Issue - meetings

That the Committee supports the Asset Management Plan 2020-2026 so that it can be adopted as the principal document for managing the Council’s corporate property and land resource assets.

The Chief Officer (Housing and Assets) presented a report on the refreshed Corporate Asset Management Plan 2020-26 which set out the Council’s medium-term strategy for managing its assets and moving towards an optimal portfolio of assets.  The total value of Council assets, mainly land and property, were valued at £762m.  Over £7m had been generated from capital receipts over the past three years to invest into the Capital Programme.

Councillor Heesom shared his concerns about the extent to which capital and corporate assets were able to contribute to the revenue budget.  He welcomed the update and spoke about the potential for discussion with Group Leaders on the Asset Register.

In welcoming the report, Councillor Mullin spoke about the constructive approach taken to optimise the asset portfolio.

On Councillor Heesom’s point, the Chief Executive said that capital receipts did not directly impact on the Council Fund Revenue budget ‘gap’.  Although the total value of assets appeared significant, this included the entire public estate, for example schools and leisure centres, and future assumptions on capital receipts were modest.

In response to an earlier question from Councillor Heesom, the Chief Officer (Housing & Assets) explained that challenges in recruiting to the assets and valuation team had prompted a different approach to supplement resources with external specialist advisors.  In addition, a recruitment process was underway to fill a vacant senior post.

Councillor Johnson said that research on the changing demographics in smaller towns could form part of future discussion.

Councillor Banks welcomed the report as an integrated plan for future monitoring of the Council’s estate.

The recommendations in the report were moved by Councillor Cunningham and seconded by Councillor Williams.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee supports the Asset Management Plan 2020-2026 so that it can be adopted as the principal document for managing the Council’s corporate property and land resource assets.