Agenda item

To consider a report by the Harbour Masters.

The Harbour Masters presented a report setting out the year-end figures for 2019-20, the current position (as at end August 2020) and the predicted position of the Harbour Reserves for 2020-21 of the Harbour Revenue Budgets for Weymouth, Bridport and Lyme Regis Harbours.

 

Weymouth Harbour

 

The Weymouth Harbour Master stated that the budget outturn had been encouraging and highlighted the following points:-

 

·         a favourable variance in budget outturn due to a review of the Asset Management Plan works and the deferral of a number of 2019-20 projects as well as delays of some work affected due to the pandemic.

·         a review of premises rates assessments for buildings had been offset by water leaks identified on the peninsular during the past year due to old infrastructure

·         a reduction in debt payments owed to the Council

·         the predicted reserves would not cover the Asset Management Plan (AMP) in 2020-21 with the need to defer items once again.  Commitments made included the demolition of the ferry terminal building and the Weymouth Quayside Regeneration Project.

 

The Harbour Master confirmed that there were no safety risks resulting from deferral of items and that a survey of the Melwey since the last meeting had not been as bad as expected and fully met the safety requirements following an assessment in July 2020.

 

Members asked whether extending the life of an asset was a short-term fix that affected viability.

 

The Harbour Master explained that the AMP had been ongoing for 7 years with an original estimation by officers of how long assets would last.  Some deferrals had been made due to increased knowledge regarding lifespan rather than a short-term fix.

 

Further questions were asked by members in relation to utilising underspend for improved training for the Deputy Harbour Master, noting that the audit risk had been rated as medium and recognised that the Deputy Harbour Master should have increased delegations in future.

 

The Head of Environment and Wellbeing explained that plans were in place to look at staffing structures, part of which would look at the Assistant Harbour Master post and training requirements.  However, there were certain restrictions regarding the movement of monies from one harbour to another due to a legal requirement which required that income from individual harbours remained ringfenced within that harbour operation. 

 

Members asked why no reserve had been allocated for dredging Weymouth Harbour.

 

The Harbour Master responded that the harbour walls and dredging were capital projects that sat outside of operational funds.  There had been limited dredging at Weymouth over recent years and this was an ongoing issue going forward, particularly as many vessels were greater than 2 metres depth.

 

Councillor Louie O'Leary stated that residual funding should be invested in projects that were of direct benefit to customers such as providing electricity on the pontoons.  He also requested that harbour businesses were made aware when dredging took place to ensure that none were negatively impacted.

 

The Corporate Director for Place Services advised that dredging and funding of improvements would be developed through the Dorset Harbours Strategy with the financial implications considered by this Committee as part of the wider Dorset Council budget process.  Major capital works would be subject to a separate capital bid in competition with other bids for Dorset Council funds.

 

Bridport Harbour

 

The Bridport and Lyme Regis Harbour Master presented the report, highlighting an overspend on staffing that was due to the costs of seasonal staff and a harbour mechanic who provided income by undertaking boat repairs.

 

An overspend had been incurred due to dredging of the outer harbour that was usually funded by the Environment Agency.

 

Lyme Regis Harbour

 

The Harbour Master highlighted an overspend due to staffing and also the cost of unexpected repairs to the harbour's Telehandler JCB which was due to be replaced in 2021. 

 

Further to a question as to whether the Environment Agency was likely to fund dredging of the outer harbour at Bridport in future, members were informed that engineers were in early discussions with the Agency regarding funding of depositing the dredged material onto East Beach.

 

The need for a replacement plan for all harbour vehicles was highlighted and the Harbour Master advised that the JCB would be replaced in Bridport this year and Lyme Regis in the next financial years.

 

In response to a question regarding the staffing overspend despite a cost saving in a Harbour Master post, members were advised that

this had been due to a recent increase in hours of the mechanic that would be included in the budget going forward.  Additional seasonal staff had also been employed to cover vacant posts. The Lyme Regis Harbour Master position was currently under review. 

 

The Head of Environment and Wellbeing provided some context that budgets brought across from previous councils were not always satisfactory in terms of staffing and therefore needed to be investigated.  The car parks within the harbour estates should bring additional income into the harbour to mitigate the overspends.

 

Noted