APPENDIX A - ‘Tranche 2’ savings proposals Lead... · Implementation costs/ investment required 0 0 0 0 0 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 FTE posts to be deleted 2 2 Part

APPENDIX A - ‘Tranche 2’ savings proposals

Reference Lead member Title

Children’s and Adults’

CA-ASC14 Cllr Bath Combine in-house learning disability day services on to one site

Regeneration, Economic Development and Environment

RE-CSER1 Cllr Foote Reorganisation of regulatory and enforcement services

Chief Executive

CX-SIE1 Cllr Curran Staff reductions in Strategy, Intelligence and Engagement (SIE) team

CX- VCSE Cllr Sampson

Reduction in Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) funding

Savings from Corporate items

CO-Collection

Cllr Dennison

Changes to Council Tax and Business Rates Policies and Income

CO-MTFS Cllr Dennison

Allocation of unspent New Initiatives Fund

Regeneration, Economic Development and Environment: capital investment related

RE-WIM Cllr Curran Development of Western International Market

Lead Member: Cllr Bath

Ref Directorate Division CA-ASC14 Children’s & Adults Services Adult Social Care

Savings title: Combining in-house disability day services on to one site leading to the closure of the Two Bridges building

2014/15 £m

2015/16 £m

2016/17 £m

2017/18 £m

2018/19 £m

Estimated impact of saving

0 0.09 0.09 0 0

Implementation costs/ investment required

0 0 0 0 0

2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19

FTE posts to be deleted

2 2

Part A Description of saving: To offer a high quality safe service to support people with learning disabilities requiring support during the day, through the rationalisation of existing services. The proposal outlines the option of combining the two existing day services for people with learning disabilities into one fit for purpose site, and promoting the use of community and universal services to enable greater access across various community settings.

The current service operates from two sites: The Triangle in Hounslow and the Two Bridges in Bedfont. Both sites are underutilised and the proposal considers the continuation of the two services on the Triangle site. Combining the services would lead to the closure of the two bridges site. Clients that attend both sites are drawn from across the borough and there will be no loss of service for current and future service users as a result of the proposal. The current site where Two Bridges operates is unsuitable for appropriately meeting the emerging needs of people that exhibit behaviour that often challenges conventional services. In addition the site would require significant redevelopment in order to be brought up to a fit for purpose standard that meets the boroughs needs. The sites location is also situated away from mainstream services in the far west of the borough. The daily attendance at Two Bridges is an average of 16 people with medium to high needs attending daily. There are 5 service users with low needs who are in the process of a re-assessment of their needs.

There is an existing day service run at the Triangle. It is in a central location close to local amenities and services in close proximity to Hounslow high street. The building is of a good standard that will better meet future needs. There are a total of 36 users registered with medium to complex needs on the register for both centres. The triangle can accommodate an attendance of 35 service users daily with the correct staffing levels. It is proposed that high needs and wheelchair service users would utilize the ground floor and the more ambulant and service users with challenging behaviour receive services on the first floor. The Community Access Team which currently have the use of the top floor would continue to do so in the evenings and the weekends. There appears to be no further distance travel involved and in some cases the distance will be closer. Many service users arrive by car, taxi and transport provided by Hounslow Council. Travel assessments will be carried out for those persons should there be any increase in distance. Under the Care Act, the local authorities will take on a range of new functions. One of these is to develop a range of providers following engagement with communities, services that offer a choice of quality services that will prevent problems from arising. It is envisaged that reorganisation of these services across Hounslow will lead to improved outcomes for individuals alongside the local implementation of the Care Act and the development of a range of social care interventions with the independent sector, including the voluntary and community providers through subsequent market shaping and commissioning activities. Day Opportunities Vision: In the last decade there have been significant shifts in best practice for services for people with disabilities. The Care Act (2014) provides a renewed focus on personalised approaches, to meet individual needs and outcomes of residents requiring care and support. These approaches include greater use of Personal Budgets and Person Centred Planning in order to enable individuals to have greater choice and control over how, where and who supports them. Historically day services for people with disabilities in Hounslow have been provided largely through services operated directly by the Council. These are complemented by a smaller proportion of services which the Council commissions external providers to deliver on its behalf. This model of service delivery, where people with disabilities are brought together into buildings to receive “day services” is not considered best practice for most service users as it does not effectively meet the needs of existing and future service users in a person centred manner. Evidence of reduced need for these types of provision has also been reported in Hounslow over the last few years, with less people attending, combined with

shorter periods of attendance for those that do. It is envisaged that there will be a continued reduction in need for these building based day services as greater focus is placed on personalisation for individuals. The Council is committed to ensuring that there is an appropriate range of alternatives to traditional day services. These services will need to promote personalised approaches to meeting individual needs, including supporting adults with disabilities to access mainstream community services such as education or employment, developing friendship networks, feeling part of their local community and being able to take part in activities that they choose and enjoy. In order to achieve this vision the council will develop improved partnerships between the statutory, third and independent sectors, to promote a shared and common aim from a range of services that will contribute to:

Reducing social isolation

Increasing community participation and the extent to which individuals can access mainstream services

Increasing service user choice and self-determination through personal budgets

Reducing dependence on traditional, building-based services for people who can be supported into mainstream services

Ensuring best value in services provided both in-house and commissioned.

Enhancing our ability to meet the need of those with autism. The Community Support Model will comprise the following main elements:-

For most service users, individual’s aims will be achieved through a combination of approaches that are fundamentally person centred including community integration, providing more choice and control and using time limited support to promote people’s independence rather than simply providing them with somewhere to go during the day. The Council will continue to work towards modernising the current range of services, wherever possible exploring how through collaboration and facilitation we can develop and enable the use of flexible, safe and supportive environments, that can be utilised to support people with disabilities.

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Community Outreach

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Life Skills Team

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A skilled, knowledgeable and flexible workforce will be required to ensure high quality safe services that enable the vision to be delivered. This is considered essential to increasing access for residents with disabilities in utilising universal and mainstream services, as well as continued and appropriate use of more specialist and/or targeted services whilst ensuring the safety and wellbeing of the people they support. Robust support to enable residents with disabilities to gain the required confidence and independence in order to utilise public transport will be key. The option of developing person centred travel plans and maximising the use of existing services such as the Travel Buddy Service or Community Access Service will be explored as part of modernisation alongside third sector services. The Council intends to continue to work towards modernising the current range of services, by facilitating greater partnerships that enable the flexible use of safe and supportive environments and premises that support people with disabilities to be as independent as possible.

Part B Service impact, risks and mitigating actions: Capacity Currently there are vacancies in both centres and around 70% attendance. In addition approximately 25% of those residents that do attend the centres have needs which do not require this type of service and their needs could be met with either a personal budget, personal assistant or by attending the Community Access Team. All service users will require an effective and timely assessment in order to develop a defined support plan to ensure the outcomes they desire are appropriately met. Service users at both Two Bridges and the Triangle are drawn from the whole of the borough and most service users attend with the assistance of the transport service. Travel assessments will be carried out for those persons should there be any increase in distance. Community Access Team The Community Access Team uses the upstairs of The Triangle as a meeting point/ drop in centre for users; this can continue at weekend and evenings.

Part C Implementation costs and investment required (inc. estimated redundancy) It is anticipated that all support worker currently employed at Two Bridges will transfer with the service users to the Triangle day centre. Redeployment opportunities will be sought for three senior workers and the manager, into other vacancies around the council to avoid redundancies.

Part D Impact on property and assets of the council If this proposal is approved and the Two Bridges site is no longer required for service delivery, its future will be assessed against the Council’s Capital and Property strategies, which are to secure additional school places and affordable homes.

Part E Equality Impact Assessment summary: The Council has to give due regard to its Equalities Duties, in particular with respect to general duties arising pursuant to the Equality Act 2010, section 149. Having due regard to the need to advance equality involves, in particular, to the need to remove or minimise disadvantages suffered by persons who share a relevant characteristic that are connected to that characteristic. The relevant protected characteristics that will be engaged are

People with physical disabilities

People with learning disabilities

Carers

Gender Other equality duties may be engaged through the implementation of elements of this proposal. Where equality duties are engaged appropriate mitigation plans will be developed alongside Equality Impact Assessments following a period of engagement and consultation and feedback with both service users, their carers and relevant stakeholders. A full EIA will be undertaken prior to implementation.

Part F Other relevant information None

Lead Member: Cllr Foote

Ref Directorate Division RE-CSER1 REDE Environment, Community Safety &

Regulatory Services

Savings title: Reorganisation of regulatory and enforcement services

2014/15 £m

2015/16 £m

2016/17 £m

2017/18 £m

2018/19 £m


0 0.600 0.300 0.400 0


0 0.160 0 0 0

2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19


0 18.0 0 0 0

Part A Description of saving: LBH ENFORCEMENT TEAM Creation of a pro-active enforcement policy following the absorption of Hounslow Homes Wardens into the Boroughs Enforcement Team covering Licensing, Food Hygiene, Dog Control, Environmental controls and Anti-Social behaviour. These teams will be able to operate throughout the Borough’s Shopping Centres, High Roads, Housing Estates and Parks bringing uniform enforcement policies to the entire Borough. The teams, along with officers from the Borough police teams will be allocated to known problem areas at a monthly tasking meeting covering all the boroughs partnership resources. Ex Hounslow Homes estates will be covered by an equivalent number of hours which is being currently paid for by HH tenants and lease holders. All Council Departments and Community Safety Partners with an enforcement need will be required to have a representative at the tasking meetings. MERGING OF BOROUGH’S CCTV CENTRE AND CREATION OF A SECURITY SUITE. An exercise will be undertaken to see if savings and operational efficiencies can be secured by merging CCTV Centres at Derby Road and the Hounslow Homes CCTV centre. This will house the Hounslow Borough CCTV/Enforcement teams and Hounslow Borough Police Teams. Joint surveillance by LBH CCTV operators and Borough Police Officers at Anti-Social Behaviour Hot-Spots will be carried out at critical periods. The creation of this Suite will bring greater cooperation between the Boroughs Enforcement Team and the various Hounslow Borough Police units with a view to early identification of brewing ASB and Criminal activities through the pro-active use of CCTV. UNIFORM IDENTIFICATION OF ENFORCEMENT TEAMS. The new Enforcement Teams will be issued new Standard uniforms that clearly identify them as “ENFORCEMENT”. Basic training will be standard covering the issue of Penalty Charge Notices and the various laws covering ASB, Littering etc. including the

provisions of the new 2014 Anti-Social behaviour Act. More specific training will be given to Enforcement Officers working in areas such as licensing and food hygiene. LBH DOG CONTROL TEAM An additional officer will be attached to the Borough Dog Control Team and its use on the Boroughs Housing Estates to be expanded, this service offered to neighbouring boroughs with a view to income generate. The cost of this additional resource will be funded from HRA PROCEEDS OF CRIME OFFICER A new position of a Proceeds of Crime Officer will be added to the team. It is seen that this officer will be self-financing as will be several other licensing positions. NEW LICENSING POLICY 2015 The Boroughs Licensing Policy is due to be updated during 2015 and will need to contain lessons learned with Controlled Drinking Zones, controlling of the sale of Super Strength beers and ciders and changing the emphasis on the applicant to prove a need for early opening hours. Consultations with other London Boroughs will take place early in 2015 to try and bring about a common London wide policy. LICENSING COMMUNITY IMPACT POLICY A new Community Impact Policy will be introduced during 2015 which will carry out an in depth examination of licensing problem areas with a view to establishing if the volume of licensed premises is causing Anti-Social Behavioural problems. If proven no similar licenses will be issued in the area. The areas will be identified in the first quarter and a full examination of the problems will be carried out by an external surveyor backed up by Hounslow Borough Licensing officials. The cost of this program will be in the area of £40,000 but along with the new licensing policy will form the backbone of licensing procedures in the London Borough of Hounslow for the next five years. PARKING ENFORCEMENT Parking is to be moved into traffic and the Serco and Hounslow Highways contracts need to be examined with a view to improving their Customer Service levels. This to include contact availability, response times and problem resolution times. SUMMARY OF RESTRUCTURE Generally it is proposed to reduce the number of Services within the Division from six to five to create the following teams: 1,Highways & Transport (all existing Traffic & transport functions but also including PFI and Parking) 2. Development Management and Enforcement (DM, planning enforcement) 3. Community Safety & Envirocrime (Community Safety, Environmental Protection, Pollution, Neighbourhood Wardens, HMO housing enforcement and Rogue landlords, Empty homes and Emergency Planning 4. Waste & Business Regulation: (Waste, Trading Standards, Licensing, Food Inspections, Pest Control, Commercial Health & Safety) 5. Building Control

INCREASED INCOME GENERATION Not all the savings identified are salary savings, £300,000 savings will be as a result of an increase in income generation from greater activity in the construction industry sector and its impact on planning fees and the setting of locally based Licensing fees due to be legislated for in 2015. Specifically in terms of licensing the uplift in general licensing fees will result in £100,000 additional income and another £100,000 of income can be achieved by increasing street trading and scrap metal licensing fees.

Part B Service impact, risks and mitigating actions: IMPLICATIONS ON REGULATORY SERVICES As the proposed structure beds in there is scope to recover salary costs with the issuance of a higher number of Fixed Penalty Notices. The reduction in posts will affect the capacity of some teams and the timeliness of some investigations however the Council’s regulatory and statutory functions will be maintained. Non statutory projects within Traffic and Transport may be delayed due to resource constraints. As a result of the reduction in staff limitations on capacity will affect Pollution and Food Safety services which would detrimentally affect our timeliness in dealing with noise and smell complaints, notably from Mogden Sewage Works and also High Risk Premises inspections as well as reducing our capacity to deal with major incidents and food poisoning outbreaks. The Food Safety Team currently ensures that the frequency of food safety inspections is very high and this will clearly be affected with a smaller number of staff. This would result in reduced frequency of some statutory visits. In addition reducing staffing resources within Trading Standards will reduce the service’s capacity to prosecute and carry out routine inspections. Prioritise noise and air quality investigations and food safety inspections based on a risk register;

Establishing and embedding performance management culture (better business

planning and processes and embedding a robust and data driven performance

culture, in order to maintain departmental performance with decreased resource)

Improved contract performance management to prevent incidences of fly tipping

and to ensure new increased income streams materialise

Carry out a robust cost recovery Licensing charging scheme once Government

pass the required legislation

Prioritise Community Safety initiatives to meet Council priorities

Restructure teams to deliver fully coordinated Enforcement Services

Increased communication strategy on the adopted methods to increase recycling rates across the borough an attain cleaner streets

Part C Implementation costs and investment required (inc. estimated redundancy) Estimated redundancy cost of £160k to be met centrally.

Part D Impact on property and assets of the council

None

Part E Equality Impact Assessment summary: The Council has to give due regard to Equalities Duties under the Equality Act 2010. Under Section 39, Part 5 of the Equality Act 2010, employers must not discriminate against or victimise an employee as to the terms of employment; in the way access to opportunities for promotion, transfer or training or for receiving any other benefit, facility or service is given. This also applies to the way an employee is dismissed. Employers must ensure that they do not deny workers access to benefits because of a protected characteristic. Where denying access to a benefit or offering it on less favourable terms the employer must be able to objectively justify the rule or practice as a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. The initial Equalities Impact Assessment reveals that there will be an adverse impact for staff who are likely to have to work reduced hours and for those likely to be made redundant if this proposal is approved. Therefore the duty not to discriminate when dismissing an employee will be engaged by the proposal and this duty will also apply when selecting staff for to work reducing hours.

The council will mitigate any likely disadvantage by ensuring that the process adheres to the Council’s Appointments following re-organisation policy, Redundancy and Redeployment policy and Severance policy all of which have been informed by provisions of the Equality Act 2010 to ensure a fair, non-discriminatory and transparent process is followed when leading organisational change.


Lead Member: Cllr Curran

Ref Directorate Division CX-SIE1 Chief Executive’s Division SIE

Savings title: Staff reductions in Strategy, Intelligence and Engagement (SIE) team

2014/15 £m

2015/16 £m

2016/17 £m

2017/18 £m

2018/19 £m


0 0.085 0 0 0


0 0 0 0 0

2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19


0 1.0 0 0 0

Part A Description of saving: The current management restructure is likely to affect the composition of SIE fairly substantially. Proposals based on the current configuration and staffing are therefore likely to have to be reviewed once the outcome of this is decided. The proposals set out here therefore only cover the first year of the four year programme and leave a further £293,000 to be determined when this is known. An income target that builds over the four year period will form part of these further savings, but the majority are likely to be from staffing reductions in SIE. The £85,000 proposed for 2015/16 represents two posts being deleted and one replaced at a lower grade (£44,000); the first stage of income generation (£10,000); and savings from non-staffing budgets (£31,000).

Part B Service impact, risks and mitigating actions: The original proposal to aggregate similar functions to deliver savings, agreed in principle by the Cabinet and CLT, has not proved possible to deliver at the current time, but remains the preferred option. Opportunities to do this should still be sought as an alternative to the proposals in this template. This proposal will delete a post recently created in setting up the Intelligence Hub that was not filled. This will limit the capacity of that team to develop in line with original plans and to meet the expectations that are rapidly rising as it becomes established. For the future years not yet decided, the likely deletion of a significant proportion of posts from the existing corporate teams in SIE would seriously undermine their viability and limit capacity to support corporate improvement and innovation and to retain flexibility to respond to both corporate (including Cabinet and scrutiny) needs and service departments. A significant reduction in service would be necessary. The (net) income target is also very stretching if it builds up to £50k pa by 18/19 and delivering work to achieve this target will further reduce capacity for internal work.

Part C Implementation costs and investment required (inc. estimated redundancy) There will be no redundancy costs from the current proposal, but any further staffing reductions would be likely to incur some. This would be offset by any natural wastage. Actual costs will also depend on the outcome of the management of change processes and who is affected but could be in the region of £100k. The income target will also displace internal capacity.

Part D Impact on property and assets of the council Small reduction in need for desk space.

Part E Equality Impact Assessment summary: Any restructuring required to deliver the future changes when agreed would take full account of equalities duties and be conducted in a fair and transparent way.

Part F Other relevant information These proposals may cut across other proposals put forward as the detail of specific posts falling within its scope is still being worked out and subject to choice.

Lead Member: Cllr Sampson

Ref Directorate Division CX-VCSE2 Chief Executive’s Division SIE

Savings title: Reduction in Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) funding

2014/15 £m

2015/16 £m

2016/17 £m

2017/18 £m

2018/19 £m


0 0.091 0.105 0.160 0


0 0 0 0 0

2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19


0 0 0 0 0

Part A Description of saving: The above saving reflects reduced funding to commissioned and grant funded VCSE organisations which, together with saving (ref CX-VCSE) from tranche 1 would represent a 33.5% reduction, or £656k. The additional saving presented here, totalling £356k, relates to:

£60,760 by removing all of the Accommodation Subsidy fund (used for contingencies)

£125,000 (71%) of the Innovation/Area Initiatives fund, leaving £25k for PREVENT.

£90,800 (33%) of the Community Grant fund

£35,000 (100%) from Area Forum Grants (underspent)

£15,000 (100%) from Area Forum Engagement fund (underspent)

£14,500 (58%) from Voluntary Sector Development fund.

£15,000 (33%) from Special Projects – Engagement fund (retaining alternate year funding for Residents’ Survey and other engagement projects in intervening years).

Detailed proposals for the future funding of these responsibilities will be presented for consultation by July 2015.

Part B Service impact, risks and mitigating actions: A full review of the corporate VCSE strategy is planned for 2015, following from and extending the principles set out in the Thriving Communities Funding Plan (July 2014). This plan will deliver £200,000 leaving a further £456,060 to be taken out of the remaining annual budget over the four year period (to deliver both tranche 1 and tranche 2 savings). As part of the strategic review, priorities and criteria for allocating grants and for commissioning services will be reassessed to ensure full alignment with the Council’s priorities and the needs of the community. In addition, a programme of transitional support will be developed to help the VCSE sector build its capacity and self-reliance, enhancing fund-raising skills and opportunities as well as looking at the scope for rationalisation and collaboration to offset cost reductions.

Part C Implementation costs and investment required (inc. estimated redundancy) None expected, but transitional support programme may divert staff from other activity. If specialist expertise also required at extra cost, this would come from the VCSE funding budgets, but inevitably add to (or bring forward) the savings required from these. Also, Council funding is often a requirement for external funding, for example current projects have attracted £3m in investment from Big Lottery, Creative People and Places and others.

Part D Impact on property and assets of the council None

Part E Equality Impact Assessment summary: Much of our VCSE funding is targeted at groups that support the most vulnerable or disadvantaged people in our community. Decisions on how the funding reductions are made would need to be taken in the light of full equality impact assessments of the effect they would have on the community. The transitional support programme would also need to reflect the equalities impact assessments and may need to target those most disadvantaged and vulnerable for support.

Part F Other relevant information These proposals need to be taken in connection with other plans and expectations relating to VCSE support. In particular, increasing reliance on VCSE support for community resilience and independence underpins expectations of reduced demand for other services in social care and elsewhere.

Lead Member: Cllr Dennison

Ref Directorate Division CR-Collection Corporate Resources N/A

Savings title: Changes to Council Tax and Business Rates Policies and Income

2014/15 £m

2015/16 £m

2016/17 £m

2017/18 £m

2018/19 £m


0 1.484 0 0 0


0 0.025 0.025 0.025 0

2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19


0 0 0 0 0

Part A Description of saving: Changes to the levels of discounts and reliefs awarded to Council Tax and NNDR cases.

Properties Undergoing Structural Alteration or Major Repair

The current discount for properties in this category is a 50% discount for up to 12 months. The proposal is to remove this discount and charge full council tax on these cases. This would affect approximately 200 cases – changes would have to be implemented from 1st April with a resolution passed along with the tax setting paper. This change would lead to an additional council tax debt raised of £165K, of which £129K would be retained by Hounslow.

Unoccupied and Unfurnished Dwellings

Currently dwellings empty and unfurnished pay no council tax for the first month, the proposal is to reduce this to 0 days. The saving for this would be approximately £17K with £13k being retained by Hounslow.

Council Tax Base Growth

The Council Tax base is currently just over 80,000 band D equivalent properties. This figure can be increased through tighter controls and reviews of discounts / exemptions, visits on new properties and identifying conversions and extensions. The taxbase for 2015/16 for budget setting purposes assumes an increase in band D equivalent properties of almost 2,900 compared with the 2014/15 taxbase. Some growth is already built into the Council’s medium term financial strategy projections. However the taxbase presented to January Cabinet assumes growth which allows for an additional £1.3m income that can contribute towards the savings target.

NNDR London Living Wage Reductions

To encourage local businesses to become accredited as London living wage employers it is proposed Hounslow will introduce a reduction scheme to provide business rate relief to those meeting the conditions. This relief will encourage businesses to become accredited and help cover the costs of registration. The proposal is to offer a one off discount equivalent to the costs of accreditation to companies who become accredited with the Living Wage Foundation between 1st April 2015 and 31st March 2018. This will be a one off credit to their NNDR account. The cost of the reduction will be met by the NNDR pool and our share will be 30% of the awards granted. Administration costs are estimated at £10k per annum. Award cost to Hounslow is £15k per annum.

Part B Service impact, risks and mitigating actions: The changes identified above will lead to increases in council tax demands for some properties, these would largely fall upon owners of properties left vacant. This could lead to a slight increases in the authority’s bad debt provision.

Part C Implementation costs and investment required (inc. estimated redundancy) No redundancies, there will be an administration cost for the London Living wage discount.


Part E Equality Impact Assessment summary: There is no qualitative or quantitative data to suggest that this proposal would have a greater or lesser effect on people on account of their Age; Disability; Gender Reassignment ; Marriage and Civil Partnership; Pregnancy and maternity; Race; Religion or Belief, Age and Sexual Orientation. Therefore this Equality Analysis concludes that Age; Disability; Sexual Orientation and Gender Reassignment, Religion or Belief; Marriage and Civil Partnership, Pregnancy and Maternity, Race and Sex are not characteristics which appear to have any relevance to this proposal.


Lead Member: Cllr Dennison

Ref Directorate Division CO-MTFS Corporate Resources N/A

Savings title: Allocation of unspent New Initiatives Fund

2014/15 £m

2015/16 £m

2016/17 £m

2017/18 £m

2018/19 £m


0 1.0 0 0 0


0 0 0 0 0

2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19


0 0 0 0 0

Part A Description of saving: The MTFS brings forward a £1m corporate budget initially made available to allocate to policy growth initiatives. When setting the 2014/15 budget this was left within the corporate items budget, and currently remains unallocated. The proposal is to deploy the unallocated £1m in this budget to help meet the Council’s savings requirement. The MTFS makes provision for rebuilding the New Initiatives Fund in future years from unallocated inflation provision.

Part B Service impact, risks and mitigating actions: The growth budget associated with this saving has not been allocated and so is available to offer as a saving.

Part C Implementation costs and investment required (inc. estimated redundancy) None


Part E Equality Impact Assessment summary: Not applicable


Lead Member: Cllr Curran

Ref Directorate Division RE-WIM REDE Strategic Planning & Regeneration

and Economic Development

Savings title: Development of Western International Market

Overspill Lorry Park 2014/15 £m

2015/16 £m

2016/17 £m

2017/18 £m

2018/19 £m

Estimated impact of saving/income (rent)

0 0 0 0.228 0


0 1.434 0.170 0.140 0.010


0 0 0 0 0

Minerals Extraction 2014/15 £m

2015/16 £m

2016/17 £m

2017/18 £m

2018/19 £m

Estimated impact of saving/Income

0 0.336 0 0 (0.335)


0 0.050 0 0 0


0 0 0 0 0

Solar Panels 2014/15 £m

2015/16 £m

2016/17 £m

2017/18 £m

2018/19 £m


0 0.221 0.010 0.010 0.010


0 1.996 0 0 0


0 0 0 0 0

Part A Description of saving: Through the Corporate Property Strategy (December 2013) a number of key opportunities have been identified to increase property-related revenues, the redevelopment of land at Western International Market is one opportunity that addresses the following corporate objectives;

Creates jobs, employment and economic development

Helps meet carbon reduction commitment and reduces Carbon reduction tax. There are a number of potential development opportunities at WIM, with sites having a variety of planning designations. Those sites with fewer planning constraints are easier

to take forward and this paper sets out three initial projects which accord with their current planning designation. In the future, if land is re-designated following the Green Belt Review and the West of the Borough Plan, further development may be possible. These projects are;

construction of new commercial units on the current Lorry Overspill site;

mineral extraction of surrounding greenbelt land

Solar panels Market analysis demonstrates an appetite for new commercial development at WIM, either as additional market units, industrial units or supporting uses. The baseline assessment has identified potential sand and gravel deposits. Landfill would follow mineral extraction. This would be the importation of geotechnical and chemically suitable material that would allow for future construction and end use. Critical to this approach is the availability of appropriate material, which may cause delay to any future build phase due to supply and demand. Project 1 Lorry Overspill Site It is proposed that the Lorry Overspill site, which is currently underutilised operational land at the market would be built out with new commercial units. The development would require minimal capital investment by the Council and the new units would be a continuation of the existing market uses, which are fully let and would also provide capacity to respond to the proposed downsizing of New Covent Garden market. This development would be delivered by the Council as direct development. (Note: The annual rent of £227,770 which commences in 2017/18 [allowing for marketing & rent free periods] continues beyond 2018/19 for the duration of any occupational lease granted. The likely lease term to be between 10-20 years and subject thereafter to renewal). Project 2 Mineral Extraction It is proposed to procure an operator who would be granted a lease in respect of the mineral extraction for the Green Belt site subject to securing planning permission, via a tender process. The Council would collect a royalty based on the quantity of mineral extracted. Under the royalty arrangement, the Council (as landowner) would derive a royalty rent (£/tonne) for the extracted mineral. The estimated tonnage for the Green Belt site set out in the Baseline Report is 575,762 tonnes. At this preliminary stage, it is not possible to be precise on an extraction programme but it is likely to be between 3-5 years. For the purposes of the schedule above, a 3-year period has been adopted and the additional income removed in 2018/19. Project 3 WIM Solar Panels It is proposed to install a photo voltaic (PV) system at WIM that would generate approximately half the current site’s electricity requirements. This would substantially reduce the cost of electricity and reduce the risk of fluctuations to wholesale prices. The savings in energy costs would reduce the revenue expenditure required of the Council.

The proposal is for a minimum 1.68 MW Solar Panel PV system. The project would provide carbon free power for decades and also reduce carbon dioxide emissions by around 790.38 kg per annum and would also provide a saving on the Council’s Carbon reduction Tax. WIM is particularly suitable for an installation of this type of technology since it has large areas of relatively gently sloping roofs and benefits from a built-in external gantry. A detailed proposal and business case for the capital investment required will be examined by the Capital Strategy Group prior to being submitted to Cabinet for consideration.

Part B Service impact, risks and mitigating actions: Undertaking property development is inherently risky, however the development of detailed business cases for each project will be critical to the management of this, currently outline business cases have been undertaken and risks and mitigation measures have been identified and will need to be continually updated as works streams progress. Construction price inflation will require close monitoring as this has increased significantly over the last 6 months. Across the property development proposals, the projects encompass minerals, commercial and energy generation and create challenges in respect of breadth of expertise required and quality consultancy advice will be critical however, the diversity of programme streams also helps manage risk by spreading development and investment risk across a range of market areas. The Lorry Overspill and mineral workings are two projects that are considered low risk in respect of achieving planning permission, as they accord with current planning designations. For the redevelopment of the Lorry overspill site, the new development would replicate existing accommodation which is currently fully let. Demand is also anticipated from the contraction of New Covent Garden market. Build out should be swift with a good return upon investment. The mineral workings require the procurement of an operator and granting of a licence, with minimal capital outlay. The solar panel project has been prepared as a detailed business case with the next steps to be worked up as an Investment Grade proposal by Imtech so that it can be tendered out to contractors and a planning application made. It meets wider environmental and carbon reduction requirements, installation should be swift and it provides a good return upon investment. In view of the low risk nature of this project it is proposed that this is carried out by the Council as direct development.

Part C Implementation costs and investment required (inc. estimated redundancy) For the Lorry overspill site a more detailed business case needs to be prepared to include a more detailed scheme proposal and a more detailed financial appraisal. For the mineral extraction, a client brief needs to be prepared and soft market testing. This would include investigation into procurement, timescale and programme, landfill, management, and marketing. Both of these actions would require an initial investment of £100k. A further £1.8m capital would be require to fund the preparation of a planning application with professional fees and build out the new commercial units and undertake any implementation costs of the mineral extraction. For the solar panel project, preliminary investigations indicate a likely capital investment of £1,996,500 (excl vat) and includes: 6000 panels, 72 inverters, design, supply,

installation & commissioning of the system. To progress the project, Imtech, (the Council’s preferred energy saving company) will be required to provide 3 competitive costings to satisfy Council requirements such as – Value for money, Quality & Delivery and Corporate and Social Responsibility. The project PV specification and design will be refined to ensure the Council stays abreast and use the latest advances in technology.

Part D Impact on property and assets of the council WIM will be developed further, however the market operations would not be impacted so allowing a continuing flow of income from market rents. The corporate portfolio will be optimised through more proactive management. Through the construction of new commercial units at WIM its capital value will be enhanced.

Part E Equality Impact Assessment summary: The Council has to give due regard to Equalities Duties under the Equality Act 2010.

The initial Equalities Impact Assessment reveals that there will not be an adverse impact for staff arising from the savings proposals.


Documents

APPENDIX A - ‘Tranche 2’ savings proposals Lead... · Implementation costs/ investment required 0 0 0 0 0 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 FTE posts to be deleted 2 2 Part