Agenda item

Members of the Corporate Performance Panel and Environment & Community Panel are invited to attend the meeting for this item of Business.

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Members of the Environment and Community Panel and Corporate Performance Panel had been invited to attend the meeting for this item.

The Assistant Director presented the report which set out options for dealing with the properties leased from the Council to the companies and set out proposed funding criteria to support transfer of the properties into the companies freehold and to meet governance requirements.

Members were advised that the report was still draft and subject to external feedback/advice from consultants.  The Assistant Director confirmed that this feedback would be available before the report was considered by Cabinet on 5^th December 2023.

The key issues were set out in the report including the capacity of the council to lend money which was limited by legislation and the social value return.  Consideration also had to be given to West Norfolk Property and the requirement to charge comparable interest rates.  It was noted that West Norfolk Housing Company and West Norfolk Property were fairly new Companies, with limited trading history, which limited the opportunities for loans.

The Chair thanked the Assistant Director for the report and invited questions and comments from the Panels, as summarised below.

Councillor Dark acknowledged the time constraints to fit in with the budget setting process and that external advice was still awaited, but he felt it was difficult for Members to make recommendations to Cabinet on proposals that had not yet been finalised and proposed that no recommendation be put forward by the Panel at this time.  He recognised that the report was being considered by Cabinet on 5^th December and asked the Leader if he would permit Members to attend Cabinet under Standing Order 34 and ask questions at Cabinet, rather than be limited to making statements, as per the rules set out in the Constitution.

The Leader confirmed that he would permit this at the Cabinet meeting and requested that Members provide a steer as to if they agree with the proposals in principle, and then the figures would follow.

Councillor Dark’s proposal that Cabinet are requested to permit Members to ask questions under Standing Order 34 at the Cabinet Meeting on 5^th December, and that no recommendation was put forward by the Panel at this time was seconded by Councillor Long and agreed by the Panel.

Councillor Jones was concerned that the proposals had been presented to the Panel incomplete.  The Assistant Director explained that external advice had been sought and research had been conducted to ascertain if banks would provide a loan, but because of the limited trading history and portfolio, they would not.  Further external advice was now awaited on the loan facilities available and future funding opportunities.

Councillor Kemp supported the building of more houses to meet the needs of people in the Borough and asked who would safeguard, provide security of assets and monitor.  The Assistant Director explained that the Council’s Cabinet and Shareholder Committee oversaw the work of the Council Companies and monitored through the Business Plans.

In response to a question from Councillor Bhondi, it was explained that the advice awaited would include detail of the percentage of debt-to-equity options and the cost to the council if they continued to hold the homes.

Councillor Dark commented that he hoped that he could attend the Cabinet meeting and be reassured by the awaited advice.

In response to a question from the Chair, the Assistant Director explained that the housing market was slowing, but there was still a need for rented and social housing and the Council was currently the main developer in the area.

Councillor Long commented that it was all about supply and demand and Social Housing Rent was stipulated by the Regulator.  Build costs and rental value needed to be factored in and the Assistant Director commented that viability would need to be considered and balanced against the need for additional housing.

In response to a question from the Chair, the Assistant Director commented that introduction of net zero planning policies would increase build costs, but would make houses cheaper to run.

The Portfolio Holder for Business, Councillor Beales, thanked the Panel for their comments and agreed that their approach to reserve judgement until the final report was available was sensible.  He reassured Members that Cabinet would thoroughly consider the implications of the proposals.

RESOLVED: That, jointly, the Panels reserve judgement on the proposals.  The comments made at the Panel meeting would be passed onto Cabinet and representatives from the Panels would attend the Cabinet Meeting on 5^th December 2023 to comment and ask questions on the final report.