Issue - meetings

Under Section 106 of the Local Government Finance 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.

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 Council tax at a budget decision meeting of the Council.

The Council Tax Resolutions 2024/25 were presented for the Executive Committee’s consideration. 

Members were asked to note a typographical error in the report, in respect of the total amount of Council Tax due to be paid cumulatively to precepting authorities in the 2024/25 financial year.  This should have been recorded as £57 million rather than as £56 million. 

Reference was made to the proposed 200 per cent increase to the precept for Feckenham Parish Council and Members questioned why this rise was so high.  The Committee was informed that the precept figure was increasing from £20,000 to £60,000 for Feckenham Parish Council.  The increase had been proposed by Feckenham Parish Council and Redditch Borough Council had no control over the level proposed by the Parish Council.  It was further noted that Parish Councils had an increasing range of responsibilities and Feckenham Parish Council had historically charged a relatively low precept.  The increase in this instance would enable Feckenham Parish Council to cover the costs of many of their additional duties.

RESOLVED to note that

at a meeting held on 9^th January 2024, the Executive Committee calculated the Council Tax Base 2024/25 as:

(a)    for the whole Council area as 26,317.10 [Item T in the formula in Section 31B of the Local Government Act 1992, as amended (the “Act”)]; and

(b)   for dwellings in those parts of its area to which a Parish precept relates; this being Feckenham Parish as 380.30.

RECOMMENDED

1)         The calculation for the Council Tax requirement for the Council’s own purposes for 2024/25 (excluding Parish precepts) as£7,094,467.10.

2)         That the following amounts be calculated for the year 2024/25 in accordance with sections 31 to 36 of the Act: 

(a)    £49,227,739.00 being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A (2) of the Act (taking into account all precepts issued to it by Parish Councils) (i.e., Gross expenditure)                     

(b)    £42,133,272.00 being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A (3) of the Act. (i.e., Gross income)                     

(c)    £7,094,467.10 being the amount by which the aggregate of 1.2.2(a) above exceeds the aggregate at 1.2.2(b) above, calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 31A (4) of the Act, as its Council Tax requirement for the year. (Item R in the formula in Section 31B of the Act).  

(d)    £271.86 being the amount at 1.2.2 (c) above (Item R), all divided by Item T (1.1(a) above), calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 31B of the Act, as the basic amount of its Council Tax for the year (including Parish precepts).       

(e)    £60,000 being the aggregate amount of all special items (Feckenham Parish precept) referred to in Section 34 (1) of the Act.

(f)     £269.58 being the amount at 1.2.2 (d) above less the result given by dividing the amount at 1.2.2 (e) above by Item T (1.1 (a) above), calculated by the Council, in accordance with  ...  view the full minutes text for item 99