Cabinet will be asked to approve the 5 Year Capital Programme & Strategy 2024/25 to 2028/29.

Report: 5 Year Capital Programme and Strategy – 2024/25 to 2028/29

Presented by: Councillor Christopher Wilkins - Finance

Cabinet agreed the following:

1.               Agreed to recommend to Council for consideration and approval the 2024/25 Capital programme of £342m and £1,421m over the full 5-year period from 2024/25 to 2028/29.

2.               Agreed to recommend to Council for consideration and approval the new capital projects being added to the capital programme for 2024/25 as set out in section 2.3 of this report.

3.               Noted any additional capital needs over and above what is specified in the capital programme for the relevant year will require separate business cases and be agreed by the S151 officer, Capital Strategy manager and Council Members as required and appropriate before being agreed by full Council.

4.               Noted that the Chief Financial Officer be authorised to allocate funding from the Capital Contingency included within the draft Capital Programme.

5.               Noted that externally funded schemes can be added to the capital programme up to £500k as and when funding is confirmed.

6.               Approved the capital strategy contained within this report noting its impact on both the capital programme and the financial implications for setting the revenue budget for 2024/25 to 2028/29.

7.               Noted the capital prudential indicators included within the capital strategy when approving the capital programme to ensure affordability.

8.               Approved the Minimum Revenue Provision Policy Statement (unchanged from prior years) which determines the amount of money set aside each year for the repayment of debt

9.               Agreed that the Chief Financial Officer (S151 Officer) be authorised to re-profile capital budgets mid-year based on the updated forecasts provided by services and reported to the Executive Leadership Team as part of the capital monitoring process. This will assist in producing more accurate information for treasury management purposes.