Agenda item

That the Cabinet recommend to full Council that it approves the Capital Programme as set out in Appendix A to the report for 2022/23 to 2026/27.

The Cabinet discussed the proposed Capital Programme for 2022/23 to 2026/27.

The capital programme had been reduced by circa £90m to help reduce the borrowing requirement.  This had been achieved following a review of all the schemes and removing those that were unaffordable.  The Council had successfully secured external funding for a number of projects and these would continue and the Cabinet would seek to find future funding schemes for infrastructure projects where possible.  Lead Members emphasised the importance of effective procurement and project management to deliver the schemes that remained in the programme within their funding envelope.  The Director of Finance commented that the capitalisation request included provision in invest of the core services to effectively deliver projects including procurement.  The Cabinet also requested that equality implications be fully considered in the delivery of each project.

Councillor Smith addressed the Cabinet and expressed his opposition to the £4.7m capital expenditure on the Colnbrook park and ride scheme and raised concerns about the financial risks and apparent delay in completing the fire safety works at Nova House.  The Leader responded to the points raised by stated that the funding for the park and ride had been successfully secured from the Local Enterprise Partnership and would not therefore add to the Council’s borrowing and the project was part of delivering on the Council’s agreed strategy to promote sustainable transport.  In relation to Nova House the Leader referred Councillor Smith to the reports to Cabinet and Council in the summer of 2021.

At the conclusion of the discussion the Cabinet agreed to recommend the capital programme to full Council on 10^th March 2022.

Recommended – That the Cabinet recommend to full Council to approve the Capital Programme as set out in Appendix A to the report for 2022/23 to 2026/27.