Councillor John Graham 1 Finance & Business Services (Matthew - - PDF document

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Councillor John Graham

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• Finance & Business Services (Matthew Bunyon)
• Legal Services (Harvey Patterson)
• Property and Asset Management (Simon Payton)

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Matthew Bunyon

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• Accountancy and Financial Services
• Revenues – Council Tax and Business Rates
• Benefits – Housing and Council Tax Benefits
• Procurement
• Audit - Internal (SIAS) and External Audit (EY)
• Risk Management (HCC Shared Service)
• Anti-Fraud (SAFS)

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• Budget 2018/19
• Financial Strategy 2018/19 to 2021/22
• Statement of Accounts 2017/18
• Financial Monitoring
• Budget 2019/20

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• Balance Budget Approved by Full Council
• Net expenditure on services matched by

Government Grant, NNDR and Council Tax

• Net Budget Requirement £11.9m
• Gross Budget £64.2m
• Housing Benefit Subsidy £38.5m
• Fees, Charges, Rents, Grants £13.6m
• Investment Income £0.2m

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• 2018/19 Key projects
• Hertsmere Leisure Trust Loan - £4.8m
• Crown Road - £2.3m
• Meadow Park - £0.8
• DFG’s - £0.7m
• Refuse Vehicles - £0.5m

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2018/19 £m £m 2019/20 £m £m 2020/21 £m £m Total £m £m 13.500 1.684 0.689 15.873

• Financial Strategy 2018/19 to 2021/22
• Full in-depth review to reflect current

circumstances

• Previous review July 2016
• Incorporates new Corporate Plan “2020 Vision”
• Approved by full Council July 2018
• Next full review in three years
• Annual review of appendices – MTFP, Reserves,

Capital Strategy, Efficiency Plan

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• Financial Statements completed to new

statutory timetable

• CFO sign off by 31 May 2017
• Audited Statements approved and published by 31

July 2017

• Unqualified Audit Opinion
• No significant issues
• No significant risks

“Hertsmere had put in place proper arrangements to secure economy efficiency & effectiveness in its use of resources”

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• October forecast
• YTD favourable variance £397k
• Year-end forecast favorable variance £385k
• Most services within budget
• Investment Income favourable by £200k
• £300k Contingency budget not yet utilised

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• Budget process started in Spring 2018
• Spring – Senior Management Team, initial brainstorming
• Summer – Heads of Service develop proposals
• Autumn – Star Chamber
• Autumn – Budget Panel
• MTFP budget gap for 2018/19 was £1.2m but is

reducing

• Finance Settlement 6 December 2018
• Draft budget Executive January 2019

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• Investment Opportunities
• In-house / Hertsmere Development Ltd
• HLT Loan
• Business Rates Pilot or Business Rates Pool
• Applications for both submitted
• Business Rates Pool (5 Districts + HCC) – potential gain

£3.4m (HBC share c.£0.6m)

• 75% Business Rate Pilot – potential gain £7.9m (HBC Share

£0.5m)

• Announcement due 6 December 2018

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• Council Tax Collected - £66m
• Business Rates Collected - £48m

2013/14 % 2014/15 % 2015/16 % 2016/17 % 2017/18 % Council Tax As at 31 March 97.7 98.2 98.3 98.5 98.3 Business Rates As at 31 March 98.4 98.5 98.7 99.1 99.7

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• Housing Benefit Paid £38.5m
• Council Tax Support Paid £5.8m
• CTS Scheme reviewed, revised and implemented
• New Single Revenues and Benefits Manager started

September 2018

• Universal Credit Full Roll Out December 2018

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Simon Payton

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• Income 2017/18 from Asset Portfolio - £5.14m
• The property portfolio comprises:
• Elstree Studios
• Garages
• Industrial Estate
• Shops
• Houses
• Flats above shops
• Leisure Centres
• Civic Offices
• Commercial/Industrial

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DEVELOPM PMEN ENT PROGRAMME/ACQUSIT SITIO IONS

The current agreed programme consists of 9 sites with an estimated construction value of £22m. These are currently being progressed and are at various stages of the feasibility, planning or construction process. Works are commissioned utilising the HBC Architects and Construction frameworks. Crown Road, Borehamwood Planning permission was granted for the installation of 18 two bed and 10 one bed factory built modular units. The project was tendered using Lot 2 of the councils construction framework and awarded to Mears New Homes based on a forty week programme. The overall budget for the project is £2.535m and it is due for completion July. Civic Offices North End The scheme was on hold while the NHS agree their own internal requirements, discussions are ongoing and the Chief Executive has formally written to them seeking clarification as HCC and the PCC are keen to progress the Elstree Way

• Corridor. The NHS have now reconfirmed their interest and future meetings have

now been arranged to progress proposals further. 1 7 St Johns Church, Radlett tt Affor

• rda

dable ble Housing We have completed a feasibility design for a new church facility with 3x3 bedroom houses and 3x 2 bedroom flats which would be used affordable housing and potentially funded from s106 monies. A formal pre-application has been made and the scheme has been amended in light of the comments. A formal full planning application will be submitted in January 2019. Cranes Way A planning application for the site was submitted for 18 units , subsequently issued were raised by planners after a review by Essex Place Services. Subsequent meetings have been held with the planners and the scheme has been reduced by 2 units. Further re-design work is taking place and it is hope that the application will be heard at committee later this year or early next. Clarendon Park Site, Borehamwood Planning application submitted for 15 x 2 bedroom flats (of which 35% will be affordable). The scheme was withdrawn at the request of the Portfolio Holder to allow for further consultation to take place, which is ongoing. 1 8

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Eldon Avenue, Borehamwood Pre-app application made 5th June, amendments currently being made and anticipated full application should be made early 2019. Orchard Close, Radlett Pre-app made 15th June, amendments currently being made and anticipated full application should be made early 2019. Caishowe Road, Borehamwood Planning application submitted 27th July and should be going to Planning Committee January 2019. Acquisition Cannon PH - leasehold interest was acquired for £300k. The pub is now being rented out to a dance school and the house will be used for TA which is generating a combined income of £34k pa as well as any saving in night rate TA costs. Bushey Country Club – Leased for meanwhile use at £45k pa, this also gives an operational saving of around £130k pa in relation to maintenance, NNDR and utility costs. 1 9 RENT REVIEWS AND LEASE RENWALS At the beginning of 2016 we produced a strategy for implementation of rent reviews and lease renewals along with a revised debt management procedure in order to maximise income and reduce debt. This strategy involved: Creating the necessary evidence base by taking back shops with bad tenants (those with historical rent arears, persistent late payers or those not complying with the terms of the lease. Then re-letting the shops taken back to create comparable market rents for use in the outstanding and future rent reviews, new leases and lease renewals. Being careful not to get back too many shops at any one time so as not flood the market or cause the parades to look rundown. Manage relocations of larger, but less profitable occupiers to more suitable locations and freeing up premium sites. Then systematically working through the remaining lease renewals and rent reviews based on the above principles. 2

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Significant progress has been made, producing extensive evidence for future rental values, following a more commercial approach to estate management. There are currently 7 leases that are due for renewal by the end of December

• 2018. These are being dealt with in a managed programme, with cases

prioritised along principles of good estate management. The main focus is on the shopping parades, with 3 cases, producing significant increases in rent. It is anticipated that all cases where leases have expired, unless held for a specific reason, will have had a notice served by 31 December 2018. Most of those cases will be resolved by 31 March 2019, either with the completion of a new lease, or with vacant possession taken by the Council. The rent reviews are being managed alongside the lease renewals, particularly in the shopping parades where evidence from renewals and new lettings is strengthening the Council’s case for an increase. Since 1 January 2018, we have completed or agreed terms for; 17 cases of rent reviews, 22 lease renewals and new lettings. The rent roll has increased by almost £450,000 p.a. since 1 January 2016. 2 1 PEER REVIEW At the end of 2017 Asset Management commissioned the East of England Local Government Association to carry out a peer review of their service. Executive Summary of the Peer Review Hertsmere Borough Council is an ambitious authority and has a strong focus

• n using its assets well.

It has made substantial improvement in its asset management performance in the last two years. In particular it is making headway in dealing with a range of legacy issues affecting its commercial portfolio operation and has become more commercially focused and professional. It is also seeking to increase its rate of development of sites for housing and

• ther purposes and is developing a forward pipeline.

Overall Hertsmere now manages its assets and forward programme relatively tightly and effectively within a developing and improving strategic framework, with a strong steer from Members.

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The ambition to address legacy issues and increase the pace of development has led to some difficulty in managing the ensuing tensions between differing

• bjectives and has consequently put a strain on key relationships which risks

undermining the advances made. Whilst Hertsmere is operating relatively well in terms of overall performance when judged against best practice with some significant strengths, there are nonetheless some key improvement areas identified in this review. As a result of the recommendations in the report an improvement plan was produced which Asset Management are currently working though and implementing. Resources As a result of a restructuring of Engineering Services & Asset Management there is now a Development Team comprising of a Development Manager and a Development Engineer, progressing Hertsmere’s development sites. In addition to this an apprentice Estates Surveyor has been appointed to help with the problem of recruiting estates professionals and in an attempt to grow our own.

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Councillor John Graham

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