Agenda and minutes

All Members who believe they have a Disclosable Pecuniary or other Interest in any matter to be considered at the meeting must declare that interest and, having regard to the circumstances described in Section 9 and Appendix B of the Councillors’ Code of Conduct, leave the meeting while the matter is discussed.

No interests were declared.

Resolved –  That the minutes of the meeting held on 17^th October 2024 be approved as a correct record.

The Leader of the Council introduced a report that provided an update on Ground Rent Estates 5 (GRE5) and the current position and future programme of works at Nova House since approval of the business plan in February 2023 and the previous update in September 2023.

Since the previous report to the committee it was noted that good progress had been made in the remediation work to Nova House and the recovery of the costs that had been incurred by the Council to address the significant fire safety defects identified to the building.  The programme of works was progressing well although it had been extended slightly into January 2025 during which time the waking watch would still in place.  Members welcomed the fact that works were nearly completed and commented on the much improved quality of the building.

(Councillor Ahmed joined the meeting)

An overview was provided of the financial position.  Total expenditure was £33.7m, which was an increase from £30.6m previously reported due to the extension of the programme and identification of irrecoverable VAT.  Extensive work had taken place to recover the Council’s costs on the project.  A total of £30.9m had been recovered to date leaving a shortfall of over £2m.  The gap was mainly attributable to the unfunded waking watch costs and interest payable on the SBC loan.  Other action would being taken to maximise cost recovery.

The business plan for GRE5 between 2024/25 to 2027/28, as at Appendix A to the report, was summarised and discussed.  The aim of the company was to ensure Nova House met all fire and safety requirements so that tenants could safely live in the property.  The objectives included tenant safety, building condition, and service to tenants and leaseholders as well as priorities to protect the interests of the Council as the shareholder of the company, to maximise cost recovery and deliver an exit strategy over the lifetime of the business plan.  The Committee discussed a number of aspects of the report including the engagement with leaseholders and work to close the residual funding gap.

At the conclusion of the discussion, Lead Members noted the update and agreed to recommend approval of the business plan to Cabinet.

Resolved –

(a)  That the current position, including the latest estimate of the final financial exposure of Slough Borough Council (SBC) be noted.

Recommend to Cabinet –

(b)  That the GRE5 Business Plan appended at Appendix 1 for 2025/26 be approved and that the GRE5 Business Plan for the period from April 2026 to March 2028 be noted.

The Committee considered a report that set out the principles on which a full Asset Management Strategy would be created, which it was proposed would be implemented across the portfolio of General Fund property assets.

The Director of Property & Assets summarised the reset of the approach being taken and outlined the high level principles which were detailed in paragraph 2.5 of the report.  The report set out the background to the asset disposal programme since 2021 and explained the rationale for a revised approach.  It was highlighted that following an internal review the disposals forecast had been revised and was set to generate a net return of circa £27.4m in the financial years 2025/26 to 2026/27.

Following a review of the General Fund assets and how the estate was managed, it was recommended that a Corporate Landlord model be implemented within the Council. This would allow for future revenue savings to be driven from the estate, as well as ensuring that all operational buildings are in line with health and safety regulations and were compliant.  The Corporate Landlord model aligned with the introduction of the Target Operating model, to ensure that service departments were in the appropriate buildings in the right locations to deliver best-value services to residents.

This report also sought approval to establish the Council’s commitment to retaining Observatory House, The Curve and Britwell Centre for the foreseeable future, whilst feasibility studies were undertaken to ascertain how front-facing public services could be delivered from these buildings in future.  The Committee welcomed the diligent approach that had been taken to assess the best value for each asset and particularly commented on the retention of The Curve following significant local interest in the future use of the building.  In relation to the former Council offices at St Martins Place it was noted that the property had been empty since the Council moved to Observatory House in 2019.  Since then there had been a number of incidents of vandalism and security costs of circa £576k per annum were being incurred.   With a decision made to retain Observatory House, St Martins place would be surplus to requirements and the disposal process could be progressed.

The Committee welcomed the report and the extensive work undertaken to revise the approach to the asset disposal programme.  The importance of asset disposals to the Council’s financial recovery was recognised and it was essential to have a realistic strategy, noting some of the over optimistic assumptions in the original strategy in 2021.  Lead Members stated their commitment to maximise the value of assets agreed to be disposed of and to align the asset disposal programme with the future operating model of the Council.  It was therefore agreed that Observatory House, The Curve and Britwell be retained and that work take place to make the necessary adjustments to more public-facing access points.

Following a request to speak, Councillor Muvvala was invited to address the Committee.  He welcomed the retention of The Curve and stated that it demonstrated that Members were listening to the views of residents.  He stated that he hoped Langley library would be protected in future decisions on the disposal programme.  The Committee noted Councillor Muvvala’s comments.

At the conclusion of the discussion the recommendations were summarised and agreed.

Resolved –

(a)  That the revised high-level principles as set out within the report to establish a Asset Management Strategy be agreed.

(b)  That the introduction of the Corporate Landlord Model (Appendix A) be agreed.

(c)  That the revision in the disposals forecast following an internal review to cover the financial years 2025-2027 of General Fund assets, that was set to generate a net return of circa £27.4m, be noted and a full list of sites to be published at Cabinet in Q4 of Financial Year 2024/25.

(d)  That Observatory House, The Curve and Britwell Centre be retained for the foreseeable future, with consideration being given to making these key public-facing access points.

Recommended to Cabinet –

(e)  That the former civic offices at St Martins Place be confirmed as surplus to requirements and would be marketed for sale.

(f)  That delegated authority be given to the Executive Director of Regeneration, Housing & Environment, in consultation with the Lead Member for Finance, Council Assets and Transformation and the Executive Director of Finance and Commercial, to negotiate the terms of and enter into the contract and any associated documentation in connection with the disposal of the former civic offices at St Martins Place, subject to this demonstrating best consideration reasonably obtainable.

(g)  That authorisation be given to the procurement of a contractor to conduct an external assessment of the asset disposal programme and its feasibility and of a contractor(s) to commission feasibility studies for retained buildings for the purpose for making them suitable for public facing services.

It is recommended that the Press and Public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the item in Part 2 of the Agenda, as it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information relating to the financial and business affairs of any particular person (including the Authority holding the information) as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (amended).

All business was conducted in public during Part I of the meeting without disclosing any of the exempt information, therefore it was not necessary to exclude the press and public.

Resolved –  That the Part II appendix be noted.