Meeting Details

Revolving Investment Fund Committee
1 Feb 2016 - 18:00 to 20:00
Occurred
  • Documents
  • Attendance
  • Visitors
  • Declarations of Interests

Documents

Agenda

Part A
1 Welcome and Announcements

a)     The Chairman to welcome members of the public and Councillors and to remind all speakers of the requirement for microphones to be used at all times.

(b)     At the Chairman's discretion, to announce information on:

  • action in the event of an emergency;
  • mobile phones switched to silent;
  • the audio-recording of meetings;
  • location of toilets;
  • introduction of members of the meeting.
2 Substitutions

Members may arrange for a substitute councillor to attend a meeting on their behalf, subject to prior notice being given. The attendance of substitute councillors must be recorded.

3 Urgent Items

To announce any items not on the agenda which the Chairman has agreed to consider because they are urgent, to give reasons for the urgency and to indicate where in the order of business the item will be considered.

4 Declarations of Interest

The Chairman to invite Councillors to declare individually any interests they may have in the items on the agenda. Councillors should consult Meetings General Procedure Rule 7 for full guidance on the registration and declaration of interests. However Councillors may wish to note the following:- 

  • Where a Councillor has a disclosable pecuniary interest, other pecuniary interest or a non-pecuniary interest in any business of the authority and he/she is present at a meeting of the authority at which the business is considered, the Councillor must disclose to that meeting the existence and nature of that interest, whether or not such interest is registered on his/her register of Interests or if he/she has made a pending notification.  
     
  • If a Councillor has a disclosable pecuniary interest in a matter being considered at a meeting, he/she must not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter at the meeting. The Councillor must withdraw from the room where the meeting is being held unless he/she has received a dispensation from the Monitoring Officer.
     
  • Where a Councillor has another pecuniary interest in a matter being considered at a meeting and where the interest is one which a member of the public with knowledge of the relevant facts would reasonably regard as so significant that it is likely to prejudice the Councillor’s judgement of the public interest, the Councillor must disclose the existence and nature of the interest and withdraw from the room where the meeting is being held unless he/she has received a dispensation from the Monitoring Officer.
     
  • Failure to comply with the arrangements regarding disclosable pecuniary interests without reasonable excuse is a criminal offence, with a penalty of up to £5,000 and disqualification from office for up to 5 years.
5 Have Your Say!
a) The Chairman to invite members of the public to indicate if they wish to speak or present a petition at this meeting – either on an item on the agenda or on a general matter relating to the terms of reference of the Committee/Panel not on this agenda. You should indicate your wish to speak at this point if your name has not been noted by Council staff.

(b) The Chairman to invite contributions from members of the public who wish to Have Your Say! on a general matter relating to the terms of reference of the Committee/Panel not on this agenda.
6 Minutes
To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 11 November 2016.
28
RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 11 November 2015 be confirmed as a correct record.
pdf 11-11-15 (173Kb)
See report by he Head of Commercial Services and the Assistant Chief Executive
29
The Head of Commercial Services submitted a report a copy of which had been circulated to each Member.  

Howard Davies, Regeneration Programme Manager, presented the report to the Committee.  Feasibility work on the site had been undertaken by a local architectural practice, Purcell, and they had brought forward proposals for a commercial/retail use on the ground floor and seven residential flats over all three floors. The proposed development would retain the key character of the building.  Although the plans included a three storey rear extension, the front elevation would remain as existing.  It would contribute to the regeneration of this part of the town centre.  It would also generate an income stream for the Council and create additional residential provision in the town centre.  

Members of the Committee expressed their support for the development which would be an investment in the future of the town centre and would create an income stream for the Council. The Committee expressed their disappointment at some of the press coverage of the development.   In response to questions from the Committee it was explained that Purcell had been appointed through an open tender process and had been selected both on cost and quality criteria. The expenditure on the feasibility study could be broken down approximately as follows:-



£19,000 Purcell design fees;
£1350 Quantity Surveyor costs
£4000 Materials Survey costs
£2000 Structural Survey costs

The proportion of the overall project costs that would be spent on architectural fees was in line with other projects. The Committee requested that officers work with the Council Communications team to follow up the press coverage and to clarify these issues.

Members of the Committee also requested further investigative work be done on VAT issues, looking at whether if the work was done by a company wholly owned by the Council, whether it would be exempt from VAT.  Members also asked if the residential units would be suitable to be classed as starter homes that could be included within the government discount scheme.   

RESOLVED that the contents of the report be noted and the formal decisions be taken following consideration of the report in part B of the agenda.

REASONS


The RIF was established to recycle capital receipts into projects that could deliver against a number of Council objectives. The RIF can be used to support wider economic growth targets and deliver infrastructure supporting regeneration but its principal function is to recycle capital funds from the sale of assets for investment into income producing opportunities which can in turn support provision of frontline Council services. This proposal delivers on a number of these objectives by, restoring a historic building in a key part of the town centre to deliver economic growth, creating new town centre living opportunities and providing a return through a robust investment case. 

Where the Council wishes to secure high levels of future income there is a need to carry out investment decisions in a more commercially focused way based on a clear business case. The Business case is attached to the report on Part B of the agenda.

ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS

The business case in Part B of this agenda outlines a number of ways in which the site can be redeveloped but the only alternative option to redevelopment is to leave the building in its existing state with the current temporary tenant on the ground floor and vacant space on the upper floors.  Given the age and general condition of the building it is not recommended that this option is pursued as costs of maintenance and repair will increase.  Furthermore this area is starting to benefit from increased inward investment and if the location improves then values will rise making redevelopment an attractive option.


8 Exclusion of the Public (Cabinet)
In accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 and in accordance with The Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012 to exclude the public, including the press, from the meeting so that any items containing exempt information (for example personal, financial or legal advice), in Part B of this agenda (printed on yellow paper) can be decided. (Exempt information is defined in Section 100I and Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972).
Publication and Call in Arrangements
Date Published 2 February 2016

 Date when decisions may be implemented (unless ‘called in’) 5pm 9 February 2016 NBAll decisions except urgent decisions and those recommended to Council may be subject to the Call-in Procedure.  

Requests for the scrutiny of relevant decisions by the Scrutiny Panel must be signed by at least ONE Councillor AND FOUR other Councillors to countersign the call-in form OR to indicate support by e-mail.  All such requests must be delivered to the Proper Officer by no later than 5pm on 9 February 2016
Part B
The following report contains exempt information (financial/business affairs of a particular person, including the authority holding the information) as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.

See report by the Head of Commercial Services and the Assistant Chief Executive
  1. redevelopment of 5-6 st nicholas st part b report
    • This report is not for publication by virtue of paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (financial / business affairs of a particular person, including the authority holding information).
  2. appendix a - business case
    • This report is not for publication by virtue of paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (financial / business affairs of a particular person, including the authority holding information).
  3. appendix b - financial appraisal
    • This report is not for publication by virtue of paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (financial / business affairs of a particular person, including the authority holding information).
30
The Committee resolved under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 and in accordance with the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements)(Meetings and Access to Information)(England) Regulations 2012 to exclude the public from the meeting for the following items as they involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.

This minute is not for publication by virtue of paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)).


The following report contains exempt information (financial/business affairs of a particular person, including the authority holding the information) as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.

See report by the Head of Commercial Services
  1. northern gateway development proposal - part B
    • This report is not for publication by virtue of paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (financial / business affairs of a particular person, including the authority holding information).
31
The Committee resolved under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 and in accordance with the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements)(Meetings and Access to Information)(England) Regulations 2012 to exclude the public from the meeting for the following items as they involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.

This minute is not for publication by virtue of paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)).

Additional Meeting Documents

  1. 01-02-16 not for publication extract
    • This report is not for publication by virtue of paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (financial / business affairs of a particular person, including the authority holding information).

Attendance

Name
No other member attendance information has been recorded for the meeting.
NameReason for Sending ApologySubstituted By
Councillor Bill Frame Councillor Paul Smith
NameReason for AbsenceSubstituted By
No absentee information has been recorded for the meeting.

Declarations of Interests

Member NameItem Ref.DetailsNature of DeclarationAction
No declarations of interest have been entered for this meeting.

Visitors

Councillor Havis attended in her capacity as Chairman of the Trading Board

Also in attendance: Councillor Jarvis