Agenda item

In accordance with The Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2014, all local authorities must record in their minutes how each Councillor voted (or abstained from voting) on the question of Budget and Council tax setting at the ‘Budget Decision Meeting’ of the Council. This rule will therefore apply and a recorded vote will be taken on this item.

To consider a report which presents Executive’s proposed revenue budget; capital programmes and the Programme for Growth for 2020/21 to 2023/24.

Councillor Lunn, Lead Executive Member for Finance and Resources provided a presentation on Executive’s proposed revenue budget, capital programmes and outline Programme for Growth for 2021-22 to 2022-23. The proposed budget also set out recommendations for formal Council Tax setting.

The key elements of the presentation were as follows:

·           The proposals before Members were approved by the Executive at their meeting on 4 February 2021 following briefings for political groups, public consultation and consideration by Policy Review Committee.

·           The budget had been set against the backdrop of Covid-19 and the prospect of local government reorganisation in North Yorkshire, a time of unprecedented risk and uncertainty.

·           The proposed budget delivered the necessary financial investment to meet the Council’s stated priorities, balanced the investment of cash windfalls with future financial sustainability, and allocated resources and reserves to support financial resilience and manage risk.

·           Savings had been delayed to 2023-24 with limited discretionary growth; there was to be a focus on delivering existing plans.

·           Members noted the General Fund £22.5m net revenue budget, with a precept of £5.875m. The final Local Government Finance Settlement amount was a rollover of 2020-21 with some additional one-off funding of circa £1.6m. Due to on-going Covid impacts and the prospect of local government review, the budget included substantial contingencies.

·           There was £184k of savings, with the rest to be reprofiled out to 2023-24. The overall net cost of £2.1m (after Council Tax, Business Rates and other government funding) would be covered by the Business Rates Equalisation Reserve.

·           It was proposed that there would be a freeze in the Band D charge, remaining at £183.22 in 2021-22. The tax base was 32,064.65 (showing 0.24% growth), and the precept being calculated from multiplying the base with the Band D charge; this equalled £5,874,885.

·           With regards to the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) there was an £8.7m net revenue budget with a surplus of £3.6m (available for major repairs). A rent increase of 1.5% had been approved by the Executive in January 2021 from an average of £84.98 in 2020/21 to £86.37 in 2021/22, on a 48-week basis. It also included £195k of planned savings. The capital programme would require a drawdown of funds from the Major Repairs Reserve.

·           Members noted that there were numerous budget risks, including the on-going Covid impacts on services such as leisure, key income streams being under pressure, delays in savings delivery, the development of a new government funding formula, rates retention being under review, including renewable energy business rates receipts; the future was uncertain as the Council approached a potential system reset from 2022/23. Lastly, the New Homes Bonus was also to be reviewed, with a consultation launched recently.

·           Risk mitigation had been considered with contingency budgets available; there was £2.4m in the General Fund and £75k in the HRA. Reserves were used to plan for long term commitments and provide a buffer to manage risks, as well as providing a resource to fund capital programmes.

·           There were significant revenue and capital investments already planned over the next three years; in total amounting to approximately £1.61m in the General Fund Capital Programme, £22.1m in the HRA Capital Programme and £10.6m in the Programme for Growth. Programmes funded through earmarked reserves established for this purpose and capital receipts, and where appropriate the Council would go through the Public Works Lending Board for borrowing.

·           The Lead Executive Member concluded that the budget before the Council was one to steer through a time of crisis and unprecedented risk and uncertainty. It was a budget to ensure that vital public services continued, as well as supporting the authority’s delivery of its own priorities.

Members considered and debated the budget proposals before them, expressing their support for the Council’s freezing of the Council Tax, but also their concerns for losses from the Council Tax base. Some Members were disappointed that North Yorkshire County Council had not also frozen their Council Tax. Further issues were raised around the rental increase which would particularly affect people from low incomes, some of whom were living in the Council’s housing stock.

A question was asked around how much incomes there would be from the 1.5% rental increase; the Lead Executive Member for Finance and Resources explained that the rent proposed was less than it was five years ago, and that there was also additional help for those in need which was offered by central government.

The Lead Executive Member and the Leader stated that rents had gone down over a number of years and underlined that all rental income from Council properties went back into the HRA and was spent on improving the housing stock and conditions for those tenants living in them.

In line with the Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2014, the Chairman explained that a recorded vote must be taken on the proposals which had been put forward, as outlined in the report.

For the proposal: 25

Councillors K Arthur, D Brook, D Buckle, J Cattanach, I Chilvers, J Chilvers, M Crane, S Duckett, J Duggan, K Ellis, K Franks, T Grogan, M Jordan, A Lee, C Lunn, D Mackay, J Mackman, R Musgrave, W Nichols, C Pearson, N Reader, J Shaw-Wright, R Sweeting, M Topping and P Welch

Against the proposal: 0

RESOLVED: That

i)             the revenue budgets, savings, capital programme and programme for Growth at Appendices A to E be approved;

ii)            Council Tax be frozen at £183.22 for a Band D property for 2021/22;

iii)          the formal Council Tax resolution set out in Appendix I be approved; and

iv)          the surplus of £3.589m on the HRA be transferred to the Major Repairs Reserve to support the capital programme.

REASON FOR DECISION:

To ensure the Executive’s budget proposals are fully funded for 2021-22.