Agenda item

To provide an update on the work of the Investment Board from April 2023 to March 2024.

Members considered the Commercial Investment Strategy and Investment Board Update report presented by Councillor Boden. 

Members made comments, asked questions, and received responses as follows:

·         Councillor Roy stated the purchase of the property in Elm is a huge investment, with the property itself being nearly £800K and there is a lot of remedial work needed to bring it up to standard for temporary accommodation. He asked is there a total cost and when will the Council break even in terms of return on expenditure required? Councillor Boden responded the Council has not purchased a property in Elm, negotiations continue and there has not been an exchange of contracts, and it would be prejudicial of him to say any more at this time.

·         Councillor Barber referred to 70 homes for older people with care needs and asked are they actually 70 homes or is it one home for 70 people? She wondered how this would work with people who have care needs if they are individual homes. Councillor Boden responded this is an Extra Care Scheme of which 3 already exist in the Fenland area, these schemes are for vulnerable residents who have been assessed by Cambridgeshire County Council, who have the legal responsibility as the adults services provider, as needing some form of care package but not needing to go into care so all of the accommodation mentioned comprises of 70 self-contained flats with their own front door, their own personal space, a living room, kitchen, an accessible bathroom and bedroom but they do have communal facilities available including communal emergency services where necessary and there may be a number of two bedroom flats within that proposal but this has not been determined yet.

·         Councillor Sennitt Clough asked, in Councillor Nawaz absence, the CIS says it will be reviewed every 2 years, is that too long with an annual review maybe being more useful so if there is anything going wrong it can be picked up earlier rather than having to wait for 2 years and the committee could go through it on an annual basis. Councillor Boden responded that the review is a thorough review and it states where the Council is, however, the interest rates are constantly being looked at for other opportunities and what changes that are necessary and possible, it is a very fluid environment and is looked at on a daily basis but it is not necessary to make the CIS review yearly rather than every two years as the strategy largely remains the same, the opportunities are very short term at times and ones that have to be reacted to very quickly. Councillor Sennitt Clough stated that it was her understanding that it is looked at daily, as far as the operational aspects of it is concerned, and asked how is the information gathered daily and acted upon in terms of moving towards the strategic review in two years? Councillor Boden answered that he should emphasize that the daily examination is undertaken by officers based on the economy, if there is a significant change or trend or even a projection of a trend there is a formal discussion with the Section 151 Officer, Peter Catchpole, to stay alert of any situation and this is then brought up in the Portfolio Holder briefings. Paul Medd stated there is the daily interaction on an informal basis but it is worth mentioning from a formal governance and decision making point of view a lot of this information that is being looked at on a daily basis is reported back to the Investment Board as part of the overall governance and decisions that relate to the Commercial Investment Strategy, which are presented to the three members that sit on the Investment Board for a decision to be taken. Peter Catchpole added the Council do have external treasury advisers which is where a lot of the information comes from daily which is added to a spreadsheet, he then looks over everything to make sure the Council are not missing out on any investment opportunities.

Members noted the annual report from the Investment Board.