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  1. Democracy in Islington
  3. Agenda item

Agenda item

Budget Proposals 2018-19

Minutes:

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

Councillor Russell moved an amendment.

Councillors Rupert Perry, Richard Greening, Janet Burgess and Rakhia Ismail 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, Clarke-Perry, Comer-Schwartz, Convery, Court, Debono, Diner, Donovan-Hart, Erdogan, Fletcher, Gallagher, Gantly, Gill, Greening, Hamitouche, Heather, Hull, Ismail, Jeapes, Kaseki, Kay, Klute, Ngongo, Nicholls, O’Halloran, O’Sullivan, Parker, Perry, Poole, Poyser, Smith, Spall, Turan, Diarmaid 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, Clarke-Perry, Comer-Schwartz, Convery, Court, Debono, Diner, Donovan-Hart, Erdogan, Fletcher, Gallagher, Gantly, Gill, Greening, Hamitouche, Heather, Hull, Ismail, Jeapes, Kaseki, Kay, Klute, Ngongo, Nicholls, O’Halloran, O’Sullivan, Parker, Perry, Poole, Poyser, Smith, Spall, Turan, Diarmaid Ward, Watts, Wayne, Webbe and Williamson.

 

Against: Councillor Russell

 

The recommendations were CARRIED.

 

RESOLVED:

            General Fund Budget 2018-19 and MTFS (Section 3 of the Main Report)

 

1.           That the 2018-19 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 at Appendix B of the report, be agreed.

2.           That the growth of £0.8m on supporting over-5s childcare, after-school childcare and holiday childcare, plus tackling holiday hunger, paragraph 3.1.5 - 3.1.7 of the report, be agreed.

3.           That the fees and charges policy be noted and the 2018-19 fees and charges, paragraphs 3.2.4 - 3.2.5 and Appendices C1 - C3 of the report, be agreed.

4.           That the Council’s policy on the level of General Fund balances be agreed and that the estimated level of earmarked reserves and general balance available for use in 2018-19, paragraphs 3.2.6 - 3.2.8 and Table 2 of the report, be noted.

HRA Budget 2018-19 and MTFS (Section 4 of the Main Report)

5.            That the balanced HRA 2018-19 budget within the HRA MTFS, at Appendix D1 of the report, be agreed.

6.            That the 2018-19 HRA rents and other fees and charges, Tables 4 - 7 and Appendix D2 of the report, be noted.

Capital Programme 2018-21 (Section 5 of the Main Report)

7.            That the 2018-19 capital programme, paragraph 5.1, Table 8 and Appendix E1 of the report, be agreed and the provisional programme for 2019-21, paragraph 5.1, Table 8 and Appendix E1 of the report, be noted.

8.            That the Corporate Director Resources applies capital resources to fund the capital programme in the most cost-effective way, paragraph 5.2 of the report, be agreed.

9.            That the schedule of planned Traffic and Transportation schemes in 2018-19, paragraph 5.3 and Appendix E2 of the report, 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)

10.         That the Annual Treasury Management and Investment Strategy 2018-19 (including external debt and treasury management Prudential Indicators), as considered by Audit Committee on 23rd January 2018, paragraph 6.1 and Appendix F1 of the report, be agreed.

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

12.         That the minimum revenue provision (MRP) policy, paragraphs 6.2 to 6.7 of the report, be agreed.

 

Council Tax and Retained Business Rates 2018-19 (Section 7 of the Main Report)

13.         That the calculations required for the determination of the 2018-19 council tax requirement and the level of council tax as detailed in Section 7 of the report and summarised below, be agreed:

1)      The 2018-19 council tax requirement of £88,763,542.91, paragraph 7.9 of the report.

2)      The relevant basic amount of Islington Band D council tax of £1,135.44, a 5.99% increase (comprising a 3.00% adult social care precept and a 2.99% core council tax increase) compared to 2017-18, and to determine that this is not ‘excessive’, paragraphs 7.10 and 7.11 of the report.

3)      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 Committee area) of £1,135.22 and total Band D council tax (including the GLA precept) of £1,429.45, paragraphs 7.12 and 7.16 of the report.

4)      The amount of 2018-19 council tax (excluding the GLA precept) for each valuation band over each of the Council’s areas, paragraph 7.14, of the report.

5)     The total amount of 2018-19 council tax (including the GLA precept) for each valuation band over each of the Council’s areas, paragraph 7.16, of the report.

14.         That a new class of council tax charge payer known as Foster Carer be agreed and that the implementation of a new Foster Carer Relief scheme from 1st April 2018, to reduce the full council tax liability to nil of every Islington household for the period where the household includes an approved foster carer (including foster carers living in Islington who are registered with other local authorities or approved agencies), paragraphs 7.4 - 7.6 of the report, be agreed.

15.         That Shared Lives carers living in Islington be included within the new Foster Carer Relief Scheme, paragraph 7.7 of the report, be agreed.

16.         That the existing council tax relief scheme for care leavers be amended to cover the full council tax liability from 1st April 2018, paragraph 7.8 of the report, be agreed.

17.         That the following recommendations in relation to the Council’s proposed participation in the London Business Rates Pilot Pool, paragraphs 7.17 to 7.22 of the report, be agreed.

18.         That the designation by the Secretary of State as an authority within the London Business Rates Pilot Pool pursuant to 34(7)(1) of Schedule 7B Local Government Finance Act 1988, be approved and accepted, be agreed.

19.         That participation in the London Business Rates Pilot Pool with effect from 1st April 2018 to 31st March 2019, be agreed.

20.         That authority to undertake the authority's administrative functions as a billing authority pursuant to the Non-Domestic Rating (Rates Retention) Regulations 2013 be delegated to the City of London Corporation ("COLC") acting as the Lead Authority be agreed.

21.         That the Lead Authority be authorised to sub-contract certain ancillary administrative functions regarding the financial transactions (payment of tariffs and top-ups) within the Pool to the GLA as it considers expedient, be agreed.

22.         That authority be delegated to the Corporate Director Resources, in consultation with the Executive Member for Finance, Performance and Community Safety, to agree the operational details of the pooling arrangements with the participating authorities, be agreed.

23.         That Corporate Director Resources, in consultation with the Acting Director of Law and Governance, be authorised to make any amendments to the Memorandum of Understanding, attached at Appendix G to the report, as may be required by the Secretary of State, and to enter into the final Memorandum of Understanding on behalf of the authority, be agreed.

24.         To authorise the Leader of the Council to represent the authority in relation to consultations regarding the London Business Rates Pilot Pool as may be undertaken by the Lead Authority pursuant to the Memorandum of Understanding.

25.         That authority be delegated to the Corporate Director Resources, in consultation with the Executive Member for Finance, Performance and Community Safety, to consider such consultative reports as the Lead Authority may circulate and to respond on behalf of the authority with regard to any recommendations and in particular, proposals for projects to be approved for funding from the Strategic Investment Pot, be agreed.

26.         That authority be delegated to the Lead Authority to undertake the functions of assessment, due consultation and approval of projects eligible for funding from the Pool's Strategic Investment Pot following consultation with the participating authorities (provided that at least two thirds of such participating London Boroughs are (including the City of London Corporation) in favour of the relevant recommendation as well as the Mayor of London, and that no entire sub-region is in disagreement with the decision) on such terms and conditions as shall ensure value for money and compliance with the law, be agreed.

27.         That authority be delegated to the Corporate Director Resources to finalise the Council's estimated retained business rates in 2018-19 based on the final Pool model that will determine the amounts to be distributed by the pool in 2018-19, and to transfer any additional estimated retained business rates in 2018-19 to a new, earmarked 'NNDR Smoothing Reserve' until it is more certain for budgeting purposes, be agreed.

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

28.         That the Section 151 Officer’s and the Monitoring Officer’s comments in their determination of the revenue and capital budgets for 2018-19 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.

29.         The authority be delegated to the Corporate Director of Resources, in consultation with the Executive Member for Finance, Performance and Community Safety, to make any changes to the budget proposals contained within the report that are necessitated by the final Local Government Finance Settlement, confirmation of Levies and the GLA precept, be agreed.

30.         That the Resident Impact Assessment (RIA) on the 2018-19 budget, Appendix H of the report, be noted.

31.         That the Pay Policy Statement for 2018-19, at Appendix I of the report, be agreed.


 

Supporting documents: