Agenda item

During this item, Councillor Mrs J Brockway declared a non-pecuniary interest as members of her family benefitted from the Holidays Activities and Food Programme.

Councillor S P Roe left the meeting for the consideration of this item of business.

A report by the Executive Director – Resources had been circulated.

An amendment had been submitted by the Independent Group.

It was proposed, seconded and

RESOLVED

That Council Procedure Rules 13.6 (b), 13.6 (c), 13.6 (d), 13.6 (e) and 13.10(b), be temporarily suspended for the duration of the debate to allow one debate on the motion and Independent Group amendment and that

(1)   Councillor M J Hill OBE Leader of the Council in introducing and moving the motion and in responding to the debate be allowed to speak for 6 minutes (at A and F in this Order of Proceedings)

(2)   That the proposer of the amendment listed be allowed to speak for 6 minutes (at C on the Order of Proceedings)

(3)   That Councillors seconding the motions, each be allowed to speak for 3 minutes (at B and D on the Order of Proceedings or at E on the Order of Proceedings if they reserve their speech until later in the debate)

(4)   That other speakers each be allowed to speak for 3 minutes (at E on the Order of Proceedings)

(5)   That no further amendments be moved.

Further to circulation of the Order of Proceedings, a revision to the original motion had been circulated and was moved and seconded by the Conservative Group as follows:

That the Council:

1.      Notes the carry forwards of underspends and transfers to its reserves set out in paragraphs 1.16 to 1.18 of the report, which are made in line with the Council’s Financial Regulations

2.      Approves:

a)      That the overspends under 1% in Place (£0.170m) and Fire and Rescue (£0.028m) referred to in Paragraph 1.20 of the report are not carried forward but instead funded from the underspend above 1%; and

b)      That the underspend remaining after the carry forwards and transfers to reserves referred to in recommendation 1 and the funding of overspend referred to in recommendation 2(a), be allocated to the Development Fund so that it can be made available to support investment in local highways initiatives

3.      Notes the performance against the Prudential Indicators as shown in Table D of the report

4.      Notes the transfers to and from reserves carried out in 2022/23 and notes the position of Earmarked Reserves as at 31 March 2023 as shown in Table F of the report

5.      Notes the position of the General Reserves as set out in paragraph 1.27 of the report and Table G

6.      Notes the key financial performance measures in 2022/23 as set out in Table H

7.      Notes the proposed use of the £8.7m transferred to the development fund as part of the 2023/24 budget setting process generally for the purposes set out in paragraph 1.23 of the report

An amendment to the Conservative revision had been circulated and was moved and seconded as follows:

That the Council:

1.      Notes the carry forwards of underspends and transfers to its reserves set out in paragraphs 1.16 to 1.18 of the report, which are made in line with the Council’s Financial Regulations

2.      Approves:

a)      That the overspends under 1% in Place (£0.170m) and Fire and Rescue (£0.028m) referred to in Paragraph 1.20 of the report are not carried forward but instead funded from the underspend above 1%;

b)      That £1m of the remaining underspend above 1% be allocated to the Council’s excellent Holiday Activities and Food Programme to facilitate extending the current offer to more children already identified as a priority, this extension to be a temporary measure to cover the Easter, Summer and Christmas school holidays in 2024;  and

c)      That the underspend remaining after the carry forwards and transfers to reserves referred to in recommendation 1 and the funding of overspend referred to in recommendation 2(a) and the allocation referred to in recommendation 2(b) be allocated to the Development Fund so that it can be made available to support investment in local highways initiatives and social priorities which will improve the overall well-being of people in this county.

3.      Notes the performance against the Prudential Indicators as shown in Table D of the report

4.      Notes the transfers to and from reserves carried out in 2022/23 and note the position of Earmarked Reserves as at 31 March 2023 as shown in Table F of the report

5.      Notes the position of the General Reserves as set out in paragraph 1.27 of the report and Table G

6.      Notes the key financial performance measures in 2022/23 as set out in Table H

7.      Notes the proposed use of the £8.7m transferred to the development fund as part of the 2023/24 budget setting process generally for the purposes set out in paragraph 1.23 of the report

A vote was taken on the Independent Group amendment and upon being put to the vote, the amendment was lost.

A vote was then taken on the Conservative Group motion and upon being put to the vote, the motion was carried.