Agenda item

To receive an overview of the department, objectives, functions and work plan and for the members of the committee to consider whether there are any items for the forward work plan.

To note the presentation and agreed that there were several areas that could be areas of scrutiny; these included Commercial Assets and Rationalisation, assessment and disposal of assets.

Ollie Woodhams, Service Director Strategic Asset Management gave a presentation which was an overview of the Strategic Asset Department and the various aspects of work undertaken and the plans for the future work.

There are 2 clear areas of assets within Somerset Council, these being Real Estate Assets and Infrastructure Assets, however with in the old Districts the work was more of a combined nature.

It was noted that the new authority has economies of scale to ensure assets are managed using professional expertise in departmental specialist “centres of excellence”, with the authority taking a `Corporate Landlord` approach to the asset management of real estate assets. They will also take the lead role in all real estate transactions and will be responsible for al repairs and maintenance and compliance responsibilities for buildings.

The asset management of Housing Revenue Account assets will sit with the Housing department within Community Services, LA Maintained School assets will have specific arrangements. Some areas of operational land/infrastructure i.e. car parks, highway, parks etc will sit with the appropriate service director i.e. Communities or Climate & Place directorates.

Current transition projects being undertaken included a restructure of staff, commercial investment property review, property rationalisation and estate decarbonisation; it was also as part of this work the records from the 5 authorities would be brought into one using Civica Property. Another project would be using One Public Office which involved discussions on sharing office space with other organisations and this work had already commenced.

Members of the committee asked for further information on the projects planned as follows:

Ø  Decarbonisation of properties: this included changing heating from gas to other ways of heating including the use of green tariffs and solar panels but this depended on the site as to what worked best. This would also be taken into consideration if any property was proposed for disposal or enhancement as some buildings were not cost effective to decarbonise.

Ø  Use by other organisations of Somerset Council buildings? Avon & Somerset Police currently use some of our offices, however they are looking for town centre premises but are still in discussions with the council.

Ø  Investment and Commercial Assets? Being reviewed at present, values have slumped at present and any new leases are being assessed and reviewed before continuing or setting up. It was noted that the Audit process had changed and there was a much more robust approach towards the operational buildings and valuations.

Ø  It was confirmed that the staff restructure was on-going with an interim structure for facilities management, however it would be service alignment to be considered not just staffing.

Ø  The assets owned by the Districts were transferred to this authority and therefore would also be assessed and included on the Civica register, this will also include any strips of land. Another task to undertake is to check with the Land Registry that all these buildings and land are correctly registered with them.

It was agreed that the committee would have a proactive role in the programme and that 2 areas that could be considered in the near future would be Commercial Assets and rationalisation, also assessment and disposal of assets, this could be via working groups or task & finish groups?

Cllr Soughton asked about recuperation of costs if any highway furniture were damaged and it was agreed to provide a written reply.