Issue - meetings

(a)          (Finance Portfolio Holder) To consider the attached report; and

(b)          To hold a recorded vote on the recommendations contained within the report, in accordance with the Council Procedure Rule 17.6 ‘Voting at Budget Decision Meetings’ which directs Members to comply with the Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2014, immediately after any vote is taken at a budget decision meeting there must be recorded in the minutes of the proceedings of that meeting the names of the persons who cast a vote for the decision or against the decision or who abstained from voting.

“Budget decision” means a meeting at which:

(a)        a calculation is made (whether originally or by way of substitute) in accordance with any of the Sections 31A, 31B, 34 to 36A, 42A, 42B, 45 to 49, 52ZF, 52ZJ of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as amended; or

(b)        a precept is issued under Chapter 4 of Part 1 of that Act,

and includes a meeting where making the calculation or issuing the precept as the case may be was included as an item of business on the agenda for that meeting.

References to a vote are references to a vote not only on the substantive budget motions agreeing the budget, setting council taxes or issuing precepts, but also on any amendments proposed at the meeting.

Councillor S Stavrou presented a report on the Budget and Council Tax Declaration for 2016/17.

Amendment moved by Councillor J Knapman and Seconded by Councillor C Whitbread

That recommendation (4) read;

“That the medium term financial forecast be approved as set out in Annexes 9 a and 9 b and as result there will be no increase in the District Council Tax for 2016/17;”

Carried

There voted for the recommendations: (35) namely: T Boyce, H Brady, W Breare-Hall, G Chambers, T Church, D Dorrell, R Gadsby, L Girling, A Grigg, L Hughes, B Jennings, H Kane, S Kane, P Keska, J Lea, M McEwen, R Morgan, S Murray, S Neville, A Patel, C C Pond, C P Pond, B Rolfe, M Sartin, G Shiell, D Stallan, S Stavrou, B Surtees, G Waller, E Webster, S Weston, C Whitbread, J H Whitehouse, J M Whitehouse and D Wixley.

There voted to abstain from the recommendations (6) namely: K Chana, J Knapman, A Lion, G Mohindra, C Roberts and L Wagland.

            RESOLVED:

(1)        That the list of CSB growth and savings for the 2016/17 budget (set out in  Annex 1 to these minutes) be approved;

(2)        That the list of District Development Fund items for the 2016/17 budget (set out in Annex 2) be approved;

(3)        That the revenue estimates for 2016/17 and the draft Capital Programme for 2016/17 be approved as set out in Annex 4, 5 (a-g) and 6 including all contributions to and from reserves as set out in the attached Annexes;

(4)        That the medium term financial forecast be approved as set out in Annexes 9 a and 9 b and as result there will be no increase in the District Council Tax for 2016/17;

(5)        That the 2016/17 HRA budget be approved on the basis that the contribution to the self-financing reserve has been suspended, and that the application of rent  decreases resulting in an average decrease of 1% from £97.54 to £96.56, be approved;

(6)        That the Council's policy of retaining revenue balances at no lower than £4.0M or 25% of the net budget requirement whichever is the higher for the four year period to 2018/19 be amended to no lower than £4.0M or 25% of the net budget requirement whichever is the higher during the four year period up to and including 2019/20;

(7)        That the report of the Chief Financial Officer on the robustness of the estimates for the purposes of the Council’s 2016/17 budgets and the adequacy of the reserves (see Annex 10) be noted.

Declaration of Council Tax

(8)        That it be noted that under delegated authority the Director of Resources, in consultation with the Finance Portfolio Holder, calculated the Council Tax Base 2016/17:

(a)        for the whole Council area as 52,257.8 (Item T in the formula in Section 31B of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as amended); and

(b)        for dwellings in those parts of its area to which a Parish precept relates  ...  view the full minutes text for item 102

(Finance Portfolio Holder) To consider the attached report (C-067-2015/16).

(1)        That the following guidelines for the Council’s General Fund Budget in 2016/17 be recommended to the Council for adoption:

            (a)        the revised revenue estimates for 2015/16, which were anticipated to         decrease the General Fund balance by £1.55million;

            (b)        confirmation of an increase in the target for the 2016/17 Continuing            Services Budget from £13.0million to £13.25million (including growth items);

            (c)        an increase in the target for the 2016/17 District Development Fund            net spend from £0.55million to £0.75million;

            (d)        no change in the District Council Tax for a Band ‘D’ property to keep          the charge at £148.77;

            (e)        the estimated reduction in General Fund balances of £36,000 in      2016/17;

            (f)        the four-year Capital Programme for the period 2016/17 to 2019/20,           and including the use of £3million of the General Fund balance in 2015/16;

            (g)        the Medium Term Financial Strategy for the period 2015/16 to        2019/20; and

            (h)        the Council’s policy on General Fund Revenue Balances to remain             that they be allowed to fall no lower than 25% of the Net Budget Requirement;

(2)        That the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) budget for 2016/17, including the revised revenue estimates for 2015/16, be recommended to the Council for approval;

(3)        That the Council be requested to approve the proposed rent reductions for 2016/17, to give an overall decrease of 1%; and

(4)        That the Chief Financial Officer’s report to the Council on the robustness of the estimates for the purposes of the Council’s 2016/17 budgets and the adequacy of the reserves be noted.

The Finance Portfolio Holder presented a report on the Council’s proposed Budgets for 2016/17.

The Portfolio Holder set out the detailed recommendations for the Council’s budget for 2016/17. The proposed budget would use £36,000 of reserves but the Council’s policy on the level of reserves could still be maintained throughout the period of the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS). Over the course of the Strategy, the use of reserves to support spending would peak at £345,000 in 2017/18 and then reduce to £3,000 in 2019/20. The budget was based on the assumption that the District Council Tax would remain unchanged and that average Housing Revenue Account rents would decrease by 1% in 2016/17.

The Portfolio Holder also highlighted the Chief Financial Officer’s report on the robustness of the estimates for the purposes of the Council’s 2016/17 budgets and the adequacy of the reserves within the budget report. It stated that the estimates as presented were sufficiently robust for the purposes of the Council’s overall budget for 2016/17. In addition, the Council’s reserves were adequate to cope with the financial risks facing the Council in 2016/17, but that further savings would be required in future years to bring the budget back into balance in the medium term. Particular concerns about the New Homes Bonus and the resolution of the backlog of appeals for the discontinued Business Rates were noted.

The Cabinet noted that the proposed funding from Central Government of £4.58million was a reduction of 16.3% from 2015/16. Since the Medium Term Financial Strategy had been published in the Summer, the ceiling for the Continuing Services Budget had risen by £250,000 to £13.25million, and the ceiling for the District Development Fund had risen by £200,000 to £750,000. However, there had been an underspend of £895,000 in 2014/15 and, taking the two years together, there would be a net underspend of £693,000 for the District Development Fund. Although the four-year Capital Programme envisaged expenditure of £171million, it was anticipated that there would still be £3.5million of usable capital receipts at the end of this period. The balance of the Housing Revenue Account was expected to be £2million at 31 March 2017, after deficits of £83,000 in 2015/16 and £450,000 in 2016/17.

The Portfolio Holder emphasised some further issues arising from the Medium Term Financial Strategy:

Ø     A potential negative Revenue Support Grant in 2019/20 if the Council’s retained Business Rates exceeded the Settlement Funding Assessment.

Ø     The change in Government policy to remove grants from the funding system and for local authorities to fund themselves from Council Tax and retained Business Rates.

Ø     The technical consultation on the New Homes Bonus issued by the Government with the aim of reducing the cost of the scheme by 55%.

Ø     The Epping Forest Shopping Park, due for opening at Easter 2017, which was anticipated to provide £2million of rental income to the Council by 2019/20.

The Portfolio Holder thanked the Director of Resources and his Accountancy team for their efforts in preparing the budget  ...  view the full minutes text for item 142

(Director of Resources) To consider the attached report (FPM-022-2015/16).

The Director of Resources presented a report on the fees and charges to be levied by the Council in 2016/17 and what, if any scope there was to increase particular charges.

The Director of Resources advised that the Medium Term Financial Strategy identified the need to find savings of £1m over the four year period with £150,000 falling in 2016/17. The traditional use of the September Retail Prices Index (RPI) or Consumer Prices Index (CPI) as a guide for inflation had been replaced by the labour inflation rate because of employee costs representing the largest element of expenses when carrying out the services for which a charge was made. The latest figure available was 2.8% and this had been used as a guide for any proposed increase in fees and charges.

The Director of Resources stated that it had been proposed to increase the fees and charges within the Communities Directorate by rounding up charges to the nearest 10 pence, 50 pence or pound, with the exception of charges already agreed earlier in the agenda in relation to Housing Related Support Services.  A review of museum related fees and charges would be reported to Cabinet in February 2016 in readiness for the opening of the Museum in March 2016 and following a discussion at the Resources Select Committee about the hire charges at The Limes Centre, Registered Charities had been moved into Scale 1, although as there were none currently using the facilities there would be no loss of rental income to the Council. The bed and breakfast accommodation rates for 2016/17 were also not included because of a competitive tender process being completed and a charge of £26.20 for Care gardening service had been applied and for benefit recipients the first visit would be free of charge.

Within the Governance Directorate, the situation regarding Land Charge income was still very uncertain and the fee income had dwindled, although it was not proposed to increase the fees as this might drive more people to do personal searches which were free. The Development Control fee levels were controlled by Central Government and the levels of income were somewhat dependant on the economic climate and the number and size of planning applications. With regard to pre-application charges that applied to major applications, income was buoyant at the moment and the budget had been exceeded substantially. The work required to generate the fee was quite labour intensive and it was felt that an increase was appropriate. The Building Control Fee levels were felt to be reasonable and income levels had improved.

Within the Neighbourhoods Directorate the MOT income was subject to a maximum charge set by the Vehicle Operating Service Agency (VOSA) which was currently £54.85 and the Council’s fee was set at £49.00. With regard to Car Parking charges, the recent changes to the fee structure had only just come into effect and it was a little premature to review these again. From 1 October 2015 there was a change to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 37