Agenda item

Budget (Revenue and Capital) and Council Tax Setting - to consider the recommendations of the Executive from the meeting on 10th February 2016

Minutes:

(A) 2016/17 Council Tax

Report FSD16017

The Director of Finance circulated supplementary information and amended recommendations which were received and accepted by the meeting -

“There were no changes to the final Mayoral precept accepted by the London Assembly on 22^nd February 2016.

There were no changes required to the amount included for levies following receipt of written confirmation.

On 11^th February 2016 the Department of Health published the public health allocations for 2016/17. Bromley’s allocation is £15,478k compared to £15,836k assumed in the draft budget (a reduction of £358k). The 2016/17 central contingency already includes a provision of £347k to reflect the expected reduction in public health funding and the additional £11k can be met from the remaining provision for further reductions in grant funding also held in the central contingency.

Indicative allocations for 2017/18 were also published and the Department of Health will publish confirmation of these and the conditions that will apply in due course. Bromley’s indicative allocation is £15,096k compared to £15,114k assumed in the financial forecast.

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

Amended Recommendation (2.1)

(b) approve the draft revenue budgets for 2016/17 with the following amendment:

(iii) £358k be allocated from the central contingency to the Care Services Portfolio to reflect the public health grant allocation for 2016/17.

(f) approve the following provisions for levies to include in the budget for 2016/17:

	£’000
London Pension Fund Authority	464
London Boroughs Grant Committee	320
Environment Agency (Flood defence etc)	238
Lee Valley Regional Park	362
Total	1,384

(g) approve a revised Central Contingency sum of £14,983k to reflect the changes in (b) and (f);

(i) set a 3.99% increase in Bromley’s council tax for 2016/17 (1.99% general increase plus 2% Adult Social Care Precept) compared with 2015/16 and a 6.4% reduction in the GLA precept;

(j) note the final position on the GLA precept, as accepted by the London Assembly on 22nd February 2016.

Amended Recommendation (2.2)

Council Tax 2016/17 – Statutory Calculations and Resolutions (as amended by the Localism Act 2011).

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

	2015/16 £	2016/17 £	Increase/ decrease (-) %
Bromley (general)	1,030.14	1,050.67	1.99
Bromley (ASC precept)		20.60	2.00
Bromley (total)	1,030.14	1,071.27	3.99
GLA	295.00	276.00	-6.44
Total	1,325.14	1,347.27	1.67

Amended Recommendation (2.3):

(iii) that the following amounts be calculated for the year 2016/17 in accordance with Sections 31 to 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as amended (the Act):

(a) £537,282k being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A(2) of the Act.

(b) £401,599k being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A(3) of the Act.

(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.”

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

“The following changes be made to the recommended budget for 2016/17:

Amended Recommendation (2.1):

(b) approve the draft revenue budgets for 2016/17 with the following amendments:

(iv) in view of the late timing of the transitional funding and, in recognition of the non-recurring nature of the funding, agree that the total sum of £4.1m payable in 2016/17 and 2017/18 be set aside as an earmarked reserve to provide funding for pump-priming and other transitional arrangements in key service provision;

(v) note that the proposed utilisation of the transitional funding earmarked reserve will be reported to a future meeting of the Executive;

(vi) agree not to proceed with the saving of £30k relating to the green garden waste wheelie bin service for 3 years on the basis that freezing the existing price will encourage a greater take up of this service to promote the wider environmental and recycling benefits. The charges are expected to be reviewed for 2019/20. The funding of £90k will be met from the transitional funding earmarked reserve set out above.

Additional Recommendation (2.1):

(n) (i) set aside funding totalling £750k as an earmarked reserve from

underspends in 2015/16 for planned one-off Member initiatives as detailed below:

(a) £250k to enhance our environment, particularly to help with the maintenance of trees and replacing those that have been lost;

(b) £250k to attack the scourge of environmental crime, especially fly tipping;

(ii) note that the detailed arrangements for these initiatives will be reported

to the Executive.

Amended Recommendation (2.3):

(iii) that the following amounts be calculated for the year 2016/17 in accordance with Sections 31 to 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as amended (the Act):

(a) £537,252k being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A(2) of the Act.

(b) £401,569k 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 above was moved by Councillor Stephen Carr and seconded by Cllr Colin Smith.

The following amendment was moved by Councillor Angela Wilkins and seconded by Councillor Ian Dunn, and two appendices were circulated comprising a spreadsheet setting out cuts to be negated and a proposal for use of the Growth Fund –

“The following changes be made to the recommended budget for 2016/17:

Amended Recommendation (2.1):

(b) approve the draft revenue budgets for 2016/17 with the following amendments:

(iv) agree not to proceed with savings totalling £1,907k in 2016/17 (£3,539k in a full year) as set out in appendix 1;

(v) agree that no further savings be required in 2017/18 and 2018/19 to meet the projected budget gap;

(vi) agree that the New Homes Bonus of £7,402k in 2016/17, £6,500k in 2017/18 and £3,250k in 2018/19 be set aside to support the revenue budget;

(vii) agree that the uncommitted balance on the investment fund (£6,002k) be set aside to support the revenue budget;

(viii) note a loss of interest earnings arising from these proposals of £562k in 2016/17 rising to £1,016k in 2017/18 and £1,380k in 2018/19;

(ix) agree that the transitional funding of £2,068k in 2016/17 and £2,052k in 2017/18 be utilised to offset the impact of (iv) and (viii) above;

A summary of these proposals is shown in the table below:

	2016/17 £’000	2017/18 £’000	2018/19 £’000	Total £’000
Savings to be negated (appendix 1)	1,907	3,539	3,539	8,985
Projected Budget Gap	0	8,949	12,540	21,489
Loss of Interest Earnings	562	1,016	1,380	2,958
Total Budget to Fund	2,469	13,504	17,459	33,432
Utilisation of Transitional Funding	(2,068)	(2,052)	0	(4,120)
New Homes Bonus	(7,402)	(6,500)	(3,250)	(17,152)
Release of Investment Fund Balance (uncommitted)	(6,002)	0	0	(6,002)
Net Position on Budget	(13,003)	4,952	14,209	6,158
Set Aside 2016/17 “underspend” to fund Future Years	13,003	(4,952)	(8,051)	0
Balance to be met from Contingency	0	0	6,158	6,158

(c) agree the utilisation of the transitional funding from central Government of £2,068k in 2016/17 and £2,052k in 2017/18 as set out in (b) above.

Additional Recommendation (2.1):

(n) agree that any overall underspends in 2015/16 and future years (prior to 2019/20) be set aside to reduce the budget gap in 2019/20;

(o) agree to earmark a sum of £10m of the Council’s existing growth fund for low cost housing development with the aim to provide at least 400 new dwellings over four sites as set out in appendix 2;

(p) agree to set aside £2.5m of the Council’s existing growth fund for new/ start-up business development as set out in appendix 2.

Amended Recommendation (2.3):

(iii) that the following amounts be calculated for the year 2016/17 in accordance with Sections 31 to 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as amended (the Act):

(a) £536,520k being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A(2) of the Act.

(b) £400,837k 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 -

“The following changes be made to the recommended budget for 2016/17:

Amended Recommendation (2.1):

(b) approve the draft revenue budgets for 2016/17 with the following amendments:

(iv) agree to consider options to not proceed with savings of £3,000k, with priority given to savings not yet implemented, the details of which will be reported back to the next meeting of the Executive;

(v) agree to utilise the transition grant of £2,068k in 2016/17 to freeze the general element of council tax resulting in a net shortfall of £524k. This will provide a 2% council tax increase relating to the Adult Social Care Precept only;

(vi) amend the submitted budget to reflect the cessation of investment in properties outside the borough. Property investment, if necessary, should be made within the borough or for the direct benefit of residents of the borough. This will result in a reduction in income of £600k in 2016/17 and £1,100k in a full year arising from a net loss of interest on investment income;

(vii) the costs of (iv) to (vi) above, totalling £4,124k in 2016/17, will be met by a reduction in the proposed central contingency sum as follows:

	£’000
Delete general provision for risk / uncertainty	2,193
Delete remaining provision for other assumed grant reductions	189
Reduce provision for unallocated inflation	318
Reduce impact of Chancellor’s Summer Budget 2015 on future costs	837
Reduce provision for increased costs of homelessness / impact of welfare reforms	587
Total	4,124

(g) approve a revised Central Contingency sum of £10,859k to reflect the changes in (b) and (f);

(i) set a 2% increase in Bromley’s council tax for 2016/17 (zero general increase and 2% Adult Social Care Precept) compared with 2015/16 and a 6.4% reduction in the GLA Precept;

Amended Recommendation (2.2):

Council Tax 2016/17 – Statutory Calculations and Resolutions (as amended by the Localism Act 2011).

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

	2015/16 £	2016/17 £	Increase/ decrease (-) %
Bromley (general)	1,030.14	1,030.14	0.00
Bromley (ASC precept)		20.60	2.00
Bromley (total)	1,030.14	1,050.74	2.00
GLA	295.00	276.00	-6.44
Total	1,325.14	1,326.74	0.12

Amended Recommendation (2.3):

(ii) the Council Tax requirement for the Council’s own purposes for 2016/17 be calculated as £133,082k;

(iii) that the following amounts be calculated for the year 2016/17 in accordance with Sections 31 to 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as amended (the Act):

(a) £534,081k being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A(2) of the Act;

(b) £400,999k being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A(3) of the Act;

(c) £133,082k 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) £1,050.74 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 2016/17 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
£	£	£	£	£	£	£	£
700.49	817.24	933.99	1,050.74	1,284.24	1,517.73	1,751.23	2,101.48

GREATER LONDON AUTHORITY

Valuation Bands
A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
£	£	£	£	£	£	£	£
184.00	214.67	245.33	276.00	337.33	398.67	460.00	552.00

AGGREGATE OF COUNCIL TAX REQUIREMENTS

Valuation Bands
A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
£	£	£	£	£	£	£	£
884.49	1,031.91	1,179.32	1,326.74	1,621.57	1,916.40	2,211.23	2,653.48

(vi) that the Council hereby determines that its relevant basic amount of council tax for the financial year 2016/17, which reflects a 2.00% increase relating to the Adult Social Care Precept, is not excessive. The Referendums Relating to Council Tax Increases (Principles) (England) Report 2016/17 sets out the principles which the Secretary of State has determined will apply to local authorities in England in 2016/17. 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) on the basis of two further schools having converted to Academy Status, approves a revised schools budget of £83.7 million which matches the estimated level of Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) after academy recoupment;

(b) approves the draft revenue budgets for 2016/17 (as at Appendix 2 to Report FSD16017) including the following updated changes -

(i) reduction in Independent Living Fund (ILF) Grant from £701k estimated in the draft budget to £666k (the proposed methodology for the value of the grant and the allocation of the funding is subject to consultation which ends on 22^nd March 2016);

(ii) increase in SEND Implementation Grant from £177k to £201k (£24k increase) with a corresponding increase in expenditure held in central contingency;

(iii) £358k be allocated from the central contingency to the Care Services Portfolio to reflect the public health grant allocation for 2016/17.

(iv) in view of the late timing of the transitional funding and, in recognition of the non-recurring nature of the funding, agrees that the total sum of £4.1m payable in 2016/17 and 2017/18 be set aside as an earmarked reserve to provide funding for pump-priming and other transitional arrangements in key service provision;

(v) notes that the proposed utilisation of the transitional funding earmarked reserve will be reported to a future meeting of the Executive;

(vi) agrees not to proceed with the saving of £30k relating to the green garden waste wheelie bin service for 3 years on the basis that freezing the existing price will encourage a greater take up of this service to promote the wider environmental and recycling benefits. The charges are expected to be reviewed for 2019/20. The funding of £90k will be met from the transitional funding earmarked reserve set out above.

(c) agrees the utilisation of the transitional funding from central Government of £2,068k in 2016/17 and £2,052k in 2017/18 as set out in (b) above;

(d) sets aside a sum of £3,100k in 2015/16 as an earmarked reserve related to the continuation of various joint schemes and pump priming investment as detailed in the further supplementary paper to Report FSD16017;

(e) agrees that Chief Officers identify alternative savings within their departmental budgets where it is not possible to realise any proposed savings reported to the Executive’s previous meeting on 13^th January 2016;

(f) approves the following provisions for levies to include in the budget for 2016/17:

	£’000
London Pension Fund Authority	464
London Boroughs Grant Committee	320
Environment Agency (Flood defence etc)	238
Lee Valley Regional Park	362
Total	1,384

(g) approves a revised Central Contingency sum of £14,983k to reflect the changes in (b) and (f);

(h) approves the revised draft 2016/17 revenue budgets to reflect the changes detailed above;

(i) sets a 3.99% increase in Bromley’s council tax for 2016/17 (1.99% general increase plus 2% Adult Social Care Precept) compared with 2015/16 and a 6.4% reduction in the GLA precept;

(j) notes the final position on the GLA precept, as accepted by the London Assembly on 22nd February 2016.

(k) approves the approach to reserves outlined by the Director of Finance (Appendix 4 to Report FSD16017);

(l) notes that Executive considered the four year funding offer (Section 16 of Report FSD16017);

(m) receives any further changes from the Director of Finance;

(n) (i) sets aside funding totalling £750k as an earmarked reserve from underspends in 2015/16 for planned one-off Member initiatives as detailed below:

(a) £250k to enhance our environment, particularly to help with the maintenance of trees and replacing those that have been lost;

(b) £250k to attack the scourge of environmental crime, especially fly tipping;

(ii) notes that the detailed arrangements for these initiatives will be reported to the Executive.

(2) Council Tax 2016/17 – Statutory Calculations and Resolutions (as amended by the Localism Act 2011).

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

	2015/16 £	2016/17 £	Increase/ decrease (-) %
Bromley (general)	1,030.14	1,050.67	1.99
Bromley (ASC precept)		20.60	2.00
Bromley (total)	1,030.14	1,071.27	3.99
GLA	295.00	276.00	-6.44
Total	1,325.14	1,347.27	1.67

(3) Council formally resolves as follows -

(i) the Council Tax Base for 2016/17 be noted as 126,656 ‘Band D’ equivalent properties;

(ii) the Council Tax requirement for the Council’s own purposes for 2016/17 be calculated as £135,683k;

(iii) that the following amounts be calculated for the year 2016/17 in accordance with Sections 31 to 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as amended (the Act):

(a) £537,252k being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A(2) of the Act.

(b) £401,569k being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A(3) of the Act.

(c) £135,683k being the amount by which the aggregate at 3(a) above exceeds the aggregate at 3(b) above, calculated by the Council in accordance with Section 31A (4) of the Act as its Council Tax requirement for the year.

(d) £1,071.27 being the amount at 3(c) above, divided by (1) above, calculated by the Council in accordance with Section 31b of the Act, as the basic amount of its Council Tax for the year.

LONDON BOROUGH OF BROMLEY

Valuation Bands
A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
£	£	£	£	£	£	£	£
714.18	833.21	952.24	1,071.27	1,309.33	1,547.39	1,785.45	2,142.54

GREATER LONDON AUTHORITY

Valuation Bands
A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
£	£	£	£	£	£	£	£
184.00	214.67	245.33	276.00	337.33	398.67	460.00	552.00

AGGREGATE OF COUNCIL TAX REQUIREMENTS

Valuation Bands
A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
£	£	£	£	£	£	£	£
898.18	1,047.88	1,197.57	1,347.27	1,646.66	1,946.06	2,245.45	2,694.54

(vi) that the Council hereby determines that its relevant basic amount of council tax for the financial year 2016/17, which reflects a 3.99% increase (including Adult Social Care Precept of 2%), is not excessive. The Referendums Relating to Council Tax Increases (Principles) (England) Report 2016/17 sets out the principles which the Secretary of State has determined will apply to local authorities in England in 2016/17. 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.

The following Members voted in favour of the motion –

Councillors Graham Arthur, Douglas Auld, Teresa Ball, Julian Benington, Nicholas Bennett, Ruth Bennett, 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, Samaris Huntington-Thresher, William Huntington-Thresher, David Jefferys, Charles Joel, Kate Lymer, Russell Mellor, Alexa Michael, Peter Morgan, Keith Onslow, Tony Owen, Angela Page, Ian F. 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 Members voted against the motion -

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

(B) Capital Programme

Report FSD16018

A motion to approve the recommendations of the Executive was moved by Councillor Stephen Carr and seconded by Councillor Colin Smith and CARRIED as follows -

(1) Report FSD16018 be noted, including the re-phasing of a total of £5,456k from 2015/16 into 2016/17 (paragraph 3.3.6 of Report FSD16018) and a revised Capital Programme be agreed;

(2) The following amendments to the Capital Programme be approved -

(i) an increase of £79k in 2015/16 to reflect revised grant support from Transport for London for Highways and Traffic schemes (paragraph 3.3.1 of Report FSD16018);

(ii) a net reduction of £6,347k in 2015/16 for the Council’s Property Investment Fund scheme to reflect the latest update on successful property acquisitions (paragraph 3.3.2 of Report FSD16018);

(iii) deletion of £13k residual balance on The Hill Multi-Storey Car Park and Bromley Town Centre Car Parking capacity schemes, which have both reached completion (paragraph 3.3.3 of Report FSD16018);

(iv) the remaining Highways Section 106 balance of £6k be allocated to the relevant schemes - Gosshill Road (£4k) and Orpington Railway Station scheme (£2k) (paragraph 3.3.4 of Report FSD16018);

(v) Section 106 receipts from developers - net increase of £283k to reflect the funding available, and the remaining unallocated balance (paragraph 3.3.5 of Report FSD16018); and

(3) The inclusion of the new scheme proposals listed at Appendix C to Report FSD16018 in the Capital Programme (paragraphs 3.4 and 3.5 of Report FSD16018) be agreed.

Supporting documents: