Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Stephen Peters.

Futurefit – Proposals for Change and Reform to Support the Medium Term Financial Plan: Commercial and Change and Communities – Samantha Morris declared an interest that her husband worked for Place Partnership Limited.

Members of the public wishing to take part should notify the Head of Legal and Democratic Services  in writing or by e-mail indicating the nature and content of their proposed participation no later than 9.00am on the working day before the meeting (in this case 14 November 2016).  Enquiries can be made through the telephone number/e-mail address below.

None.

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 28 September 2016 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Attending for this item were the Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Transformation and Commissioning, the Interim Director of Commercial and Change, the Managing Director and the Land Agent from the Place Partnership Limited.

At its meeting on 28 September 2016, the Panel received an update on the Property Asset Strategy. Following this update, the Panel identified that it would like to consider the Smallholding Strategy and also how the County Council's relationship with the Place Partnership Limited (PPL) was developing.

Smallholdings Strategy

During the introduction of the Smallholdings Strategy, the Panel were advised that a map was available for members to look at showing the location of the smallholdings in Worcestershire. The main points highlighted in the discussion were:

·       The Smallholdings Estate was predominantly purchased in the early 20th Century as part of a national policy to provide farming opportunities for new entrants, with the initiative predominantly taking off after the First World War, due to concerns over food security and a desire to provide a livelihood for returning soldiers. Some 10 years ago the Estate was 4255 acres, which included 247 acres of leased land, where the County Council was the tenant and then let the 247 acres on to farm tenants.  Since then, the 247 acres of leased land had been surrendered and some 960 acres of the Estate sold, generally to long standing tenants.

·       The County's average smallholding size was 37 acres, compared to the national average of 83 acres (as at March 2015). Gloucestershire County Council had an average of 64 acres and Warwickshire County Council's average was 101 acres. 71% of the County's holdings were less than 50 acres and with further increases in regulations and reduced opportunities to sell directly to the consumer, the more challenging the viability of these smaller holdings was becoming.

·       A fundamental principle of owning a Smallholdings Estate was to provide a tenant with the opportunity to progress from a starter unit to larger units. If the Council was to develop the Smallholding Estate, it would need to undergo significant changes, as opposed to its current more flexible and pragmatic approach of taking opportunities when they arose.

·       As of today, the County Council's Estate was approximately 3,048 acres (1,233 hectares) spread between 30 parishes within the County. This was an 8.7% reduction since June 2015, when the management goals of the Smallholdings Strategy were approved. There were 87 tenants occupying the Estate which ranged from bare land holdings of a couple of acres to fully equipped holdings.

·       The disposal strategy under the Better Use of Property Programme included disposals which maximised the approved management goals of the Smallholdings Estate and by the end of this Strategy up to 2020 the Smallholdings Estate would be reduced by a further 6.1%. 

·       The gross rental income of the current let Estate was about £287,829 with a capital value subject to the existing tenancies of approximately £34million. This gave a return on investment of about 0.85%, which was lower when taking into account  ...  view the full minutes text for item 188.

As part of the Council's development of the 2017/18 budget, the Cabinet Members with Responsibility for Localism and Communities, and Transformation and Commissioning, the Director of Commercial and Change and the Head of Community Services had been invited to discuss the budget challenges facing services in 2017/18 and how these are being addressed. All Panel Members had received a copy of the 17 November 2016 Report of Cabinet: Futurefit – Proposals for Change and Reform to Support the Medium Term Financial Plan.

Commercial and Change

A presentation was made to the Panel (Copies were circulated at the meeting).

During the Corporate Strategic Planning process 2016, a range of new initiatives were proposed, those applicable to Commercial and Change were:

·      Achieving Extra Savings from External Contracts

·      Better Use of Property: Integrating Public Sector Depots

·      Better Use of Property: Developing Extra Care and Supported Living for Young People and Adults

·      Better Use of Property: Further Property Savings

In addition, the Directorate would support, challenge and enable the other initiatives:

·      Income Generation

·      Children's Social Care Placements

·      Waste Management

·      Shaping the Market to Achieve Better Outcomes for Older People

·      Promoting Independence for People with Learning Disabilities

·      Improving Public Health

Communities

The Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Localism and Communities advised the Panel that no new concepts were being developed in respect of Communities.

During the opportunity for questions the following points were made:

·     Although there weren't any new proposals relating to Communities, the point was made that a number of schemes were maturing and were in the process of being delivered.

·     The idea of a Revolving Door Investment Fund was introduced within a previous budget cycle with the aim of increasing income generation through investment in cash generating assets around Worcestershire. The intention was to make use of income generated from existing 'seed' investments in rail stations, business parks and the Energy from Waste facility and recycle this into further economic development opportunities.

·     It was confirmed that copies of the Phase 3 Disposal list mentioned in Self-Sufficient Council: Better Use of Property (Property Savings) would be shared with Councillors when it was complete and that local members would automatically be notified of any disposals in their areas.

·     The point was made that the format of the information made available this year had changed, but it would have been helpful to have a reminder in the pack of information of what had been agreed in previous years so that comparisons could be made.

The Chairman advised the Panel that he had been invited to attend the Budget Scrutiny Task Group on 1 December 2016 to feed back the Panels comments on Futurefit – Proposals for Change and Reform to Support the Medium Term Financial Plan and would be grateful if Members could ensure that any comments that they would like submitted and raised at the discussion were sent to him by 23 November 2016.