Issue - meetings

At its meeting on 3 February 2016 the Executive Committee considered the 2016/17 budget and RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL:

i.       That a net budget of £9,663,342 be APPROVED.

ii.      That a Band D Council Tax of £104.36, an increase of £5.00 per annum, be             APPROVED.

iii.     That the use of New Homes Bonus, as proposed in Paragraph 3.5 of the report, be APPROVED.

iv.     That the capital programme, as proposed in Appendix A to the report, be APPROVED.

v.      That the capital prudential indicators, as proposed in Appendix B to the report, be     APPROVED.

vi.     That the annual Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) statement, as contained in      Appendix B to the report, be APPROVED.

vii.    That the mid-year 2015/16 Treasury Management update, as contained in Appendix C        to the report, be APPROVED.

viii.   That the 2016/17 Treasury Management Strategy, as proposed in Appendix D to the           report, be APPROVED.

ix.     That authority be delegated to the Finance and Asset Management Group Manager, in consultation with the Lead Member for Finance and Asset Management, to apply to the Government for a four year Settlement if he believes it to be in the best interests of the Council. 

(If a Councillor intends to move a Motion or Amendment in relation to the Council’s annual budget, the text of the proposed Motion or Amendment must be submitted in writing to the Borough Solicitor by 9.00am on the working day preceding the day of the Council meeting).

(NB: Please remember that, in line with the Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2014, decisions on the budget MUST be a recorded vote).

70.6           At its meeting on 3 February 2016 the Executive Committee considered the 2016/17 budget and recommended to Council i) that a net budget of £9,663,342 be approved; ii) that a Band D Council Tax of £104.36, an increase of £5.00 per annum, be approved; iii) that the use of New Homes Bonus, as proposed in Paragraph 3.5 of the report, be approved; iv) that the capital programme, as proposed in Appendix A to the report, be approved; v) that the capital prudential indicators, as proposed in Appendix B to the report, be approved; vi) that the annual Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) statement, as contained in Appendix B to the report, be approved; vii) that the mid-year 2015/16 Treasury Management update, as contained in Appendix C to the report, be approved; viii) that the 2016/17 Treasury Management Strategy, as proposed in Appendix D to the report, be approved; ix) that authority be delegated to the Finance and Asset Management Group Manager, in consultation with the Lead Member for Finance and Asset Management, to apply to the Government for a four year Settlement if he believes it to be in the best interests of the Council. 

70.7           The report that had been considered by the Executive Committee had been circulated with the Agenda for the current meeting at Pages No. 26-69.

70.8           The recommendation from the Executive Committee was proposed and seconded and the Lead Member expressed his thanks to the Transform Working Group and the Finance Team for their hard work in putting together a balanced budget in such difficult circumstances.

70.9           In accordance with the Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2014, voting on the proposal was recorded as follows:

70.10            Accordingly, it was

                  RESOLVED          i.  That a net budget of £9,663,342 be APPROVED.

                                                ii. That a Band D Council Tax of £104.36, an increase of £5.00                                   per annum, be APPROVED.

                                                iii. That the use of New Homes Bonus, as proposed in                                                   Paragraph 3.5 of the report, be APPROVED.

                                                iv. That the capital programme, as proposed in Appendix A to                                      the report, be APPROVED.

                                                v.  That the capital prudential indicators, as proposed in                                                 Appendix B  ...  view the full minutes text for item 70

To recommend a budget to Council for 2016/17. 

That it be RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL:

i.       That a net budget of £9,663,342 be APPROVED.

ii.      That a Band D Council Tax of £104.36, an increase of £5.00 per annum, be APPROVED.

iii.     That the use of New Homes Bonus, as proposed in Paragraph 3.5 of the report, be APPROVED.

iv.     That the capital programme, as proposed in Appendix A to the report, be APPROVED.

v.      That the capital prudential indicators, as proposed in Appendix B to the report, be APPROVED.

vi.     That the annual Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) statement, as contained in Appendix B to the report, be APPROVED.

vii.    That the mid-year 2015/16 Treasury Management update, as contained in Appendix C to the report, be APPROVED.

viii.   That the 2016/17 Treasury Management Strategy, as proposed in Appendix D to the report, be APPROVED.

ix.     That authority be delegated to the Finance and Asset Management Group Manager, in consultation with the Lead Member for Finance and Asset Management, to apply to the Government for a four year Settlement if he believes it to be in the best interests of the Council. 

79.1           The report of the Finance and Asset Management Group Manager, circulated at Pages No. 32-75, set out the proposed budget for 2016/17. Members were asked to consider and make a recommendation to Council thereon. The recommendations included a delegated authority for the Finance and Asset Management Group Manager, in consultation with the Lead Member for Finance and Asset Management, to apply to the Government for a four year settlement if he believed it to be in the best interest of the Council.

79.2           Members were advised that the Council had considered the Medium Term Financial Strategy at its meeting on 8 December 2015. That document outlined the current budget pressures facing the Council, as well as those in future years, and depicted the gap between the estimated net budget of the Council and the estimated funding available to finance that net expenditure. The deficit over the five years of the Strategy was estimated to be approximately £2.9 million with a gap in 2016/17 of approximately £1,090,000. Since the production of the Medium Term Financial Strategy, the conclusions of the Government’s Comprehensive Spending Review had been announced with the headlines being a 46% reduction in core government grant support over the next four years (56% in real terms); greater support to upper tier authorities for the provision of social care, partly funded from an extra 2% levy on Council Tax and partly funded from redistribution of existing funding; and a consultation on the future of the New Homes bonus scheme with the intention of reducing the financial envelope by at least £800 million equating to 2/3 of the current spend. The Council had also received the provisional Local Government settlement for 2016/17 together with the promised New Homes Bonus consultation. All of that information, along with general information on the financial climate, had been brought together to make a proposal for the budget for 2016/17 and the resultant Council Tax.

79.3           The Finance and Asset Management Group Manager explained that details of the local government settlement for 2016/17 were contained at Paragraph 2.0 of the report. It should be noted that this was a provisional settlement at this stage and, although it did not usually change, the final settlement would not be received until the following week. Assuming the provisional figure remained the final one, table one at Page No. 35 of the report showed the significant reductions to core government support that were expected over the next four years. This was in line with the projections in the Medium Term Financial Strategy but the profile of the reductions was more gradual meaning that the Council was losing less support in the next couple of years compared with estimates. For 2016/17, the reduction was £451,000 which was approximately £110,000 better than anticipated. The government had made an offer to local authorities to apply for a four year fixed settlement which, in theory, would give the Council certainty as it prepared its Medium Term Financial Strategy; however, there was a lack  ...  view the full minutes text for item 79