Agenda and minutes

Councillor Osh Gantly, Martin Klute and Kaya Comer Schwartz

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Declarations of interest

 If you have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest* in an item of business:

§  if it is not yet on the council’s register, you must declare both the existence and details of it at the start of the meeting or when it becomes apparent;

§  you may choose to declare a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest that is already in the register in the interests of openness and transparency. 

In both the above cases, you must leave the room without participating in discussion of the item.

If you have a personal interest in an item of business and you intend to speak or vote on the item you must declare both the existence and details of it at the start of the meeting or when it becomes apparent but you may participate in the discussion and vote on the item.

*(a) Employment, etc - Any employment, office, trade, profession or vocation carried on for profit or gain.

(b)  Sponsorship - Any payment or other financial benefit in respect of your expenses in carrying out duties as a member, or of your election; including from a trade union.

(c) Contracts - Any current contract for goods, services or works, between you or your partner (or a body in which one of you has a beneficial interest) and the council.

(d) Land - Any beneficial interest in land which is within the council’s area.

(e) Licences- Any licence to occupy land in the council’s area for a month or longer.

(f)   Corporate tenancies - Any tenancy between the council and a body in which you or your partner have a beneficial interest.

 (g) Securities - Any beneficial interest in securities of a body which has a place of business or land in the council’s area, if the total nominal value of the securities exceeds £25,000 or one hundredth of the total issued share capital of that body or of any one class of its issued share capital. 

This applies to all members present at the meeting.

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RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 06 January 2015 be confirmed as a correct record of the proceedings and the Chair be authorised to sign them

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The Chair outlined the procedure for dealing with Members questions and filming and recording at meetings

The Chair stated that due to the number of agenda items due to come to forthcoming meetings there was a need to convene an additional meeting of the Committee in February or March and a date would be notified to Members in the near future

Councillor Andy Hull, Executive Member Finance and Performance, the Leader of the Council, Councillor Richard Watts and Mike Curtis, Director of Finance and Property Services, were present and outlined the Budget report.

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

·         It was noted that Council funding from the Government had reduced BY £100m since 2010, which equated to the loss of £1000 per household in the borough

·         The Council had to make savings of £37m in 2015/16 and Islington had suffered the ninth largest reduction in Government funding in the country

·         Despite this the Committee noted that GCSE results had improved significantly, 1800 new affordable homes had been built in the borough, services to those with moderate needs had been maintained, and that there had been a fall in youth unemployment

·         Noted that it was proposed to raise the Council Tax by 1.99%, which equated to a 40p per week increase in Band D Council Tax band. Islington Council Tax, despite this moderate increase, would still be lower than the London average and those of neighbouring inner London Boroughs

·         The Committee welcomed that the LLW was now paid to 98% of all Council and its contractors staff

·         Whilst it was noted that regretfully, because of the Budget reductions 211 posts were being deleted, 50% of these were either vacant posts or staff wishing to take voluntary redundancy. £1m had also been saved in reductions to senior management

·         The Committee welcomed that front line services such as Libraries, Children’s Centres etc. had been retained

·         The Committee noted that there was likely to be further reductions in Local Government spending in future years that would result in funding reducing to levels not seen since the introduction of the NHS

·         The Committee congratulated the Executive, and in particular the Executive Member Finance and Performance, on the Budget proposals that retained services for the most vulnerable at a time of severe Government funding reductions

·         It was noted that the ‘roadshows’ to discuss the Budget had taken place with residents and that they had not previously understood the extent of the Budget reductions that the Council faced and were likely to face in future years. Residents spoke highly of services that they were in receipt of

·         It was felt that there was a need to develop a strategy to lobby the Government about the effects of future funding reductions in Local Government

·         It was noted that there had been concern expressed over the proposal to impose a diesel charge, however the Council felt that this was an appropriate measure environmentally, given the evidence of the dangers of diesel pollution on health

·         The Committee welcomed the provision in the budget for the continuation of the Resident Support scheme, given that the Government had made no Local Welfare provision from 2015/16

·         The Committee noted that this had been part funded by reducing the number of refuse collection vehicles required by moving towards a communal kitchen waste and green waste removal service

RESOLVED:

That  ...  view the full minutes text for item 80.

Kevin O’Leary, Director of Environment and Regeneration, was present and outlined the report to the Committee.

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

·         The Chair stated that the income generation proposals for savings in the medium and longer term would be considered by the Committee on 2 March for approval and submission to the Executive

RESOLVED:

(a)  That the contents of the report be noted and note  the parallel PV Task and Finish Group and Community Energy Scrutiny review that are taking place

(b)  That the Executive Member Finance and Performance include a capital bid of £1,103,794 (and associated revenue costs), to fund the investment and additional income of £135,995 in the Budget Proposals 2015/16 report to the Executive on 12 February 2015 to reflect the income anticipated from the activities outlined in the report