Agenda item - Issues Raised by Members

To consider the following matters raised by Members:

 

(a)           Written Questions:

To consider any written questions

(b)      Written Questions from Members

 

25.1      A copy of the questions received was circulated ahead of the meeting. Responses provided are as follows.

 

(1)           Councillor McNair- Council Performance Update

 

“This drop in the percentage reflects a national trend. Locally, our current recycling sorting facility has limitations, there remains a high level of contamination of the recycling that we do collect, and this is exacerbated by our unique communal bin system. Labour values a clean city and we are working hard to get our rates up, and I’m going to run through two sets of activities, covering what we will do in the near future, and what we’re already doing

Changes in technology will allow lower-grade plastics to be recycled soon, and we plan to be ready for this in line with the new recycling requirements from the Environment Act. We’re also going to start collecting food waste. Both these changes should be happening by 2025/26”.

 

(2)           Councillor McNair- Council Performance Update

 

“We’re very keen on seeing improvements in this area.

While post pandemic recovery seems like a very distant memory for many of our services, the same can’t be said for the Housing Repairs & Maintenance service, but we're working in partnership with two contractors to complete the outstanding repairs, and remodeling the existing contractor framework , all of which should be completed by the end of this year”.

 

(3)           Councillor McNair- Council Performance Update

 

“Quite a few things is the short answer. A longer answer is that we've filled staff vacancies, and we have an active recovery plan in place to reduce arrears. 

The impact of the Department for Work and Pensions delays in paying Universal Credit on time continues to remain a challenge for income collection. This is beyond our control but we will be keen to take this up with our new Labour Secretary of State for Work & Pensions.?

Where we do have control, the Housing Income team are newly aligned with the Council’s Corporate Debt Policy on the training standard for debt collection.

And where we believe it’s necessary, we’re pursuing enforcement action through the courts. We prioritise early intervention before getting to this stage, but if any residents are unfortunate enough to receive a notice of enforcement, they have support during the notice period. 

A key element of the recovery plan is the further development of the rent management system to help categorise, prioritise and automate some of the casework, this is expected to go live this Winter”.?

(4)           Councillor McNair- Targeted Budget Management (TBM) 2024/25 Month 2 (May) and Council Productivity Plan Response

 

“The council’s Education, Finance and HR teams work closely with schools that are experiencing financial challenges to help them identify potential efficiencies and cost savings, including reviewing their staffing structures, buildings usage, and supplies and services costs. There is also a wealth of guidance and comparative information available to schools provided by both the council and DfE to help them review and improve their cost base. We are also utilising School Resource Management Advisors (appointed sector experts) who provide peer challenge to schools to help them identify ways to optimise the use of capital and revenue resources available to them. The learning from these reviews can help all schools.

In response to falling numbers of children in the city, there is also a wide range of work being undertaken across the school community to explore structural models of provision to improve the long-term financial sustainability of our schools while ensuring educational outcomes continue to improve. This includes possible federation of school clusters, reviewing Published Admission Numbers (PANs) and other possibilities.

Some schools have had more persistent deficits for differing reasons but the underlying issue remains falling roll numbers in most cases. This creates a year-on-year problem where, even though schools do find some savings, they find it hard to ‘keep ahead’ of the growing problem, which therefore becomes a cumulative financial challenge. This is further compounded by DSG grant settlements which government has not increased in line with inflation and, in particular, national pay awards”.

 

(5)           Councillor Meadows- Estate Management

 

“The question doesn't make a lot of sense, given it refers to “the land”, but doesn’t state which site. I assume it refers to Patcham Court Farm.

The proposed development by Royal Mail will be subject to a planning application that will go to planning committee.

Costs associated with the site would be part of any transaction – and would be born by the party buying the land (not the council), and therefore considered as part of price offered”.

 

(6)           Councillor Meadows- Estate Management

 

“As above, any development of this site would be subject to a planning application, which is determined by the planning committee. Protection of the aquifer would form part of the planning process that would need to ensure the aquifer is protected through mitigating drainage proposals and solutions. This is essentially why planning process exists – to determine what developments are appropriate in which areas”.

 

(7)           Councillor Shanks- Targeted Budget Management (TBM) 2024/25 Month 2 (May) and Council Productivity Plan Response

 

The Council did an independent review of our in house respite provision Drove Road and Tudor House for children with complex needs. The review's purpose was to explore whether we could use Tudor House as a full-time residential home to bring children and young people currently residing outside the city back home. To do this, we needed to expand the use of Drove Road to accommodate all those children and young people currently accessing Tudor House, so that no families lost their short breaks. We had also intended to expand the use of Drove Road once the full-time residents transitioned to longer term placements so that we could provide more short breaks for those families who currently don’t have access to this support. 

The £504k saving would have been generated by bringing children back because it costs less for us to provide them with the support they need in-house. 

However, the outcome of the report confirmed that Tudor House would not be suitable to accommodate the profile of need for the children and young people we need to bring back and Drove Road would need extensive building work to meet the legal requirements to make the building suitable for children and young people who are wheelchair dependent.

This meant we could not use Drove Road for those children and young people who may be displaced by Tudor House becoming residential home.  

Therefore, we have taken the decision, to consider other sites for the full-time residential provision as per the recommendations in the report. We have now identified a suitable property that is owned by the Council and have been successful in securing capital funding from the Regional Care Co-operative capital bid programme. Work is now progressing and further information will be shared once we are in a position to do so.  

 

 

(8)           Councillor Sykes- King Alfred Leisure Centre Regeneration Project

 

“To develop the business case we engaged specialist consultants who have developed many Green-book businesses cases that have successfully secure grant funding for many local authorities. The project’s team also includes officers who have developed Green Book business cases for local authorities that have successfully secured millions of £ pounds of funding from the Town Deal, Local Growth Fund, and Housing Infrastructure Fund. I am therefore content that the approach used was rigorous, thorough, and compliant with HM Treasury requirements. Particular attention was given by the consultants to ensuring that the business case would be best oriented to securing any potential future government grant funding. 

The business case includes detailed analysis of costs and the value of the social benefits (nominal and Net Present Value) which have been summarised for brevity in section 4 of the paper. To briefly respond to some of the councillor’s specific points:

 

Table 1 is taken from the economic case and shows the value of the costs and benefits in net present value (NPV) terms. These NPV figures have been converted from the nominal figures in the financial case by (i) stripping out background inflation, (ii) adjusting for optimism bias, and (iii) discounting for present values. The economic benefits shown in the table are made up of the social benefits and land value uplift as set out in paragraph 4.3.

The Green Book recommends an optimism bias of between 2% and 24% for standard buildings. For this business case, a value at the higher end of that range (20%) was chosen as construction contracts are not yet in place. 

Quantity surveyors (Stace) were engaged during the production of the business case and provided detailed cost estimates for each delivery option on which the capital build costs a are based. The revenue estimates have been calculated based on well-framed assumptions about the future levels of use and running costs for the facility, as advised by our specialist consultants Continuum Sport and Leisure.

Tables 2 and 3 are taken from the financial case, and these therefore use nominal figures rather than the NPV values used in the economic case and in table 1.

The critical success factors of strategic fit, value for money, supplier capacity, affordability and achievability have all been considered in forming the decision on the preferred option. 

The detailed business case has been shared with cabinet members but due to reasons of commercial sensitivity has not been shared more widely”.

 

(9)           Councillor Sykes- King Alfred Leisure Centre Regeneration Project

 

“The paper (paragraph 9.1) indicates that the new facility will be designed to BREEAM ‘very good’ or ‘excellent’ standards. Where possible, it will embody principles of Passivhaus construction. Officers have been examining best practice examples of new sports and leisure centres such as the new facilities at Spelthorne, Winchester, and the Ravelin Sports Centre at the University of Portsmouth. When we come to appoint the design team for the next stage of the project we will ensure that they understand sustainability is a key priority for us.

One of the key objectives for the new facility is to create a modern, energy efficient, sustainable leisure centre. The new facility will enable us to reduce running costs, and will reflect the council’s commitment to the climate emergency and improving environmental sustainability.

Outline benchmarking work undertaken by architects Faulkner Brown has shown that a new facility on either site will deliver lower whole life carbon emissions than a refurbished facility and much lower than the current facility. More detailed work will be done as we progress into the design stages of the project, which will include a transport plan as well as a more detailed examination of whole life carbon”.

 

(10)        Councillor Sykes- Targeted Budget Management (TBM) 2024/25 Month 2 (May) and Council Productivity Plan Response

 

“The increased cost may mean that reductions in other services are ultimately required, however, the council will always first explore options to improve economy and efficiency or generate funding or income to balance its budget. This comes down to priorities; the city needs a high-quality leisure centre that will serve the city for decades”. 

 

(11)        Councillor Davis- King Alfred Leisure Centre Regeneration Project

 

“HM Treasury guidance is clear that any Benefit Cost Ratio greater than ‘1.0’ is acceptable. With that in mind, either of the options modelled at the current site have the potential to secure grant funding.

Whilst the BCR is a key piece of information in making an investment decision, it is not the only element. Central government departments and their executive agencies take into account other salient factors in making their investment decisions, as do we. 

In this case, we have highlighted a number of factors in paragraph 4.7 of the paper that were considered alongside the BCR – planning matters, legal constraints, loss of green space, and the responses to public engagement. 

In awarding grant funding, government departments and their executive agencies recognise that other relevant factors mean that the option with the highest BCR does not always represent the best decision for the local community”.

 

(12)        Councillor Shanks- Council Performance Update

 

“I always think it’s worth looking at national averages to gauge where we are – and nationally, the average is 92%. Currently we’re at 87% occupancy – and this is an improvement from the 82% vacancy rate we had in May. But we can do better. 

We’ve looked at what has slowed down lettings in the post Covid period. The main problem has been re-enabling site reps to let plots, which was severely restricted by our interpretation of GDPR regulations. We have reviewed this and will be encouraging site reps to undertake training, allowing us to share waiting list information with them, and improving the turnaround time for the letting process. In addition, we have sped up clearance of vacant plots.?

It’s hoped that within a year, this will mean we’ll reach at least the national average, if not performing much better”.

 

(13)        Councillor Hill- An Economic Plan for Brighton & Hove

 

“The Economic Plan is focused on developing a new economy and adapting our approach. 

To support the delivery of the city’s ambitions, an initial 12-month Action Plan has been developed that sets out measurable actions to commence our journey. This first year’s action plan is set out in Appendix 2 to the Cabinet report.

This initial programme of activities will support the development of future interventions that will be designed to support key aspects of the city’s economy, facilitating greater engagement and involvement which will help to build community wealth across the city”.