15 Establishment of a Local Authority Property Investment Trading Company
This report will not be published because the meeting is likely to be closed to the press and public in view of the nature of the business to be transacted/nature of the proceedings. The report deals with information relating to the business affairs of the Council and information in respect of which a claim to legal professional privilege could be maintained in legal proceedings and the public interest in maintaining the exemption currently outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information
Additional documents:
Decision:
The Committee:
(1) Noted the report to the Extraordinary meeting of the Council dated 19 September 2017;
(2) Did not wish to make any amendments to, or further recommendations to Council over and above those set out in the report dated 19 September 2017 to the meeting referred to above;
(3) Subject to the Council agreeing to its creation:
a) Agreed to establish a Shareholder Sub-Committee comprising five members with four members to be appointed by the Residents’ Association Group and one member to be appointed by the Conservative Group, and
b) Approved the Terms of Reference for the Sub-Committee, set out in Annexe 1 to the report
c) Authorised the Head of Legal and Democratic Services to finalise arrangements for and appointments to the Sub-Committee to give effect to the wishes of the Residents’ Association and Conservative Groups.
Minutes:
The Committee received and considered a report to the Extraordinary meeting of the Council dated 19 September 2017 (exempt from publication at the date of the meeting) regarding the Establishment of a Local Authority Property Investment Trading Company.
The report concluded that it was considered that the proposal in the report to the Extraordinary meeting of the Council represented a significant opportunity to secure additional income to spend on services for residents.
For frontline services to be maintained at their current levels, it was recognised that the Council not only had to continue to identify ongoing operational efficiencies, but also had to seek new long-term sustainable income sources. The business case for seeking to achieve this in large part via investment in property was compelling.
Setting up a property investment company would afford the Council with greater flexibility to acquire high quality property assets. These included out of Borough acquisitions and the ability to acquire its own residential properties for private and affordable rented housing.
Accordingly, the Committee:
(1) Noted the report to the Extraordinary meeting of the Council dated 19 September 2017;
(2) Did not wish to make any amendments to, or further recommendations to Council over and above those set out in the report dated 19 September 2017 to the meeting referred to above;
(3) Subject to the Council agreeing to its creation:
a) Agreed to establish a Shareholder Sub-Committee comprising five members with four members to be appointed by the Residents’ Association Group and one member to be appointed by the Conservative Group, and
b) Approved the Terms of Reference for the Sub-Committee, set out in Annexe 1 to the report
c) Authorised the Head of Legal and Democratic Services to finalise arrangements for and appointments to the Sub-Committee to give effect to the wishes of the Residents’ Association and Conservative Groups.