Agenda item

To consider a draft policy for the granting of rent relief/concessionary rents to voluntary sector organisations.

(Report attached)

A report was considered which detailed a draft policy for the granting of rent relief / concessionary rents to voluntary sector organisations.

The new draft Policy aimed to deal with the lack of consistency which had been applied in the past, owing to there being no criteria against which to judge individual applications for rent relief. In addition, it sought to establish a link between the granting of concessionary rents and the grants process. By so doing, the voluntary sector would have a clearer idea at the outset of how much they might be expected to pay in rent for any Council-owned premises. There was to be a three-year transitional period and a proposed maximum concession of 70 % on the market rent. At present the Council provided in excess of £100,000 in rent relief but this was not reflected in the Council’s accounts; the new system would provide much greater transparency

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee had established a small Task Group to consider the matter but it had been unable to access the final version of the draft Policy until following the preparation of its report. As a result, its recommendations were not able to address a number of the points in the draft Policy. Given these problems, it was agreed that the Portfolio Holder should give these recommendations further consideration following the meeting, although the Committee did not feel it appropriate to adopt them

Members were keen to have the Grants Panel take responsibility for this matter. There was some discussion as to the proposed length of leases under the new Policy and it was agreed that the wording of the final Policy document be amended to clarify that the three-year period referred to within the report was the period for the granting of a concessionary rent and not for the lease itself. There was also considerable debate over the provision of a final appeal process to the Executive Committee by organisations who did not consider that the maximum 70% concession would allow them to remain viable. It was agreed that it be made clear that organisations would need to fulfil all the criteria for gaining a 70% discount and that this provision was merely to allow some flexibility to deal with very exceptional cases.

RESOLVED that

1)         the Draft Policy attached at Appendix 1 to the report be approved, subject to the wording being amended in line with the comments of the Executive Committee, and implemented with immediate effect for new tenancies;

2)         transitional arrangements be introduced with effect from 1^st April 2013 to allow the policy to be fully implemented over a three year period taking into account the terms of existing leases;

3)         authority be delegated to the Head of Finance and Resources in conjunction with the Council’s Voluntary Sector Grants Co-ordinator to approve concessionary rents/rent relief in line with the draft policy attached at Appendix 1 to the report; and

4)         the Portfolio Holder for Corporate Management consider the report of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and determine whether aspects of its recommendations might be incorporated into the Policy in due course.