Issue - meetings

At its meeting on 1 February 2017 the Executive Committee considered the 2017/18 budget and RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL that:  

1.    a net budget of £9,913,693 be APPROVED;

2.    a Band D Council Tax of £109.36, an increase of £5.00 per annum, be APPROVED;

3.    the use of New Homes Bonus, as proposed in Paragraph 3.8 of the report, be APPROVED;

4.    the Capital Programme, as proposed in Appendix A to the report, be APPROVED;

5.    the Capital Prudential Indicators, as proposed in Appendix B to the report, be APPROVED;

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

7.    the 2017/18 Treasury Management Strategy, as proposed in Appendix C to the report, be APPROVED. 

(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).

102.1         At its meeting on 1 February 2017, the Executive Committee had considered a report which set out the proposed budget for 2017/18. The Executive Committee had recommended to Council that a net budget of £9,913,693 be approved; that a Band D Council Tax of £109.36, an increase of £5.00 per annum, be approved; that the use of New Homes Bonus, as proposed in Paragraph 3.8 of the report, be approved; that the Capital Programme, as proposed in Appendix A to the report, be approved;  that the Capital Prudential Indicators, as proposed in Appendix B to the report, be approved; that the annual Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) statement, as contained in Appendix B to the report, be approved; and that the 2017/18 Treasury Management Strategy, as proposed in Appendix C to the report, be approved.

102.2         The report which was considered by the Executive Committee had been circulated with the Agenda for the current meeting at Pages No. 28-60.

102.3         The recommendation was proposed and seconded by the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Executive Committee. In seconding the recommendation, the Vice-Chair of the Committee explained that this had, once again, been a tough budget setting process under difficult circumstances and he offered his thanks to the Council’s Finance Team for its help in ensuring a balanced budget was produced. He further indicated that, even by raising Council Tax, which was an unfortunate position to be in, the Council had still needed to use a relatively large amount of its reserves to balance the budget and these would need to be replaced in future years.

102.4         During the discussion which ensued, a Member questioned whether there was an overall statement of where all the reserves were held and the amounts that they contained. She felt it was important to be aware of how many reserves were being used and how much was left. In addition, she expressed the view that the cost for the waste, recycling and street cleansing services seemed very high and she was unsure why; she questioned whether this was connected to the Council joining Ubico and, if so, why being a member of Ubico should be costing the Council so much. In response, the Head of Finance and Asset Management advised that the overall reserves position was not included within the budget report as it was considered by the Executive Committee as a separate ‘Reserves report’. Overall, the Council had £3.72million in reserves with £837,000 being used in the 2017/18 budget in order to ensure a balanced budget was achieved. In response, the Member asked that she be provided with a list of all of the reserves so that she could keep track of them and the Head of Finance and Asset Management indicated that the Executive Committee reports were available to all Members. In terms of waste and recycling, he explained that the amount referred to covered the manning of the new vehicle fleet, fuel and insurance etc. and this had all been advised  ...  view the full minutes text for item 102

To recommend a budget to Council for 2017/18.

That it be RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL that:

1.    a net budget of £9,913,693 be APPROVED;

2.    a Band D Council Tax of £109.36, an increase of £5.00 per annum, be APPROVED;

3.    the use of New Homes Bonus, as proposed in Paragraph 3.8 of the report, be APPROVED;

4.    the Capital Programme, as proposed in Appendix A to the report, be APPROVED;

5.    the Capital Prudential Indicators, as proposed in Appendix B to the report, be APPROVED;

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

7.    the 2017/18 Treasury Management Strategy, as proposed in Appendix C to the report, be APPROVED. 

79.1           The report of the Head of Finance and Asset Management, circulated at Pages No. 51-83, set out a proposed budget for 2017/18 which Members were asked to recommend to the Council for approval along with a proposed Band D Council Tax of £109.36; the use of New Homes Bonus as proposed in Paragraph 3.8 of the report; the Capital Programme, as proposed in Appendix A to the report; capital prudential indicators, as proposed in Appendix B to the report; the annual Minimum Revenue Provision statement, as contained in Appendix B to the report; and the 2017/18 Treasury Management Strategy as set out in Appendix C to the report.

79.2           The Head of Finance and Asset Management advised that the Council had considered its financial position, as shown in the Medium Term Financial Strategy, at its meeting on 6 December 2016 and that Strategy outlined the budget pressures facing the Council, both now and in future years. The deficit over the five years of the Medium Term Financial Strategy was estimated to be in the order of £3.3 million with a gap, in 2017/18, of approximately £2,050,000. Since the Medium Term Financial Strategy had been produced, the Chancellor had given his autumn statement, the Council had been accepted for a four year funding deal from the government and the details of the provisional local government settlement for 2017/18 had been received.

79.3           The report currently before Members brought together general information on the financial climate with the detailed figures associated with the 2017/18 budget and the work undertaken by the Transform Working Group and made a proposal for a balanced budget and resultant Council Tax. Members were advised that Section 25 of the Local Government Act 2003 required that the Chief Financial Officer make a statement to the Council on the robustness of the estimates, and adequacy of financial reserves, and that statement was set out within the report at Paragraph 10. The Council had a statutory obligation to have regard to that when making its decision on the proposed budget. In setting the budget for 2017/18, the Head of Finance and Asset Management explained that the Council had continued to provide the same level of service as in previous years and, in many areas, to provide an enhanced service with much of the deficit being met through increased income and financing streams, restructure of management and services, increased commercial activity and increased Council Tax. It was felt that future budget setting may not find those areas as plentiful and Members and Officers would be faced with tough decisions on the operation of the Council including reducing or stopping some services and taking further risks in its commercial activities. Members were reminded that, at a recent meeting of the Transform Working Group, it had been suggested that £50,000 be taken away from community grants and instead be put into an IT and property management reserve; this amendment had been made in the current report and this was also drawn to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 79