Agenda item

The Director of Regeneration introduced the report and the proposed acquisition of a town centre site within the context of the Capital Strategy 2018/19 to 2023/24. Members were reminded that Cabinet agreed, at its meeting held on 29^th May 2018, to approve the acquisition of the freehold interest and recommended to full Council that the Capital Strategy be revised to reflect this. At an extraordinary meeting of Council held on 7^th June 2018 it was agreed that the Capital Programme be increased to reflect the purchase of the new Council headquarters in the town centre.

Local resident, Mr Iftikhar, had registered to speak and the Chairman invited him to address the Committee. Mr Iftikhar raised a number of concerns regrading the proposed acquisition, which included his view that the Council had breached the Nolan principles and acted below the standards expected of them in Public Life and that the proposed building acquisition was owned by a company with an offshore destination which meant that the company did not pay corporation tax. It was noted that no consultation had been carried out with the residents of the town and that the proposed purchase did not represent value for money.

Councillors Ali and Munawar addressed the Committee under Rule 30 and stated that the current premises had recently been refurbished which meant that they were now adequate for the Council’s needs. Members had a responsibility towards the residents of the Borough to ensure tax payers funds were being appropriately used and the decision to purchase this particular site had been a rushed decision; with feasible alternatives being discounted. Furthermore, there would be little or no parking at the town centre site for staff parking. The Director of Regeneration reminded the Committee that nine different town centre sites had been appraised and detailed in the information that had been considered by Cabinet and all due diligence had been carried out. Although the former Thames Valley University site had been assessed as part of the appraisals option, it was considered that purpose built  accommodation represented greater value for money. It was also highlighted that in March 2019, there would no longer be parking for staff at the Montem car park, when the site would be developed for housing.

Councillor Swindlehurst, prior to making submissions to the meeting, declared that in accordance with the Councillors of Code of Conduct, Paragraph 3.18 he would make representations and then withdraw from the meeting; given that Cabinet had recommended to Council to increase the Capital Strategy to allow the proposed acquisition to be made. The Committee were reminded that the Capital Strategy had been increased by £98m to allow for a number of strategic acquisitions to be made and that an independent valuation of the proposed purchase had verified that it was a sound investment.  Relocating the Council’s offices to the town centre would realise a number of benefits including  providing an immediate positive impact on the Town Centre’s daytime/evening economy by increasing footfall; releasing St Martins Place for conversion to a mix of social and affordable residential accommodation; delivering improved services to our customers via smarter, more flexible working and enhanced IT; and helping reduce traffic levels, air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions by procuring a more energy efficient headquarters building. It was anticipated that there would be limited parking at the town centre site but proposals would be put forward to incentivise council employees to consider non-car modes of travel to work and expanding the Council’s Electric Vehicle fleet.

(Councillor Swindlehurst left the meeting at 7.13pm)

In the ensuing discussion, Committee Members sought clarification regarding the timeline of when discussions began regarding relocating to the town centre. It was noted that talks initially took place in December 2017 and that the financial benefits that would be achieved could be discussed in Part 2 of the meeting. Councillor Sharif stated that no talks had taken place when he served as a Cabinet Member and that the whole process had been rushed through with extraordinary meetings of both Cabinet and Council being convened to consider the matter and that the focus should be as to what is the best for the residents of the town. 

Concern was expressed relating to the levels of borrowing and that the Council was close to the maximum amount of debt that the Authority could legally owe. The Director of Finance and Resources explained that the Council’s external Treasury Management Auditors had provided assurance that the Council could fund the extra borrowing. It was noted that funds would be sourced via short term borrowing as the interest rates were much lower than long term borrowing and more favourable than those available from the Public Works Loan Board. 

Members requested further details as to what measures would be implemented to address issues regarding staff parking and managing a reduction in the number of commuting journeys. The Committee were informed that Cabinet in October 2018 was due to receive a report outlining recommendations for the adoption of Fleet Challenge Measures, including timescale and costs associated with these measures and their benefits. A staff travel survey had also recently been conducted and it was agreed that details of this would be circulated to the Committee. 

Recommended to Cabinet –That Cabinet consider the provision of affordable housing within the context of the Capital Strategy 2018/19 to 2023/24.