Issue - meetings

Commercial Governance: Changes to Executive Sub-Committees

 

 

Meeting: 30/05/2019 - Executive (Item 4)

4 Commercial Governance: Changes to Executive Sub-Committees

To consider proposed changes to Executive Sub-Committees.

Supporting documents:

Decision:

RECOMMENDATIONS THAT ARE SUBJECT TO FULL COUNCIL APPROVAL

 

RECOMMENDED that:

(i).

a Property and Investment Contingency Fund be established, with a value of £1.0m, funded within the £25m that has been allocated in the approved Capital Programme 2019/2024 for investment in new capital schemes to support delivery of the Corporate Plan, Housing Strategy and Investment Strategy, and that principle (vii) should be added to Article 14.3.3 of the Constitution, with the following wording:

(vii) decisions on the use of resources from the Property and Investment Contingency Fund of a value of more than £500,000 should be regarded as significant, superseding principles (i) and (iii) for such decisions.

(ii).

the Director of Finance and Organisation be authorised to approve the use of resources from the Property and Investment Contingency Fund for commercial investments in cases where this is judged to be necessary to mitigate the risk of the Council incurring significant financial or reputational costs, in consultation with the Leader, the Chair of the Commercial Ventures Executive Sub-Committee and Executive Member(s) with responsibility for investments and property matters, and that the Officer Scheme of Delegation be updated accordingly.

(iii).

the Director of Finance and Organisation be authorised to approve the use of resources from the Property and Investment Contingency Fund for other capital investments in cases where this is judged to be necessary to mitigate the risk of the Council incurring significant financial or reputational costs, in consultation with the Leader, the Chair of the Commercial Ventures Executive Sub-Committee and Executive Member(s) with responsibility for investments and property matters, and that the Officer Scheme of Delegation be updated accordingly.

 

DECISIONS THAT FALL WITHIN THE EXECUTIVE’S REMIT TO DETERMINE

 

RESOLVED that:

(i).

the Property Executive Sub-Committee be dissolved;

(ii).

the Health and Wellbeing Executive Sub-Committee be dissolved;

(iii).

the powers previously delegated to the Property Executive Sub-Committee and Health and Wellbeing Executive Sub-Committee revert to the Executive, unless otherwise specified in the following recommendations;

(iv).

a Commercial Ventures Executive Sub-Committee be established, with the remit and terms of reference as set out at Annex 1 to the Executive’s report;

(v).

the shareholder function of the Council, with regard to Greensand Holdings Ltd, be delegated to the Commercial Ventures Executive Sub-Committee;

(vi).

the shareholder function of the Council, with regard to Pathway for Care Ltd, be delegated to the Commercial Ventures Executive Sub-Committee;

(vii).

the shareholder function of the Council, with regard to RBBC Ltd, be delegated to the Commercial Ventures Executive Sub-Committee;

(viii).

the partnership function of the Council, with regard to Horley Business Park Development LLP, be delegated to the Commercial Ventures Executive Sub-Committee;

(ix).

the Commercial Ventures Executive Sub-Committee be authorised to agree the incorporation and the proposal of winding up of companies, subject to relevant shareholder agreements, by the Council, to be conducted in accordance with the requirements of the Commercial Governance Framework, as set out in the terms of references of the Executive Sub-Committee;

(x).

the Commercial Ventures Executive Sub-Committee be authorised  ...  view the full decision text for item 4

Minutes:

The Leader of the Council, Councillor M.A. Brunt introduced the report as presented to the Executive, which included a number of changes to Executive sub-committees and associated delegations to update the Council’s commercial governance arrangements.

The Leader referred to the work of the Commercial Governance Task Group, chaired by former Councillor J.M. Ellacott, that reported its findings to the Executive in March 2019. This report had been prepared to provide the framework for the implementation of the Task Group’s recommendations that had been adopted by the Executive. One of the recommendations had been to establish a new Commercial Ventures Executive Sub-Committee to monitor and take decisions upon the Council’s commercial ventures, in accordance with the Commercial Governance Framework established.

It was noted that the previous Executive sub-committees were proposed to be disbanded and their work absorbed into the new coordinated approach.

The report also recommended associated delegations, to support the approach to investments and commercial ventures. These allowed the Council to respond to unexpected circumstances in a timely manner, and to investigate potential investment opportunities. Decisions taken using these delegations would be reported to the Sub-Committee.

In response to Member questions the Leader confirmed that the delegations had been proposed to respond to prevailing circumstances without delay and that the key principles set out in the Governance Framework would be applied. There would be clear transparency and record keeping of all decisions. It was also confirmed that the delegation levels could be reviewed in the future as required to ensure that they had been set at the right level. With that in mind the Leader indicated the importance of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee in reviewing the performance of the Council’s commercial governance activities including whether the Framework’s key principles were being applied as intended.

The Leader, in response to further questions, confirmed that the delegations taken by the Director would be reported to the next available meeting of the Sub Committee, which was expected to meet on a monthly basis, with additional meetings if required. Such delegations would in all likelihood be made in consultation with the members of the Sub Committee in any event in advance of formal reporting.

 

RECOMMENDATIONS THAT ARE SUBJECT TO FULL COUNCIL APPROVAL

 

RECOMMENDED that:

(i).

a Property and Investment Contingency Fund be established, with a value of £1.0m, funded within the £25m that has been allocated in the approved Capital Programme 2019/2024 for investment in new capital schemes to support delivery of the Corporate Plan, Housing Strategy and Investment Strategy, and that principle (vii) should be added to Article 14.3.3 of the Constitution, with the following wording:

(vii) decisions on the use of resources from the Property and Investment Contingency Fund of a value of more than £500,000 should be regarded as significant, superseding principles (i) and (iii) for such decisions.

(ii).

the Director of Finance and Organisation be authorised to approve the use of resources from the Property and Investment Contingency Fund for commercial investments in cases where  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4