Borough of Poole Council Corporate Asset Management Plan 2007/08

Appendix B

Borough of Poole Council

DRAFT 2.7

Corporate Asset Management Plan 2007/08

Contents

1Introduction

2Strategic Objectives

3Structure, Roles and Responsibilities

4Property Asset Management

5Inclusion and Engagement

6Cross Cutting Initiatives

7Performance Management and Data

8Capacity Building

Appendix 1Core Data Sheet

Appendix 2Asset Performance 2006/07 and Targets for 2007/08

Appendix 3Service Unit Project Needs 2007/8

Appendix 4Project Delivery Plan 2007/08

Appendix 5Asset Disposals 2006/07 and Proposed Asset Disposals 2007/08

Appendix 6Asset Management Group Terms of Reference

Appendix 7Matrix of Facilities Management Services Delivery and Operational Administration Properties

1. Introduction

1.1Our Assets Portfolio

The council’s Corporate Asset Management Plan is a framework to ensure we maintain sufficient property of the right type in the right location so that high quality public services can be provided. Poole owns and operates nearly 5,500 land and building assets of various sizes and types currently valued at £549m.

In common with many local authorities, the council’s property portfolio has accumulated over time and its content has been affected by particular circumstance. In Poole’s case, local government reorganisation in 1997 transformed the organisation from a small borough council to a unitary authority charged with delivering a far wider range of services. Education, Social Services, Waste Disposal and several smaller services became the responsibility of the council. Property associated with the delivery of these services transferred into the ‘ownership’ of the council at that time.

In addition, at that time, office accommodation needs had to be met in a highly competitive market against the background of an immoveable timetable. This brought together an existing borough property portfolio which bore the marks of previous strong departmentalism, major service delivery points designed to meet needs of a county council and an office accommodation provision strongly influenced by the market conditions prevailing at the time.

Given these circumstances, it is unsurprising that the council’s property portfolio could be fairly described as to have not been planned to meet current and future services delivery requirements. The reality is that the council has, in the recent past, sought to deliver the best services it could by using and adapting the property portfolio it found itself with.

It would also be true to state that across the public sector, the management of property assets has not received a high priority. Maintenance of property has tended to be based upon short term planning without a view to the medium and long term being formed. Lack of investment in long term planning has led, over many years, to a deterioration in the condition of property assets. The short term nature of previous considerations has also resulted in property portfolios becoming moribund in terms of fitness for purpose to deliver excellent services. This can be viewed from several parameters for example location, design, accessibility, sustainability etc.

Investment portfolios have similarly not been subject to regular challenge and review.

The position in Poole is reflective of the wider national picture. Property assets are by nature illiquid placing further emphasis on ensuring that a medium to long term approach is taken to their management. This illiquid nature also means that change will be gradual and that improvements, however robustly pursued, are likely to demonstrate themselves gradually.

The council is determined to deliver considerable improvements to the management of its property assets in order to deliver its strategic objectives and priorities. It will need to do this against a background of continual change in demand and requirement. This can appear from many sources some more predictable than others. For example demographic change and its impact can be predicted within certain degrees of error. Government requirement however can change at very short notice and present new property requirements that require addressing quickly.

Issues facing the council regarding its property portfolio include stock condition, sustainability, access strategy including DDA, planning for and delivering a rationalised portfolio, driving value from the portfolio to support service delivery and compliance with legislative requirements. The property portfolio also represents an asset in influencing and shaping the economic vitality and sustainability of the town.

Associated plans currently produced regarding council owned assets are the Children’s Services Asset Management Plan, PHP Housing Asset Management Plan and the Transport Asset Management Plan.

Tabulated below is an indication of the property portfolio by service sector. Appendix 1 gives greater detail of this portfolio including current assessment of maintenance backlogs.

ASSET TYPES
(Land and Buildings) / Nos. / Asset Value (£M)(1)
Operational
Youth centres / 8 / 2.76
Car Parks / 35 / 11.33
Museums and Libraries / 13 / 9.55
Leisure and Amenities / 107 / 36.30
Environmental and Trading Standards / 31 / 4.35
Administrative Buildings / 27 / 16.70
Older People and
People with Disabilities / 11 / 10.94
Children / 6 / 1.74
Other / 8 / 0.22
Sub Total / 246 / 93.89
Non - Operational
Investment Properties / 112 / 26.10
Surplus / 20 / 6.26
Sub Total / 132 / 32.36
Council Dwellings / 4640 / 293.12
School Assets / 46 / 130.09
Community Assets* / 291 / Nil
Total Property Assets / 5441 / 549.46

*Assets that the authority intends to hold in perpetuity (Amenity land or properties such as recreation areas and nature reserves).

1.2Role of Asset Management

Asset management is a key role in the successful provision, utilisation and maintenance of all of the Councils property assets.

The Council recognises that its land and property resource represents a significant and valuable asset base to use in achieving policy aims and service objectives in support of its Corporate Strategy. The Council is seeking to manage its assets in an active, effective and efficient manner.

The Council intends to make significant improvements to the way its property assets are managed through the development of a strategic corporate approach. Asset management planning will become an integral part of the Council’s corporate planning and strategy framework.

The management of the corporate investment estate offers the organisation the opportunity to increase income by the application of more efficient and commercially minded management practices. Performance in this regard has improved and it is intended to build upon that during the term of this plan and beyond.

The Council recognises the need for asset management to be treated corporately and for it to be championed at the highest level. The way an organisation manages itself is reflected in the way that it co-ordinates and manages its strategic resources – for it is the resources that impact all areas of the business and help to gel the constituent parts of the authority together. If key resources are not managed strategically then rather than provide the ‘gelling’ effect, they create tensions and conflicts that may hinder the organisation.

In this much revised 2007/08 Asset Management Plan we are conscious of the need to move on from the earlier format adopted as part of the assessment process by the former Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM). We have embraced the latest draft guidance from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) led working group and reflected the revised ‘Use of Resources’ judgements introduced into the Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) process.

1.3Asset Objectives

Five headline aims and objectives have been adopted to ensure that the Council’s assets are fit for purpose. These are:

  • Assets must meet the needs of those that use them. This includes staff, members, visitors, customers and general public, disabled people and other minority groups. This means creating a comfortable and accessible environment that makes a positive contribution to the use to which the asset is put. It also means asking people what they think about our property assets and responding to their needs.
  • Assets must be affordable. This means keeping running costs down, prioritising capital spending, proper option appraisal incorporating whole life costing and assessing opportunity costs. It also means making sure that any borrowing for capital works follows a robust business case and can be afforded.
  • Assets must be safe and comply with the law. This means ensuring that buildings are competently managed with planned process to manage hazards.

In addition to prescribed management requirements associated with asbestos, water hygiene / legionella, fire safety and gas safety there are a broad range of more general safety related activities requiring systematic management and record keeping. Physical condition surveys and Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) audits and other general safety management audits are undertaken to test the adequacy of arrangements.
Key safety and management information and data relating to land and buildings needs to be collated centrally and made conveniently available to building managers, designers and contractors.

  • Assets must make a strategic impact. Ensuring that our property decisions are linked to decisions on other Council resources (staff, IT, finance) and that asset management contributes to our corporate goals and vision including influencing and shaping the town in support of a vibrant economy.
  • Assets must be sustainable. Monitoring and reducing energy consumption and CO2 emissions, ensuring that asset decisions take into account both the local and global environment and make a positive contribution to a sustainable community.

  1. Strategic Objectives

2.1Corporate Strategy

The Council’s mission is expressed in its recently refreshed Corporate Strategy 2007 ‘Striving for Excellence… for the people of Poole’. The Corporate Strategy provides the framework within which the Council plans, develops and delivers its services. It sets out what we aim to achieve over the next four years and identifies our contribution to the wider Community Plan ‘Shaping Poole’s Future’, the Local Area Agreement (LAA) ‘Closing the Gap and other joint strategies and plans. The corporate strategy clarifies the Council’s corporate objectives, priorities and key areas of action and activity for the year head. It helps set the scene for Poole and explains why these objectives and priorities are important to us. A summary follows:

2.1.1Vision

Poole is a vibrant town, with strong communities, where people enjoy healthy lifestyles, care about their environment and support each other.

2.1.2Corporate Objectives

  • Supporting Children and Young People.
  • Promoting Health and Well-being.
  • Protecting Poole’s Environment.
  • Strengthening our Communities.
  • Developing a Dynamic Economy.

2.1.3Priorities

  • Revitalising our Town Centre.
  • Transforming our Schools for the Future.
  • Improving Housing for Local People.
  • Reducing Poole’s Carbon Footprint.
  • Meeting the Needs of our Ageing Population.
  • Improving Efficiency and Effectiveness.

Striving for Excellence has been developed with due consideration for the changing make-up and diversity of the community, the current and potential risks faced by the council and our desire to be business efficient and provide good quality, value for money services that effectively meet the needs of all. Supported by a range of internal processes - including Medium Term Financial Planning and Workforce and Asset Management Planning - the corporate Strategy drives the annual business planning process and fulfils the requirements of our Best Value Plan.

The strategy is ambitious and wide in its scope and reach. Significant demands will be made upon current assets to support its successful delivery. Property assets have features that place particular importance on their proper management:

  • They are expensive.
  • They need to be carefully managed over their lives to ensure best value.
  • It takes time to determine carefully new property needs and to procure and provide them.
  • The council’s approach will need to be bold, innovative and cross cutting with risks identified and managed rather than avoided.

The Council’s Property Strategy guides the overall organisational approach to the management of its property assets.

.2.2Understanding Future Changes

Some of the key change drivers over the long and short term include:

  • The ambitious and demanding Schools for the Future programme.
  • Asset management implications of integrated children’s services e.g. planning property usage jointly between school and other education uses, social care and health service providers and making links to regeneration programmes and policies.
  • Regeneration of the town centre area.
  • Housing pressures (10,000 new homes by 2026) and the requirement for affordable housing.
  • The need to review office accommodation provision and current direct service delivery points in parallel with the development of a customer access policy.
  • Demographic changes (population increase by 2026) particularly the ageing population factor and the impact upon health and social services.
  • Pace of economic growth.
  • Sustainability and reducing the council’s carbon footprint.
  • The development of innovative service delivery mechanisms to fully exploit the efficiencies offered by IT.
  • Financial constraints and the impact of Comprehensive Public Sector Spending Review 2007.
  • Meeting the challenges of affordability in the proper management of listed and historic buildings.
  • Shared and joint service delivery exploiting the efficiencies of partnership working.
  • Increased service demand and expectation of performance increase.
  • Space (harbour and green belt) and environmental constraints (eg Heathland policy).

The environment within which the council provides services is fast moving and the council must match or exceed that pace of change. It requires high quality research and intelligence capability to ensure decisions are made on the basis of quality data which has been the subject of expert analysis and is consistent across the organisation. Improvements in data quality achieved in 2006/07 are being built upon and to assist this a Research and Consultation Database has been established by the Corporate Research Team located in the Strategic Planning Unit.

Strategic asset planning will reflect the Council’s longer term strategic planning. It is recognised that property assets have a degree of illiquidity making medium and long term planning paramount. However, circumstances do arise where the requirement for change can be short notice or opportunistic and sufficient flexibility to react to such demands, where possible, must be retained.

2.3Key Priorities for 2007/08

  • The development and adoption of a Property Strategy and Corporate Asset Management Plan during 2007/08 and the establishment of processes for annual review of this.
  • The adoption of a common Project Management Methodology across the authority and the development of a Programme Management functionality across the principal change programmes.
  • The engagement of a strategic partner to support change to the property management functionality of the council.
  • The establishment of strong and clear governance arrangements for the council’s property assets.
  • The establishment of clear processes to ensure the council achieves best value in its utilisation of property assets.
  • The development of an Office Accommodation Strategy which meets the high level objectives contained with the corporate strategy and further detailed in the Business Transformation Strategy. This will be progressed by a high level review in 2007/8.
  • The development and adoption of a Corporate Disposals Policy.
  • The development of plans to improve the security of supply lines for goods and services that support the property management function and consequentially deliver best value.
  • To achieve planned capital receipts as identified in the medium term financial plan and develop a more robust methodology of planning and realising such receipts.
  • To identify and develop plans to deal with property that is having a significant blighting impact within its locality eg Rossmore Library (old).
  • To consider how the Corporate Asset Management Planning process and Capital Programme Allocation planning may be better aligned.
  • The establishment of an Asset Management Group representing all Service providers (Units).
  • The identification and development of a Pupil Referral Unit.
  • The assessment of options and building of a business case relating to the location of a Material Recycling Facility within Poole.
  • To analyse the implications of the Quirk Review.
  • To review the accounting practice relating to income from investment property.
  • To review arrangements regarding affordable housing and improve current delivery.
  • To progress the Fourways development in line with plans.

  1. Structure, Roles and Responsibilities

3.1Embedding Asset Management

Embedding asset management across the Council is fundamental to a strategic approach to the management of the Council’s property assets and to effective use of resources. At present the Council does not have a clear corporate approach with services involving themselves in asset management on an ad-hoc basis.

3.2Management Arrangements

The Council’s Head of Asset Management and Property Services is the council’s nominated Corporate Property Officer (CPO).The CPO is responsible for the strategic management of the council’s property assets as indicted in the council’s Property Strategy and Council Constitution.

3.3Asset Management Group

An Asset Management Group (AMG) will provide an opportunity for all Service Units to be engaged in the process of overseeing the strategic management of property assets. The group’s formal terms of reference are contained at Appendix 6. The AMG will bring forward reports and make recommendations to the Senior Management Team (SMT) and the Resources Overview Group (ROG) from time to time.

A Strategic Director will chair the AMG and provide a conduit for property asset matters to the SMT. Meeting monthly, the AMG minutes will form a standing item upon the SMT agenda.

3.4Resources Overview Group

This group consists of ten elected members and is politically balanced. It will consider relevant matters including the Annual Corporate Asset Management Plan and make recommendations to the Portfolio holder or Cabinet as appropriate.

3.5Portfolio Holder Resources

The Portfolio Holder for Resources has responsibility for strategic management of property assets. The Portfolio Holder is a member of Cabinet, the executive body of the council, and provides a conduit to Cabinet for all relevant property matters. The Portfolio Holder also has strategic responsibility for Financial, Human and ICT resources which supports an understanding of the cross cutting nature of initiatives in these areas.