Agenda item

(NOTE: Councillors S R Parkin and S P Roe left the meeting at 11.07am)

 

A report by the Executive Director – Resources had been circulated together with a separate document entitled 'Council Budget 2021/22' which described the Executive's Budget and council tax proposals.

 

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 for six minutes;

 

(5)           That other speakers be allowed to speak for three minutes; and

 

(6)           That no further amendments be moved

 

It was moved and seconded that the Council:

 

Council Budget 2020/21

 

1. approves that the budget for 2020/21 be amended as follows:

1.1       a new Support for Businesses Reserve of £12.000m be created for the purpose of implementing schemes for supporting Lincolnshire businesses, by a transfer of £12.000m from the Financial Volatility Reserve; and

 

1.2       £0.200m be transferred from the Financial Volatility Reserve to the existing Flood and Water Risk Management reserve for the purpose of providing 5,000 sandbags across the county, the part refilling of grit bins throughout the winter, and localised sandbags provided for emergency response to Parish Councils. 

 

Council Budget 2021/22

 

2. 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 Feedback);
3. 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);
4. has due regard to the Impact Analysis relating to increasing the Council Tax by 1.99% in 2021/22 set out in the appended 'Budget Book' (Appendix C – Impact Analysis relating to increasing the Council Tax by 1.99% in 2021/22);
5. approves:

5.1  the service revenue budgets for 2021/22 contained in the appended Budget Book, (Table 2 - Net Service Revenue Budget 2021/22) subject to the addition of £25k recurring expenditure in 'Other Budgets' to cover the County Council's share of the cost of Lincolnshire District Councils providing discretionary Council Tax relief for Special Constables, with a corresponding reduction of £25k in the proposed transfer to the Financial Volatility Reserve Earmarked Reserve;

5.2  the capital programme and its funding contained in the appended Budget Book (Section 8 - Capital Programme) and (Appendix P - Capital Programme), subject to the addition of a further £2.3m to the new Rural Road Fund to maintain Highways funding at record levels, with the stated purpose of the fund to be amended to read "Investment Fund for Rural Roads across the county, with priority primarily afforded to minor rural and unclassified roads". This will be funded by a corresponding reduction of the New Developments Capital Contingency Fund in 2021/22 only;

5.3  the County Council element of the council tax for a Band D property at £1,364.16 for 2021/22 contained in the appended Budget Book (Appendix B - County Precept 2021/22);

as together being the Council's Budget.

6. approves the Council's Medium Term Financial Strategy contained in the appended Budget Book (Appendix E – Medium Term Financial Strategy);
7. approves the Council's Capital Strategy 2021/22 contained in the appended Budget Book (Appendix O – Capital Strategy 2021/22);
8. approves the Council's Flexible Use of Capital Receipts Strategy 2021/22 contained in the appended Budget Book (Appendix G - Flexible Use of Capital Receipts Strategy);
9. approves the prudential targets for capital finance and notes the prudential indicators contained in the appended Budget Book (Appendix N - Prudential Indicators);

10. 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).

 

An amendment was moved and seconded by the Councillor R B Parker and R A Renshaw on behalf of the Labour Group as follows:

 

The Labour Group's alternative budget again recognises that our residents look to the County Council to provide important services which protect and promote their interests. This is particularly true at this time when Covid-19 continues to have a major impact on the lives of many of our residents, families and businesses. The budget put forward by the Conservative Group only deals with some of the issues presented by the Covid-19 pandemic. In particular there is scant recognition by way of extra funding of the serious educational and social challenges that many children and young people are and will continue to face because of Covid-19. This alternative budget deals with that deficiency through making sufficient and effective use of the balances available to the County Council at this time of need. Because, after all, that is what balances are for. Despite a council commitment to a 'Green Agenda' there is little recognition in the budget put forward by the controlling group of new innovative developments aimed at reducing carbon emissions.  Under this revised budget, the balances going forward will stand at £27.773m.

 

It is proposed therefore that the following amendments are made to the circulated 'Council Budget 2021/22' report:

Extra Revenue Spending 2021/22 and succeeding years

		2021/ 22	2022/23 and 2023/24
1a	Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health Support for Children and Young People.   This funding would be used to strengthen our response to the emerging emotional wellbeing and mental health needs of children and young people across Lincolnshire.  It is well documented that the impact of the pandemic has been severe and supporting children and young people is essential to mitigate long lasting effects. The funding would provide additional capacity across our established pathways to reduce and prevent waiting times and allow services to be responsive to need as it emerges.  This will include our preventative, early intervention and specialist services.	£3.000m	-
1b	Extension to the catch up programme (for 1 further year) The additional support should enhance the Government Funded Catch Up Funding which is set to provide £80 to schools for mainstream pupils and £240 for pupils in Special schools and APs.   To ensure that catch up funding is targeted appropriately and teachers are skilled in addressing gaps in learning, schools should be supported in ensuring that assessment for all year groups is accurate. A group of trained professionals would deliver training to all schools (at a cost of £0.185m) and work with teachers across schools to ensure teachers are able to identify gaps in learning and address these in the most effective way – this would be based on a monitoring and moderation model for targeted support and a system wide offer, and provide governance.   Schools would then be given additional funding to provide catch up for their pupils in the way that leaders determine best fits with their school priorities. This could include individual and small group support for pupils or additional teaching time either before or after school. Sessions should be delivered by highly skilled experts to ensure pupils make the best progress possible. Schools could use some of the funding to purchase equipment so pupils can access the high quality materials already provided by Oak Academy and integrate these into face to face delivery so pupils access bespoke programmes which are designed to meet their needs.   Schools could use some of the funding for holiday catch up programmes to support pupils in catching up with the content of the curriculum but also to develop broader social skills pupils have missed whilst being at home.   There should be a particular focus on transition year groups who will be moving onto their next phase of education who may have missed a substantial part of their course. This includes children in the Reception cohort, those in Year 6 due to start secondary school, those in Year 8 or 9 due to start GCSE courses and those in Year 11 looking to move into the next stage of education.   A mechanism for providing this funding to schools would need to be agreed with the DfE	£7.000m	-
1c	Additional funds for the virtual school for addition tuition for Looked After Children: This would provide catch up programmes using additional tutoring for 300 children young people from years 4-11 for 12 months	£0.400m	-
2a	Touring Exhibition – Usher Gallery Presentation of the Exhibition	£0.050m	-
3a	Green Master Plan: Sustainability Projects Solar Canopies: This project would develop solar canopies for car parks that incorporated panels to generate electricity. The canopies could include electric vehicle charging points that utilised the electricity generated from the panels	£0.300m	-
3b.	Green Master Plan: Sustainability Projects LCC Buildings: Installation of solar panels to LCC owned buildings	£0.250m	-
3c	Green Master Plan: Sustainability Projects Schools: Energy efficiency programme in LCC maintained schools to reduce running costs for schools and reduce carbon emissions for LCC	£1.000m	-
3d	Green Master Plan: Sustainability Projects Create a fund to purchase low grade land for habitat development. At the same time the project could generate income through carbon credits	£0.750m	-
	Total Extra Revenue Spending	£12.75m	-

 

Extra Capital Spending 2021/22 and succeeding years

1.	Street Lighting LEDS £7m over three years to implement full LED conversion with aggressively dimmed all-night lighting and re-visit existing part-night lit LEDs to make all night and aggressively dimmed	£2.330m	£4.670m
	Total Extra Capital Spending	£2.33m	£4.67m

 

Funding of the Extra Spending 2021/22 and succeeding years

The extra revenue spending is all one-off and will be funded via a drawdown from the Financial Volatility Reserve.  The balance prior to the amendment as shown in the budget book (p71) is £40.483m and the commitments set out here would reduce that balance to £27.733m.

The extra capital spending is a three-year programme totalling £7m.  This will be funded by top slicing the annual New Developments Capital Contingency Fund which is set at £7.5m per annum as shown in the budget book (p116) and reduce it to £5.17m per annum for the three years 2021/22 to 2023/24.

Executive Director of Resources/s.151 Officer Commentary

The Executive Director of Resources has confirmed these proposals are viable and broadly compliant with the existing Financial Strategy of the Council.

 

The capital proposals make use of a proportion of the annual capital contingency for the first three years of the plan and therefore means less flexibility to bring forward new proposals in year.

 

The revenue proposals make use of a significant drawdown of the Financial Volatility reserve.  Reiterating my comments from Section 11 of the budget book, the stated intention of the reserve is to manage future funding volatility and given that issue is yet to be resolved, it is my strong professional opinion that the reserve should be maintained towards its historical level of around £50m and steps should be taken to replenish it to that level at the earliest opportunity.

 

In accordance with the Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2014, a recorded vote was held for the amendment, and upon it being put to the vote, the amendment was lost.

Details of the recorded vote taken:

 

Those for the amendment:

 

M D Boles, K J Clarke, G E Cullen, P M Key, Mrs J E Killey, Mrs M J Overton MBE, R B Parker and R A Renshaw

 

Those voting FOR – 8

 

Those voting against the amendment:

 

B Adams, W J Aron, P Ashleigh-Morris, T R Ashton, Mrs A M Austin, Mrs W Bowkett, Mrs P A Bradwell OBE, D Brailsford, C J T H Brewis, T Bridges, Mrs J Brockway, M Brookes, R D Butroid, L A Cawrey, P E Coupland, C J Davie, R G Davies, B M Dobson, M T Fido, I G Fleetwood, R L Foulkes, M A Griggs, R Grocock, A G Hagues, M J Hill OBE, R J Kendrick, Mrs C J Lawton, C S Macey, C E H Marfleet, C Matthews, A P Maughan, D McNally, Mrs A M Newton, C R Oxby, N H Pepper, C L Perraton-Williams, E J Poll, C E Reid, R P H Reid, P A Skinner, Mrs E J Sneath, H Spratt, A N Stokes, M J Storer, E W Strengiel, M E Thompson, R H Trollope-Bellew, M A Whittington, Mrs S Woolley, L Wootten, R Wootten, C N Worth and B Young.

 

Those voting AGAINST – 53

 

ABSTENTIONS – 0

 

In accordance with the Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2014, 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, P Ashleigh-Morris, T R Ashton, Mrs A M Austin, M D Boles, Mrs W Bowkett, Mrs P A Bradwell OBE, D Brailsford, C J T H Brewis, T Bridges, Mrs J Brockway, M Brookes, R D Butroid, L A Cawrey, P E Coupland, C J Davie, R G Davies, B M Dobson, M T Fido, I G Fleetwood, R L Foulkes, M A Griggs, R Grocock, A G Hagues, M J Hill OBE, R J Kendrick, P M Key, Mrs C J Lawton, C S Macey, C E H Marfleet, C Matthews, A P Maughan, D McNally, Mrs A M Newton, Mrs M J Overton MBE, C R Oxby, N H Pepper, C L Perraton-Williams, E J Poll, C E Reid, R P H Reid, P A Skinner, Mrs E J Sneath, H Spratt, A N Stokes, M J Storer, E W Strengiel, M E Thompson, R H Trollope-Bellew, M A Whittington, Mrs S Woolley, L Wootten, R Wootten, C N Worth and B Young.

 

Those voting FOR – 56

 

Those voting against the amendment:

 

K J Clarke, Mrs J E Killey, R B Parker and R A Renshaw.

 

Those voting AGAINST – 4

 

Those Abstaining:

 

G E Cullen

 

ABSTENTIONS – 1

 

RESOLVED

 

That the Council:

 

Council Budget 2020/21

 

1. approves that the budget for 2020/21 be amended as follows:

1.1       a new Support for Businesses Reserve of £12.000m be created for the purpose of implementing schemes for supporting Lincolnshire businesses, by a transfer of £12.000m from the Financial Volatility Reserve; and

 

1.2       £0.200m be transferred from the Financial Volatility Reserve to the existing Flood and Water Risk Management reserve for the purpose of providing 5,000 sandbags across the county, the part refilling of grit bins throughout the winter, and localised sandbags provided for emergency response to Parish Councils. 

 

Council Budget 2021/22

 

That the Council:

 

2. 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 Feedback);
3. 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);
4. has due regard to the Impact Analysis relating to increasing the Council Tax by 1.99% in 2021/22 set out in the appended 'Budget Book' (Appendix C – Impact Analysis relating to increasing the Council Tax by 1.99% in 2021/22);
5. approves:

5.1  the service revenue budgets for 2021/22 contained in the appended Budget Book, (Table 2 - Net Service Revenue Budget 2021/22) subject to the addition of £25k recurring expenditure in 'Other Budgets' to cover the County Council's share of the cost of Lincolnshire District Councils providing discretionary Council Tax relief for Special Constables, with a corresponding reduction of £25k in the proposed transfer to the Financial Volatility Reserve Earmarked Reserve;

5.2  the capital programme and its funding contained in the appended Budget Book (Section 8 - Capital Programme) and (Appendix P - Capital Programme), subject to the addition of a further £2.3m to the new Rural Road Fund to maintain Highways funding at record levels, with the stated purpose of the fund to be amended to read "Investment Fund for Rural Roads across the county, with priority primarily afforded to minor rural and unclassified roads". This will be funded by a corresponding reduction of the New Developments Capital Contingency Fund in 2021/22 only;

5.3  the County Council element of the council tax for a Band D property at £1,364.16 for 2021/22 contained in the appended Budget Book (Appendix B - County Precept 2021/22);

as together being the Council's Budget.

6. approves the Council's Medium Term Financial Strategy contained in the appended Budget Book (Appendix E – Medium Term Financial Strategy);
7. approves the Council's Capital Strategy 2021/22 contained in the appended Budget Book (Appendix O – Capital Strategy 2021/22);
8. approves the Council's Flexible Use of Capital Receipts Strategy 2021/22 contained in the appended Budget Book (Appendix G - Flexible Use of Capital Receipts Strategy);
9. approves the prudential targets for capital finance and notes the prudential indicators contained in the appended Budget Book (Appendix N - Prudential Indicators);

10. 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).

 

(NOTE: Councillor S P Roe rejoined the meeting at 12.42pm)