Agenda item

1.    The Chairman introduced this item, which had also been requested by Mr Brady, highlighting the importance of the Asset Management Strategy (AMS) 2024-2030, especially in challenging financial times.

2.    Mr Peter Oakford, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance, Corporate and Traded Services, was invited to provide an overview, he emphasised the strategy's focus on maintaining properties as "warm, safe, and dry."  Maintenance had fallen into being reactive whereas it should be preventative maintenance.  The property team had reviewed all properties, identifying underutilised buildings and were focusing maintenance funds on essential assets.  The team had successfully accelerated asset sales, doubling the expected revenue, which had helped mitigate budget challenges.

3.    The strategy aimed to address the financial constraints of the Council by optimising property management.  There was an emphasis on regular maintenance to avoid costly repairs and efforts were made to better utilise buildings and dispose of underutilised assets.

4.    The Cabinet Member and Officers noted comments and responded to questions which included the following:

a.    In response to a question from the Chairman about the current value of KCC's building assets and the number of properties that were currently vacant the officers confirmed that the estate was valued at approximately £2.77 billion, with around 100 vacant properties.  The AMS set out the nature of the portfolio, the types of assets that fell into each category and the proportions of freehold and leasehold. 

b.    The previous strategy ran from 2018 – 2023 and during the pandemic there were both challenges and budget pressures.  The impact of the “warm, safe and dry” strategy had resulted in the Council struggling to maintain anything over the warm, safe and dry standard.  However, the new strategy included lifecycle management to ensure ongoing maintenance costs were considered.

c.     Concerns were raised about the transparency of asset utilisation and the impact on community assets, it was confirmed that the strategy included measures to improve transparency and collaboration with members. 

d.    The Cabinet Member and Officers offered to report back to Members at a future meeting to follow up on the further questions of Members.

e.    In developing the new strategy, a number of internal workshops had been run setting out what had been achieved during the old strategy and lessons learned from those.  A new Facilities Management contract was procured which included the restructure of the way that services were delivered.  A key objective in the new strategy was around the co-locations and flexibility of the use of buildings. 

f.      Was there a list of underutilised assets?  More engagement should be undertaken with the local member to determine why it’s not utilised and to find ways for the community to utilise the asset for the benefit of residents and the council to ensure KCC was not disposing of an asset that might be of community need. 

g.    KPIs had been developed in relation to the strategy and these would be reported to Policy and Resources Cabinet Committee in due course. 

h.    A Member asked whether directorates had a responsibility for monitoring the list of council assets or whether this was done by the property team?  The broad asset reviews were part of the strategic reset programme, this was split into office estates, community estate (e.g. libraries) and specialist estate (assets we hold for a particular purpose). 

i.      In response to a question about the Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) relating to the decision, it was confirmed that individual EQIAs were undertaken around particular streams of activity.  When further decisions were made separate EQIAs would be produced which would highlight the impact of the decision.

j.      Individual property data was available and the officers offered to provide a briefing for members on the key elements.   

k.     In terms of transparency, a lot of information was publicly available in terms of the asset base.  Tools were available for members to search for particular assets in particular locations to determine ownership for example.  This would be promoted following the KCC elections in May 2025.

5.    Members were keen to take up the offer of further updates to the committee. 

6.    The Chairman thanked Mr Oakford and the officers for attending the meeting and for answering Members’ questions. 

RESOLVED that Members note the decision taken in relation to the Asset Management Strategy 2024-2030.