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Resolved:-
 
a)   
That approval be given to the funding for the
following changes to the capital programme:
 
            
i)       
Phase 2 Refugee Resettlement Scheme – approve
a budget in 2023/24 of £3.298m for phase 2 of the Refugee
Resettlement Scheme funded through £1.298m from the Local
Authority Housing Grant and a virement of £2m from the
Housing and Homelessness prevention capital programme to the
Resettlement capital programme to meet the match funding
requirement for the grant.

 
           
ii)       
Environmental Services ground maintenance equipment
– approve a budget in 2023/24 of £445k for the
replacement of grounds maintenance equipment funding from
borrowing.
 
b)   
Approval be given to the funding for the following
changes to the revenue budget:
 
            
i)       
Education Case Management System (ECMS) –
approve a revenue budget of £1.362m in 2023/24 for the
procurement and one-off implementation costs of a new ECMS funded
through use of the Transformation Reserve, and approve the
inclusion of ongoing revenue costs of £131k in 2024/25 and
£142.5k in 2025/26 into the MTFP.
 
Reasons for Recommendations:
 
These are set out in greater detail within section 5 of the
report, but can be summarised as:
 

    
i)       
To support the housing provision in
North Northamptonshire;

 

   
ii)       
To support the achievement of corporate
plan objectives; and
 
  
iii)       
To improve service provision in relation
to children, young people, parents and carers
 
Alternative Options Considered:
 

    
i)       
Alternative options in relation to the
Phase 2 Refugee Resettlement Scheme can be summarised as
follows:–
·        
Do nothing – if the Council does
not participate in this programme, it will not receive the funding
allocation and the challenge of finding onward settled
accommodation for refugees will remain;.
·        
Commit to delivering a smaller number of
homes – whilst this may be easier to achieve, the government
grant allocation will reduce proportionately and less homes will be
acquired into our temporary accommodation stock. Ultimately fewer
additional homes will be available to the Council to use as
affordable housing for our residents in the longer
term.

 

   
ii)       
Alternative options in relation to
Environmental Services Grounds Maintenance Equipment can be
summarised as follows:-
·        
External grants were explored but are
not available for plant equipment. The option of leasing new
equipment was considered, but not deemed to represent value for
money and therefore borrowing is the most cost-effective funding
source. The other alternative option would be to not approve this
scheme. However, this would have an adverse impact on meeting
service needs and the achievement of NNC’s corporate
objectives.
 

  
iii)       
Alternative options considered for the
ECMS can be summarised as follows:-
·        
Do nothing;
·        
Apply for a variation with the current
supplier, subject to this option being available under the current
contract and such modification satisfying the Public Contracts
Regulations 2015;Reprocure the current system through a direct
award; or Build a bespoke system for the Education Service. More
detail in relation to alternative options considered by the
Executive in respect of the three schemes are set out in the
reports presented on 12th July and 17th August 2023, as referenced
in Section 8 of this report.