Agenda item

The Wales Audit Officer presented the Asset Management report.

It was concluded that the Council has a good understanding of its assets, however, it lacks a strategic approach and effective information technology to support the management of assets. The conclusion was arrived at because:

• the Council has an Asset Management Plan but this is not time bound and focuses on the short term;

• the Council can show improved use of some assets but asset management arrangements are not well co-ordinated or supported by effective IT systems; and

• the Council reviews its ongoing use of assets but the Asset Management Plan remains unchanged since 2014.

One proposal for improvement was made as follows:

The Council’s asset management arrangements could be strengthened by developing and delivering a long-term sustainable strategy for its assets based on a thorough assessment of needs, costs and benefits supported by:

• short, medium and long-term performance indicators;

• embedded governance arrangements to support the strategic management of assets;

• IT asset management systems which integrate more effectively with other systems to facilitate better information capture and use; and

• utilising information arising from stakeholder consultation and engagement including what the Council has learnt about its experience of its community asset transfers to better inform its decision-making.

A management response was provided by the Head of Commercial and Integrated Landlord Services and the Estates Manager:

·         Whilst accepting the Asset Management Plan began in 2014, the follow up review took place in April 2017 before the election and it had been decided not to review it in order to reflect the strategies of the new council.

·         The Asset Management Strategy is under review and will align with the corporate plan which is currently being drafted based on the Council’s priorities.  It was accepted that the strategy and asset management plan need to be separate.  The new strategy will be for five years to reflect the term of the new political administration.  The Action Plan will be reviewed, is already embedded in the Estates Service Improvement Plan and had been reviewed through scrutiny processes.

·         The performance indicators have been reviewed and will be part of the Service Improvement Plan.

·         In terms of governance, the Place Board has been reconstituted.  There are ongoing discussions to consider combining the Asset Management Steering Group with the Capital Asset Group.

·         It was not accepted that project management is weak; significant projects have been delivered on time and within budget.

·         It was agreed that IT asset management systems require improvement and the team are looking at solutions especially to improve collaboration with finance information.

·         In terms of utilising information, there was evidence from the Abergavenny and Usk Hubs consultation that all information gathered was included.  Assurance was provided of willingness to learn and embed improvements going forward.  

The Cabinet Member was pleased with progress achieved from joining the roles of Commercial and Integrated Landlord to achieve much better control.

A Member asked about realisation of assets, particularly in relation to County Farms and collection of arrears and an update was provided.  It was explained that an external report was commissioned for County Farms to explore how best to maximise income on rental and through diversification. This is out to consultation with tenants and will be reported on in due course.  It was explained that the authority is not slow in recovering debts; levels are low but the authority is a responsible landlord and takes account of farming circumstances.  It was added that water arrears are very difficult to recover and this is the main component of debt. 

The Committee were reminded that there is a six monthly report of Wales Audit Office proposals still considered open to be reported at the next meeting.

The Cabinet Member informed the Committee that there is a comprehensive review of County Farms in progress taking into account all aspects.

The Committee were satisfied with the information provided.