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…”

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 …”

Disposal of Elmbrook House and Station Road

The committee considered a proposed disposal of Elmbrook House and 917 Station Road, Sunbury, with the report going to CPRC the following day for a decision. The asset had been marketed and an offer r…

“This item is to give the committee an opportunity to consider the report that is going to CPRC on the September 8, I. E, tomorrow, for them to make a …”

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, …”

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 …”

Elmer House disposal approved

Members approved the disposal of Elmer House and 17 Stations Road, Sunbury, as part of the asset rationalisation programme. Officers said the site had been fully marketed, attracted strong residential…

“So, disposal of this site forms part of the asset rationalization program. As you will see from the report, the site has been fully marketed and there…”

Summit Centre disposal approved

Council approved the disposal of Summit Centre and delegated authority to officers to finalise minor variations, sale price adjustments, and legal documentation. The decision was justified as deliveri…

“This disposal, the disposal of this property was agreed by this council in 2025. Unfortunately, that transaction did not complete due to reasons detai…”