Agenda and minutes

Members are asked to declare the existence and nature of any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests in respect of any item of business to be considered at the meeting.

No declarations of interest were made by Councillors in items on this agenda.

The Committee is asked to confirm as a true record the Minutes of the Meeting of the Shareholders Sub-Committee held on the 23 November 2021 and authorise the Chair to sign them.

The Minutes of the previous meeting of the Shareholder Sub Committee held on 23 November 2021 were agreed as a true record and signed by the Chair.

Annual reporting on Epsom & Ewell Property Investment Company Ltd (EEPIC).

The Sub-Committee receive the Annual report on Epsom & Ewell Property Investment Company Ltd (EEPIC).

The following matters were considered:

a)            Withdrawal of recommendation 3 of the report. The Head of Property and Regeneration recommended to the Sub-Committee that recommendation 3 of the report should be withdrawn as the Director of Environment, Housing and Regeneration had resigned from the Council.

Following consideration the Sub-Committee unanimously resolved to withdraw recommendation 3 of the report.

b)            Financial performance. The Sub-Committee noted that EEPIC had reported a full-year profit before tax of £1.4m, with a dividend of £600,000 paid to the shareholder and retained earnings of £900,000. Property valuations had increased by £900,000 over the past year, and the company’s cash balance as at 31 March 2022 was £1.25m.

c)            Dividend to shareholder. The Sub-Committee noted that the dividend paid to the shareholder had decreased from £870,000 in 2021 to £600,000 in 2022. The Head of Property and Regeneration informed the Sub-Committee that this reduction had occurred following the agreement of a Deed of Variation for the property at Bracknall. The Deed had provided the tenant with a period of rent free support during the Covid-19 pandemic in exchange for a 5 year lease extension. The net benefit to EEPIC of this agreement was a £6,638,625 income stream at the end of the previous lease term.

d)            Capital gain of properties. The Sub-Committee noted that the two properties had achieved different rates of capital gain within the year. The Head of Property and Regeneration informed the Sub-Committee that this was due to the difference in nature of the properties.

Following consideration, the Sub-Committee unanimously resolved to:

(1)      note Epsom & Ewell Property Investment Company Ltd Report to Shareholder (Appendix 1 to the report);

(2)      note Epsom & Ewell Property Investment Company Ltd Shareholder Annual Review (Appendix 2 and 3 to the report);

(3)      approve the confidential Annual Business Plan 2023-2024 (Appendix 4 to the report);

(4)      approve the confidential Report to Shareholder (Appendix 5 to the report).