Decisions

The report request approval to purchase 12 residential units known as Trellis Mews from Brick by Brick to provide additional social housing. This development has specifically been identified as potential decant space for the Regina Road project

RESOLVED:

As per the Delegation by Mayor in Cabinet on 30^th November 2022, the Corporate Director of Resources and Section 151 Officer, in consultation with Cabinet Member for Finance and Corporate Director of Housing, is recommended to:

1.1.         Approve the acquisition of 12 new homes as a bulk purchase, including the freehold of the site, from Brick by Brick for £3.377m on the terms set out in this report.

1.2.         Note and approve the acceptance of £1.2m of GLA funding on the terms set out in the Grant Agreement with the GLA, in connection with this purchase with the balance to come from Borrowing or internal HRA resources.

1.3.         Note that the budget for this has been provided within the HRA Capital Programme and the acquisition will be funded using HRA borrowing but will be reviewed at year end should the HRA have further capacity to fund the acquisition using HRA reserves.

RESOLVED: To

1.1.         Consider the public interest report dated 28 November 2022 and the recommendations made by the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) in relation to Croydon Council set out in Appendix 1.

1.2.         Accept the findings and agree the recommendations set out in the public interest report.

1.3.         Endorse the actions taken by the Council and note the steps, progress, and timeline to implement the recommendations set out in section 6 of this report.

1.4.         Adopt the report as the Council’s formal response under section 31 of the Local Government Act 1974 to be communicated to the Ombudsman.

1.5.         Adopt the report as the Executive’s formal response as required by section 5A of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 for distribution to all members and the Monitoring Officer.

RESOLVED: To

1.1.         Consider the outcome of the statutory consultation with tenants, leaseholders and freeholders in the Regina Road area set out at Appendix 1 over the six weeks from 13 December 2022 to 26 January 2023.

1.2.         Consider the outcome of the consultations in respect of draft Tenant and Leaseholder/Freeholder Offers which was undertaken with tenants, leaseholders and freeholders in the Regina Road estate over the six weeks from 13 December 2022 to 26 January 2023 and as set out at Appendix 1 and in the Landlord Offer at Appendix 4.

Having due regard to the outcome of the statutory consultation at Appendix 1, the outcome of the consultation on the Offers as detailed in Appendix 1 and in light of the consideration of the equalities matters and public sector equality duty as detailed in section 19 of this report and the financial implications as detailed in section 16.

1.3.         Agree that demolition and redevelopment of the three towers and immediately surrounding area is the Council’s preferred way forward for the area that has been subject to statutory consultation, as defined on the plan attached as Appendix 2, but that a final decision on the approach will not be undertaken prior to the outcome of the proposed ballot.

1.4.         Agree the content of the Landlord Offer at Appendix 4 for purposes of Ballot, that this offer be effective from 16 November 2022 and that this Offer be published and circulated to eligible residents in advance of any proposed Ballot as required by GLA requirements. Also, that any minor changes, such the correction of typographical errors within the content or updates due to statutory changes be delegated to the Corporate Director of Housing in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Homes.

1.5.         Agree that a Ballot of eligible residents as defined by the GLA funding guidelines and requirements, be held for a period of at least 21 days during April and May on the Landlord Offer, Appendix 4 to this report, and to note that the Ballot will be undertaken by an appropriately qualified Independent Party. The outcome of the Ballot be reported back to the Mayor and Cabinet.

1.6.         Agree that no further tenancies, permanent or temporary, be granted at any of the properties within the Regina Road estate, as defined on the plan attached at Appendix 2, pending the outcome of the ballot and further report.

RESOLVED:

1.1.         To approve the APP for the financial year 2023/24 as set out in Appendix A.

1.2.         To approve the delegated decisions in the APP to those Lead Members or Officers as stated in Appendix A that includes the procurement strategy and award decisions, the duration of the contracts and contract values.

1.3.         The delegated decisions shall only be exercised following recommendations from the Contracts & Commissioning Board, which require approval from both the Lead Cabinet Member and the Cabinet Member for Finance.

1.4.         To allow for minor changes to proceed whilst retaining the agreed delegated so long as none of the following thresholds for changes are exceeded:

i.                 Contract value exceeds that proposed in the APP/Quarterly Update Report, by the lesser of £500K or 25%, or the new aggregate value exceeds £1m and it becomes a key decision

ii.                Substantial / material changes to procurement from that defined in the APP/Quarterly Update Report e.g. material risks are identified (Should either of those thresholds be exceeded, the delegation cannot be exercised, and the decision shall be recommended to the Executive Mayor, unless a further delegation is approved. Where a delegated decision is a Key Decision to Officers, it must be made in consultation with the Lead Cabinet Member).

1.5.         To note that an update report in respect of the APP performance for 22/23 shall be presented to the Mayor in Cabinet in May.

RESOLVED: To

1.1.         Receive the recommendation arising from the meeting of the Streets & Environment Sub-Committee held on 31 January 2023 (Appendix 1)

1.2.         To provide a substantive response to the recommendation (a Scrutiny Stage 2 Report) within two months (i.e. at the Cabinet meeting on 24 May 2023).

RESOLVED: To

1.     Approve the disposal of Aztec Centre 28 Boulogne Road (former site of Croydon Community Equipment Service)

2.     Approve the disposal of 58 Ashburton Road

3.     Approve the disposal of 56 Craignish Avenue

4.     Approve the disposal of 139 Wingate Crescent

5.     Approve the disposal of 92a High Street

6.     Delegate authority to the Corporate Director Resources and s151 Officer to agree to minor changes to the terms and a price variation of up to a maximum of 10% below the Red Book valuation for each disposal where it is clearly demonstrated that the asset has been correctly marketed and the recommendation reasonably represents the best consideration achievable.

RESOLVED: To

1.1.         Note the General Fund revenue budget outturn is forecast to be balanced at Month 9.

1.2.         Note the forecast elimination of the planned contribution to General Fund Reserves of £6.9m for 2022/23.

1.3.         Note that a further number of risks and compensating opportunities may materialise which could see the forecast change.

1.4.         To approve the progress of the MTFS savings as indicated within Table 4 and detailed in Appendix 3.

1.5.         Note the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) is projecting an end of year position of a £0.918m overspend.

1.6.         Note the Capital Programme spend to date for the General Fund of £18.296m (against a budget of £253.936m) with a projected forecast underspend of £17.488m for the end of the year.

1.7.         Note the Housing Revenue Account Capital Programme spend to date of £14.101m (against a budget of £27.357m), with a projected forecast underspend of £1.897m for the end of the year.

1.8.         Note, the above figures are predicated on forecasts from Month 9 to the year end and therefore could be subject to change as forecasts are made based on the best available information at this time.

1.9.         Note, the Council continues to operate a Spend Control Panel to ensure that tight financial control and assurance oversight are maintained A new financial management culture is being implemented across the organisation through increased scrutiny, such as the monthly assurance meetings, improved communication and budget manager training from CIPFA.

RESOLVED:

To approve the updated Local Development Scheme (Appendix 1) as the programme to deliver the Local Development Framework for the Council.

The Council are looking to buy back two development sites from Brick by Brick (BBB). These were both originally transferred to BBB from the HRA but have not been developed by BBB but they have done a variety of works to obtain planning consent and have cleared the site of the former garage blocks.

As part of the original transfers the Council had a buy back option if the sites were not developed – the value to be paid being the equivalent to the amount incurred by BBB to secure planning or market value. Both sites have been assessed internally and a figure agreed of £500k for Malton House and £900k for Regina Road as representing a reasonable market value and both figures are less than the expenditure by BBB to secure planning and clear the site and therefore the values are considered fair and reasonable.

The two sites are being acquired to support the Regina Road scheme but both are capable of being developed without the wider proposals if necessary

RESOLVED:

For the reasons set out in the report Corporate Director of Resources is recommended, in consultation with the Monitoring Officer and the Cabinet Member for Finance:

1.1.         To approve that the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) acquires the land at Regina Road for a total sum of £0.900m by allowing the Council to exercise the Option agreement to buy back the site.

1.2.         To approve that the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) acquires the land at Malton House for a total sum of £0.500m by allowing the Council to exercise the Option agreement to buy back the site.

1.3.         To note that the Varied Option Agreements within Appendix A1 and A2 agreeing the purchase values between the Council and Brick by Brick for each site.

1.4.         To note Appendix B justifying that the purchase values as advised by Council’s internal valuation.

1.5.         To note that the Council, as the original landowner, is due payments back from BBB for the land values on Malton House for £0.160m as stipulated within the Option agreements and referred to as the Initial Price. These land payments will be resolved as part of the final assets and liabilities review work for winding down BBB. The land value for Regina Road was determined as nil due to significant pre-development work that was needed to make the land viable for housing.

1.6.         Note that the date to exercise Option agreements is 17th March and it is unlikely that the Council will meet this deadline and thus has an agreement with BBB to extend this date by a reasonable timeline.

RESOLVED: To

Approve the recommendations listed below in relation to 2 areas:

Existing contract extension request:

1.     Approve the extension, by way of contract variation, with Barnardo’s Services Ltd for ‘children’s advocacy service’ until 30^th September 2023 for an additional value of £95,000, pro-rata and taking the aggregate contract value to £528,000.

2.     Please note that the service has continued to be provided since October 2022 outside of appropriate governance approval and that the extension is sought from the date of approval of this report’s recommendations and not retrospectively.

Procurement strategy for future procurement:

3.     Approve the procurement strategy for a 5-year contract with a 2-year extension for the delivery of a children’s advocacy service from 30^th September 2023 to 30^th September 2030. The total estimated annual value is £95,000 which results in a total aggregated value of £665,000 for the 7 years (5 years, plus a possible 2-year extension).

RESOLVED: To

a)    Approve the permitted extension to deliver Supervised Contact to the provider, Swanstaff Recruitment Ltd until the 31^st October 2023 at a total cost of £536,000 for an aggregate contract value of £2,669,000.

b)    Note that the service has continued into the permitted extension period from November 2022 without appropriate governance approval