Agenda item

To request that members consider and agree to the proposed disposal strategy of assets on the Surplus Asset Register, the classification of those assets, the approach and the timing of the disposal as contained within Appendix 1 of the report.

Councillor Seaton stated that Members will note that Agenda Item 8 has a confidential appendices at Agenda Item 9, and it was proposed and agreed to consider both items together.  The Leader confirmed that Cabinet would remain in open session and requested that if a Member has a question relating to the confidential information that they leave it until the end of the item and indicate before asking the question so that the press and public could be excluded.

Members considered the proposed disposal of property assets report presented by Councillor Mason.

·         Councillor Cornwell asked when discussions are held with Ward Councillors, will the Ward Councillor be given the opportunity to explain in detail their ward knowledge to help with decision making.

·         Councillor Mason stated that it is very important for Ward Councillors to be involved with any discussion on disposal proposals and he would welcome that. There has been a discussion about supposed values of assets being disclosed, at a recent meeting and Councillor Mason stated that there is a register of desktop valuations which he is party to and he is more than happy to share that information with anybody who comes forward with legitimate reasons and will talk to any Ward Member who is involved with disposal of assets on his/her particular ward. There will not be a general list of valuations circulated and this is for confidentiality reasons to protect the interests of the Council.

·         Councillor Hay asked for clarification and an explanation on section 1.2, where it states that a previous approach was set aside in favour of a more straightforward disposal strategy. Councillor Mason agreed it was an ambiguous statement and asked for Officer clarification.

·         The Chief Executive stated that at that particular time an array of political decisions were taken and different options were presented and the decision had been made that the focus should be disposing of the assets that the Council had. The Chief Executive added that the previous political Leadership had also said that an approach could be considered and adopted to look at investing in assets that could generate income. The report that Cabinet are considering today is for approval of disposal of certain assets which would fall in line with the previous approach and a report will be brought back to Cabinet in July which sets out the potential for the redevelopment of a property that could have the potential to become an income source for the Council in the future.

·         Councillor Mrs Hay asked at what stage is the decision made with regard to investing the income generated from disposal of an asset.

·         Brendan Arnold stated that the capital programme which was agreed at Council in February depends on the generation of the level of capital receipts in order to sustain the ongoing programme. The three year programme including the current year we will need to generate £600,000 of capital receipts to sustain the agreed programme.  

Cabinet Agreed the recommendations outlined in the report including an additional recommendation as follows:

·         To delegate to the Corporate Director of Growth and Infrastructure and the Corporate Director of Finance in consultation with the Portfolio Holders for Economy and Finance, to update the category assets fall within line with any changes or feedback received.

(Members resolved to exclude the public from the meeting for this item of business on the grounds that it involved the disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972)