Agenda item

REPORT OF THE HEAD OF FINANCE, PERFORMANCE AND ASSET MANAGEMENT

To consider the 4th quarter report regarding projects identified in the Corporate Plan.

RESOLVED:

(1)       That the report entitled 4th Quarter Monitoring Report on Key Projects for 2016/17 be noted:

(2)       That the Controls, Risk and Performance Manager be requested to include a record of any Prince II documentation produced for projects in all future reports.

REASON FOR DECISION: To enable the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to monitor delivery of key projects against targets.

The Controls, Risk and Performance Manager presented the report of the Head of Finance, Performance and Asset Management entitled 4th Quarter Monitoring Report on Key Projects for 2016/17 and drew attention to the following:

Relevant Considerations

The requests made by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee had all been incorporated into this report.

Delivering Identified Projects from the Adopted Green Space Strategy

There were three milestones marked as red and they were all due to lack of funding.

The Council was either seeking Section 106 funding or looking for other sources of funding to complete these projects.

Redeveloping and Improving the North Herts Leisure Centre

There had been a delay in this project although a large amount of work had been completed including the changing rooms and sports hall and other work were progressing well.

Complete the Fit Out and Open the North Hertfordshire Museum and Community Facility

The fit out of the museum was nearing completion on the land owned by the Council and the project team were working with the contractors to finalise a programme to complete the work on 14/15 Brand Street once this had been purchased by the Council.

Members queried whether this should be marked as amber as this is so far behind schedule, with little information forthcoming about what is happening.

The Chief Executive advised that Cabinet had received a report in March which set out the context of the current situation and assured Members that Officers were expending every effort but there was nothing that the Council could do to move this forward more quickly.

The contract for the museum was awarded on a partial basis and the fit out was in the final stages of everything that could be done on Council owned land.

Discussions were taking place regarding the opening of the museum at the earliest opportunity, whether or not the issues with 14/15 Brand Street had been resolved.

Members were concerned that there was insufficient detail in the paperwork, they understood that some areas were covered by commercial sensitivities, but felt that Members should be made aware that the reasons for a particular lack of information was for this reason.

Renewing our Waste and Street Cleansing Contract

The current project plan showed slippage to the original milestones. This would not affect the contract commencement date which remained as May 2018; however, the amendments may have implications for the contract award date and encroach into the contract mobilisation period post tender award.

Exploring Further the Potential for Development of a Crematorium in North Hertfordshire

A Member commented that outline planning permission should be sought as soon as possible as it was likely that housing developments would be built near the proposed site.

Other Issues

Members asked whether, on larger projects, details such as whether Prince II had been utilised could be recorded on this report.

The Controls, Risk and Performance Manager advised that, if Prince II documentation was produced, it could be recorded in future reports.

Members queried whether staffing levels were having an impact on ongoing and future projects.

The Chief Executive advised that by and large staffing levels did not have am impact on projects that were ongoing, although he was very mindful of this and balancing the aspirations of the Council with the resources available. The amount of staff time required for a project could be estimated however, based on experience with Churchgate and Hitchin Town Hall, these estimates could easily be increased two or three fold.

RESOLVED:

(1)       That the report entitled 4th Quarter Monitoring Report on Key Projects for 2016/17 be noted:

(2)       That the Controls, Risk and Performance Manager be requested to include a record of any Prince II documentation produced for projects in all future reports.

REASON FOR DECISION: To enable the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to monitor delivery of key projects against targets.