Council and democracy
Home > Council and Democracy > Issue
53 REVIEW OF FINANCE, PROPERTY AND HUMAN RESOURCES DELEGATIONS PDF 199 KB
Minutes:
This item was chaired by Councillor Todd-Jones
Matter for Decision.
To consider changes to officers’ delegation on property matters, finance delegations and powers to buy and sell some property.
Decision of the
Executive Councillor for Housing:
i.
Approved the amended revised limits for
writing off bad debts set out in paragraph 3.1 of the Officer’s report.
ii.
Delegated powers to the Director of Customer and
Community Services, in consultation with the Head of Finance, Head of Property
and the Executive Councillor for Housing, to purchase vacant properties for the
HRA subject to the availability of resource (including right to buy capital
receipts) for this purpose, and provided that the acquisition meets the
criteria set out in any acquisition policy set by the Executive Councillor for
Housing.
iii.
Noted the request to the Leader:
To clarify that the Executive Councillor for Housing has responsibility for decisions on:
"the freehold or leasehold disposal and the terms for disposal, of Right to Buy dwellings sold under the Housing Act 1985, properties in shared equity schemes and other land or property held for housing purposes or for the provision of facilities and amenities for local residents or tenants".
Scrutiny
Considerations.
The Committee received a report from the Head of Legal Services.
The report referred to the Strategy and Resources Committee who would consider aspects of delegated powers to officers to make decisions about finance, human resources and property matters. It proposed some changes to finance delegations and to powers to buy and sell some property.
The changes to finance delegations proposed include increases in the delegated authority to officers to write off bad debts and to acquire assets for rental. The proposed changes would include Housing Revenue Account debts issues around the acquisition and disposal of housing assets.
In response to the Committees’ comments, Officers, the Director of
Community and Customer Services stated the following:
i.
Increasing the delegation to £25,000 would allow
debts to be processed without delay. A report would come back to the Committee
every June for discussion and consideration.
ii.
£25,000 was the delegated write off debt level
agreed at South Cambridgeshire District Council
iii.
Agreed to the proposal that a report be brought to
Committee when the acquisition or disposal of a property had taken place.
iv.
The delegation of powers to the Director of
Customer and Community Services for the acquisition or disposal of a property
would speed up the process but would still be transparent.
v.
It would be very unlikely that a domestic dwelling
rent debt would exceed £10,000.
vi.
Any debt higher than £10,000 would be in relation
to a commercial property within the Housing Revenue Account, such as a lease of
a shop at £10,000 per quarter.
vii.
To the knowledge of the Principal Accountant /
Business Manager there had only been one occasion where a debt of £20,000 had
been written off in relation to a HRA commercial property in the last ten
years.
viii.
The reporting process to the Committee would remain
the same.
The Committee:
Councillor Blackhurst proposed and Councillor Pitt seconded an amendment
to the recommendation of 3.1 of the Officer’s report (additional text
underlined)
HRA Debt |
Business Rates, Council Tax and Housing Benefit. |
Other Debts |
Decision-maker |
|
Up to £2,500 |
|
Head of Revenues and Benefits |
Up to £25,000 |
Over £2,500 to £25,000 |
Up to £25,000 |
Head of Finance (in consultation with the Executive Councillor) |
Over £25,000 |
|
|
Scrutiny Committee (Housing) and Executive Councillor |
|
Over £25,000 |
Over £25,000 |
Scrutiny Committee and Executive Councillor for Finance
and Resources) |
Resolved (5 votes to 2 votes)
in favour of the amendment to 3.1 of the Head of Legal Services’ report.
Resolved (unanimously) in
favour to endorse the recommendations.
The Executive Councillor for Housing approved the recommendation.
Conflicts of Interest
Declared by the Executive Councillor (and any Dispensations Granted).
No conflicts were declared by the Executive Councillor.