What the capital programme is
The capital programme is a collection of all capital projects that the Council takes on.
It sets out the investment plans as well as the budget requirement and financing over a 5 year period. This includes the current financial year and the next 4 future financial years.
Each project within the Capital Programme will be for the provision and purpose of delivering public services (including housing, regeneration, and local infrastructure) or in support of joint working with others to deliver such services.
No schemes will be added to the Capital Programme if their only purpose is to achieve a financial return.
Why the capital programme is important
Developing the Capital Programme is crucial as it allows for:
- Strategic Development: It outlines funding for crucial projects that will bring benefits to residents of Essex. It ensures the maintenance and development of assets such as roads, schools, utilities, and buildings.
- Long-Term Planning: Provides a roadmap for allocating resources over several years, aligning projects with the county's growth and long-term goals.
- Efficient Financial Management: Helps prioritise and deprioritise projects, preventing overspending, and ensuring optimal resource allocation for essential needs.
- Transparency and Accountability: Demonstrates how public funds are used, fostering trust by ensuring openness in financial decision-making and governance.
How the capital programme was created
Iteration 1 (June's position)
This is the first draft of the capital programme with the basis of the programme being:
- the previous year’s Iteration 2 position, adjusted for the future year impact of Provisional Outturn requests from the previous year end
- any new business cases that have been endorsed since the budget was approved
- the impact of any formal governance decisions (Cabinet Member Actions and key decisions)
- any forecast variance plan adjustments that have been reported by June
Capital challenge sessions
Prior to Iteration 2, services will be required to attend a capital challenge session, where projects will be scrutinised for priority, outcome delivered, cost, profile, deliverability and financing.
Iteration 2 (October’s position)
Project managers work with Finance to make sure that forecasts are in line with the capital challenge session and outer years are as accurate as possible based on the latest information available for their projects. Discussion will occur between finance and project managers to understand movements from the Iteration 1 position.
A final opportunity to amend the Budget Iteration 2 position is at Period 8 (November) to take account of the future year impact of any new requests contained in the Third Quarter Cabinet Report that were not known at Period 7. The proposed Programme is presented to Cabinet in January. Cabinet then recommends whether that budget should be reported to Full Council for ratification in February.