Social Value Ideas for Spelthorne Borough Council

Expand collection fund review

Officers will obtain the external expert report on the collection fund, carry out internal assurance, update the notice explaining the publication delay, and then adjust and publish the 2025/26 accoun…

“Speaker 9: Thank you. And so speaking as the in my other role as well as the Chief Finance Officer, so both myself and Alton, as the Deputy Chief Fina…”

Budget overspend from asset delays

The monthly financial forecast reported a £5 million overspend, driven mainly by increased minimum revenue provision due to delayed asset disposals, with additional staffing and holding cost pressures…

“Speaker 8: So this is the first reporting of the, budget position for the year in a series of reporting we're gonna do. Monthly, we'll do it up to the…”

2025-26 outturn and reserves

The council’s final 2025-26 outturn showed a £10.7m overspend, fully funded from reserves, leaving reserves at about £37.1m/£37.6m depending on the accounting presentation used in the meeting. Officer…

“Council finances at the end of twenty twenty five-twenty twenty six. The council has now finalized its financial results for the twenty twenty five-tw…”

Need to meet MRP and receipt targets

Officers set out that the disposal programme is tied to debt reduction and future minimum revenue provision savings. The sale of Thames Tower was presented as important because it would achieve over 4…

“As a council, you as members agreed a plan to manage down the debt burden. Last December last December, the Swiss chamber agreed the principle of prog…”

Revenue Overspend Due to MRP Policy Change

Q2 revenue monitoring shows projected overspend of £14.6m for 2025-26 (revised down from initially reported £16.5m due to data errors). Primary driver is increase in Minimum Revenue Provision charge f…

“The increase in the MRP charge from 12.7 million to 57.6 million actually create a significant recurrence of pressure which will be addressed within t…”

Reporting Timeliness & Quality Issues

Commissioners issued critical statement highlighting governance concerns. Revenue and capital budget monitoring reports published late (5 days after agenda publication, not meeting 5 clear working day…

“Commissioners have noted that both the revenue and the capital budget monitoring reports were published late for this meeting on the afternoon of Thur…”

Similar Independent Advice Amendment on Debt Restructuring - Defeated

A second amendment by Councillor Potter requesting independent external advice on debt management options was similarly defeated (16 votes for, 19 votes against) in relation to the debt restructuring …

“My amendment is that the council commission further independent external advice from no fewer than two suitably qualified experts or specialist firms …”

Independent External MRP Advice Amendment - Defeated

Amendment proposed by Councillor Potter requesting independent external advice from at least two qualified experts on MRP and local government debt management was defeated (16 votes for, 19 votes agai…

“My amendment is that the council commission's further independent external advice from no fewer than two suitably qualified experts or specialist firm…”

Annual MRP Payment Increase to £50+ Million

The council faces an increase in annual Minimum Revenue Provision payments from approximately £14 million to over £50 million per annum. This represents a more than threefold increase and creates sign…

“Instead of an annual MRP charge of 14 million peranom spel now faces an annual MRP charge of over 50 million.”

Chairs Consultation on Debt Restructuring Before Refinancing

Motion approving debt restructuring includes requirement that chairs of Business Growth Improvement Committee, Commercial Asset Subcommittee, and Corporate Policy and Resources Committee must be consu…

“subject to the chairs of the business growth improvement committee, the commercial asset subcommittee and corporate policy and resources committee bei…”

Government Commissioner Intervention and Debt Compliance

Council is operating under direction of government-appointed commissioners due to serious financial governance failures. Commissioners have directed mandatory compliance with updated MRP statutory gui…

“Our external auditor has told us that our prior approach wasn't correct and unless we correct it, they will qualify our accounts, effectively saying t…”

Commercial secrecy dispute

There was significant pressure around the balance between transparency and protecting the council’s negotiating position. Members argued that too many items are treated as private, while officers said…

“Can we be quite clear that a negotiation on an unsettled lease position is commercially sensitive? And if we're not going to discuss it, I don't even …”

Push for more public reporting

Members repeatedly challenged the practice of sending commercial asset reports into part two, arguing that the council should draft reports so that non-sensitive information is available publicly and …

“We automatically dump everything into part two with a bit more work. We could put something in part one that residents can understand what's going on …”

Commercial disposals route challenged

Members strongly debated whether commercial asset disposals should come to this sub-committee before CPRC and full Council, or whether the current constitution means the portfolio divestment programme…

“I'm afraid we can go round and round in circles on this because it's very clear the terms of reference say that we deal with disposals. Disposals 2a, …”

Hammersmith Grove Strategy Deferral

The Hammersmith Grove strategy has been deferred pending the outcome of implementation and recovery work streams. The item was proposed for December but has been removed from the forward plan until fu…

“that item has been deferred until um we understand what's happening with some of the um implementation and recovery work streams”