Agenda and minutes

Venue: Bromley Civic Centre

Contact: Graham Walton  020 8461 7743

Items
No. Item

Audio recording of the Meeting MP3 95 MB

71.

Apologies for absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Richard Williams.

 

72.

Declarations of Interest

Minutes:

Councillor Peter Morgan declared in relation to the Council Tax report that his daughter was a Director of the Council’s contractor, Kier.

73.

To confirm the Minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 11th December 2017 pdf icon PDF 185 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 11th December 2017 be confirmed.

74.

Petitions

Minutes:

No petitions had been received.

75.

Questions from members of the public where notice has been given. pdf icon PDF 116 KB

Questions must be received by 5pm on Tuesday 20th February 2018.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Nineteen questions had been received from members of the public for oral reply. These are set out, with the answers given, in Appendix A to these minutes.

 

Eight questions had been received from members of the public for written reply. These are set out, with the answers given, in Appendix B to these minutes.

76.

Oral questions from Members of the Council where notice has been given. pdf icon PDF 73 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Twenty-two questions had been received for oral reply from members of the Council. These are set out, with the answers given, in Appendix C to these minutes.

77.

Written questions from Members of the Council where notice has been given pdf icon PDF 65 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Fifteen questions had been received for written reply from members of the Council. These are set out, with the answers given, in Appendix D to these minutes.

 

78.

To consider any statements that may be made by the Leader of the Council, Portfolio Holders or Chairmen of Committees.

Minutes:

Councillor Graham Arthur, Portfolio Holder for Resources, made a statement on the annual pay award, recognising the need for staff to be rewarded and developed, the vital role of the Dep Reps Forum, and the need to reduce the over reliance on agency social workers. He also mentioned the £550k set aside for an apprenticeship scheme and the £500k allocated to the Bromley Youth Employment (YES) Scheme.

 

Councillor Arthur announced that, in addition to the 2% increase for all staff, the following increases would be recommended –

 

£700 per annum for staff on spinal points 4-7

£500 per annum for staff on spinal points 8-11

£330 per annum for staff on spinal points 12-15

 

He confirmed that, as in previous years, £200k would be set aside for additional awards for exceptional performance, and that as a gesture of appreciation all staff would be allowed an extra half day’s holiday in 2018/19.

79.

Budget and Council Tax Setting 2018/19 pdf icon PDF 182 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Report CSD18025

 

The Director of Finance circulated the following supplementary information and amended recommendations –

 

“Changes required to the Council Tax Resolution (recommendations from the Executive to Council).

 

There were no changes to the final Mayoral precept accepted by the London Assembly on 22nd February 2018.

 

Since the last meeting of the Executive, there have been further changes on levies and the final position is shown in recommendation 2.1 (d) below.

 

Members are requested to note that, since the last report to Executive, a further sum of £504k has been allocated from the Central Contingency into Portfolio budgets to reflect updated estimates of salary costs relating to the recommended 2018/19 pay award (agenda item 12).

 

It is important to note that the 2018/19 Central Contingency sum includes significant costs not yet allocated to Portfolio budgets at this stage.  Therefore, there will be further changes to the Central Contingency to reflect allocations to individual Portfolio budgets prior to publication of the Financial Control Budget.

 

The above changes will require the following proposed amendments to be made to the recommendations of the Executive:

 

Amended Recommendation (2.1)

 

(b)  Approves the draft revenue budgets for 2018/19 to include the following updated changes:

 

(ii)  a reduction of £504k in the 2018/19 Central Contingency to reflect allocations to Portfolio Budgets.

 

(d)  Approves the following provisions for levies for inclusion in the budget for 2018/19:

 

£’000

London Pensions Fund Authority

455

London Boroughs Grant Committee

248

Environment Agency (flood defence etc.)

245

Lee Valley Regional Park

314

Total

1,262

 

(e)  Approves a revised Central Contingency sum of £14,465k to reflect the

  changes in (b) and (d);

 

(h)  Sets a 3.99% increase in Bromley’s council tax for 2018/19 compared with 2017/18 (1.99% general increase plus 2% Adult Social Care Precept) and a 5.1% increase in the GLA precept;

(i)  Notes the final position on the GLA precept, as accepted by the London Assembly on 22nd February 2018.

Amended Recommendation (2.2)

 

Council Tax 2018/19 – Statutory Calculations and Resolutions (as amended by the Localism Act 2011).

 

Subject to 2.1 (a) to (k) above, if the formal Council Tax Resolution as detailed

below is approved, the total Band D Council Tax will be as follows:

 

 

 

2017/18

£

2018/19

£

Increase

£

Increase

%

(note #)

Bromley (general)

1,072.00

1,094.18

22.18

1.99

Bromley (ASC precept)

42.02

64.30

22.28

2.00

Bromley (total)

1,114.02

1,158.48

44.46

3.99

GLA

280.02

294.23

14.21

5.07

Total

1,394.04

1,452.71

58.67

4.21

 

(#)  in line with the 2018/19 Council Tax Referendum Principles, the % increase applied is based on an authority’s “relevant basic amount of Council Tax” (£1,114.02 for Bromley) – see paragraph 6 below. 

 

Amended Recommendation (2.3):

 

(4)  Notes that the Greater London Authority (GLA) has issued a precept to the Council in accordance with Section 40 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 for each category of dwellings in the Council’s area as indicated in the table below.

 

(6)  That the Council hereby determines that its relevant basic amount of council tax for the financial  ...  view the full minutes text for item 79.

80.

Capital Programme 2018/19 pdf icon PDF 106 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Report CSD18026

 

A motion to agree the inclusion of the new scheme proposals listed in Appendix C in the Capital Programme, and to agree the increase of £4.1m on Property Investment Fund scheme to reflect the funding from a recent disposal of property as detailed in paragraph 3.3.3 of the report was moved by Councillor Graham Arthur, seconded by Councillor Colin Smith and CARRIED.

81.

Treasury Management - Annual Investment Strategy 2018/19 pdf icon PDF 100 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Report CSD18027

 

A motion to adopt the Treasury Management Statement and the Annual Investment Strategy for 2018/19 (Appendix 1 on pages 7-31 of the report), including the prudential indicators (summarised on page 31 of the report) and the Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) policy statement (page 11 of the report) was moved by Councillor Graham Arthur, seconded by Councillor Colin Smith and CARRIED.

82.

2018/19 Pay Award pdf icon PDF 155 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Report CSD18028

 

A motion to approve the following –

 

(i) a flat 2% pay increase for all staff (excluding teachers who are covered by a separate statutory pay negotiating process), with the following further increases as agreed in the 2018/19 budget –

 

£700 per annum for staff on spinal points 4-7;

£500 per annum for staff on spinal points 8-11;

£350 per annum for staff on spinal points 12-15;

 

(ii) that the Trade Union’s claims including the revised pay claim for staff be rejected;

 

and that it is noted that, as in previous years since coming out of the nationally/regionally negotiated frameworks, Bromley staff will receive the 2018/19 pay increase in time for the April pay, and that the Unions’ revised summary pay claim be noted as set out in the report, was moved by Councillor Ian F Payne, seconded by Councillor Stephen Wells and CARRIED.

83.

Pay Policy Statement 2018/19 pdf icon PDF 59 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Report CSD18029

 

A motion to approve the 2018/19 Pay Policy Statement was moved by Councillor Ian F. Payne, seconded by Councillor Stephen Wells and CARRIED.

84.

Members Allowances Scheme 2018/19 pdf icon PDF 153 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Report CSD18030

 

A motion to agree the Members Allowances Scheme 2018/19 (with one amendment that payments for attendance at Licensing Sub-Committee and the Fostering and Adoption Panel should be paid monthly), and the Mayoral and Deputy Mayoral Allowances for 2018/19, was moved by Councillor Ian F. Payne, seconded by Councillor Stephen Wells and CARRIED.

85.

Second report of the Education, Children and Families Select Committee 2017/18 pdf icon PDF 61 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Report CSD18023

 

A motion to approve the recommendations in the second report of the Education, Children and Families Select Committee 2017/18 was moved by Councillor Nicholas Bennett, seconded by Councillor Neil reddin and CARRIED.

86.

To consider Motions of which notice has been given. pdf icon PDF 101 KB

Minutes:

The following motion was moved by Councillor Alexa Michael, seconded by Councillor Michael Turner and CARRIED.

 

Mayor of London’s Draft London Plan

 

“This Council notes with concern proposals to double Bromley Borough’s housing targets and that several of the policies contained within the Mayor of London’s Draft London Plan are contrary to national planning policy and guidance, especially the proposal to remove protection against development taking place on back gardens. This Council has exceeded its housing targets to date but believes that uncontrolled housing development will lead to significant long-term problems for our Borough. This Council therefore resolves to object to any Draft London Plan policy that runs contrary to national policy and guidance and to register our strong concern that arbitrary housing targets will lead to poor quality developments that will seriously harm the future of our Borough.”

87.

The Mayor's announcements and communications.

Minutes:

The Mayor reported that the annual Mayor’s Quiz had been a great success and had raised approximately £1,200 for her two charities. She reminded Members that the Mayor of Bromley Awards 2018 would be held on 15th March, explained that although the dinner at the House of Commons on 22nd March was sold out a waiting list was being kept and thanked Members for their support.