Agenda and draft minutes

To receive the notes of the meeting held on 18 January 2021

The notes of the previous meeting held on the 18 January were received.

To receive a briefing from the Procurement Manager on the proposal for the Council’s Procurement Service to continue as a shared service for a further four years

The Head of Procurement briefed the Group on a proposal to extend the shared procurement agreement the Council has with three other Local Authorities. The proposal was to extend the agreement by four years, with the option for a further extension by another four years from that point. If agreed by Cabinet the extension will begin from April 2022.

To receive a presentation from the Head of Property & Facilities

The Head of Property & Development gave an update on a community building located in the Needles Estate. The current status of the centre includes St Peters Hall and the RAFA Club, and are both target properties for the Council’s carbon reduction agenda. The properties’ current issues were accessibility, inadequate kitchen facilities and poor EPC’s.

There were three available options to the Council for development of the site. The recommended option was to complete a refurbishment to improve the energy performance, reconfigure the buildings and upgrade the facilitates. The Council would receive a grant to partially fund the refurbishment.

The Head of Property & Facilities would also consider a number of options for the management structure of the property and would be working with Community Development on this going forward.

The project must commence by the end of March and be completed by September. The proposal would be considered by Cabinet and taken to Full Council for approval.

To receive a briefing from the Director of Corporate Resources on the number and value of the different business grants issued to Horsham district’s local businesses from November 2020 to February 2021

The Director of Corporate Recourses briefed the Group on the range of Covid-19 Business Grants which had been issued to businesses in the district during the pandemic. A total of around £7 million had been issued to support local businesses to date, with the remaining total of around £3 million Additional Restrictions Grant to be used by March 2022.

To note the Forward Plan extract for the Finance and Assets Portfolio

The Forward Plan extract was noted.