News Roundup: Lancashire assets shift, housing zone borrowing, PFI waste, shared chiefs scrapped, tri-borough move, shared services
0Lancashire to shift asset allocations
Lancashire County Council, as the administering authority for the Lancashire County Pension Fund (LCPF) is planning to make significant changes to its strategic asset allocation. The council this week tendered for a framework of transition management service providers to oversee transfers ranging from £50m to £5bn, it said. Once the framework agreement is in place, the council will conduct a lowest price mini-competition exercise between providers whenever it requires transition management services.
PWLB discount for housing zone borrowing
Councils will be able to access borrowing at the Public Works Loan Board project rate for capital infrastructure expenditure relating to new housing zones. The government is inviting bids for loans from a pot worth £200m for new schemes on brownfield land, but these are only available to private sector partners. However, the government this week said that councils will be able to borrow at the special project rate for schemes which are successfully submitted.
MPs slam waste PFI agreements
The Public Accounts Committee has slammed three waste PFI agreements which allowed local authorities to claim £213.5m from central government without the main assets being built. “Funding agreements with Surrey and with Herefordshire and Worcestershire councils signed by the old Department for Environment, Transport and the Regions, meant central government started paying grants to the local authorities as soon as the contractors began to deliver waste management services rather than waste management assets,” it said.
Councils to scrap shared chief
Thurrock Borough Council and London Borough of Barking and Dagenham are to end their shared chief executive arrangements. Graham Farrant will continue as chief executive of Thurrock after Barking and Dagenham appoints its own chief. The councils said the move was taking place because both councils need “more capacity to take forward change and growth”.
Councils move towards first tri-borough shared chief
Three councils are progressing plans to be the first to share a chief executive. West Dorset District Council, North Dorset District Council and Weymouth and Portland Borough Council have estimated the move could save £6m. The first stage would see a shared senior management team, followed by a full merger of all backroom staff. Political arrangements have yet to be settled.
Councils win cash for shared services
A £9m central government pot to promote service sharing will be shared by 77 councils, ministers have announced. The 32 winning bids for collaborative projects are predicted to save more than £10 for every £1 of Transformation Challenge Award money invested. Schemes are split roughly equally between backroom and frontline services.
