Plans ramp up to abolish ‘black hole’ RBWM Property Company

Plans are ramping up to abolish the company that had been in charge of RBWM’s property portfolio – and which made some contentious decisions in the past.

RBWM Property Company has been the subject of much public scrutiny. Various people have criticised it for key decisions, including those relating to plans to build hundreds of homes on Maidenhead golf course.

RBWM’s decisions to borrow money were made with the expectation that the golf course development would generate money to repay it.

But last autumn, external auditors noted there is a ‘growing risk’ that the actual value of the capital receipt might be lower than originally anticipated.

They raised concerns about the effectiveness of the Property Company – echoed by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) shortly afterwards.

CIPFA wrote in its report that it proved difficult to get clear oversight of the performance of the company.

At a corporate overview and scrutiny panel on Thursday, councillors discussed how it was set up with ‘good intentions’ in 2011 to address a housing shortage and provide housing for key workers, but did not deliver on these aims.

Cllr Gurch Singh (Lib Dem, St Mary’s) said that instead, it was a ‘black hole’, a ‘machine [that] ended up milking the borough of land and money.’

Andrew Durrant, the Borough’s executive director of place, said: “The CIPFA report confirmed what many of us already knew; that the structure in place had been delaying decisions and costing more than it should.”

As such, the council’s cabinet gave ‘a very clear direction’ last year to move property functions back in-house, acting as ‘a complete reset’.

“The company that exists today will no longer exist,” said Mr Durrant – except on paper.

Under its new name of Asset Holding Company, it will no longer employ staff and there will be ‘no independent decision-making.’

Mr Durrant said the change will give the council the flexibility to hold properties for future use for key workers, temporary accommodation or supported housing – an ‘important future priority.’

The change will also allow it to push forward with dealing with the vacant or derelict properties it has.

“We want to see them come back into use and we really haven’t given them a great deal of focus up until this point,” said Mr Durrant.

Councillors queried the amount of scrutiny there will be on the new structure.

They heard that a shareholder panel will make its decisions, and the minutes of these meetings are not generally shared with councillors as a matter of course.

Cllr Helen Price (Ind, Clewer and Dedworth East), was among those who stressed the need for openness and transparency this time around.

“This report [on RBWM Property Company] is politely damning of the structure,” she said.

“It says it ‘no longer serves the council’ – I would say it didn’t ever serve the council.”

She said it ‘cost the Borough a lot of money’ because its decisions and processes were ‘all kept secret.’

“We were not allowed to ask questions, the auditors wouldn’t investigate it,” she said. “[The question is] how to make sure that this never happens again.”

The report is headed to cabinet for consideration next week.