Minute with recommendations and report attached.

Further to Minute Item 94 of Policy and Resources Committee, and at the request of members of the Committee, the Section 151 Officer has included a further appendix 11 as part of the report.

Equality Impact Assessments have been completed for all budget proposals and can be found here: Link

The Chair announced that following legal advice appendix at item 10 no longer needed to be treated as confidential and could be made publicly available. He proposed that items 5 and 6 on the agenda (exclusion of the press and public and noting the confidential appendix) therefore be withdrawn. This was approved by assent.

The second matter requiring approval was the Council Budget and Medium-Term Financial Strategy for 2023/24.

Councillor Janette Williamson formally moved the Motion, which was seconded by Councillor Jean Robinson, and which was set out as a recommendation of the Policy and Resources Committee of 15 February 2023, minute 94.

The motion having been formally moved and seconded, Councillor Janette Williamson spoke to her motion.

Councillor Kathy Hodson, as Chair of the Children, Young People and Education Committee, then spoke to the Schools Budget element of the proposed budget.

Councillor Tom Anderson, as Leader of the Conservative Group, then addressed the Council on the budget proposals.

Councillor Pat Cleary, as Leader of the Green Group, then addressed the Council on the budget proposals.

Councillor Phil Gilchrist, as Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, then addressed the Council on the budget proposals.

The budget proposals were then debated.

At 7.40pm the Mayor adjourned the meeting for a short break.

The meeting resumed at 7.55pm.

In respect of the budget motion, the Council divided as follows:

For the motion (38) - Councillors S Bennett, J Bird, A Brame, C Carubia, P Cleary, H Collinson, C Cooke, A Davies, C Davies, G Davies, S Foulkes, P Gilchrist, N Graham, E Grey, J Grier, J Hoey, C Jones, T Jones, S Kelly, B Kenny, D Kenny, J Laing, P Martin, J McManus, D Mitchell, Y Nolan, C O’Hagan, A Onwuemene, O Osanlou S Percy, S Powell-Wilde, J Robinson, T Smith, P Stuart, Jason Walsh, J Williams, J Williamson and G Wood.

Against the motion (21) – Councillors T Anderson, M Booth, D Burgess-Joyce, H Cameron, I Camphor, M Collins, T Cox, T Elzeiny, A Gardner, P Hayes, A Hodson, K Hodson, J Johnson, M Jordan, I Lewis, S Mountney, C Povall, L Rennie, S Williams, V Wilson and A Wright.

Abstaining (1)– Councillor J Green.

The motion was therefore carried (38:21) (1 abstention).

The Council was then invited to vote on the Statutory calculations for the Council Tax levels for 2023/24 in accordance with Sections 32-36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992.

The Council voted as follows:

For the motion (59) - Councillors T Anderson, S Bennett, J Bird, M Booth, A Brame, D Burgess-Joyce, H Cameron, I Camphor, C Carubia, P Cleary, M Collins, H Collinson, C Cooke, T Cox, A Davies, C Davies, G Davies, T Elzeiny, S Foulkes, A Gardner, P Gilchrist, N Graham, E Grey, J Grier, P Hayes, A Hodson, K Hodson, J Hoey, J Johnson, C Jones, T Jones, M Jordan, S Kelly, B Kenny, D Kenny, J Laing, I Lewis, P Martin, J McManus, D Mitchell, S Mountney, Y Nolan, C O’Hagan,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 82

The Director of Finance introduced the report which set out the draft budget for 2023/24 as proposed by the Leader of the Council for approval by Policy and Resources Committee and onward recommendation to Council on 27 February 2023 to fulfil the legal obligation on Members of the Council to set a balanced and sustainable budget for 2023/24.

The Director of Finance outlined that the proposal left the Council with £13m of unearmarked reserves and that it was essential to rebuild those reserves as part of the Medium Term Financial Strategy in future years alongside close monitoring of the budget in-year to avoid overspends, particularly given the limited scope there was within the proposed budget to manage in-year pressures. It was further outlined that the final Local Government Settlement figure had now been arrived at with £135,000 additional funding which was proposed to be added to the reserves.

It was then moved by Councillor Jannette Williamson, seconded by Councillor Jean Robinson, that the officer recommendations as detailed in the report be approved, subject to the following addition to be referred to the Council meeting –

“That the additional funds of £135,000 arising from the final settlement are allocated as follows: 

£41k be invested in specialist, complex investigation work to support Children’s social care cases where there are multiple victims or perpetrators.

£94k be invested by not taking the following four budget options that fall within the Environment, Climate Emergency and Transport Committee in respect of:

-  The review of bulky waste (ERIC)collection service £10k

-  The Environmental Health Service Review £40k

-  The reduction in the recycling promotional budget £20k

-  The reduction in Waste & Environmental Services budget £24k”

The Committee debated the motion at length with particular discussion taking place regarding the proposed 4.99% Council Tax increase and the number of other Local Authorities proposing a similar increase. Following questions by members, the Section 151 Officer confirmed that he was satisfied that sufficient allowances had been made for inflationary costs and that the proposals would enable a balanced and sustainable budget for 2023/24.

At 19:38pm, the Chair adjourned the meeting to enable discussion within Political Groups to take place on the proposal.

The Committee resumed at 19:47pm.

The motion was then put to the vote. It was –

Resolved (9:6) That –

(1)  Delegated authority be given to the Section 151 Officer, following consultation with the Chair and Group Spokespersons of the Policy & Resources Committee, to do anything necessary – including minor financial adjustments – to give effect to the proposals contained in this report and address any funding changes, if any.

(2)  the response to the financial proposals forming a draft budget for the purposes of consultation under section 65 of the Local Government Finance Act, set out as below be noted:

Appendix 1 Budget Proposals

Appendix 2 Budget consultation

Appendix 3 Policy & Service Committee budget proposals feedback

Appendix 4 The Dedicated Schools Grant Schools Budget

Appendix 5 Provisional Council Tax Statutory Calculations

Appendix 6 Discretionary Rate Relief  ...  view the full minutes text for item 94