Decision details

Councillor Eamonn O’Brien, Leader and Cabinet Member for Strategic Growth and Skills, presented the report which sought approval in principle for the relocation of Pennine Care from Humphrey House to 3 Knowsley Place. This would create a revenue savings to the Council and the generation of a capital receipt from the subsequent sale of Humphrey House, which would be used to make a capital contribution towards the fit out costs of 3KP.

Decision:

Cabinet:

1.    Approved the current Heads of Terms of the assignment of the Councils’ Lease at 3 Knowsley Place to Pennine Care;

2.    Approved the relocation of Council staff currently occupying 3 Knowsley Place to 6 Knowsley Place and the Town Hall subject to appropriate consultation;

3.    Approved the Capital contribution towards Pennine Care’s fit out at 3 Knowsley Place;

4.    Delegated any minor variations to the final Heads of Terms to the Director of Regeneration & Capital Growth in consultation with the Monitoring Officer, Section 151 Officer and the Leader of the Council; and

5.    Delegated the signing of all contracts required to complete the assignment, lease and landlords' consent to the Councils Monitoring Officer.

Reasons for the decision:

Relocation of Pennine Care from Humphrey House into 3 Knowsley Place will bring about a capital receipt from the sale of Humphrey House. It will also deliver revenue savings from the shared occupation of 3 Knowsley Place for the duration of the lease term. However, that income will in part be a replacement for the income currently received for Humphrey House.

Alternative options considered and rejected

·         Option 1: Do Nothing - in this scenario Pennine Care would remain in Humphrey House. The Council would be faced with significant capital expenditure to refurbish Humphrey House which would provide very little in the way of additional income. The Council would forgo the opportunity to sell Humphrey House and generate a capital receipt and would lose the opportunity to develop the site for an alternative purpose (housing). The revenue savings from the shared occupation of 3 Knowsley Place would be lost. As such, this option has been discounted.

·         Option 2: Procced with assignment lease to Pennine Care - this option would see Pennine Care relocated. Whilst this option requires the Council to contribute towards Pennine Care’s fit-out costs, in the medium to longer term this is outweighed by the capital receipt from the sale of Humphrey House and revenue savings from the Council assigning its current lease to Pennine Care and the shared occupation of 3 Knowsley Place.