Agenda item

Council Budget 2017/18

Minutes:

A report by the Executive Director Finance and Public Protection had been circulated together with a separate document which detailed the Executive's budget and council tax proposals.

 

It was moved, seconded and

 

RESOLVED

 

(1)  That there be one debate;

 

(2)  That Councillor M J Hill OBE, Leader of the Council, in introducing and moving the budget and in responding to issues raised during the debate be allowed to speak without limit of time;

 

(3)  That proposers of the amendments each be allowed to speak without limit of time;

 

(4)  That Councillors seconding the motions, each be allowed to speak to 6 minutes;

 

(5)  That other speakers be allowed to speak for 3 minutes

 

(6)  That no further substantial amendments be moved (other than the original amendments moved by Group Leaders)

 

It was moved, and seconded:

 

That the Council:

 

1.    Has due regard to the responses to the consultation on the Council's budget proposals as contained in the appended Budget Book (Appendix D - Budget Consultation);

 

2.    Has due regard to the Section 151 Officer's Statement on the Robustness of the Budget and the Adequacy of Reserves as set out in the appended Budget Book (Section 11 – Section 151 Officer's Statement on the Robustness of the Budget and Adequacy of Reserves);

 

3.    Has due regard to the Impact Analysis relating to the increasing of  Council Tax by 3.95% in 2017/18 set out in the appended Budget Book (Appendix C – Impact Analysis relating to the increasing the Council Tax by 3.95% in 2017/18);

 

4.    Approves:

 

4.1 The service revenue budgets for 2017/18 contained in the appended Budget Book (Table 3 - Net Service Revenue Budget 2017/18);

 

            4.2 The capital programme and its funding contained in the appended       Budget Book (Section 8 - Capital Programme) and (Appendix N -            Capital Programme);

 

            4.3 The County Council element of the council tax for a band D       property at £1,173.42 for 2017/18 contained in the appended Budget      Book (Appendix B - County Precept 2016/17);

 

As together being the Council's Budget

 

5.    That the Council's Financial Strategy contained in the appended Budget Book (Appendix E - Financial Strategy) be approved;

 

6.    That the Council's Flexible use of Capital Receipts Strategy contained in the appended Budget Book (Appendix G – Flexible Use of Capital Receipts Strategy) be approved;

 

7.    That the prudential targets for capital finance and notes the prudential indicators contained in the appended Budget Book (Appendix M – Prudential Indicators) be approved;

 

8.    That the minimum revenue provision (MRP) be based on the asset life method, charged on an annuity basis for major infrastructure projects and in equal instalments for all other assets, over the estimated life of the assets acquired through borrowing as set out in the appended Budget Book (Section 10 -  Minimum Revenue Provision).

 

An amendment (i) was moved and seconded by the Labour Group as follows:

 

The point of this amendment is to give greater emphasis to County Council spending on preventative services. Recent years have seen government funding of public services reduced significantly and there are clear indications that the trend will continue. That being so there is a strong case to protect or increase council expenditure on those services which will enable people and families to live their lives in the future without the need to use other public services. Not only will there be less take up of already hard pressed services but individual people are much less likely to find themselves in situations that could have been avoided; fear of going out at night because of the absence of street lights leading to social isolation, delayed transfers of care, poorer health because of the absence of health improvement programmes, accidents as a result of pot holes or pavements not being fixed are examples.

 

Council Tax is paid by residents by and large to meet expenditure in the coming year and in the expectation that services are in place to protect and promote the lives of Lincolnshire people. That is what this amendment seeks to do and also to lessen the likelihood of demands on public services in future years.

It is proposed that the following amendments are made to the circulated 'Council Budget 2017/18' report:

Extra Spending (Revenue) 2017/18

·         Re-instate all night street Lighting (page 99, line 5)      add £1.75m (£1.2m for conversion & £0.55m for running costs)

 

·         Adult Social Care including to prevent delayed transfers of care £500k for each of 7 districts (page 89, new line 3a)                   £3.5m

 

·         Re-instate cuts within Children's Centres (Early Years changes)    (page 79, line 4)                                                                    add £611.145k

 

·         Reinstate preventative health and social care services cut in last years (i.e. 2016/17) budget with an inflation uplift of 2%:

Ø  Welfare Support (page 95, new line 3a)              £255k

Ø  Health Improvement activities (*) (page 95, line 4)                                                                                            £2.256m

Ø  Sexual Health Services (page 95, new line 3b)                                                                                                 £450k

Ø  Prevention & Treatment of Substance Misuse (page 95, line 6)                                                                                 £926k

 

            (*) – includes adult weight management; health trainer programme;                        sports co-ordination; food & health programmes; walking programmes;            master gardener; and health support for offenders.

 

·         Reinstate cuts in Citizens Advice Services (page 97, Line 5)                                                                                    add £684k

 

·         Re-instate Road Side Grass Cutting (page 99, line 5)

                                                                                                            add £510k

 

·         Pot hole filling and footpath repairs £100k for each of 7 districts     (page 99, line 5)                                                         add £700k

 

·         Improve library services (page 97, line 6)            add £400k

 

·         Cost of borrowing for new capital schemes listed below:

o   Park and Ride in Lincoln (page 27, Appendix A, Line 24)        (Full year borrowing cost is £600k pa)      add £150k

o   Recycling Centre for North Hykeham and Lincoln South       (page 27, Appendix A, Line 24)                     add £22.5k    (Full year borrowing cost is £90k pa)                             

In addition revenue running costs of £1.15m pa for park & ride and £230k pa for the recycling centre would be incurred from 2018/19 when the schemes are assumed to be operational.

 

Extra Capital Spending

 

·         Park and Ride in Lincoln (Page 20, Table 4, Environment and Economy line, 2017/18 column)                                                add £10m

 

·         Recycling Centre for North Hykeham and Lincoln South (Page 20, Table 4, Environment & Economy line, 2017/18 column) add £1.5m

            (Increase intended Borrowing figure for 2017/18 in Table 4 by £11.5m)

 

            (Add additional lines to Appendix N, page 74, under Environment &           Economy to reflect the above two additional capital schemes)

 

Funding of the Extra Spending 2017/18

£12.215m to be taken from the Financial Volatility Reserve. That reserve account will have an estimated balance of £49.634m at 31/03/2017 of which £17.870m is already spoken for in the Conservative led council budget leaving the account at £19.549m after allowing for the additional £12.215m       revenue spending.

It is expected that there will be an underspending of £20m in the current financial year which has been factored into the estimated year-end balance on the Financial Volatility Reserve of £49.634m.

The Director of Finance & Public Protection has confirmed that these proposals are compliant with the existing Financial Strategy of the Council and represent a balanced budget for 2017/18. The Council is predicting an ongoing budget deficit over the two financial years after 2017/18 and substantial savings or other actions will need to be found in those years to deliver a balanced budget. These proposals reduce the funding available to assist in balancing future budgets from the Financial Volatility Reserve to £19.5m.

A recorded vote was held for the amendment (i), and upon being put to the vote, the amendment was lost.

 

Details of recorded vote taken:

 

Those voting for the amendment (i):

 

K J Clarke, P M Dilks, S R Dodds, G J Ellis, J D Hough, N I Jackson, N M Murray, R B Parker, Mrs J M Renshaw, R A Renshaw.

 

Those voting FOR – 10

 

Those voting against the amendment (i):

 

B Adams, M G Allan, W J Aron, A M Austin, J W Beaver, Mrs P A Bradwell, D Brailsford, C J T H Brewis, A Bridges, Mrs J Brockway, C J Davie, R G Davies, R G Fairman, I G Fleetwood, R L Foulkes, A G Hagues, M J Hill OBE, D C Hoyes MBE, R J Hunter-Clarke, A J Jesson, B W Keimach, Ms T Keywood-Wainwright, C E H Marfleet, J R Marriott, R A H McAuley, D McNally, Mrs A M Newton, P J O'Connor, C R Oxby, S L W Palmer, N H Pepper, Miss E L Ransome, Miss F E E Ransome, Mrs S Ransome, Mrs S Rawlins, R A Shore, Mrs N J Smith, C L Strange, Mrs C A Talbot, T M Trollope-Bellew, A H Turner MBE JP, W S Webb, M A Whittington, P Wood, Mrs S Woolley, L Wootten, R Wootten, N Worth, Mrs S Wray, B Young.

 

Those voting AGAINST – 50

 

Those abstaining:

 

Mrs V C Ayling, C E D Mair, Mrs M J Overton MBE, C Pain, Mrs H N J Powell.

 

ABSTENTIONS - 5

 

 

A recorded vote on the motion was taken.  Upon being put to the vote, the motion was carried.

 

Details of the recorded vote taken:

 

Those voting for the motion:

 

B Adams, W J Aron, A M Austin, J W Beaver, Mrs P A Bradwell, D Brailsford, C J T H Brewis, A Bridges, Mrs J Brockway, C J Davie, R G Davies, I G Fleetwood, R L Foulkes, A G Hagues, M J Hill OBE, D C Hoyes, B W Keimach, C E H Marfleet, J R Marriott, R A H McAuley, Mrs A M Newton, P J O'Connor, C R Oxby, N H Pepper, Mrs S Rawlins, R A Shore, Mrs N J Smith, C L Strange, Mrs C A Talbot, T M Trollope-Bellew, A H Turner MBE JP, W S Webb, M A Whittington, P Wood, Mrs S Woolley, L Wootten, R Wootten, N Worth, Mrs S Wray, B Young.

 

Those voting FOR – 40

 

Those voting against the amended motion:

 

Mrs V C Ayling, K J Clarke, P M Dilks, S R Dodds, G J Ellis, J D Hough, N I Jackson, Ms T Keywood-Wainwright, N M Murray, Mrs M J Overton, S L W Palmer, R B Parker, Mrs J M Renshaw, R A Renshaw.

 

Those voting AGAINST – 14

 

Those abstaining:

 

M G Allan, R G Fairman, R J Hunter-Clarke, A J Jesson, C E D Mair, D McNally, C Pain, Mrs H N J Powell,  Miss E L Ransome, Miss F E E Ransome, Mrs S Ransome.

 

ABSTENTIONS – 11

 

RESOLVED

 

That the Council:

 

1.    Has due regard to the responses to the consultation on the Council's budget proposals as contained in the appended Budget Book (Appendix D - Budget Consultation);

 

2.    Has due regard to the Section 151 Officer's Statement on the Robustness of the Budget and the Adequacy of Reserves as set out in the appended Budget Book (Section 11 – Section 151 Officer's Statement on the Robustness of the Budget and Adequacy of Reserves);

 

3.    Has due regard to the Impact Analysis relating to the increasing of  Council Tax by 3.95% in 2017/18 set out in the appended Budget Book (Appendix C – Impact Analysis relating to the increasing the Council Tax by 3.95% in 2017/18);

 

4.    Approves:

 

4.1 The service revenue budgets for 2017/18 contained in the appended Budget Book (Table 3 - Net Service Revenue Budget 2017/18);

 

            4.2 The capital programme and its funding contained in the appended       Budget Book (Section 8 - Capital Programme) and (Appendix N -            Capital Programme);

 

            4.3 The County Council element of the council tax for a band D       property at £1,173.42 for 2017/18 contained in the appended Budget      Book (Appendix B - County Precept 2016/17);

 

As together being the Council's Budget

 

5.    Approves the Council's Financial Strategy contained in the appended Budget Book (Appendix E - Financial Strategy);

 

6.    Approves the Council's Flexible use of Capital Receipts Strategy contained in the appended Budget Book (Appendix G – Flexible Use of Capital Receipts Strategy);

 

7.    Approves the prudential targets for capital finance and notes the prudential indicators contained in the appended Budget Book (Appendix M – Prudential Indicators);

 

8.    Approves that the minimum revenue provision (MRP) be based on the asset life method, charged on an annuity basis for major infrastructure projects and in equal instalments for all other assets, over the estimated life of the assets acquired through borrowing as set out in the appended Budget Book (Section 10 -  Minimum Revenue Provision).

 

Supporting documents:

 

 
 
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