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Budget proposals 2016-17

Meeting: 25/02/2016 - Council (Item 94)

94 Budget Proposals 2016-17 pdf icon PDF 367 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Watts moved the recommendations in the report.  Councillor Burgess seconded.

Councillor Russell moved two amendments. 

Councillors Caluori, Chowdhury, Murray, Heather, Fletcher, Jeapes and Doolan contributed to the debate.

Councillors Watts and Russell exercised their right to reply.

The first amendment was put the vote.  Voting was recorded as follows:

For: Councillor Russell.

Against: Councillors Burgess, Caluori, Chowdhury, Convery, Court, Debono, Diner, Donovan, Doolan, Erdogan, Fletcher, Gallagher, Gantly, Gill, Greening, Hamitouche, Heather, Ismail, Jeapes, Kay, Khan, Klute, Murray, Nicholls, O’Halloran, O’Sullivan, Parker, Alice Perry, Rupert Perry, Picknell, Poole, Poyser, Shaikh, Smith, Spall, Turan, Diarmaid Ward, Nick Ward, Watts, Wayne, Webbe and Williamson.
 

The amendment was LOST.


The second amendment was put the vote.  Voting was recorded as follows:

For: Councillor Russell.

Against: Councillors Burgess, Caluori, Chowdhury, Convery, Court, Debono, Diner, Donovan, Doolan, Erdogan, Fletcher, Gallagher, Gantly, Gill, Greening, Hamitouche, Heather, Ismail, Jeapes, Kay, Khan, Klute, Murray, Nicholls, O’Halloran, O’Sullivan, Parker, Alice Perry, Rupert Perry, Picknell, Poole, Poyser, Shaikh, Smith, Spall, Turan, Diarmaid Ward, Nick Ward, Watts, Wayne, Webbe and Williamson.
 

The amendment was LOST.

 

The recommendations in the report were put to the vote.  Voting was recorded as follows:

For: Councillors Burgess, Caluori, Chowdhury, Convery, Court, Debono, Diner, Donovan, Doolan, Erdogan, Fletcher, Gallagher, Gantly, Gill, Greening, Hamitouche, Heather, Ismail, Jeapes, Kay, Khan, Klute, Murray, Nicholls, O’Halloran, O’Sullivan, Parker, Alice Perry, Rupert Perry, Picknell, Poole, Poyser, Shaikh, Smith, Spall, Turan, Diarmaid Ward, Nick Ward, Watts, Wayne, Webbe and Williamson.

Abstained: Councillor Russell.


The recommendations were CARRIED.


RESOLVED:

 

The General Fund Budget 2016-17 and MTFS (Section 3 of the report)

1.1         That the 2016-17 net Council cash limits as set out in Table 1 (Paragraph 3.1.4 of the report) and the MTFS at Appendix A of the report, which includes the revenue savings in Appendix B of the report and revenue growth of £0.5m for investment in keeping the borough’s young people safe, be agreed.

1.2         That the report of the Policy and Performance Scrutiny Committee on 21st January 2016 in reviewing the ‘Budget Proposals 2016-17’ be noted.

1.3         That the requirement to report on the number of maintained schools that have completed the Schools Value Financial Standard (SVFS) by 31st March to the Department for Education by 31st May each year (Paragraph 3.2.13 of the report) be noted.

1.4         That the fees and charges policy and the schedule of 2016-17 fees and charges be agreed, and that the delegated authority for the Corporate Director of Children's Services, in consultation with the Executive Member for Children and Families, to agree new childcare charges following consultation in the summer term be noted.  (Paragraphs 3.2.14-17 and Appendices C1 and C2 of the report).

1.5         That the Council’s policy on the level of General Fund balances and the estimated use of the Council’s earmarked reserves be agreed (Paragraphs 3.2.19-21 and Table 3 of the report).

The HRA Budget and MTFS (Section 4 of the report)

1.6         That the balanced HRA 2016-17 budget  ...  view the full minutes text for item 94


Meeting: 04/02/2016 - Executive (Item 243)

243 Budget Proposals 2016-17 pdf icon PDF 169 KB

Including comments from the Policy and Performance Scrutiny Committee’s review of the proposals.

Additional documents:

Decision:

AGREED RECOMMENDATIONS:

Reason for decision – as specified in the report.

Other options considered – none, other than as detailed in the report and related papers.

Conflicts of interest / dispensations granted – none.

 

Minutes:

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the following recommendations be agreed and recommended to the Council meeting on 25 February 2016:

The General Fund Budget 2016-17 and MTFS (Section 3 of the Main Report)

1.1         That the 2016-17 net Council cash limits as set out in Table 1 (Paragraph 3.1.4 of the report) and the MTFS at Appendix A of the report, which includes the revenue savings in Appendix B of the report and revenue growth of £0.5m for investment in keeping the borough’s young people safe, be agreed.

1.2         That the report of the Policy and Performance Scrutiny Committee on 21st January 2016 in reviewing the ‘Budget Proposals 2016-17’ be noted.

1.3         That the requirement to report on the number of maintained schools that have completed the Schools Value Financial Standard (SVFS) by 31st March to the Department for Education by 31st May each year (Paragraph 3.2.13 of the report) be noted.

1.4         That the fees and charges policy and the schedule of 2016-17 fees and charges be agreed, and that the delegated authority for the Corporate Director of Children's Services, in consultation with the Executive Member for Children and Families, to agree new childcare charges following consultation in the summer term be noted.  (Paragraphs 3.2.14-17 and Appendices C1 and C2 of the report).

1.5         That the Council’s policy on the level of General Fund balances and the estimated use of the Council’s earmarked reserves be agreed (Paragraphs 3.2.19-21 and Table 3 of the report).

The HRA Budget and MTFS (Section 4 of the Main Report)

1.6         That the balanced HRA 2016-17 budget within the HRA MTFS at Appendix D1 of the report and the 2016-17 HRA savings at Appendix D2 of the report be agreed.

1.7         That the 2016-17 HRA rents and other fees and charges be noted, and the amended band C car cage charge of £17.77 in Appendix D3 of the report (for non-rent and service charge payers). (Tables 5-8 and Appendix D3 of the report ) be agreed

The Capital Programme 2016-17 to 2018-19 (Section 5 of the Main Report)

1.8         That the 2016-17 capital programme be agreed and the provisional programme for 2017-18 to 2018-19 be noted. (Paragraph 5.1, Table 9 and Appendix E1 of the report).

1.9         That the Corporate Director of Finance and Resources applies capital resources to fund the capital programme in the most cost-effective way be agreed. (Paragraph 5.2 of the report).

1.10      That the schedule of planned Traffic and Transportation schemes in 2016-17 be noted and the related decision-making responsibilities for these schemes be agreed. (Paragraph 5.3 and Appendix E2 of the report).

Annual Treasury Management and Investment Strategy, Prudential Indicators and Minimum Revenue Provision Policy (Section 6 of the Main Report)

1.11      That the Annual Treasury Management and Investment Strategy 2016-17 (including external debt and treasury management Prudential Indicators), as considered by Audit Committee on 28th January 2016, be agreed. (Section 6 and Appendix F1 of the report).

1.12      That the additional capital Prudential Indicators and Minimum Revenue  ...  view the full minutes text for item 243


Meeting: 21/01/2016 - Policy and Performance Scrutiny Committee (Item 198)

198 Budget Proposals 2016-17 pdf icon PDF 633 KB

Minutes:

Councillor Andy Hull, Executive Member Finance and Performance and Councillor Richard Watts, Leader of the Council were present for discussion of this item.

 

During consideration of the report the following main points were made –

 

·         The Committee welcomed the additional funding of £0.5m for investment in keeping the borough’s young people safe

·         The Committee noted the severe budget reductions that the Council has had to face since 2010 and that the latest financial settlement has necessitated the Council having to adopt additional funding cuts of over £73m from 2016-2020 and that in 2016/17 this would be £24m due to Government  ‘frontloading’ of cuts

·         It was noted that the Council balances would be reduced from 5% to 4% in 2016/17

·         The Committee expressed concern at the underfunding of the social care budget, which had meant that the social care precept, that the Government has said that Local Authorities could introduce to reduce the shortfall in social care funding, had to be imposed by the Council

·         The Committee noted that there would be likely to be over 100 posts reduction at the Council as a result of the budget cuts, however the majority of these redundancies would be achieved voluntarily

·         It was welcomed that, despite severe funding restrictions, front line services had largely been maintained and that a substantial amount of the savings had come from sharing of services, channel shift, etc. and that the budget was the fairest that could be achieved in the circumstances

·         The Committee were informed that there had been significant savings as  a result of the loss of senior management posts across the Council

·         With regard to the new NLWA menu pricing model it is hoped that this will benefit the Council and savings can be achieved

·         The Committee were informed that there had been a reduction by the DfE in the Education services grant of £0.2m in 2016/17, which is seen as part of the Government’s strategy to remove Local Authority control of schools

·         There is still uncertainty over the public health financial settlement and also that there is still concern as to whether the Government will change the details of the provisional settlement already notified to the Council to that of the final settlement, resulting in even more funding reductions to the Council, which will necessitate further savings

·         Members were of the view that the ethnic profile of staff made redundant should be looked at once the budget reductions had been implemented, given that final details of these redundancies will not be known until all the reorganisation proposals had been finalised

·         Councillor Russell stated that she had not yet had a chance to discuss in detail the budget proposals, but she was meeting the Director of Finance and Resources next week and that she would submit any comments to the Executive Member Finance and Performance for consideration

·         A Member enquired the proportion of HRA properties at target rent and whether it would be possible to increase rents ahead of the legislation date and it was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 198


Meeting: 14/01/2016 - Executive (Item 226)

226 Budget Proposals 2016-17 pdf icon PDF 601 KB

Decision:

AGREED RECOMMENDATIONS:

Reason for decision – as specified in the report.

Other options considered – none, other than as detailed in the report and related papers.

Conflicts of interest / dispensations granted – none.

Minutes:

Councillor Hull introduced the budget proposals, advising that they will be considered by the Policy and Performance Scrutiny Committee next week.  Councillor Hull advised that despite the government cuts, he was proud to announce the investment in Youth Safety.

 

RESOLVED:

That the following recommendations be agreed and recommended to the Council meeting on 25 February 2016:

The General Fund Budget 2016-17 and MTFS (Section 3)

2.1       That the 2016-17 net Council cash limits as set out in Table 1 (Paragraph 3.1.4) of the report and the MTFS at Appendix A of the report, which include the revenue savings in Appendix B of the report and revenue growth of £0.5m for investment in keeping the borough’s young people safe, be agreed.

2.2       That the requirement to report on the number of maintained schools that have completed the Schools Value Financial Standard (SVFS) by 31st March to the Department for Education by 31st May each year be noted (Paragraph 3.2.13 of the report).

2.3       That the fees and charges policy be agreed and the schedule of 2016-17 fees and charges be agreed, and that authority be delegated to the Corporate Director of Children's Services, in consultation with the Executive Member for Children and Families, to agree new childcare charges following consultation in the summer term be agreed (Paragraphs 3.2.14-17 and Appendices C1 and C2 of the report).

2.4       That the Council’s policy on the level of General Fund balances and the estimated use of the Council’s earmarked reserves be agreed (Paragraphs 3.2.19-21 and Table 3 of the report) The HRA Budget and MTFS (Section 4 of the report).

2.5       That the balanced HRA 2016-17 budget within the HRA MTFS at Appendix D1 of the report and the 2016-17 HRA savings at Appendix D2 of the report be agreed.

2.6       That the 2016-17 HRA rents and other fees and charges (Tables 5-8 and Appendix D3 of the report) be agreed.

The Capital Programme 2016-17 to 2018-19 (Section 5)

2.7       That the 2016-17 capital programme be agreed and the provisional programme for 2017-18 to 2018-19 be noted (Paragraph 5.1, Table 9 and Appendix E of the report).

2.8       That the Corporate Director of Finance and Resources applies capital resources to fund the capital programme in the most cost-effective way be agreed (Paragraph 5.2 of the report).

2.9       That the schemes that comprise the Capital Allowance pot of eligible affordable housing and regeneration schemes be noted (Paragraph 5.3 and Appendix E of the report).

Treasury Management Strategy (Section 6)

2.10    That the Treasury Management Strategy will initially be considered by Audit Committee on 28th January 2016 and then included for agreement within the final budget report to Executive on 4th February 2016 and Council on 25th February 2016 be noted.

Council Tax 2016-17, including Statutory Calculations (Section 7)

 

2.11    That the General Fund budget has been prepared on the basis that the basic amount of council tax  ...  view the full minutes text for item 226