Agenda item

To Follow

John Bos (BCC Property Partner) and Patricia Barry (Interim BCC Property Service Manager) were in attendance to introduce the report and respond to the Commission’s questions.  The published report provided an overview of the use of Council-owned property assets to that support voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations. The report also contained details of current policies, practices and types of community assets.  John said there was still some room for improvement in areas but they were continually improving where they could. He said there was an un-ending demand for property and that new queries were received every day.  In many cases, the property that’s enquired about isn’t BCC owned property. He highlighted that property is difficult to look after and groups didn’t always know or understand the full demands.  He said that people often incorrectly think the Council has lots of unused vacant property.  He explained how the Council tried to strike a balance between maximising income from rents and positive social outcomes. In financial terms, the total concessionary value of community assets is just under £2M per year.

A Member commented they were very happy to see Redcatch Community Centre highlighted as a successful example of a CAT.  The group of volunteers have improved it immensely as it had a rental value of nil when they took it over many years ago.  But how had officers calculated the market value rent figure from in the (exempt) report? Officers said that was an estimate of a value that is based on what rent would be charged on the open market.  The Member said it was a very popular and busy centre but the estimated rental value appeared to be low and didn’t reflect how much it had improved.   

The Executive Director Growth and Regeneration said many community organisations that run CATs grow and employ staff eventually and the Council would like to have more of them.  But the CATs did go both ways and there wasn’t always a positive outcome, stating that some groups or organisations hand back properties in a much worse condition than they previously were.

The Chair cited the social value gained from assets being available to the voluntary and community sector (VCS) and how this in turn was supporting communities in many ways.  He added that if social value was measured it should be about the contributions not just the financial value because without those contributions the City would be much worse off.  The Executive Director agreed and said the Council wished to be more proactive and was making the investment so the voluntary and community sector could continue providing essential services.

A Member said some areas of the City have low levels of community involvement and that these areas were often those where there are few community run property assets.  Was there now an opportunity to address this?  The Director said yes this was part of the Councils aim of being more joined-up and not seeing property as something that was separate entity. 

A Member asked why there wasn’t a city-wide organisation for community assets in Bristol and if there ought to be? Officers said there had been one about 15 years ago that was part of ‘VOSCUR’ but it had petered out. It had apparently required huge amounts of effort and resources but still hadn’t lasted.  A Member said it was a shame because the City missed out on gaining experience from peers and knowledge of contractors a pool of expertise.

A Member asked about paragraph 2.18 of the report that referred to energy efficiency and the forthcoming minimum standards being introduced in April 2023. He said it was likely that some organisations with poorly maintained property would run into problems when required to obtain an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) and that were in some cases unlikely to have the capacity to make the necessary changes.  Officers concurred and said that most properties didn’t currently have energy certificates.  Up until now EPCs were usually triggered by a sale or transfer.  However, they said they would work with tenants on this and it was likely community groups and/or organisations would be able to access funding BCC couldn’t which would help to make the necessary changes. The Chair said there was a lack of information available on this and suggested that some research should be carried out to analyse what the impacts would be on the community groups and organisations as well as the Council as the landlord.  The Property Service Manager said they were working closely with the Sustainable City Team and gave assurances that everything was in scope.  The Chair requested that the Commission receive an up-date on this at some point in the future. 

A Member asked why The Park Local Opportunity Centre had not appeared on the list as it had been a very successful CAT. Officers said that it had not been listed as an asset transfer because the whole site had now been sold to the Department of Education (DFE). 

Officers confirmed they intended to carry out a review the CAT policy by April 2023.

A Member suggested the Council should measure rents lost against the financial value of the social value gained so there was a proper record of how community organisations have benefited the City and Council. The Executive Director concurred that a value should be attributed the CATs.  He added that the Council also had a target for property disposals and there were decisions about where to draw the line between selling for profit or to make social investment choices.  But they would look at things more in the round because it wasn’t just about commercial investments because communities were doing things and providing services that the Council couldn’t. 

A Member said that some organisations that currently held concessionary leases were for-profit companies and had thought they would all be non-profit. Officers said they were open minded about that and judged those organisations by what they delivered and what they did with asset. There were some really good examples of how a council asset can do positive things but also make profit.