Agenda item

The Mayor advised that Councillor Russell’s proposed amendment to the budget was circulated in the additional despatch.

Councillor Hull moved the recommendations in the report. Councillor Watts seconded. Councillor Russell moved her amendment. Councillors Hyde, Clarke, Heather and Woolf contributed to the debate.

Councillor Russell exercised her right of reply on the amendment. Councillor Hull exercised his right of reply on the recommendations.

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

For: Councillor Russell

Against: Councillors Burgess, Champion, Chapman, Chowdhury, Clarke, Comer-Schwartz, Convery, Cutler, Debono, Gantly, Gill, Graham, Heather, Hull, Hyde, Jeapes, Khurana, Klute, Lukes, Mackmurdie, Ngongo, O’Halloran, O’Sullivan, Poole, Poyser, Russell, Shaikh, Smith, Spall, Turan, Ward, Watts, Wayne, Webbe, Williamson, Woodbyrne and Woolf.

The amendment was LOST.

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

For: Councillors Burgess, Champion, Chapman, Chowdhury, Clarke, Comer-Schwartz, Convery, Cutler, Debono, Gantly, Gill, Graham, Heather, Hull, Hyde, Jeapes, Khurana, Klute, Lukes, Mackmurdie, Ngongo, O’Halloran, O’Sullivan, Poole, Poyser, Russell, Shaikh, Smith, Spall, Turan, Ward, Watts, Wayne, Webbe, Williamson, Woodbyrne and Woolf.

Against: Councillor Russell

The recommendations were CARRIED.

RESOLVED:

2.1        That the comments of the Policy and Performance Scrutiny Committee on the Budget Proposals 2020/21 were received by the Executive on 6 February 2020 be noted.

The General Fund Budget 2020/21 and MTFS (Section 3)

2.2        That the assumed MTFS and budget gap, subject to the comments of the Acting Section 151 Officer in Section 7 regarding the additional medium-term budget risks that are not currently factored into the budget gap (paragraph 3.6, Table 1 and Appendix A of the report) be noted.

2.3        That the revised 2020/21 to 2022/23 savings and income generation programme (paragraph 3.18 and Appendix B of the report) and the revenue budget growth and additional/expanded service provision funded from existing budgets and external funding (paragraphs 3.22-3.23, Table 5 and Appendices C1-C2 of the report) be agreed.

2.4        That there are significant risks around the savings currently assumed in the MTFS and that a risk-based review of all assumed savings is currently underway and will feed into the next refresh of budget assumptions at the outset of the 2021/22 budget setting process (paragraphs 3.19-3.21 of the report) be noted.

2.5        That the 2020/21 net budgets by directorate (paragraph 3.24, Table 7 and Appendix A of the report) be agreed.

2.6        That the variables that could still significantly affect the 2020/21 budget (paragraph 3.25 of the report) be noted.

2.7        That the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) settlement for 2020/21 and related funding assumptions (paragraphs 3.26-3.33 of the report) be noted.

2.8        That the 2020/21 fees and charges that have been approved by the Executive (paragraphs 3.34-3.36 and Appendices D1-D4 of the report) be noted.

2.9        That the budgeted movements to/from earmarked reserves assumed as part of the 2020/21 revenue budget and to note the policy on the minimum target level of General Fund balances (paragraphs 3.37-3.41 and Table 8 of the report) be agreed.

2.10     That any underspend on the General Fund budget at the end of the current 2019/20 financial year will be transferred to General Fund reserves and balances in order to improve the financial resilience of the Council (paragraph 7.11 of the report) be agreed.

The HRA Budget and MTFS (Section 4)

2.11     That the balanced HRA 2020/21 budget and note the latest estimates over the 3-year MTFS period (paragraph 4.3 and Appendix E1 of the report) be agreed.

2.12     That the 2020/21 HRA rents and other fees and charges have been approved by the Executive (tables 10-13 and Appendix E2 of the report, as amended at the Executive meeting on 27 February 2020) be noted.

2.13     Capital Investment and Treasury and Investment Management (Section 5)

2.14     That the 2020/21 to 2022/23 capital programme and Capital Strategy (paragraph 5.1, Table 14 and Appendices F1-F2 of the report) agreed by the Executive at its meeting on 27 February 2020, be agreed.

2.15     To authority be delegated to the Section 151 Officer, where necessary, to apply capital resources to fund the capital programme in the most cost-effective way for the Council (paragraph 5.6 of the report) be agreed.

2.16     That the annual Treasury Management Strategy for 2020/21, which was considered by Audit Committee on 28 January 2020 and the Investment Strategy disclosures required by the Statutory Guidance on Local Government Investments (paragraph 5.7 and Appendices G1-G4 of the report) be agreed.

Council Tax and Retained Business Rates (Section 6)

2.17     That the calculations required for the determination of the 2020/21 council tax requirement and the level of council tax as detailed in Section 6 of the report and summarised below, be agreed.

1)    The 2020/21 council tax requirement of £98,768,282.10 (paragraph 6.2 of
 the report)

2)    The relevant basic amount of Islington Band D council tax of £1,216.04, a 3.99% increase compared to 2019/20 (comprising 2.00% for expenditure on adult social care and 1.99% for other expenditure), and that this is not ‘excessive’ (paragraphs 6.3 and 6.4 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 £1,215.81 (paragraph 6.5 of the report)

4)    The amount of 2020/21 council tax (excluding the GLA precept) for each valuation band over each of the Council’s areas (paragraph 6.7 of the report)

5)  The total amount of 2020/21 council tax (including the GLA precept) for each valuation band over each of the Council’s areas (paragraph 6.9 of the report.

2.18     That the arrangements for the London Business Rates Retention Pool in 2020/21, which will continue on a non-pilot basis (paragraphs 6.10-6.13 of the report) be noted.

Matters to Consider in Setting the Budget (Section 7)

2.19     That the requirement to have regard to the Acting Section 151 Officer’s report on the robustness of the estimates included in the budget and the adequacy of the proposed financial reserves when making decisions about the budget and the level of council tax, as required under Section 25(2) of the Local Government Act 2003 (paragraphs 7.1-7.11 of the report) be noted.

2.20     That the comments of the Monitoring Officer (paragraphs 7.12-7.16 of the report) be noted.

2.21     That the Resident Impact Assessment (RIA) on the budget proposals (paragraphs 7.17-7.19 and Appendix H of the report) be noted.

2.22     That the Annual Pay Policy Statement 2020/21 (paragraph 7.20 and Appendix I of the report) be agreed.