Decisions

1.    Approved the recommended action to implement on an experimental basis for a period of 18 months a One -Way movement restriction on Shaw Road, as shown on plan T4/4363 appended to this report.

2.    Authorised the Director of Governance to implement the relevant experimental traffic regulation order.

1.    Having considered the Draft SEND Strategy, approved public consultation on the document from 14 July to 21 September 2020.

Approved virements required to support the additional costs relating to Covid-19.

1.    Approved the Deed of Variation as described in this report, to enable the Lease for the site to be signed prior to the submission of a major bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund.

1.    Agreed the expenditure of the grant monies in line with the allocation set out in the Cabinet report.

2.    Approved the Council entering into agreement with Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit (CSU)to provide funds to enable the CSU to deliver the services set out in that agreement.

Approved the completion of the transactions listed below:

•        Whitesfield Playing Field, Cannock Road – Lease Renewal

•        Coniston Road, Land at West of Railway Line, Codsall – Disposal

•        Plots of land rear of 59, 75 and 77 Himley Crescent, Bilston – Minor Disposal

•        St Matthias School (former Deansfield High School) Deans Road, Eastfield  - Deed of Surrender former substation

•        Electrical Vehicle Infrastructure Scheme High Street, Temple Street, Pinfold Street, Woodhouse Fold - Car Chargers Wayleave Agreements

•        Wednesfield Community Hub / Library Hub, Well Lane – Internal tenancy at Library Room for LFFN server ICT purposes

1. Agreed to the provision of discretionary top-up for the case detailed in the report below at a total cost of £1686.00 subject to any additional unforeseen costs which may increase the amount of discretionary grant required.

2. Determined that the full amount of any discretionary grant becomes repayable if the ownership of the property is transferred by any means within 10 years of the completion of the grant aided works. A local land charge would be registered to reflect this condition.

To review the Housing Managing Agents Performance Monitoring Report - Quarter Four January to March 2020.

That the performance of Landlord Services, Homelessness Services and the Home Improvement Agency for quarter four 2019-2020 be noted.

To approve reserves, provisions and general balances for 2019-2020.

1.      That the transfers (to)/from earmarked reserves, provisions and general balances as detailed in tables 2, 3 and 4 to the report be approved.

2.      That the expenditure from provisions for their purposes as set out in Appendix 3 and 4 to the report be approved, up to the value held in each provision as at 31 March 2020.

3.      That the continuation of delegation of authority to the Cabinet Member for Resources, in consultation with the Director of Finance, to allocate funds from the Budget Contingency Reserve, the Regeneration Reserve, the Efficiency Reserve, the Transformation Reserve, the Development Reserve, the Regional Work Reserve, the Enterprise Zone Business Rates Reserve, the Business Rates Equalisation Reserve, the Treasury Management Equalisation Reserve, the Pension Deficit Recovery Reserve, the Budget Strategy Reserve, the Highways Management Reserve and Community Initiatives and Crowdfund Wolves Reserve be approved.

4.      That the delegation of authority to the Cabinet Member for Resources, in consultation with the Director of Finance, to allocate funds from the Recovery Reserve be approved.

5.      That the level of the Council’s earmarked reserves, provisions and general balances as at 31 March 2020 and the purposes for which they are being held, as detailed in Appendix 1, 2, 3 and 4 to the report be noted.

6.      That it be noted that the relevance and adequacy of earmarked reserves and general balances would be reviewed as required by the Constitution during the 2021-2022 budget setting process.

7.      That it be noted that the allocation of funding from all earmarked reserves would be reported to Cabinet (Resources) Panel in the scheduled quarterly budget monitoring reports.

8.      That it be noted that Our Council Scrutiny Panel would scrutinise the use of reserves as part of the budget setting process as in previous years.

9.      That it be noted that the Director of Finance considers that the overall level of all reserves, provisions and balances is sufficient to meet the likely level of obligations to be met from reserves, provisions and general balances in the short term.

10.   That it be noted that whilst the positive General Fund outturn position during 2019-2020, and the resulting adjustments to reserves, would  help to support the Council’s short term financial position, it does not address the challenging financial position that the Council finds itself in over the medium term; namely identifying further projected budget reductions which were estimated at £15.5 million in 2021-2022, rising to around £20 million over the medium term to 2023-2024 when reported to Full Council in March 2020.

11.   That it be noted that the Covid-19 pandemic has had a significant international, national and regional impact, and will continue to have, significant financial implications for the Council. Cabinet would be presented with a report in July 2020 which would provide more detail on the budget implications and the Medium Term Financial Strategy.

12.   That it be noted that the figures quoted in the report are still subject to statutory audit by Grant Thornton UK LLP as part of the 2019-2020 accounts closedown process.

To approve the Revenue Budget Outturn 2019-2020.

1.      That the write off of; three non-domestic rates totalling £21,739.16, one sundry debt totalling £6,239.45 and two council tax account totalling £12,186.24 as detailed in Appendices 4 to 6 respectively to the report be approved.

2.      That 11 virements totalling £3.9 million, for transfer within directorates, as detailed in Appendix 7 to the report be approved.

3.      That it be noted that the revenue outturn position for 2019-2020 for the General Fund; a net underspend of £2.0 million (-0.85%) was achieved against the net budget requirement of £234.9 million, after meeting the net cost of redundancy and pension strain and contributions to essential earmarked reserves. The underspend is due to a combination of budget efficiencies across a number of services; including holding posts vacant pending restructures, additional income generation, contingency budgets held for in-year pressures not being required in full, the early achievement of budget reduction targets and a lower number of employees enrolling into the pension scheme.  More information is detailed throughout the report.

4.      That it be noted that whilst the positive General Fund outturn position during 2019-2020, and the resulting adjustments to reserves, would  help to support the Council’s short term financial position, it does not address the challenging financial position that the Council finds itself in over the medium term; namely identifying further projected budget reductions which were estimated at £15.5 million in 2021-2022, rising to around £20 million over the medium term to 2023-2024 when reported to Full Council in March 2020. TheCovid-19 pandemic has had a significant international, national and regional impact, and will continue to have, significant financial implications for the Council.Cabinet would be presented with a report in July 2020 which would provide more detail on the budget implications and the Medium Term Financial Strategy.

5.      That it be noted that the General Fund outturn position takes into account a number of proposed transfers to and from reserves, provisions and balances for which approval is sought in the Reserves, Provisions and Balances 2019-2020 report to be presented at this meeting.

6.      That it be noted that schools which remain under the control of the City of Wolverhampton Council have contributed net £1.2 million of their reserves during 2019-2020 after adjusting for the balance attributable to academies, which takes the total accumulated reserves to £6.3 million at 31 March 2020.

7.      That it be noted that the Housing Revenue Account revenue outturn position for the year was a surplus before allocations of £19.9 million, compared to a budgeted surplus of £20.4 million.

8.      That the Collection Fund outturned with a £2.3 million deficit during 2019-2020; this resulted in an overall deficit of £1.5 million to be carried forward.

9.      That 26 non-domestic rates accounts totalling £233,707.28 have been approved for write off by the Director of Finance in accordance with the Council’s Financial Procedure Rules.

10.   That 759 council tax accounts totalling £158,727.36 have been approved for write off by the Director of Finance in accordance with the Council’s Financial Procedure Rules.

11.   That 37 sundry debt accounts totalling £50,969.14 have been approved for write off by the Director of Finance in accordance with the Council’s Financial Procedure Rules.

12.   That 31 housing benefit debt accounts totalling £14,004.24 have been approved for write off by the Director of Finance in accordance with the Council’s Financial Procedure Rules.

13.   That ten debts relating to Business Improvement District (BID) totalling £3,005.73, have been approved for write off by the Director of Finance in accordance with the Council’s Financial Procedure Rules.

To approve the Treasury Management - Annual Report 2019-2020 and Activity Monitoring Quarter One 2020-2021.

That Council be recommended to:

1.    Delegate authority to the Director of Finance to lower the minimum sovereign rating in the Annual Investment Strategy, in the event of the UK’s credit rating being downgraded by the two credit rating agencies, due to the unprecedented impact of Covid-19 on the economy.

That Council be asked to note:

1.    That the Council operated within the approved Prudential and Treasury Management Indicators, and also within the requirements set out in the Council’s approved Treasury Management Policy Statement during 2019-2020.

2.    That revenue underspends of £440,000 for the General Revenue Account and £273,000 for the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) were generated from treasury management activities in 2019-2020.

3.    That revenue underspends of £1.5 million for the General Revenue Account and £434,000 for the HRA are forecast from treasury management activities in 2020-2021.

4.    That due to receipt of grants from Central Government in response to Covid-19 the Council temporarily exceeded the limit of £10.0 million to be held in the Council’s bank account.  The temporary increase of the limit to £32.7 million was approved by the Director of Finance under the authority delegated by Council and was in place for the period 1 April 2020 to 9 April 2020.

To approve the capital budget outturn 2019-2020 including quarter one capital monitoring 2020-2021.

That Council be recommended to:

1.    Approve the revised medium term General Revenue Account capital programme of £380.8 million, an increase of £2.0 million from the previously approved programme, and the change in associated resources.

2.    Approve the revised Housing Revenue Account (HRA) capital programme of £462.2 million, a reduction of £20,000 from the previously approved programme, and the change in associated resources.

That Cabinet:

1. Approve the virements for the General Revenue Account capital programme detailed at Appendix 5 to the report for;

     i. Existing projects totalling £12.0 million;

     ii. New projects totalling £1.6 million.

2.    Approve the virements for the HRA capital programme detailed at Appendix 5 to the report for:

i.    Existing projects totalling £12.9 million.

3.    Notes the General Revenue Account outturn position for 2019-2020 which stands at 87.6% of the approved capital budget.

4.    Notes the HRA outturn position for 2019-2020 which stands at 91.8% of the approved capital budget.

5.  Notes that the Covid-19 pandemic has had an impact on development projects internationally, nationally andregionally and also on projects within the City.

1.     That the Council be authorised to enter into a contract with MKG Ltd for the provision of Food Distribution Parcel service without going through a detailed procurement process in light of the Covid-19 situation. 

1.      That the Wolverhampton Outbreak Control Plan as detailed in appendix one be endorsed.

2.      That the creation of a supplementary budget of £1.9 million fully funded by a Central Government Test and Trace Support Grant be approved.

3.      That authority be delegated to the Director of Public Health for expenditure of the support grant in line with grant conditions as detailed in appendix two.

Covid 19 – Impact on the capital programme:

1.     That it be noted, that the Covid-19 pandemic has had a damaging impact on capital projects, internationally, across the UK and in the city, leading to cost pressures associated with new ‘social distanced’ operating models, materials and how they were sourced. Major development projects such as the Civic Halls and WV Living sites have been affected by this global issue.

2.     That budgetary provision for specific risks emerging from the Covid-19 global pandemic in relation to the Civic Halls project, that cannot be contained within the contingencies already provided for within the existing budget be approved.

3.     That authority be delegated to the Cabinet Member for City Economy in consultation with the Director for Regeneration, to approve the award of the construction contract for the Civic Halls restoration project, to Willmott Dixon Interiors Ltd of Lock House, Castle Meadow Road, Nottingham, NG2 1AG for a total contract value as prescribed at paragraph 2.3 of appendix 1.

4.     That, due to the impact of Covid-19, a capital repayment holiday be provided to WV Living.

5.     That, due to the impact of Covid-19, equity as detailed in appendix 1 is provided to WV Living once evidence has been provided to satisfy the Director of Finance and the Director of Governance that the investment would comply with the relevant rules.

6.     That authority be delegated to the Cabinet Member for Resources, in consultation with the Director of Finance to approve the final terms of the capital repayment holiday and the equity provision.

7.     That authority be delegated to the Director of Governance to execute the necessary agreements to give effect to the decisions made.

Loan to Wolverhampton Homes for purchase of properties:

8.     That Wolverhampton Homes be authorised to purchase properties from WV Living for the purpose of market rental.

9.     That a loan of up to £1.6 million be provided to Wolverhampton Homes to facilitate the purchase of the properties.

10.That budgetary provision be made in the capital programme to facilitate the loan.

11.That authority be delegated to the Cabinet Member for Resources, in consultation with the Director of Finance to approve the final terms of the loan.

12.That authority be delegated to the Director of Governance to execute the necessary agreements to give effect to the decisions made.

Development and Delivery of City Events:

13.That the establishment of supplementary income and expenditure budgets for the development and delivery of city events be approved.

14.That authority be delegated to the Cabinet Member for City Economy in consultation with Director of City Environment to approve the individual business cases for City Events.

15.That authority be delegated to Cabinet Member for City Economy in consultation with Director of City Environment to approve the Council entering into contracts and agreements with or for performers for City Events.

16.That a virement of £100,000 from the Corporate Accounts revenue budget to the City Events revenue budget to facilitate the delivery of sporting events be approved.

1.    Approved the reintroduction of Car Parking charges from 1st July 2020 following their suspension in March 2020 due to the Covid – 19 pandemic.

2.    Approved the reduced ongoing rates at three outer car parks (Peel Street, School Street and Market Car Park) to encourage their use for long stay parking, creating capacity at more central car parks and to support Active Travel.

3.    Approved the removal of 10 pay and display machines from the three car parks referenced in recommendation 2 and making the payment on these car parks by mobile and App payment only.

4.    Approved the reduction of the number of pay and display machines on the remaining car parks to a maximum of two per car park to facilitate cleaning.

5.    Approved the reduced rates for payment by mobile phone and App methods at the following rates:

a.    50% of full rate for two weeks from 1 July to the 14 July, then

b.    75% of full rate for two weeks from 15 July to 28 July.

6.    Approved the reintroduction of enforcement of on and off-street parking offences and the reintroduction of bus lane enforcement action from 22 June 2020. Commencing with the issuing of warning notices for two weeks prior to normal action.

1.    Approved the commencement of the Ward Street Railway Cutting project in accordance with the section 106 agreement and approved exemption from normal competition requirements under contracts procedure rules to facilitate the gas main diversion works.