Agenda item

[Julia Nock (Deputy Director of Assets) to present the report].

The Chair invited Julia Nock, Deputy Director Assets, to present the report.

The Deputy Director Assets advised the panel the presentation would give an update on the Relighting Our Council Assets workstream that was presented to the panel in 2021. The presentation would also give an update on asset review and the criteria used to undertake the review, the future of the retained estate and the workplace strategy and community benefits.

The Deputy Director Assets advised the panel about the way the Council uses its buildings and land has changed over the last few years and will continue to do so. The Deputy Director Assets advised the panel that the Council owns 1900 land and building assets, and details of the assets are available to view on the Council website. The list is updated regularly to take account of any new disposals, purchases or new builds of assets.

Deputy Director Assets briefed the panel about the criteria used for asset reviews and explained that at the end of the review the following four options would be considered when deciding the future of an individual asset, retention (including investment), community asset transfer, disposal, and commercialisation.

The Deputy Director Assets gave examples of outcomes and successes of the recent asset reviews that have been delivered to date.

The Deputy Director Assets advised the panel that the disposal programme had achieved £4.2 million in 2020-2021 and £2.4million in 2021-2022. The estimated capital receipts for 2022-2023 is £1.4 million.

The Deputy Director Assets briefed the panel on the work being done to continue finding further opportunities for efficiency, rationalisation and repurposing of the wider estate to achieve the desired outcomes as detailed in the strategy. A dashboard is being developed to capture the accrued financial benefits and will include the contribution to the housing and job creation agendas.  The Deputy Director Assets advised that a review is planned of the Council’s commercial portfolio to consider options to either invest or disinvest to ensure that income is maximised. The Deputy Director commented on her future priorities to achieve consistent management of the retained estate. The Strategic Asset Plan 2018-2023 will be reviewed and refreshed to include an updated Action Plan for 2022-2023. The Deputy Director Assets agreed to bring the update to a future meeting.

The Deputy Director Assets briefed the panel on the future of the retained estate to ensure the portfolio remain sustainable and flexible and meets the current and future needs of the City. The Deputy Director Assets highlighted the need to generate capital receipts to support the Council's medium term financial strategy.

The Deputy Director Assets briefed the panel on the community benefits of the strategy and highlighted progress in three specific areas. A new Community Asset Transfer Strategy was developed and adopted in 2020.

The Deputy Director Assets commented that community asset transfers support community empowerment by ensuring that land, buildings, or services are retained or transformed can continue to benefit the public and help communities and local leaders to improve the local area. The Deputy Director Assets added that with the appropriate level of support community led initiatives can achieve better outcomes for example, community organisations have access to funding not necessarily available to the Council.

The Deputy Director Assets briefed the panel about the recently completed asset transfers schemes, for example, Compton Youth Centre and the Scotlands Adventure Playground. The Deputy Director Assets briefed the panel about future community redevelopments and highlighted the proposals for the Lower Bradley Community which will involve the building of a new GP practice health and community centre. The plan was approved by Cabinet Resources in December 2021.

The Deputy Director Assets briefed the panel about the progress of other schemes which are being currently developed with local community organisations.

The Deputy Director Assets commented on the workplace strategy which details how to get the best from people, technology, place, and the links to the Council objectives. The workplace strategy will lead to improved effectiveness and efficiencies in the workplace. The Deputy Director Assets listed the benefits of the workplace strategy.

The Deputy Director Assets gave an overall summary of the key points of the presentation, and the progress made to date. The panel were invited to comment and ask questions about the strategy.

The panel queried the implications for the assets strategy following the decision to relax national covid restrictions and the encouragement for employees to return to face-to-face work and the expected increase in footfall across the City. The panel queried how this change will be built into draft strategy.

The Deputy Director Assets replied that the service is engaging with individual service areas and explained that the management of the asset portfolio is not seen in isolation. The Deputy Director Assets added that consideration will be given to how customers and residents will access Council services, which will inform the asset review strategy.

The panel commented on the challenge in making best use of the Civic Centre and overall importance of the building in supporting the management and delivery of Council services. The panel queried if other public organisations were considering moving into the Civic Centre. The Deputy Director Assets replied that discussions are ongoing with other partners (including Health) who have expressed an interest in collaborating and co-locating with Council services (for example, the Civic Centre).

The Deputy Director of Assets added that the service is aware of being able to meet the Council’s accommodation needs first during these discussions and would bring any specific plans to the panel for consideration.

The panel commented on the success of the community asset transfer of Scotlands Adventure Playground to the Big Venture and the positive impact that it has had on the local community.

The panel suggested that the site should be visited to see an example of a successful community transfer scheme and the difference it can make.

The panel queried how community asset transfers were funded, how funding arrangements may change in the future, and the role of the Council in supporting community groups. The Deputy Director Assets replied that the Council signposts community groups to potential funding opportunities and specific organisations that can provide support to developing ideas for the asset, the example, the work done with Big Venture in helping the organisation to adapt the building was highlighted. The Council also provide ongoing support to organisations after a transfer has been completed. The level of support offered will vary according to the needs of the community organisation.

The panel queried the key challenges to the strategy in terms of plans for the disposal and retention of assets in the next few years.

The Deputy Director Assets replied that the biggest challenge is regarding the issue of sustainability and energy efficiency and added that it can be challenging to retro fit buildings to make them fully energy efficient. A further challenge is continuing to review the use of buildings to decide if they are in the right locations and meeting the needs of residents. The Deputy Director Assets commented that in some situations the Council will consider building new facilities as part of wider plans to rationalise the current property portfolio, which may no longer be fit for purpose. The Deputy Director Assets highlighted the challenge of making the portfolio sustainable in terms of energy use but also in terms of future investment.

The panel thanked the presenter for the report and welcomed the progress.

Resolved:

The panel agreed to note the report.