Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor T Grogan.

The Executive is asked to approve the minutes of the meeting held on 3 November 2022.

The Committee considered the minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 3 November 2022.

RESOLVED:

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 3 November 2022.

A copy of the Register of Interest for each Selby District Councillor is available for inspection at www.selby.gov.uk.

Councillors should declare to the meeting any disclosable pecuniary interest in any item of business on this agenda which is not already entered in their Register of Interests.

Councillors should leave the meeting and take no part in the consideration, discussion or vote on any matter in which they have a disclosable pecuniary interest.

Councillors should also declare any other interests. Having made the declaration, provided the other interest is not a disclosable pecuniary interest, the Councillor may stay in the meeting, speak and vote on that item of business.

If in doubt, Councillors are advised to seek advice from the Monitoring Officer.

There were no disclosures of interest.

The Executive are asked to consider report E/22/27 to ensure that budget exceptions are brought to their attention in order to approve remedial action where necessary.

The Executive Member for Finance and Resources presented the report which asked Members to endorse the actions of Officers, note the contents of the report and approve re-profiled capital programmes and Programme for Growth as set out at Appendices C and D.

Members noted that at the end of Quarter 2 the current estimated full year revenue outturn estimates indicated surpluses of (£371k) for the General Fund (GF) and (£68k) for the Housing Revenue Account (HRA). This included the year’s proposed pay award, with key variances highlighted in the report and further detail in Appendix A.

Executive Members acknowledged that all new general fund savings had been delayed to 2024/25, post Local Government reorganisation (LGR). The £195k saving in the Housing Revenue Account for the housing system would be aligned to delivery of phase 2 of the project, which was anticipated to be in Quarter 3 2022, although savings would not be realised until future years, and resource requirements for local government reorganisation could impact on delivery timescales.

Officers explained that the capital programme was on budget at the end of Quarter 2; both the GF and HRA forecasted their programmes to be spent by year end with the exception of two projects in the General Fund which saw £0.5m of costs pushed back to 2023/24, and the budget for boiler replacements in the HRA which was expected to overspend by £0.14m. There was however considerable risk of increased costs in the HRA property refurbishment budget as a result of inflation and higher than expected levels of voids which required refurbishment. The impacts on this budget were currently being assessed by Officers. Headlines could be found in the report with a more detailed analysis in Appendix C.

Lastly, Programme for Growth projects spend was £1,053k in Quarter 1 including £520k on staffing costs, £174k on the Transforming Cities Fund project and £122k on the Tadcaster business flood grant scheme. Project by project progress was shown in Appendix D.

The Chief Finance Officer updated Members on the HRA capital programme issue which had been highlighted in the report of a potential overspend of £2m, some of which had been driven by health and safety works and boiler replacements, with some failing more often than expected. This had been mitigated in part by switching to a different make of boiler which was more reliable, and the obsolescence of parts would be less of a problem with this new model.

Members noted that of greater concern was the cost of the voids programme with a significant increase in the number of voids coming forward and the accompanying cost of works that had been required to bring these properties up to standard.

The Chief Finance Officer repeated that, in looking at the trend of numbers coming forward, there was an expected overspend in the region of £2m. If this trajectory continued there would also be greater costs down the line. Officers had examined the issue in detail as well as the works undertaken; where  ...  view the full minutes text for item 49.

The Executive are asked to consider report E/22/28 which reviews the Council’s borrowing and investment activity (Treasury Management) for the period 1 July 2022 to 30 September 2022 and presents performance against the Prudential Indicators. 

The Executive Member for Finance and Resources presented the report which asked Members to endorse the actions of Officers on the Council’s treasury activities for Quarter 2 2022/23 and approve the report.

Members noted that the report reviewed the Council’s borrowing and investment activity (Treasury Management) for the period 1 April 2022 to 30 September 2022 and presented performance against the Prudential Indicators. On average the Council’s investments held in the NYCC Investment pool totalled £85.9m over the quarter at an average rate of 1.37% and earned interest of £296.5k. Total interest earned so far this year stood at £458.2 (£330.5k allocated to the General Fund; £127.7k allocated to the HRA) which was £382.0k above the year-to-date budget. Current performance trends indicated that forecast returns for the year could be in the region of £1,189.3k (£857.9k GF, £331.4k HRA) a total budget surplus of £1,036.8k. For the General Fund, any interest earned above a £350k threshold was to be transferred to the Contingency Reserve. This figure was currently forecast to be £507.9k.

Executive Members acknowledged that return on council investments had performed positively when compared to budgets for the year. This was as a result of the regular and sustained rises in Bank of England base rate that had been experienced over the course of the year, in an effort to combat inflationary increases, as well as higher sustained cash balances. Base Rate had accordingly risen from 0.25% at the equivalent point last year when budgets were initially set, to their current level of 2.25%. The forecasted return for the year outlined above took into account the tapering effect of these rises, as older investments at lower rates matured and were replaced by newer investments at higher rates. This position remained fluid as further Base Rate rises, currently anticipated by the market, would serve to further increase potential returns against budget.

Officers explained that in addition to investments held in the pool, the council had £5.34m invested in property funds as at 30 September 2022. Following the latest distribution information, the funds had achieved a 3.08% revenue return and 2.20% capital loss over the course of the year, resulting in revenue income of £84.5k and an ‘unrealised’ capital loss of £120.2k. These funds were long term investments, and changes in capital values were realised when the units in the funds were sold.

In relation to borrowing, Members noted that long-term borrowing totalled £52.833m at 30 September 2022, (£1.6m relating to the General Fund; £51.233m relating to the HRA), interest payments of £1.917m were forecast to be paid in 2022/23, which was a saving of £59k against budget. The Council had no plans for any short-term borrowing for the year.

The Executive understood that the Council’s affordable limits for borrowing were not breached during the period.

In looking ahead to the remainder of 2022/23, Members were informed that investment returns were expected to continue to rise due to the sustained increases in Bank Base Rate. Base Rate was expected to continue  ...  view the full minutes text for item 50.

The Executive are asked to consider report E/22/29 and agree that an amount of £40,000 of funding from the COVID 19 Council Tax Support Hardship fund be moved to the Discretionary Housing Payment fund.

The Executive Member for Finance and Resources presented the report which asked Members to agree that an amount of £40,000 of funding from the COVID 19 Council Tax Support Hardship fund be moved to the Discretionary Housing Payment fund.

Members noted that the report provided details and an update of the latest position of the Discretionary Hardship Payments (DHPs) fund. This was a scheme for helping benefit claimants in receipt of Housing Benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit who required additional financial assistance to meet their housing costs.

The Executive were informed that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) allocated a fund for each financial year which was ring fenced and any underspend had to be returned to the DWP at the end of the financial year. Local Authorities could spend up to 2½ times their allocated fund in any financial year; though any monies spent over and above the amount allocated by the DWP had to be funded by the Local Authority. 

Members acknowledged that Selby District Council’s Policy stated:

“No DHP can be awarded if the annual fund has been exhausted”.

However, other local authorities routinely topped-up DHP funds with their own funding. Until 2021/22 demand on the fund had never previously fully exhausted it.  Last year the Council exhausted the fund, and it required a £30,000 top up.   With the further reduction in this year’s funding, a top up from the COVID-19 Council Tax Support Hardship fund was being requested to ensure that awards could continue to be made for the remainder of the year.

Officers confirmed that the additional £40k top up would be taken from the remaining existing £118,545 of the Covid 19 CTS Hardship Fund, which meant that the Council would be able to achieve the same level of support it had given to residents in previous years.

The Executive Member for Finance and Resources commended the report.

RESOLVED:

The Executive agreed that an amount of £40,000 of funding from the COVID-19 Council Tax Support Hardship fund be moved to the Discretionary Housing Payment fund.

REASON FOR DECISION:

Without a top up of £40,000 from the Covid-19 CTS Hardship Fund, there would be no money left in the DHP fund to help benefit claimants in receipt of Housing Benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit who required additional financial assistance to meet their housing costs. 

That Executive consider report E/22/30 and recommend that Council formally makes the Escrick Neighbourhood Development Plan 2021-2035 as part of the Development Plan for Selby District following the positive outcome of the referendum held on 6^th October 2022.

The Leader of the Council presented the report which asked Members to recommend that Council formally made the Escrick Neighbourhood Development Plan 2021-2035 part of the Development Plan for Selby District following the positive outcome of the referendum held on 6October 2022.

The Leader explained that through the Localism Act, Selby District Council (SDC) had a duty to support Parish and Town Councils who wished to prepare a Neighbourhood Plan. There were a number of stages involved in producing a Neighbourhood Plan, broadly grouped into three areas. The first was for the Town / Parish Council wishing to prepare a Neighbourhood Plan to submit their proposed Neighbourhood Area to SDC for designation. The second stage was the preparation of the Plan to inform the development of the vision and the formulation of policy, proposals and site allocations. The third stage included the submission of the proposed Plan to SDC for consultation, an independent examination of the plan and subsequent public referendum.

Members noted that Escrick Parish Council, as the qualifying body, had submitted an application to SDC for the whole Parish of Escrick to be formally designated as the Escrick Neighbourhood Area. The application was approved in November 2017. Escrick Parish Council developed a draft Neighbourhood Plan with input from the community and submitted it to SDC in January 2022. The submitted version of the Plan was publicised and comments invited from the public and stakeholders for a six-week period with consultation closing on 4 April 2022.

The Executive also noted that following consultation on the draft Plan SDC, in agreement with the qualifying body, appointed an Independent Examiner, Mr Patrick T Whitehead, to review whether the Plan met the ‘Basic Conditions’ (and other legal requirements) and recommend whether the Plan should proceed to referendum. The Examiner’s Report was published on the Council’s website on 29 June 2022. The report concluded that, subject to making modifications recommended by the Examiner, the Plan met the Basic Conditions (and other legal requirements) and should proceed to referendum.

The report went on to explain that SDC had considered each of the modifications recommended in line with Regulation 18 of the Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012 (as amended) and agreed to accept them. For the reasons given by the Examiner, SDC was satisfied that subject to the proposed modifications by the Examiner, the Plan met the Basic Conditions detailed in para 8(2) of Schedule 4B of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. Delegated approval to proceed to referendum was given on 22 July 2022 by the Head of Planning and Interim Head of Regulatory Services and Place in consultation with the Lead Councillor for Place Shaping.

A referendum was held on 6 October 2022.

Members expressed their support for what was a positive plan to protect Escrick village which had taken a great deal of time to produce.

The Leader of the Council commended the report.

RESOLVED:

The Executive recommended that Council formally made the Escrick Neighbourhood Development Plan 2021-2035 part of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 52.