he was open to discussions about timescales.

The Leader, in response to a question from Cllr Jon Hubbard explained that she would be happy to arrange discussions about the funding of improvement works for land that had not yet transferred from the ownership of Wiltshire Council.

Cllr Richard Clewer stated that he welcomed the proposals and the opportunities it afforded the City Council.

Cllr Atiqul Hoque expressed his support for the proposals but was concerned at the time it was taking.

The Leader expressed concern that Salisbury City Council were not planning to consider the matter until July, which she felt was an undue delay; and emphasised that the decision on the Asset Transfer was not contingent on any decision regarding Community Governance Review of parish boundaries.

She asked that no more officer time be spent on this issue until a decision had been made by Salisbury City Council. Acknowledging that the Corporate Director had already written to the City Council’s clerk, the Leader stated that she would also write to Leader of the City Council to further emphasise these issues.

Resolved

1.    To approvethefinallistofassetsandserviceslistedthatwillbe transferredto SalisburyCity Council;

2.    To note thenet revenueimpact to the council;

3.    To approvetheservice transferbudgetprincipleof“tapering” tozero costover 4years;

4.    To delegatetheimplementationofthetransferofpropertiesandtheservice delegation to aCorporate Director following consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance;

5.    To usethework andmodelestablishedfor Salisburyforfurther transfers with indicative phasing as shown in on page 90 and 92 of the report.

Reason for Decision

Tocomplete thetransferofthepackageofassetsandservices toSalisburyCityCouncilandensureanagreedprocessisinplaceforotherassetandservices transfersto parish and town councils.