Agenda item

(A) 2015/16 Council Tax

 

The Director of Finance circulated supplementary information and amended recommendations. There were no changes to the final Mayoral precept accepted by the London Assembly on 23rd February 2015. 

 

On 18^th February 2015 the Environment Portfolio Holder had considered a report entitled “Revision to Kerbside Paper Collection Service”.  Minutes of the meeting were circulated. Council was requested to approve an allocation of £558k from overall underspends in the Council’s 2014/15 Central Contingency sum for the purchase of three split bodied vehicles as detailed in recommendation 2.4 below.

 

“The above changes required the following amendments to be made to the recommendations of the Executive:

 

Amended Recommendation (2.1)

 

(g)  sets a 1.99% increase in Bromley’s council tax for 2015/16, compared with 2014/15, and a 1.34% reduction in the GLA precept;

 

(h)  notes the final position on the GLA precept, as accepted by the London   Assembly on 23rd February 2015;

 

Amended Recommendation (2.2)

 

Council Tax 2015/16 – Statutory Calculations and Resolutions (as amended by the Localism Act 2011).

 

Subject to 2.1 (a) to (j) above, if the formal Council Tax Resolution as detailed below is approved, the total Band D Council Tax will be as follows:

 

	2014/15 £	2015/16 £	Increase/decrease (-) %
Bromley	1,010.07	1,030.14	1.99
GLA	299.00	295.00	-1.34
Total	1,309.07	1,325.14	1.23

 

Amended Recommendation (2.3)

 

(iv)  to note 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.

 

Additional Recommendation (2.4)

 

(i)  Council approve an allocation of £558k from overall underspends in the Council’s 2014/15 Central Contingency Sum for the purchase of three split-bodied vehicles.”

 

In addition, the following amendments were moved by Councillor Stephen Carr, seconded by Councillor Colin Smith and CARRIED. 

 

“The following changes be made to the recommended budget for 2015/16:

 

Recommendation 2.1:

 

(b)  approve the draft revenue budgets for 2015/16 with the following   amendments:

 

(i)  agree that a sum of £77k be set aside from 2014/15 underspends as an earmarked reserve to contribute towards the funding of Bromley Youth Music Trust  in 2015/16 to enable the savings in the 2015/16 and future years budgets to be realised.

 

Recommendation 2.3:

 

iii)  that the following amounts be calculated for the year 2015/16 in accordance with Sections 31 to 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as amended (the Act):

 

(a)  £560,423k being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A(2) of the Act.

 

(b)  £431,522k being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A(3) of the Act.”

 

A motion to receive and adopt the recommendations as amended was moved by Councillor Steven Carr and seconded by Cllr Colin Smith.

 

The following amendment was moved by Councillor Angela Wilkins and seconded by Councillor Ian Dunn, and a spreadsheet summarising the proposed savings options was circulated.

 

“After allowing for the report from the Director of Finance the following amendments are proposed to the recommendations of the Executive set out in the Blue Book on pages 55-96. 

 

The following changes be made to the recommended budget for 2015/16:

 

Recommendation 2.1:

 

(b)  approve the draft revenue budgets for 2015/16 with the following   amendments:

 

(i)  that the following revenue savings in 2015/16 do not proceed:

 

1.  total of £1,865k in 2015/16 as marked Recommendation 1 in the spreadsheet (lines 9,12,15, 21, 28, 29, 30, 37, 46, 48, 51, 53, 54, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 70, 72, 73 and 74);

 

2.  total of £1,283k in 2015/16 as marked Recommendation 2 in the spreadsheet (lines 33, 47, 49, 50, 52, 55, 56, 57, 65 and 76);

 

3.  line 66 of savings options totalling £202k in 2015/16 - cease funding for BME groups.  Ethnic Comms Programme/Somali women and men, BACA, Pineapple club (£111k). Keyring service (£91k);

 

4.  line 71 of savings options totalling £230k in 2015/16 – Bromley Youth Music Trust.

 

(ii)  agree the utilisation of funding as follows:

 

·  a sum of £2m is set aside from underspends in 2014/15 as an earmarked reserve to contribute towards the budget shortfall in 2015/16; 

 

·  the balance of £1,580k be utilised from general fund balances in 2015/16 to support the revenue budget.

 

(iii)  We note that work is ongoing on proposals for use of at least £3m of the PIL funds namely the Bromley Town Centre Housing Zone Bid. We hope that this is successful and would further urge that every effort is then made to expedite this project as soon as possible.

 

Bromley needs housing, whether affordable, supported, for purchase or rent, or otherwise e.g. respite/care homes, to reduce the housing register, reduce spend on emergency accommodation, and also to help people who are in substandard or unsuitable housing.

 

On the basis of the above, Council are requested to agree that the sum of £4.4m of New Homes Bonus set aside to increase the Council's investment Fund in 2015/16 Budget instead be invested in the construction of affordable and social housing.

 

Recommendation 2.3:

 

(iii)  that the following amounts be calculated for the year 2015/16 in accordance with Sections 31 to 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as amended (the Act):

 

(a)  £563,776k being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A(2) of the Act.

 

(b)  £434,875k being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A(3) of the Act.”

 

On being put to the vote, this amendment was LOST.

 

The following amendment was moved by Councillor David Livett and seconded by Councillor Terence Nathan.

 

“After allowing for the report from the Director of Finance the following amendments are proposed to the recommendations of the Executive set out in the Blue Book on pages 55-96. 

 

The following changes be made to the recommended budget for 2015/16:

 

Recommendation 2.1:

 

(b)  approve the draft revenue budgets for 2015/16 with the following   amendments:

 

  i.  agree a council tax freeze in 2015/16 resulting in reduced income from council tax of £2,511k offset by council tax freeze grant of £1,391k (net loss of income £1,120k);

 

  ii.  increased income from interest on balances of £659k (from £2,741k to £3,400k);

 

  iii.  closure of garden satellite sites at start of year £190k (includes additional income of £65k from extra wheelie bin sales) [line 35 of saving options];

 

  iv.  reduction in basic Member allowances of £57k;

 

  v.  increase in Mayoral allowance of £6k;

 

  vi.  committee structure to be re-instated providing a saving of £110k;

 

  vii.  the 2015/16 Central Contingency Sum be reduced by £110k.

 

(e)  approve a revised Central Contingency sum of £13,707k to reflect the   changes in (b) and (d);

 

(g)  set a nil variation in Bromley’s council tax for 2015/16 compared with   2014/15 and a 1.34% reduction in the GLA precept.

 

Recommendation 2.2:

 

Council Tax 2015/16 – Statutory Calculations and Resolutions (as amended by the Localism Act 2011).

 

Subject to 2.1 (a) to (j) above, if the formal Council Tax Resolution as detailed below is approved, the total Band D Council Tax will be as follows:

 

	2014/15 £	2015/16 £	Increase/decrease (-) %
Bromley	1,010.07	1,010.07	0.00
GLA	299.00	295.00	-1.34
Total	1,309.07	1,305.07	-0.31

 

Recommendation 2.3:

 

(ii)  calculate that the Council Tax requirement for the Council’s own purposes   for 2015/16 is £126,390k;

 

(iii)  that the following amounts be calculated for the year 2015/16 in accordance with Sections 31 to 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as amended (the Act):

 

(a)  £559,950k being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A(2) of the Act.

 

(b)  £433,560k being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A(3) of the Act.

 

(c)  £126,390k being the amount by which the aggregate at (iii) (a) above exceeds the aggregate at (iii) (b) above, calculated by the Council in accordance with Section 31A(4) of the Act as its Council Tax requirement for the year.

 

(d)  £1,010.07 being the amount at (iii) (c) above, divided by (i) above, calculated by the Council in accordance with Section 31B of the Act, as the basic amount of its Council Tax for the year. 

 

(v)  that the Council, in accordance with Sections 30 and 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, hereby sets the aggregate amounts shown in the table below as the amounts of Council Tax for 2015/16 for each part of its area and for each of the categories of dwellings.

 

LONDON BOROUGH OF BROMLEY

Valuation Bands
A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
£	£	£	£	£	£	£	£
673.38	785.61	897.84	1,010.07	1,234.53	1,458.99	1,683.45	2,020.14

 

GREATER LONDON AUTHORITY

Valuation Bands
A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
£	£	£	£	£	£	£	£
196.67	229.44	262.22	295.00	360.56	426.11	491.67	590.00

 

AGGREGATE OF COUNCIL TAX REQUIREMENTS

Valuation Bands
A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
£	£	£	£	£	£	£	£
870.05	1,015.05	1,160.06	1,305.07	1,595.09	1,885.10	2,175.12	2,610.14

 

(vi)  that the Council hereby determines that its relevant basic amount of council tax for the financial year 2015/16, which reflects a nil increase, is not excessive.  The Referendums Relating to Council Tax Increases (Principles) (England) Report 2015/16 sets out the principles which the Secretary of State has determined will apply to local authorities in England in 2015/16.  The Council is required to determine whether its relevant basic amount of Council Tax is excessive in accordance with the principles approved under Section 52ZB of the Local Government Finance Act 1992.”

 

On being put to the vote, this amendment was LOST.

 

Accordingly, the recommendations of the Executive (as amended) were CARRIED as follows -

 

(1) Council -

 

(a)  approves the schools budget of £99.1million which matches the estimated level of Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG);

 

(b)  approves the draft revenue budgets (as at Appendix 2 to Report FSD15009) for 2015/16 to include the following updated changes -

 

(i) a sum of £77k be set aside from 2014/15 underspends as an earmarked reserve to contribute towards the funding of Bromley Youth Music Trust in 2015/16 to enable the savings in the 2015/16 and future budgets to be realised.

 

(ii)  additional core grant funding of £202k in 2015/16

 

  (iii) reduction in Discretionary Housing payments funding from £683k in 2014/15 to £509k in 2015/16 (variation of £174k), with a corresponding reduction in the Discretionary Housing Payments in the 2015/16 Budget;

 

(c)  agrees that Chief Officers identify alternative savings within their departmental budgets where it is not possible to realise any proposed savings reported to the previous Executive meeting;

 

(d) approves the following provisions for levies for inclusion in the budget for 2015/16 -

 

	£’000
London Pension Fund Authority	475
London Boroughs Grant Committee	340
Environment Agency (Flood defence etc)	236
Lee Valley Regional Park	376
Total	1,427

 

 

   (e)  approves a revised Central Contingency sum of £13,817k to reflect the changes in (b) and (d);

 

(f)  approves the revised draft 2015/16 revenue budgets to reflect the changes detailed above;

 

(g) sets a 1.99% increase in Bromley’s council tax for 2015/16, compared with 2014/15, and a 1.34% reduction in the GLA precept;

 

(h) notes the final position on the GLA precept, as accepted by the London Assembly on 23^rd February 2015;

 

(i)  approves the approach to reserves outlined by the Director of Finance (see Appendix 4 to Report FSD15009);

 

(j)  the Director of Finance be authorised to report any further changes directly to Council on 23rd February 2015.

 

(2)  Council Tax 2015/16 – Statutory Calculations and Resolutions (as amended by the Localism Act 2011) -

 

  Subject to (1) (a) to (j) above, if the formal Council Tax Resolution as detailed below is approved, the total Band D Council Tax will be as follows:

 

	2014/15 £	2015/16 £	Increase/decrease (-) %
Bromley	1,010.07	1,030.14	1.99
GLA	299.00	295.00	-1.34
Total	1,309.07	1,325.14	1.23

 

(3)  Council formally resolves as follows:

 

 (i)  it is noted that the Council Tax Base for 2015/16 is 125,130; 

 

 (ii) calculates that the Council Tax requirement for the Council’s own  purposes for 2015/16 is £128,901k;

 

(iii) that the following amounts be calculated for the year 2015/16 in accordance with Sections 31 to 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as amended (the Act) -

 

(a)  £560,423k being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A(2) of the Act;

 

(b)  £431,522k being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A(3) of the Act;

 

(c)  £128,901k being the amount by which the aggregate at (iii) (a) above exceeds the aggregate at (iii) (b) above, calculated by the Council in accordance with Section 31A(4) of the Act as its Council Tax requirement for the year;

 

(d)  £1,030.14 being the amount at (iii) (c) above, divided by (i) above, calculated by the Council in accordance with Section 31B of the Act, as the basic amount of its Council Tax for the year; 

 

(iv) to note 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;

 

(v) that the Council, in accordance with Sections 30 and 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, hereby sets the aggregate amounts shown in the table below as the amounts of Council Tax for 2015/16 for each part of its area and for each of the categories of dwellings.

 

LONDON BOROUGH OF BROMLEY

Valuation Bands
A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
£	£	£	£	£	£	£	£
686.76	801.22	915.68	1,030.14	1,259.06	1,487.98	1,716.90	2,060.28

 

GREATER LONDON AUTHORITY

Valuation Bands
A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
£	£	£	£	£	£	£	£
196.67	229.44	262.22	295.00	360.56	426.11	491.67	590.00

 

AGGREGATE OF COUNCIL TAX REQUIREMENTS

Valuation Bands
A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
£	£	£	£	£	£	£	£
883.43	1,030.66	1,177.90	1,325.14	1,619.62	1,914.09	2208.57	2,650.28

 

 

(vi) that the Council hereby determines that its relevant basic amount of council tax for the financial year 2015/16, which reflects a 1.99% increase, is not excessive.  The Referendums Relating to Council Tax Increases (Principles) (England) Report 2015/16 sets out the principles which the Secretary of State has determined will apply to local authorities in England in 2015/16.  The Council is required to determine whether its relevant basic amount of Council Tax is excessive in accordance with the principles approved under Section 52ZB of the Local Government Finance Act 1992.

 

(4) Council approves an allocation of £558k from overall underspends in the Council’s 2014/15 Central Contingency Sum for the purchase of three split bodied vehicles.

 

The following Members voted in favour of the motion –

 

Councillors Graham Arthur, Douglas Auld, Teresa Ball, Nicholas Bennett, Ruth Bennett, Eric Bosshard, Kim Botting, Katy Boughey, Lydia Buttinger, Stephen Carr, David Cartwright, Alan Collins, Mary Cooke, Peter Dean, Judi Ellis, Robert Evans, Simon Fawthrop, Peter Fortune, Hannah Gray, Ellie Harmer, Will Harmer, William Huntington-Thresher, David Jefferys, Charles Joel, Kate Lymer, Russell Mellor, Alexa Michael, Peter Morgan, Tony Owen, Angela Page, Ian Payne, Sarah Phillips, Tom Philpott, Chris Pierce, Neil Reddin, Catherine Rideout, Charles Rideout, Michael Rutherford, Richard Scoates, Colin Smith, Diane Smith, Melanie Stevens, Tim Stevens, Michael Tickner, Michael Turner, Pauline Tunnicliffe and Stephen Wells. 

 

The following Councillors voted against the motion –

 

Councillors Vanessa Allen, Kathy Bance, Kevin Brooks, Ian Dunn, Peter Fookes, David Livett, Terence Nathan, Angela Wilkins and Richard Williams.

 

The Mayor, Councillor Julian Benington, abstained.

 

(During consideration of this item Council agreed to suspend Council Procedure Rule 8 to allow the meeting to continue beyond three hours for up to an additional thirty minutes.)

 

(B) Capital Programme

 

A motion to include new scheme proposals supported by Chief Officers in the Capital Programme and add an additional £15m to the Council’s Investment Fund in the 2016/17 Capital Programme to be funded by capital receipts was moved by Councillor Stephen Carr, seconded by Councillor Colin Smith and CARRIED.