Council was updated on the setting up of Hinckley and Bosworth Development – a company wholly owned by the Council for development of property for sale and rent. Members were reminded that the company would not be used for building council houses but that the Council could purchase houses from the company at market value.
Whilst acknowledging that the main objective of the company was to make a profit, members were presented with an ethical statement that had been requested by the Scrutiny Commission. An amendment was proposed to include an additional recommendation to adopt the ethical statement. This amendment was accepted without debate.
In relation to the proposed Board of Directors, it was noted that the exact officer representation was still under discussion, but in response to a member’s question it was noted that the officers appointed to the Board would be from the existing establishment and would receive no additional remuneration for this.
It was moved by Councillor Lynch, seconded by Councillor Bray and
RESOLVED –
(i) A housing development company (the company), wholly owned by the Council, be created to build houses for sale and rent;
(ii) The name of the company be Hinckley and Bosworth Development Limited;
(iii) The company be incorporated and be limited by shares;
(iv) Approval of the business plan be delegated to the Chief Executive in consultation with the Chief Officer (Finance, Customer Services and Compliance);
(v) Any loan requirement, as set out in the business plan, be repaid to the Council at a market rate of interest;
(vi) Agreement of the rate of interest for any loans be delegated to the Chief Executive in consultation with the Chief Officer (Finance, Customer Services and Compliance) depending on market conditions at the time of the transaction;
(vii) The Articles of Association for the company as attached in appendix 2 to the report be approved;
(viii) The in principal gift at nil value of the land at Middlefield Lane (the former depot site) to the company once incorporated be approved, subject to the prior approval of the Secretary of State being obtained to the disposal and confirmation that no State Aid issues arise as a result of the transfer and further report on the current leisure centre site be presented in due course;
(ix) The Prudential Indicators for 2015/2016 be amended to take account of the gift of Middlefield Lane and the loan to the company (ie increase of the Authorised Borrowing Limit);
(x) Delegated authority be granted to the Chief Executive to appoint up to four officers to the Board of Directors for the company;
(xi) A supplementary budget of £100,000 to meet costs associated with the set up of the company, financed from the existing Transformation Reserve, be approved;
(xii) The Ethical Statement be adopted in the form presented to the Council.