Agenda and minutes

An apology for absence was received from Councillor Mahil.  The Leader advised that Councillor Gurung was unavoidably delayed and would arrive a little later.

The record of the meeting held on 11 March 2025, was agreed by the Cabinet and signed by the Leader as a correct record.

The Leader advised the Cabinet, and the Assistant Director, Legal and Governance confirmed that, with regard to Agenda item 7 ‘Shared Prosperity Fund 2025/26’, Members’ varying interests in local community groups did not amount to disclosable pecuniary or significant interests in relation to the report.

Disclosable pecuniary interests

There were none.

Other significant interests (OSIs)

There were none.

Other interests

There were none.

Background:

The report sought delegated authority for the purchasing of large blocks of accommodation as part of the Temporary Accommodation Acquisition Programme.  The purchase of these properties would provide a large proportion of the Temporary Accommodation Acquisition Programme target of 150 homes, reduce budget pressures and further assist the Council in delivering its services to address demand relating to homelessness and temporary accommodation.

The Cabinet had previously recommended that £41,925,000 be added to the Capital Programme for the purchasing of temporary accommodation as well as taking on leases of properties for use as temporary accommodation and the set-up of an internal lettings department which had been approved by Full Council on 24 January 2024.

An Exempt Appendix to the report set out further information about the sites proposed for purchase.

Reasons:

This enables the service to purchase bulk properties (large blocks of accommodation) for temporary accommodation purposes, using the capital addition already agreed by Full Council as set out above. 

The acquisition of Site A and Site B (as set out in the Exempt Appendix 1 to the report) would provide a large proportion of the Temporary Accommodation Acquisition Programme target of 150 homes, reduce budget pressures and further assist the Council in delivering its services to address demand relating to homelessness and temporary accommodation.

The current demand and cost for temporary accommodation is significant and has already been identified as an identified budget pressure. This delegation will allow for negotiations to be finalised and the acquisition of these properties to be secured in a timely manner, without this in place there is a risk these acquisition opportunities will be lost.

Background:

The report sought Cabinet approval to regularise the appropriation of 1-3 Saxton House from the Council’s Housing Revenue Account (HRA) to the General Fund, for use as temporary accommodation. This was due to the property being initially purchased by the Council’s Housing Revenue Account (HRA) but subsequently transferred to the General Fund for use as temporary accommodation.

Reasons:

This will enable the service to account for the property in the annual asset valuations for the General Fund.

In addition, this will further assist the Council in delivering its services to address demand relating to homelessness and temporary accommodation.

[Councillor Gurung entered the room and took part in the meeting from this point forward.]

Background:

The report provided the Cabinet with the details of options relating to the delivery of the One Public Estates (OPE) Brownfield Land Release Fund (BLRF) enabling works Contract, with subsequent information relating to directly awarding a contract thereafter. Following a successful grant bid, £471,625 had been approved to undertake site enabling works at the Upper Mount car park site to facilitate a residential scheme of 21 homes. The enabling works entailed reducing site levels, installation of retaining walls and utility works.

The report proposed that Medway Development Company (MDC) be contracted to deliver these works to bring forward the site. MDC would be appointed in the capacity of Project Manager and Contractor.

In line with rule 15.11 of Chapter 4, Part 5 of the Constitution, call-in can be waived where any delay likely to be caused by the call-in process would seriously prejudice the Council’s or the public’s interests. In this case, the deadline from One Public Estate grant was for the Council to be in contract for the projects that form LRF 2.3 by 31 March 2025. The Council had been granted a slight extension to this deadline. Therefore, on this occasion it was proposed that the call-in period should be waived to prevent further delay. The Chairperson of the Regeneration, Culture and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee had agreed that the decisions proposed were reasonable in all the circumstances and to them being treated as a matter of urgency and to waive call-in.

Reasons:

The appointment of Medway Development Company (MDC) as Project Manager and Contractor to deliver the enabling works for the OPE BLRF, will ensure the project is completed and the grant funding is utilised.

Background:

The report provided the Cabinet with an update on what had been achieved to date with the delivery programme, and sought approval for the 2025/26 programme of spend for the Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF).

The Government had launched the £2.6 billion UK Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF) including Multiply and Rural England Prosperity Fund (REPF) in mid-April 2022. Medway had been allocated £1.855 million SPF, £1.458 million of Multiply funding and £400,000 of REPF. SPF succeeded EU structural funds. The Council’s Investment Plan (IP) to access SPF was approved in December 2022, and delivery of SPF Year 1 2022/23 had focussed on Council led projects to ensure completion given the programme delivery window of 3 months. Delivery of UKSPF Year 2 2023/2024 was complete. Delivery of UKSPF Year 3 was currently underway supporting external partners to deliver projects that contributed to the development of Pride in Place. Prior to the SPF Year 3’s end, the Government had announced an extension to SPF to cover 2025/2026, which included Medway receiving an additional allocation of £606,754.

The Cabinet noted that given the closure of Multiply and the Government’s intention not to continue funding to support Multiply past 2024/2025, it was proposed that Medway UKSPF Year 4 would support a provision to continue some level of service for the work Multiply supported across the region. The level of provision would be significantly lower given that Multiply received £504,000 of funding for 2024/2025 and the value SPF would be able to support for the continuation of a Multiply style provision was £50,000. However, despite the reduced funding this would ensure some level of service could be provided to those that required it, and some level of benefit could be realised.

The Cabinet welcomed the report and celebrated the success of the programme thus far, congratulating all involved.

Reasons:

Approval of the 2025/26 programme is in support of Medway’s regeneration priorities and will enable Medway to access the SPF allocation. Delivery of this programme will significantly benefit Medway’s residents, communities and businesses. 

Background:

The report provided the Cabinet with an update on the progress made against the 2021-2025 Procurement Strategy and sought agreement to the approach for the 2025/2026 financial year.

The report had previously been considered by the Business Support and Digital Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 27 March 2025 and the Cabinet thanked the Committee for its comments which were set out in the supplementary agenda.

Reasons:

This will ensure the strategic objectives achieved to date continue to be delivered and will allow officers to focus on adopting the NPPS at the earliest opportunity, which is aligned to the new legislation.

Background:

The report provided the Cabinet with an overview of treasury management activity for 2024/25 Quarter 3, for information.

The report had previously been considered by the Audit Committee on 20 March 2025, which was responsible for approving the quarterly treasury reports, and the Cabinet thanked the Committee for its comments which were set out in section 11 of the report.

Reasons:

In accordance with the Chartered Institute of Public Finance Accountancy’s (CIPFA) Code of Practice for Treasury Management, there should be a report on treasury every quarter.