Issue - meetings

To receive the minutes and consider the recommendations from the following meetings of the Executive Committee:

2^nd February 2016 – report enclosed with this agenda;

22^nd February 2016, immediately prior to this meeting – the report is to follow..

Note that under the Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2014, the Council is required to take a named vote when a decision is made on the budget calculation or Council tax at a budget decision meeting of the Council.

Under Section 106 of the Local Government Act 1992, any Councillor who is 2 or more months in arrears with their Council tax payments cannot participate in any item at the Council meeting concerning the budget.

The Council considered the minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 2nd February 2016, together with the recommendations of the Executive Committee meeting of 22nd February which had taken place immediately preceding the meeting of the Council, in respect of the Medium Term Financial Plan and Council Tax Resolutions.  An updated Medium Term Financial Plan report and the Council Tax Setting details appeared in Additional Papers 1 and 2 respectively to the 22nd February Executive Committee papers.  An amalgamated/updated set of recommendations from the Executive on 2nd February (page 53 of the Council agenda) and Executive on 22nd February (recommendations from the report in Additional Papers 1) were tabled for Members’ reference/assistance.

Further to the Officer presentation of the Medium Term Financial Plan which had taken place earlier in the evening at Executive Committee, opposing views were expressed by the controlling and opposition groups in relation to the budget. 

During the course of the debate a number of issues were raised on both sides of the divide, including:

·       the significant negative financial impact to the authority of the local government finance settlement 2016/17, which had included a 43% cut in Revenue Support Grant in the proposed settlement and Council payback of monies to the Government from 2019/20;

·       changes to the final finance settlement in light of issues raised by local authorities following consultation on the proposed settlement, together with an appeal by the Leader of the Council, some of which it was noted were of a transitional nature only;

·       delays with the Leisure Services review and the consequential financial impact of this;

·       government restrictions on rent increases; and

·       differing approaches which were being taken by local authorities in relation to how budgets, expenditure and savings plans were being addressed. 

Thanks were expressed to the s151 Officer and Finance Team for their work in producing the updated budget following unprecedented changes as a consequence of the local government finance settlement.

In accordance with the Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2014, the recommendations on the budget calculation and Council Tax setting were the subject of the following named vote:

Members voting FOR the resolutions below:

Councillors Joe Baker, Natalie Brookes, Greg Chance, John Fisher, Andrew Fry, Bill Hartnett, Pattie Hill, Wanda King, Mark Shurmer, Rachael Smith, Yvonne Smith, Paul Swansborough, Debbie Taylor, Jennifer Wheeler, Pat Witherspoon and Nina Wood-Ford.

Members voting AGAINST the resolutions below:

Councillors Roger Bennett, Juliet Brunner, David Bush, Michael Chalk, Anita Clayton, Brandon Clayton, Matthew Dormer, Gay Hopkins, Jane Potter, Gareth Prosser, Antonia Pulsford and David Thain.

Accordingly, the motions were approved, and it was consequently

RESOLVED that

1)          the savings and additional income for 2016/17 of £654K as set out in Appendix 1 to these minutes be approved;

2)          the revenue bid for 2016/17 of £10k for Planning – Redditch Town Centre be approved;

3)          the capital bids of £1.220m as set out in Appendix 2 to these minutes be approved;

4)          the unavoidable pressures for 2016/17 of £305k  ...  view the full minutes text for item 86