-
Agenda item
Revenue Budgets 2014/15 (Revised) and 2015/16, plus Capital Programme 2014/15 to 2017/18
Minutes:
It was proposed that the recommendations set out in minute number 67 of the meeting of Cabinet held on 16 February 2015, be approved.
Councillor Dowling, The Right Worshipful the Mayor, proposed a motion, seconded by Councillor Cartwright, and agreed unanimously, as follows: -
RESOLVED – that in order to facilitate full discussion on Cabinet’s proposal for the budget and any proposed amendments to Cabinet’s recommendations, Council suspends Rule 16.6.(b) of Council Procedure Rules (only one amendment may be moved and discussed at any one time. No further amendment may be moved until the amendment under discussion has been disposed of) to permit the Leader’s motion and all amendments to be on the table and open to discussion at the same time.
Councillor Pragnell moved an amendment to the revenue budget, seconded by Councillor Atkins, as follows: -
1. Remove money from general reserves: £1,000,000
Place money in an ‘Aspiring Millions’ reserve £1,000,000
2. Reduction in I.T. budget £15,000
Working with the I.T. department to transfer
all LOCAL server services to the
Cloud / Amazon Web Services
Reductions / Savings £15,000
3. Generate revenue from sources: £60,100
A. Website advertising revenue £10,000
B. Roadside billboard and town wide digital £26,000
advertising revenue
C. Charging for pre-planning application advice £9,700
D. Charging other authorities for officer advice £14,400
on grant application and sourcing
Total Revenue / Income £75,100
4. Expenditure from revenue budget: £75,100
A. 2 additional annual cuts for grass verges £15,000
B. Additional funds for the Chess Congress £10,000
for 2015/16, followed by £10,000 for
2017/18
C. Annual upkeep of the Old Town Museum / £45,000
Creative and Digital Tech Hub
D. Balance to contingency fund £5,100
Total Expenditure £75,100
The proposed amendment was lost by 8 voted to 22. Councillors Atkins, Beaver, Charlesworth, Cooke, Edwards, Lee, Lock and Pragnell voted in favour of the proposed amendment to the revenue budget. Councillors Batsford, Beaney, Birch, Cartwright, Charman, Chowney, Clark, Davies, Fitzgerald, Forward, Hodges, Howard, Poole, Roberts, Rogers, Sabetian, Scott, Sinden, Turner, Webb, Westley and Wincott voted against the proposed amendment.
Councillor Birch moved approval of the Revenue Budgets 2014/15 (Revised) and 2015/16, plus Capital Programme 2014/15 to 2017/18.
Councillors Batsford, Beaney, Birch, Cartwright, Charman, Chowney, Clark, Davies, Fitzgerald, Forward, Hodges, Howard, Poole, Roberts, Rogers, Sabetian, Scott, Sinden, Turner, Webb, Westley and Wincott voted for approval of the Revenue Budgets 2014/15 (Revised) and 2015/16, plus Capital Programme 2014/15 to 2017/18. No votes were cast against the motion. Councillors Atkins, Beaver, Charlesworth, Cooke, Edwards, Lee, Lock and Pragnell abstained from the vote.
RESOLVED (by 22 votes for 0 against with 8 abstentions) to: -
1)Approve the revised budget for 2014/15 (appendix A to the Cabinet report)
2)Approve the draft 2015/16 budget (appendix A to the Cabinet report)
3)Approve a 1.9% increase in the borough council’s part of the council tax
4)Approve the coastal space initiative, a grant of £875,000 being payable, as detailed in appendix P and the main body of the report
5)Approve the capital programme 2014/15 (revised) to 2017/18 (appendix R to the Cabinet report)
6)Approve the proposed expenditure from the renewal and repairs reserve, and information technology reserve (appendices J and I to the Cabinet report respectively) and those items from other reserves shown in appendix H that can proceed without further reference to Cabinet or Council
7)Approve that the use of the monies identified in the budget for invest to save schemes be determined by the Head of Finance in consultation with the Leader of the Council
8)Approve the revised Land and Property Disposal Programme (appendix L to the Cabinet report) and agree that disposals can be brought forward if market conditions make it sensible to do so
9)Agree that schemes marked with an asterisk in the capital programme can proceed without further reference to Cabinet or Council
10)Agree work on priority income and efficiency reviews (PIER) should continue and where possible identify a sustainable budget for a period in excess of 1 year. A mid-year review, for members and officers, to be undertaken in light of the continuing severe government grant reductions
11)Approve the revised parking charges as per appendix M to the Cabinet report from April 2015 with no further increase for a period of 24 months
12)Approve the detailed recommendations in Appendix N to the Cabinet report, which relate to the setting of council tax in accordance with sections 31 to 36 of the Local Government Act 1992
The reason for the decision was:
The level of government funding to the council continues to fall and is expected to carry on falling until at least 2018-19. Since 2010/11 funding has been reduced by more than 50% in cash terms on a like for like basis.
Major reductions in funding in 2015/16 are set to continue to 2018/19 and possibly beyond and this will impact heavily upon the council’s ability to provide services and grants across all areas of existing activity. To ensure key corporate priorities are achieved it remains imperative that the limited resources available are properly targeted.
The council needs to be in a position to match its available resources to its priorities across the medium term and to maintain sufficient reserves and capacity to deal with potentially large and unexpected events in addition to fluctuations in income and expenditure levels.
The council is exposed to a much greater degree of volatility in the level of funding it receives through non domestic rates. In addition it is also exposed to a much higher degree of volatility in terms of council tax support claims – the council now receiving an upfront sum as part of the annual grant statement rather than reimbursement of actual costs.
Further reductions in grant funding have major implications for the council and as such work needs to continue to identify and make savings in order to produce balanced budgets in 2016/17 and beyond.
-
My council
Contact
Contact us if you have a question about democratic services.
Content
The content on this page is the responsibility of our Democratic Services team.