Decisions

To be recommended to Full Council that in accordance with the Local Authorities (Calculation of Council Tax Base) (England) Regulations 2012, the amount calculated by Bristol City Council as its Council Tax base for the financial year 2019/20 shall be £126,999

That Cabinet:

1.             Noted the reduction in revenue expenditure of £648k from P05 forecast position to an overspend against budget of £308k, although there is still significant pressures in Adult Social Care and Education. (Appendix A, section 1).

2.       Approved the additional budget totalling £12.3m to be allocated to the ACE directorate, (as per schedule in Table 2), funded by virements for £5.1m released from other ongoing budgets and £7.2m of one off income.

3.             Noted the current forecast position with regard to the Housing Revenue Account and Public Health Accounts (Appendices A5 and A7).

4.             Noted the current forecast spend of £164m against the capital programme budget of £244m (Appendix A, section 5).

5.             Noted the forecast movement in reserves of £32m (Appendix A, Table 6)

6.       Approved the changes to the capital programme for 2018/19 as set out in Appendix A8

It was recommended to Full Council;

1.             That an estimated surplus at 31 March 2019 on the Council Tax element of the Collection Fund of £2.1m be declared for 2018/19 and shared between this Council, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Avon and Somerset and the Avon Fire and Rescue Service in proportion to their 2018/19 precepts on the Collection Fund.

2.       That an estimated surplus at 31 March 2019 on the Non-Domestic Rates (NDR) element of the Collection Fund of £62k be declared for 2018/19 and shared between this Council, Avon Fire and Rescue Service and the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) in proportion to the appropriate year demands (For 2018/19: Bristol 94%, WECA 4%, Avon Fire and Rescue Service 1%). There is also an adjusting figure due to the Secretary of State of £744k.

To obtain approval to acquire land from City of Bristol College.

That Cabinet:

1.       Approved the acquisition of City of Bristol College’s land at Hartcliffe Campus to enable the onward sale of the combined site to the preferred developer to deliver 350 new homes (including 30% affordable).

2.       Approved the payment of an overage to City Of Bristol College as set out in Appendix J (exempt information).

That Cabinet

1.             Authorised the Executive Director: Growth & Regeneration, to proceed to take all necessary steps to purchase the Hawkfield Business Park freehold land interest at market value.

2.       Noted that funding for the purchase price of the site and associated disbursements, will be met by BCC through a short term in-year bridging payment pending full funding being agreed by WECA.

3.       Authorised the Executive Director: Growth & Regeneration and the Chief Finance Officer to agree an appropriate funding arrangement with the WECA Chief Finance Officer, in order that the Council can recoup its expenditure.

4.       Should funding not be agreed with WECA, authorised the Executive Director: Growth & Regeneration and the Chief Finance Officer to sell the land to recoup BCC expenditure

Cabinet noted the progress being made on the feasibility work and the refined project scope.

That Cabinet:

1.       Noted the economic outlook and projections within the 5-year MTFP

2.       Noted the strategic planning approach taken

3.       Recommended the Medium Term Financial Plan for the period 2019/20 to 2023/24 to Full Council for approval.

4.       Recommended the Capital Strategy to Full Council for approval.

To seek approval to undertake a commissioning process for a new transport dynamic purchasing system for vulnerable people.

That Cabinet:

1.       Approved the commissioning of a new Home to School Transport tender, for implementation in the 2019/2020 academic year.

2.       Delegated authority to the Executive Director for Growth and Regeneration to take all steps to procure and make awards under the proposed Dynamic Purchasing System, in consultation with the Mayor.

That Cabinet:

1.       Authorised the extensions of the Public Health contracts (detailed in this report) from the 1st October 2018 for up to 12 months; to 30 September 2019;

2.       Authorised the extensions to the public health contracts (detailed in this report) that will expire on 31st March 2019 for up to 12 months; to 31 March 2020.

That Cabinet

1. Approved the bid for Home office funding.
2. If the bid is successful, delegated authority to the Director for Children & Families in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Women, Children and Young People, to allocate the funding as set out in the conditions of the grant.

Cabinet approved the final policy progression to Full Council for approval and implementation.

That Cabinet:

1.             Approved the establishment of a flexible framework of independent and non-maintained special schools and specialist post-16 institutions

2.             Approved Bristol City Council leading the procurement of the flexible framework on behalf of a partnership of local authorities, subject to all other authorities paying a management fee for set up costs and to use the flexible framework (on a cost recovery, rather than revenue generation, basis).

3.       Delegated authority to the Executive Director Adults, Children and Education, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, to procure the flexible framework and thereafter to award individual contracts to providers.

That Cabinet:

1.             Approved the procurement of a new contract for systems for hosting and support for the Council’s finance system, Unit4 Business World at an estimated cost of £425k a year over a maximum of 5 years.

2.       Delegated authority to procure and award the contract to the Director of Finance, in consultation with the Deputy Mayor with responsibility for Finance, Governance and Performance.

That Cabinet:

1.             Noted BWC’s fleet replacement programme as described in the report

2.       Approved the allocation of the Council’s financial resources, up to £12m, to support the phased replacement of the existing fleet by way of shareholder’s loans on commercial terms.

3.       Delegated to the Service Director Finance, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance, Governance and Performance, authority to set the terms and conditions of the required loans following submission of a satisfactory business case for each tranche of replacement/ investment.

4.       Noted that the proposal for the replacement of the fleet does not preclude leasing options (rather than purchase options) if this can be justified as being strategically, operationally and financially beneficial.

5.       Noted the procurement and award of these contracts are the responsibilities of Bristol Waste Company.

To seek approval to extend the current contract.

Cabinet agreed to extend the contract with Pitney Bowes for the supply of the asset management system, CONFIRM, by 2 years (a 1+1 extension) from the 31st January 2019 to 31st January 2021.