Issue - items at meetings - Investment Strategy Review

The Investment Strategy agreed by Cabinet in July 2013 was developed in response to the requirement for the Council to enhance its financial resilience in the longer term. In facilitation of this strategy, Cabinet approved the business case for the creation of a property company and associated subsidiaries in May 2014 in order to achieve a balanced property portfolio (across sectors and geographies) to generate an income for the Council. The property company, Halsey Garton Property Ltd, and its subsidiaries are referred to in this report as “the Halsey Garton Property Group” (HGP).

In order to reflect the increasing need to develop alternative and resilient revenue streams to support the Council’s services and with the objective of growing the income it is now realistic to reset the strategy and grow the portfolio to reach beyond the original annual income target of £5m and aim to deliver £10m by 2020/21. The Investment Advisory Board therefore recommends that the Council puts in place the necessary arrangements to deliver the target income. These arrangements include some revisions to the governance arrangements and an enhanced role for an external advisor to provide additional resources to both acquire and then provide ongoing asset management for the portfolio.

[The decision on this item may be called in by the Council Overview Board]

RESOLVED:

That;

1. progressing the Investment Strategy, including arrangements to enable significant growth in the portfolio to reach an income target of £10m per annum by 2020/21 be approved;

2. a revision to the governance arrangements be authorised and authority be delegated by the Leader to the Investment Advisory Board to approve property investment acquisitions, property investment management expenditure, property investment disposals and the provision of finance to its wholly owned property company, Halsey Garton Property Ltd;

3. the name of the board is amended to reflect this delegation and it will be known as the “Investment Board” be approved; and

4. that a property investment advisor be procured by Surrey County Council to provide the necessary skills and level of support required to expand the investment portfolio noting that any upfront expenditure will be drawn from the Revolving Investment & Infrastructure Fund and that the procurement will be undertaken in two stages in line with the growth in the portfolio.

Reasons for Decisions

The proposed arrangements will support the Council to continue to grow its portfolio and increase the level of income received from investments thereby enhancing its financial resilience over the longer term.

The provision of a substantial ongoing and resilient source of income to provide financial support to the Council’s front line services is becoming increasingly important. Investments undertaken as a result of the strategy agreed in 2013 are successfully delivering a net income stream to the Council.

[The decisions on this item may be called in by the Council Overview Board]

The Chairman of the Council Overview Board (COB) addressed the Cabinet regarding recommendations made in response to the Investment Strategy Review. He stressed that COB should not be deprived of its ability to challenge individual investment decision made by the Council under the new arrangements. Mr Cosser further suggested that the Leader of the Council consider appointing two backbench Members to the Investment Board as a means of increasing its credibility. Mr Hodge responding by stating that COB would retain the ability to scrutinise the Council’s overall strategy but not specific investments. He further advised that he would consult the Monitoring Officer on whether backbench Members should be included as part of the Investment Board.

The report was introduced by Ms Denise Le Gal as Cabinet Member for Business Services and Resident Experience. She advised that the Council is seeking to target an annual revenue of £10 million generated through investments and in order to do this it was necessary to increase the rate at which SCC was able to invest in income generation initiatives. A change in governance arrangements will assist in achieving this target and to reflect the delegation of new powers the Investment Advisory Board would be changed to the Investment Board. The Investment Board will bw supported by professional advisors, both internal and external, whose costs will be covered by the income generated and the revolving investment fund.