Issue - meetings

BCP Council investment to support the One Dorset Pathology Unit

This report presents the Council with the opportunity to support one of its key strategic partners in delivering a new modern pathology facility to serve both the conurbation and the rest of Dorset.

The support will be in the form of a £14.9m investment from the Council into the Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch National Health Service (NHS) Foundation Trust (RBCH) which will be repaid evenly in equal instalments of capital of just under £1m per annum.

To make this investment Council needs to add, on an exceptional basis, the RBCH to its list of approved counterparties and extend the normal five-year period for investments.

This repayment will be made by the Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch NHS Foundation Trust regardless of the operational performance of the new One Dorset Pathology Unit.

The risk around delivering the savings from the new pathology unit will therefore lay with the Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch NHS Foundation Trust.

This arrangement recognises that there is a limited amount of capital funding available in the NHS compared to the size of their revenue budget.

Decision:

RECOMMENDED that Council:-

(a) approve a £14.9m investment over a 15-year repayment period to The Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust on the terms outlined in in paragraph 3 of the report;

(b) extend the Councils schedule of approved counterparties for investments to include the Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospital NHS Foundation trusts for the purposes of this investment only as well as increase the time limit to 15 years;

(c) delegate to the Chief Finance Officer the approval of any further detailed terms for the provision of the investment; and

(d) authorise the Council’s Monitoring Officer to draw up and enter into a suitable legal agreement with the NHS Foundation Trust.

Voting: Unanimous

REASONS

To provide the funding the NHS Foundation Trust is seeking to enable its investment in its front-line services and benefit the local community.

Minutes:

The Portfolio Holder for Finance presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'K' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

Cabinet were requested to consider supporting one of the Councils key strategic partners in delivering a new modern pathology facility to serve both the conurbation and the rest of Dorset, by way of an investment from the Council into the Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch National Health Service (NHS) Foundation Trust (RBCH) which will be repaid evenly in equal instalments of capital of just under £1m per annum.

The Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Board queries the existence of a BCP Council Investment Strategy, and it was confirmed that a BCP Council wide strategy would be coming before Cabinet in due course, but that it was desirable to approve this in advance in order to take advantage of this investment opportunity.

Cabinet discussed the benefits of the scheme. Further to this Cabinet were advised that the recommendation would go to the 5 November 2019 Council meeting to enable the Audit & Governance Committee to consider the report prior to Council.