Agenda item

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

Councillor Russell moved an amendment.

Councillors Shaikh, Williamson, Diarmaid Ward, Burgess, Turan and Heather contributed to the debate.

Councillors Russell and Hull exercised their right to reply.

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

For: Councillor Russell.

Against: Councillors Burgess, Caluori, Champion, Chowdhury, Comer-Schwartz, Convery, Court, Debono, Diner, Erdogan, Fletcher, Gallagher, Gantly, Gill, Greening, Heather, Hull, Jeapes, Kaseki, Kay, Khan, Klute, Nicholls, O’Halloran, O’Sullivan, 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, Champion, Chowdhury, Comer-Schwartz, Convery, Court, Debono, Diner, Erdogan, Fletcher, Gallagher, Gantly, Gill, Greening, Heather, Hull, Jeapes, Kaseki, Kay, Khan, Klute, Nicholls, O’Halloran, O’Sullivan, Poole, Poyser, Shaikh, Smith, Spall, Turan, Diarmaid Ward, Nick Ward, Watts, Wayne, Webbe and Williamson.

AGAINST: Councillor Russell.

The recommendations were CARRIED.

RESOLVED:

The General Fund Budget 2017-18 and MTFS (Section 3 of the Main
Report)

1.           That the 2017-18 net Council cash limits as set out in Table 1 (paragraph 3.1.3 of the report) and the MTFS at Appendix A of the report, which include the revenue savings in Appendix B of the report, be agreed.

2.           That, in the unlikely event that the final local government settlement differs from the provisional settlement already notified by the government, authority be delegated to the Corporate Director of Resources to make any adjustments necessary to balance the Council’s Budget for 2017/18, in consultation with the Executive Member for Finance, Performance and Community Safety, be agreed.

3.           That the requirement to report on the number of maintained schools that have completed the Schools Value Financial Standard (SVFS) by 31^st March to the Department for Education by 31^st May each year (paragraph 3.2.17 of the report) be noted.

4.           That the fees and charges policy and the schedule of 2017-18 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 (paragraphs 3.2.18-21 and Appendices C1 and C2 of the report) be agreed.

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.  That the redundancy reserve is estimated to be fully spent by the end of 2016-17 be noted and that from 2017-18 redundancy costs are funded within departmental budgets (paragraphs 3.2.23 to 3.2.26 and Table 3 of the report) be agreed.

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

6.           That the balanced HRA 2017-18 budget within the HRA MTFS at Appendix D1 of the report and the 2017-18 HRA savings at Appendix D2 of the report be agreed.

7.           That the 2017-18 HRA rents and other fees and charges (Tables 5 to 8 and Appendix D3 of the report) be noted.

The Capital Programme 2017-18 to 2019-20 (Section 5 of the Main
Report)

8.           That the 2017-18 capital programme be agreed and the provisional programme for 2018-19 to 2019-20 (paragraph 5.1, Table 9 and Appendix E1 of the report) be noted.

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

10.         That the schedule of planned Traffic and Transportation schemes in 2017-18 be noted and that the related decision-making responsibilities for these schemes (paragraph 5.3 and Appendix E2 of the report) be agreed.

Treasury Management Strategy (Section 6 of the Main Report)

11.         That the Annual Treasury Management and Investment Strategy 2017-18 (including external debt and treasury management Prudential Indicators), as considered by Audit Committee on 24^th January 2017 (paragraph 6.1 and Appendix F1 of the report) be agreed.

12.         That the additional capital Prudential Indicators (paragraph 6.1 and Appendix F2 of the report) be agreed.

13.         That the minimum revenue provision for 2017-18, adopting from 2017-18 the asset life (annuity) method for both ‘supported’ and ‘unsupported’ borrowing (paragraphs 6.2 to 6.6 of the report) be agreed.

Council Tax 2017-18 and Statutory Calculations (Section 7 of the Main

Report)

14.         That the calculations required for the determination of the 2017-18 council tax requirement and the level of council tax as detailed in Section 7 of the report and summarised below, be agreed:

              i.          The 2017-18 council tax requirement of £82,712,864.62 (paragraph 7.5 of the report)

             ii.          The relevant (average) amount of Islington Band D council tax of £1,071.28, a 4.99% increase (comprising a 3% social care precept and a 1.99% local precept) compared to 2016-17, and to determine that this is not ‘excessive’ (paragraphs 7.6 and 7.7 of the report)

            iii.          The basic amount of Islington Band D council tax for dwellings to which no special item relates (i.e. outside of the Lloyd Square Garden area) of £1,071.06 and total Band D council tax (including the GLA precept) of £1,351.08 (paragraphs 7.8 and 7.12 of the report)

           iv.          The amount of 2017-18 council tax (excluding the GLA precept) for each valuation band over each of the Council’s areas (paragraph 7.10 of the report)

            v.          The total amount of 2017-18 council tax (including the GLA precept) for each valuation band over each of the Council’s areas (paragraph 7.12 of the report)

15.         That the budget proposals include the decision to exempt all care leavers living in Islington under the age of 25 from council tax, recommended in a separate report to the Executive on 9^th February 2017 be noted.  The discount is available from 1^st April 2017 and will cost £28k a year.  The cost will be shared with the GLA, via the Collection Fund (paragraph 7.3 of the report)

Matters to Consider in Setting the Budget (Section 8 of the Main Report)

16.         That the Section 151 Officer’s and the Monitoring Officer’s comments in their determination of the revenue and capital budgets for 2017-18 and the basis for the level of council tax, including the Section 151 Officer’s report in relation to his responsibilities under Section 25 (2) of the Local Government Act 2003 be noted.

17.         That the Resident Impact Assessment (RIA) on the 2017-18 budget (Appendix G of the report) be noted.

18.         That the Pay Policy Statement for 2017-18 (Appendix H of the report) be agreed.