Decision

 
1. To thank the
scrutiny commissions for their comments on the draft capital
budget.
 
2. To recommend to
Council the following:
 

a)         Approve
the capital programme, including the maximum prudential borrowing
for schemes as described in this report and summarised at
Appendices 1 to 6, subject to any amendments proposed by the City
Mayor in accordance with his powers as set out in 2.1(f);
 

b)         Note if
the amendment within the general fund revenue budget for 2026/27 is
approved in relation to Adventure Playgrounds, a corresponding
amendment will be made to the capital programme. 
 

c)         To
delegate to the Director of Finance, in consultation with the City
Mayor, to apply available capital receipts to finance the capital
programme in place of prudential borrowing where this is considered
financially advantageous, having regard to affordability,
sustainability, and the Council’s Treasury Management and
Capital Strategies
 

d)         For
those schemes designated immediate starts, delegate authority to
the lead director to commit expenditure, subject to the normal
requirements of Contract Procedure Rules, rules concerning land
acquisition and Finance Procedure Rules;
 

e)         Delegate
authority to the City Mayor to determine a plan of spending for
each policy provision, and to commit expenditure up to the maximum
available;
 
f)         
For the purposes of Finance Procedure Rules:
 

•          
Determine that service resources shall consist of service revenue
contributions; HRA revenue contributions; and government
grants/third party contributions ringfenced for specific
purposes.
 

•          
Delegate to the appropriate Divisional Director the ability to
reallocate resources within the following programmes to meet
operational requirements:
 
o         
Operational estate
o         
Children’s capital maintenance
o         
Highways maintenance programme
o         
Transport Improvement Grant for 2026/27
o         
Local Authority Bus Grant (LABG)
 
g)         Delegate
to the City Mayor:
 

•          
Authority to increase any scheme in the programme, or add a new
scheme to the programme, subject to a maximum of £10m funded
from corporate resources in each instance and to borrow whilst
remaining within the prudential limits for debt which are proposed
in the treasury management strategy (elsewhere on your agenda);
 
•          
Authority to reduce or delete any capital scheme, subject to a
maximum reduction of £10m; and
 

•          
Authority to transfer any “policy provision” to the
“immediate starts” category.
 

h)       
Delegate to directors, in consultation with the relevant
deputy/assistant mayor, authority to incur expenditure up to a
maximum of £250k per scheme in respect of policy provisions
on design and other professional fees and preparatory studies, but
not any other type of expenditure.
 
i)         
Approve the capital strategy at Appendix 6.
 
j)         
Resolved that the Council:
 

•          
agrees to act as Accountable Body for funding provided by the
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) under
the Pride in Place Programme
 

•          
adds such funding to the Council’s revenue or capital budget
as appropriate
           

•          
delegates to the Section 151 Officer, Monitoring Officer and
Director of Corporate Services authority to administer the
Programme, allocate funding, and manage delivery and compliance in
accordance with MHCLG requirements and the Council’s approved
budget framework.

Reasons for the decision

It is a requirement of
the constitution that the City Mayor recommends a capital programme
to the Council.