To consider a report of the Corporate Director for Property and Assets. The committee have the opportunity to raise any comments which will be forwarded to Cabinet for their information.
Minutes:
The committee
received and considered a report of the Corporate Director of Property and
Assets which set out the approach and methodology to be used as the basis for
the review of the council’s assets and the basis for determining the future
shape and size of the estate. In
addition to the report, the committee received a presentation in order to
provide further detail on the key issues which included the impact of the
current situation with Covid-19 in this area.
The Chairman
highlighted to the committee that this report was in relation to the
methodology around the council’s asset management plan and did not go into
detail of specific assets held by the council.
The committee
considered the issues arising from the report and presentation and during
discussion, the following points were raised:
·
In
response to a question, the Corporate Director noted that local access was an
important element in the service strategy and that this needed to be reflected
in the council’s property portfolio. The
example of Children’s Services was provided where the service was looking for a
more local presence
·
A
recent review of leisure services and subsequent report to Cabinet included
work with the service to understand the best way to utilise assets in this area
·
Reference
was made to county farms which were a valuable, revenue generating asset for
the council. All assets would be
reviewed but as a general rule there would be a wish to continue where assets
were generating revenue
·
An
example was provided of a third party lease where there would be a choice as to
whether this was reviewed or exited and other elements which were driven by the
ability to vacate a premise. There was a
need to prioritise where the council could achieve the greatest value
·
The council’s
office estate would be included in the review
·
A point
was made that there needed to be a clear timetable for this work with targets
as to when reports would be made and decisions taken. The Corporate Director confirmed that there
needed to be a timeframe to be agreed by the appropriate portfolio holder and
Cabinet to move the work forward
·
A
discussion was held in respect of issues around school assets and academisation
·
The
link between the sale of assets and the council’s role as a planning authority
was considered. The Corporate Director
provided an overview of the number of ways that an asset could be disposed of
ranging from no consideration of planning issues, some level of planning
consideration through a pre-planning process through to a full planning process
in respect of an asset
·
In
response to a concern raised with regard to governance issues in this area, the
Corporate Director (Legal and Democratic Services) assured councillors that the
council had arrangements in place that were legally compliant and which
maintained a clear separation between the executive and planning functions
·
A point
was noted that reference to climate change/energy costs did not cover one off
costs of things such as demolition and rebuilding or changes such as how people
used accommodation, for example how far people travel to get to work. In response, the Corporate Director of
Property and Assets noted that agile working would form part of the work at
looking at buildings. Work would be
undertaken to understand viability issues around how buildings were maintained
·
A point
was made that it was essential to have timescales in place so that progress
could be monitored. In response it was
noted that there was still work to do in order to have an overall plan and
programme for the work
·
Options
around disposal of assets needed to be considered to take into account
financial issues such as revenue to the council but also wider council
objectives such as the provision of affordable housing
·
The
council needed to take a holistic approach when considering its estate and what
it was able to achieve in terms of both social and economic aims
·
A
question was raised in respect of the market for selling property and balancing
achieving the best value for the sale of an asset. In response, the Corporate Director noted
that the market could determine the value of an asset. The potential of each asset needed to be
considered as to whether it should be sold in order to achieve a one off
capital receipt or whether it should be repurposed in order to create greater
value and ongoing revenue
·
A
comment was made about the potential impact of the proposed planning white
paper in this area
·
Reference
was made to page 8 of the agenda and a comment that the council should be zero
carbon by no earlier than 2035 and the point made that the wording should
clarify that the council did not have to wait until this date in order to
achieve this
·
It was
noted that consideration of heritage assets would be subject to consultation
and that there would be a sensitive approach to dealing with these assets.
The Portfolio
Holder for Economic Growth, Assets and Property thanked the committee for their
interesting comments on this subject. He
reflected on the position in bringing together a large estate into Dorset Council
from the former councils and the work undertaken in order to restructure the
officer resources in order to ensure that there was capacity to drive this work
forward.
The Chairman summed
up the discussion held by the committee which included the key points made in
respect of county farms and the revenue generated by these, concerns expressed
over the need for clear timescales for this work, issues around academy leases,
associated planning issues, provision of affordable housing on sites and
disposal of assets and market values.
Comments made by the committee would be reported to Cabinet when they
considered the report on asset management at their meeting on 3 November 2020.
Decision
That the Place and
Resources Scrutiny Committee support the approach and methodology to be used as
the basis for the review of assets and the basis for determining the future
shape and size of the estate.
Supporting documents: