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Agenda item

ANNUAL REVIEW OF NORTH HERTS' TRADING COMPANIES - BROADWATER HUNDRED

REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR – RESOURCES

 

To provide the Sub-Committee with a report upon Local Authority Trading Companies (LATCos)in which North Herts Council has a role, to enable the Sub-Committee to fulfil its role as shareholder. The LATCo in this report covers the Broadwater Hundred Companies (Broadwater Hundred Limited and Broadwater Hundred Property Management Limited).

Decision:

RESOLVED:

(1)  That the Cabinet sub-committee noted the report.

 

(2)  That the Cabinet sub-committee made recommendations on the content of future reports and annual reviews.

 

REASON FOR DECISION: To enable the Cabinet Sub-Committee to fulfil its role and responsibilities as shareholder in the Broadwater Hundred local authority trading companies.

Minutes:

Audio recording – 2 minutes 34 seconds

 

The Director – Resources presented the report entitled ‘Annual Review of North Herts’ Trading Companies – Broadwater Hundred’ and advised that:

 

·       The report covered both Broadwater Hundred Limited and Broadwater Hundred Property Management Limited, which were companies wholly owned by the Council.

·       The history of the companies was outlined in Section 7 of the report.

·       The details of trading over the past two years were included in Section 8 of the report, including the published accounts for the 2025 financial year and the draft accounts for the financial year to 31 March 2026.

·       The property management company had successfully let the properties for the majority of the previous financial year. Whilst overall they remained in a net negative position, the position was improving and it was expected to move into positive position in the next financial year.

·       The holding company had less income, but was moving into a positive position and the initial upfront costs had now been made.

 

The following Members asked questions:

 

·       Councillor Ian Albert

·       Councillor Tamsin Thomas

 

In response to questions, the Director – Resources advised that:

 

·       He would need to look at what previous reports had been provided in the interim between the Annual Reports but would be able to provide an interim update to Sub-Committee members once the accounts were finalised for 2025/26.

·       It was worthwhile retaining Harkness Court, but purchasing another property of a similar size would probably not be worthwhile. Any other project such as this would need to be bigger in scale to be viable. However, any larger scale project would need to consider the resourcing available, as the work of the company was currently undertaken by the Company Directors.

 

In response to questions, the Director – Enterprise advised that:

 

·       The original business case was that this specific venture would be a starting point, after which the company could consider if any additional residential could be added to the portfolio.

·       Currently there were options to consider in terms of the Churchgate project and land already in the ownership of the Council.

·       However, it may not be viable to deliver on these and any additional work would need to be considered within the overall time spent and expenditure return expected.

·       Any other projects which were brought into the portfolio of the company would need to be assessed to ensure they would provide a return to the Council.

·       Officers had previously looked at options for land already owned by the Council to see if a partnership could be established, but as yet this had not led to a successful proposition.

·       Options around the Churchgate project could be explored further.

 

Councillor Ian Albert proposed the recommendations and this was seconded by Councillor Tamsin Thomas.

 

The following Members made points as part of the debate:

 

·       Councillor Ian Albert

·       Councillor Tamsin Thomas

 

The following points were raised as part of the debate:

 

·       It would be useful to look into providing an interim report once the 2026 accounts had been confirmed.

·       It would be worthwhile to continue to look for future opportunities in the coming months.

·       As projects progressed, such as Churchgate, it was important that the Council was aware of the purpose of the companies and whether future opportunities should be taken forward now the infrastructure was in place.

 

Having been proposed and seconded and, following a vote, it was:

 

RESOLVED:

(1)   That the Cabinet sub-committee noted this report.

 

(2)   That the Cabinet sub-committee made recommendations on the content of future reports and annual reviews.

 

REASON FOR DECISION: To enable the Cabinet Sub-Committee to fulfil its role and responsibilities as shareholder in the Broadwater Hundred local authority trading companies.

Supporting documents: