Agenda and minutes

Resolved –

That the Minutes of the meeting held on 21 March 2023, having been printed and circulated, be confirmed as read and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

All Members are invited to declare at this point any interests they have in items appearing on this agenda, including the nature of those interests.

There were no declarations interests.

Members of the public may ask questions or make statements at this meeting if they have given notice to Melanie Carr of Democratic and Scrutiny Services and supplied the text (contact details below) by midday on Thursday 9 November 2023, three working days before the day of the meeting.  Each speaker should limit themselves to 3 minutes on any item.  Members of the public who have given notice will be invited to speak:-

·            at this point in the meeting if their questions/statements relate to matters which are not otherwise on the Agenda (subject to an overall time limit of 30 minutes);

·            when the relevant Agenda item is being considered if they wish to speak on a matter which is on the Agenda for this meeting.

If you are exercising your right to speak at this meeting, but do not wish to be recorded, please inform the Chair who will instruct anyone who may be taking a recording to cease while you speak.

There were no questions or statements from the public.

Recommendations: 

i)     To note the report and the Brierley Group Q1 Financial Performance for the 2023/24 year.

ii)    To endorse the proposal to review and agree the future direction of the Brierley Group, and its component entities; noting that the outcome of the review will be reported back through the Shareholder Committee at a later date.

Considered - A report of the Assistant Director for Commercial, Property & Procurement, providing an overview of the entities forming the Brierley Group and an update on the Brierley Group’s Quarter 1 financial performance for 2023/24.

Kerry Metcalfe, Assistant Director for Commercial, Property & Procurement introduced the report, providing an overview of performance and highlighting the first quarter achievements and challenges for the individual companies.  She drew members’ attention specifically to:

·          The overall strong performance of the Group;

·          The forecasted pre-tax profits for each of the companies;

·          The improving position of NYES’s trading results;

·          The £1.75m in sales by Brierley Homes, exceeding the business case projections;

·          The positive feedback from visitors to Maple Park

·          The current challenges, including resourcing, recruitment and retention of professional staff and inflationary cost pressures;

·          The current high electricity and gas prices, and the potential risk associated with any future drop in those prices;

·          The potential issue in regard to growing an external client base in line with market demand for Align Property Partners due to their Teckal status;

Councillor Gareth Dadd acknowledged the challenges faced by the Council in recent years and was therefore pleased to note the overall strong performance of the Group. In particular in drew attention to the success of Align Property Partners, noting that the concerns raised by a number of ex-councillors in regard to both APP and Brierley Homes had proven to be incorrect.

The Chair thanked the officer for the update, and it was

Resolved – That the report be noted

Recommendation:

To note the decision taken by the Shareholder Representative on 28 July 2023 and confirm the Shareholder Committee’s approval of the decision.

Considered - A report of the Assistant Chief Executive Legal & Democratic Services providing an update on the decision taken to extend the partnership agreement for Leeds City Region Revolving Investment Fund.

Barry Khan, Assistant Chief Executive Legal & Democratic Services introduced the report confirming that a decision had been taken in July 2023 to extend the partnership agreement for a further 10 years to July 2033 because the Fund was considered to be beneficial for the short term whilst the Council considered its options going forward.

It was noted that at that time, due to time constraints it was necessary for the decision to be taken by a Shareholder representative rather than the full Committee.

Members noted the Council became a partner as a result of LGR and that it was still possible to withdraw from the partnership if the Council gave three months’ notice.  Members also noted that no loans had been defaulted on since the RIF’s inception.

Resolved – That:

i.       The decision taken by the Shareholder representative on 28 July 2023 be noted

ii.      The decision be approved

Purpose of the Report: To consider and develop the Work Programme for the Shareholder Committee

Members considered and endorsed the work programme for the Committee for the remainder of 2023/24.