Agenda item

[To receive a report on Land and Property Disposal Policy].

The Deputy Director of Assets stated that the purpose of the report was to bring to Scrutiny information on how Council owned land and properties were disposed of, which included those capital receipts over £10,000, across the 2022 – 2023 financial year. This was to show they were compliant with the Council’s constitution and the Local Government Act 1972 when disposing of assets. The plan was to deal with properties that were no longer required by the Council for service delivery, the plan would be reviewed in 2024 as the current plan was to end in 2023. Once a site had been recognised as surplus to requirements, an internal service consultation was done, followed by a ward Councillor consultation. If it was decided an item was to be sold off, this would be taken to Cabinet Resources Panel if it was over £250,000. If the item was under the amount it would be taken through an Individual Executive Decision Notice (IEDN) process. Everything was documented and brought to Cabinet so that the team were transparent in how they planned to dispose of an item. 2022 – 2023, 8 properties were sold, generating £500,000 and Housing Revenue Account profit of £278,000. All assets were sold in accordance with the Local Government Act 1972. Further information on the assets were displayed in the appendices (a copy is attached to the signed minutes). Scrutiny was asked to observe and agree on the documentation and useage of the assets. The Deputy Director of Assets also stated that Scrutiny would get to see the planned changes for the 2024 – 2029 policy plan in the future.

A Panel member stated that they felt the £250,000 threshold was too high and that assets under the price should still be looked at to the same level as those over £250,000. The Councillor requested future strategy reports to show what wards the items sold were in. He also stated that he believed it should be shown if the Council initiated a sale or if it was because a private investor made an offer. He also asked if income made from asset sales was to be used specifically on the area from which the asset was sold, or was the money absorbed into the general Council budget. He felt the money made from the sale of an asset should be put back into the area from which it was sold.

The Director of Assets said she would take the threshold comment back to her team to discuss. She said she would reissue appendices to include the ward information, as well as whether the Council decided to sell it as an initiative or if it was in response to a private offer.  She stated that the money from sales was absorbed into the central Council finance system.

The Vice Chair stated that the reports showed the price of the sale of the assets, but not what they were valued at. He felt it would improve transparency and Scrutiny if the value of the assets was also shown along side sale price.

The Director of Assets said they could provide this information in future reports.