Agenda item

REPORT OF THE SERVICE DIRECTOR – RESOURCES

 

Cabinet have recommended a budget for 2024/25 to Council for their consideration and approval.  

RESOLVED: That Council:

 

(1)   Noted the position on the Collection Fund and how it will be funded.

 

(2)   Noted the position relating to the General Fund balance and that due to the risks identified a minimum balance of £2.46 million is recommended.

 

(3)   Noted the net revenue savings that are likely to be required in future years, combined with the Chief Finance Officer’s section 25 report (Appendix D) which provides a commentary on the risks and reliability of estimates contained in the budget.

 

(4)   Approved the revenue savings and investments as detailed in Appendix B with the additional investments in 24/25 only of £25k for Area Forum grants and £10k for additional bee corridors.

 

(5)   Approved a net expenditure budget of £19.933m, as detailed in Appendix C adjusted to reflect the additional investments in 24/25 totalling £35k.

 

(6)   Approved a Council Tax increase of 2.99%, which is in line with the provisions in the Medium Term Financial Strategy.

 

REASON FOR DECISIONS: To ensure that all relevant factors are considered in arriving at a budget and Council Tax level for 2024/25. To ensure that the budget is aligned to Council priorities for 2024/25 as set out in the Council Plan.

Recording – 1 hour 9 minutes 30 seconds

 

The Chair invited Councillor Elizabeth Dennis, as Leader of the Council, to introduce the item and present the referral from the Cabinet.  Councillor Ian Albert, Executive Member for Finance and IT was then invited to present the report and at the same time it was noted that Councillor Albert had been granted permission to speak for longer than five minutes on this item to deliver the budget speech.

 

During the introductory speech by the Leader of the Council, Members were advised that:

 

·       The Council had a statutory duty to set the budget for the forthcoming year including a prudent use of reserves over the next few years.

·       In September 2021 a vision was set for the Council and the district which was deliberately a medium-term plan and the priorities for the Council had not changed.

·       The Council would be required to make £2.7 million savings each year by 2028/29.

·       The funding received by the Council from the government was insufficient.

 

The Executive Member for Finance and IT presented the Revenue Budget to Members, and advised that:

 

·       The Council was required to set a balanced budget which would mean including some of the general fund reserves over the next few years.

·       The general fund reserves were currently above the minimum balance of £2.46 million recommended by the Section 151 Officer.

·       The spending power in 2024/25 was 9.5% higher than in 2015/2016 in cash terms.

·       The Council had been awarded £7.7 million of funding from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme bid.

·       There would be a one-off expenditure in 2024/25 in respect of the introduction of bee corridors across towns in the district.

·       Further to the submitted report, the recommendations were being amended to include a one-off increase to the Area Forum grants budgets of £25k in 2024/25 and £10k for additional bee corridors.

·       Each Area Forum would receive an additional grant for one year of £5k.

·       The Council was required to find £2.7 million of annual savings or additional income within the next five years.

 

In response to a question from Councillor Ralph Muncer, the Service Director – Resources advised that the change to the figures quoted in the Cabinet report to those included within the Council report, were to reflect the changes in the energy costs of the leisure centres.  The subsequent change to figures within the Council report reflected the installation of the bee corridors (£10k) and additional Area Forum grants (£25k).

 

The following Members took part in the debate:

 

·       Councillor Terry Hone

·       Councillor David Levett

·       Councillor Steve Jarvis

·       Councillor Daniel Allen

·       Councillor Alistair Willoughby

·       Councillor Adam Compton

·       Councillor Ruth Brown

·       Councillor Ralph Muncer

·       Councillor Matt Barnes

·       Councillor Elizabeth Dennis

·       Councillor Nigel Mason

·       Councillor Tom Plater

·       Councillor Sean Prendergast

 

Points raised in the debate included:

 

·       The Council would need to look across the whole range of services it provided to see where changes could be made over the four year period without a reduction in the level of service.

·       In future years it was expected that 1.99% will be the maximum increase set by the government and the 0.5% was a prudent assumption of what would be set by government for the increase in Council Tax as outlined in table 1.

·       R1 was a revenue investment for the Careline service and not a capital investment as outlined in Table 7.

·       The requirement to make more savings from the waste and street cleansing contract being introduced was highlighted in 8.28 of the report.

·       The £7.7 million funding from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme was obtained from a bid for the leisure centres.

·       The Council would look at reviewing the grants process so the additional grant of £5k awarded to the Area Forums, could be allocated via grants to improve services for residents including working with town and parish councils.

·       Planning and transport were making a net investment of £100k and were investing in the local plan update by recruiting more staff and bringing in specialists to the team.

·       The grounds maintenance contractor for the Council, John O’Connor, would be introducing bee corridors throughout the district. The first bee corridor had been introduced in Letchworth, which involved the planting of bee friendly plants in public areas and by working with residents to encourage planting of bee friendly plants in their gardens.

·       Despite budget constraints, it was important to look at ways of making the district a nice place to live for its residents.

·       This budget supported the housing strategy and would help to prevent homelessness in the district of the most vulnerable people in the community. 

 

During the debate, at 21:39 Councillor Cathy Brownjohn left the Council Chamber and did not return to the meeting.

 

Councillor Ian Albert proposed and Councillor Matt Barnes seconded the amended recommendations and, the outcome of the recorded vote was:

 

VOTE TOTALS:

 

YES                 :           27

ABSTAIN        :           12

NO                   :           0

TOTAL            :           39

 

THE INDIVIDUAL RESULTS WERE AS FOLLOWS:

 

Cllr Daniel Allen                      YES

Cllr Adam Compton                ABSTAIN

Cllr Alistair Willoughby            YES

Cllr Amy Allen                         YES

Cllr Bryony May                      YES

Cllr Chris Lucas                      YES

Cllr Claire Strong                    ABSTAIN

Cllr Clare Billing                      YES

Cllr Daniel Marsh                    YES

Cllr Dave Winstanley              YES

Cllr David Barnard                  ABSTAIN

Cllr David Levett                     ABSTAIN

Cllr Dominic Griffiths               YES

Cllr Elizabeth Dennis              YES

Cllr Gerald Morris                    ABSTAIN

Cllr Ian Albert                          YES

Cllr Ian Mantle                         YES

Cllr Ian Moody                         ABSTAIN

Cllr Keith Hoskins                   YES

Cllr Lisa Nash                         YES

Cllr Louise Peace                   YES

Cllr Mandi Tandi                      ABSTAIN

Cllr Matt Barnes                      YES

Cllr Michael Muir                     ABSTAIN

Cllr Mick Debenham               YES

Cllr Nigel Mason                     YES

Cllr Philip Weeder                   YES

Cllr Ralph Muncer                   ABSTAIN

Cllr Richard Thake                  ABSTAIN

Cllr Ruth Brown                      YES

Cllr Sam Collins                      YES

Cllr Sean Prendergast            YES

Cllr Simon Bloxham                ABSTAIN

Cllr Steve Jarvis                      YES

Cllr Tamsin Thomas               YES

Cllr Terry Hone                       ABSTAIN

Cllr Tom Plater                        YES

Cllr Tom Tyson                       YES

Cllr Val Bryant                         YES

 

Therefore, it was:

 

RESOLVED: That Council:

 

(1)   Noted the position on the Collection Fund and how it will be funded.

 

(2)   Noted the position relating to the General Fund balance and that due to the risks identified a minimum balance of £2.46 million is recommended.

 

(3)   Noted the net revenue savings that are likely to be required in future years, combined with the Chief Finance Officer’s section 25 report (Appendix D) which provides a commentary on the risks and reliability of estimates contained in the budget.

 

(4)   Approved the revenue savings and investments as detailed in Appendix B with the additional investments in 24/25 only of £25k for Area Forum grants and £10k for additional bee corridors.

 

(5)   Approved a net expenditure budget of £19.933m, as detailed in Appendix C adjusted to reflect the additional investments in 24/25 totalling £35k.

 

(6)   Approved a Council Tax increase of 2.99%, which is in line with the provisions in the Medium Term Financial Strategy.

 

REASON FOR DECISIONS: To ensure that all relevant factors are considered in arriving at a budget and Council Tax level for 2024/25. To ensure that the budget is aligned to Council priorities for 2024/25 as set out in the Council Plan.

 

At 21:50 there was a short comfort break and the meeting resumed at 22:00.

 

During the comfort break Councillors Lisa Nash and Dominic Griffiths left the Council Chamber and did not return to the meeting.