Meeting Details

Revolving Investment Fund Committee
10 Aug 2016 - 18:00 to 21:00
Occurred
  • Documents
  • Attendance
  • Visitors
  • Declarations of Interests

Documents

Agenda

Part A
To appoint a Chairman of the Revolving Investment Fund Committee for the ensuing municipal year.
38
RESOLVED that Councillor Cory be appointed as Chairman for the 2016-17 municipal year.
To appoint a Deputy Chairman of the Revolving Investment Committee for the ensuing municipal year.
39
RESOLVED that Councillor T. Young be appointed as Deputy Chairman for the 2016-17 municipal year.  
3 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.
4 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.

5 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.

The Leader of the Council and the Chairman of the Cabinet has agreed that the following report "Purchase of Properties at Osborne Street, Vineyard street and Arthur street, Colchester" should be considered at this meeting of Revolving Investment Fund Committee as a matter of urgency. 

42
The Committee considered a report from the Head of Commercial Services about strategic land purchase of properties at Vineyard Street, Osborne Street and Arthur Street.  The Leader of the Council and Chairman of Cabinet had agreed that this item should be added to the agenda as an urgent item. The opportunity to purchase these properties had arisen at short notice and the Council had had to move quickly to take advantage of the opportunity.  He thanked Councillor Davies, Chairman of Scrutiny Panel, for agreeing that this item could be added to the agenda, notwithstanding that due to the need to proceed quickly the provisions of the Access to Information Regulations 2012 had not been met. 

Councillor Davies, Chairman of Scrutiny Panel, attended and with the consent of the Chairman addressed the Committee.  Whilst she had given her consent for the item to be considered, this did not mean that all her concerns about the decision had been allayed, and she was disappointed that a press statement had been issued before she had the opportunity to fully consider the issues.  To prevent a repetition, Councillor Davies suggested that the Chairman of the Scrutiny Panel should in future be consulted at the same time as the Chairman as Cabinet needed to take the role of Scrutiny Panel seriously and place its trust in the Chairman of the Panel. She also proposed that the Leader should meet with her to discuss how this could best be achieved.

Councillor Smith, Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Strategy, thanked Councillor Davies. He expressed his regret that there had been issues with the consultation process with Councillor Davies on this occasion due to the need to move quickly and confirmed that he was happy to meet with her.

RESOLVED that:-

(a) The confidential report on Part B of the agenda for the purchase of land and buildings at 8-13 Osborne Street, car park at Vineyard Street and 4 Arthur Street be noted.  

(b) The request in Part B of the agenda for delegated authority to the Strategic Director for Commercial and Place in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Culture and Regeneration to conclude the purchase within a set time period as required by the vendor.

REASONS

In a report to Cabinet on 17 March 2014 Cabinet agreed to set aside funds in the RIF to acquire land required for the development of the Vineyard Gate scheme.

Whilst negotiations are still ongoing to bring forward a scheme on the land, an opportunity has arisen to purchase land belonging to Caddick Developments as they now wish to dispose of their ownerships in Colchester.  The ability to secure a greater land holding in this area provides the Council with a stronger negotiating position in any future discussions but also gives it the ability to accelerate the process of delivery.

The vendor has indicated that they wish to complete any sale within 4 weeks of issue of legal document.

ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS


The Council could have decided not to purchase these sites, however, if they were purchased by a third party, who improved them, then this could result in a higher compulsory purchase price for the Council when redevelopment and full site assembly is required. 
 
6 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.
7 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.
8 Minutes
To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 8 March 2016.
41

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting n 8 March 2016 be confirmed as a correct record.

See report by the Head of Commercial Services
43
The Committee considered a report about a strategic land purchase of properties at Osbourne Street.  Howard Davies, Regeneration Project Manager, presented the report to the Committee and explained that the properties that were the subject of this report were in addition to the properties identified in the previous item. The properties had come up for auction in late July and therefore the Council had had to move quickly to purchase them.  They had been purchased at below the guide price and would add to the Council’s property holdings in the area.

Councillor Smith, Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Strategy, thanked officers for identifying the opportunity and moving quickly to secure the purchase of the properties.

RESOLVED

(a) The purchase of the two identified properties in Osborne Street which were purchased at auction on 27th July 2016, pursuant to the provisions of Cabinet Procedure Rule 22. (Matters of Urgency), be noted.

(b) Authority be delegated to the Strategic Director for Commercial and Place in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Regeneration to conclude the purchase within a set time period as required by the auction process.

REASONS

In a report to Cabinet on 17 March 2014 Cabinet agreed to set aside in the RIF up to £6million to acquire land required for the development of the Vineyard Gate scheme.

Whilst negotiations with the developer have still to be concluded, there was an immediate opportunity to acquire two key properties which are within the original land acquisition boundary.  The ability to secure a greater land holding in this area provides the Council with a stronger negotiating position in any future discussions.

The auction process provided the Council with the opportunity to acquire the properties at a price which is less than Compulsory Purchase Order values.

ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS

The Council could have decided not to bid for these sites, however, if they were purchased by a third party, who improved them, then this could result in a higher purchase price for the Council when redevelopment and site assembly comes forward.
 
See report by the Strategic Director, Commercial and Place
44

The Committee considered a report concerning the appointment of a network operator for the town centre fibre network.  Nigel Myers, Economic Development Manager, presented the report.  This would provide ultra-fast broadband in the town centre, which was a considerable improvement on superfast broadband.  It would put Colchester in the top 5 places in the country for connectivity.

RESOLVED that authority be delegated to the Strategic Director for Commercial and Place, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Resources, to select the most suitable and commercially viable bid from among companies responding to the tender for a fibre network operator, and to conclude the appointment of the successful bidder.

REASONS

To ensure that a network operator is appointed to run the Council’s newly completed fibre network in the Town Centre which provides the best possible commercial return on the asset and provides the opportunity for all town centre businesses to connect to ultrafast broadband.

To meet a proposed start date of 1st September 2016 for provision of the service.

ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS

The alternative would be to rely on other infrastructure providers to bring forward this exciting opportunity, which would be likely to take considerable time and would not necessarily offer the upload and download speeds possible through this project.  

 
11 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 11 August 2016

Date when decisions may be implemented (unless ‘called in’) 5pm 18 August 2016

NB All 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 18 August 2016

Election of Chairman for the meeting
40
RESOLVED that Councillor Smith be appointed as Chairman for the meeting.
Part B
To confirm as a correct record the not for publication extract of the minutes of the meeting on 6 March 2016.
  1. 08-03-16 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).
45
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.

RESOLVED that the not for publication extract from the minutes of the meeting held on 8 March 2016 be confirmed as a correct record. 
 
See report by the Head of Commercial Services
  1. Osborne street purchase - 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).
46
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)).
 
See Appendix to the report of the Strategic Director, Commercial and Place (to follow)
  1. Appendix
    • 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).
47
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 Leader of the Council and Chairman of Cabinet has agreed that the following report should be considered as a matter of urgency

 

See report by the Head of Commercial Services

  1. Purchase of properties - urgent - part b
    • This report is not for publication by virtue of paragraph 4 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (consultations / negotiations on labour relations matters).
  2. purchase of properties - draft heads of terms
    • 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).
48
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. 10-08-16 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 Mark Cory Councillor Dominic Graham
Councillor Annie Feltham  
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

Also in attendance: Councillors Barlow, Davies and D. Ellis