To recommend the proposed capital budget for 2017/18 onwards to Council.

The leader expressed his thanks to all those who had contributed to the formation of the capital budget report. The contents of the report being self-explanatory he asked for feedback from the meeting.

A group leader noted that Herefordshire Council had higher debt as a percentage of net revenue budget than all other unitary authorities. He asked if this was being carefully monitored. The head of corporate finance responded that the borrowing included investment in schemes such as the energy from waste plant which were expected to generate returns for the council in the future. Total borrowing was below the council’s threshold and officers were comfortable that the borrowing was affordable.

A group leader asked if a final cost package for the city link road could be provided when the scheme was complete and whether the recommendations made by the external auditor in relation to accounting had been noted. The head of corporate finance responded that monthly updates on the city centre transport package were provided to the Local Enterprise Partnership and that this information could be shared. She confirmed that the recommendations of the external auditor had been noted.

A group leader asked that in future the spend on packages be separated out into the constituent elements and profiled separately. The wording and bundling of the packages needed to be consistent to allow comparison. The head of corporate finance replied that the next capital budget monitoring report would include the requested level of detail.

Resolved that:

a)    the schemes detailed in Appendix 2 be recommended to Council for inclusion in the capital budget.