That:

a)    the estate capital programme as set out in appendix A and B be approved at a total cost of not more than £2.067m; and

b)    the assistant director for technical services be authorised to take all operational decisions necessary to implement the above recommendation and spend within the approved overall budget of £2.067m for the projects as listed in appendix A and B, provided that the sum of individual project expenditure do not exceed the overall budget.

1.            Not undertaking investment in the council’s property portfolio through expenditure on a programme of capital improvement work. This is not recommended as property assets will both degrade and depreciate which will have a negative bearing on the condition of the estate and fail to protect the value of the council’s property assets.

2.            Reducing investment through capital work on council’s estate assets: This is not recommended as a lack of capital investment would ultimately lead to their deterioration which will eventually make the assets no longer fit for their intended purpose. In turn this will have an impact on any services located in such properties, to the extent that they may have to be closed and service delivery would be severely impacted.

3.            Not undertake capital investment through improvement works to buildings that are leased by the council. This is not recommended as would render those properties unlettable because they are either non-compliant or are not fit for occupation which will result in a subsequent loss of revenue to the council and potential breach of statutory and legal obligations.

4.            Deferring capital investment. This is not recommended as will merely lead to further deterioration of estate assets which in turn is likely to mean that investment costs will increase over time in line with inflation i.e. building and labour costs. The required improvement works have been assessed and prioritised based upon select criteria which covers health & safely, operational need/impact and lifecycle/value. Investment is therefore targeted and spent on the assets requiring work rather than other property assets that are considered less eligible.