Agenda item

2019/20 Council Tax

Minutes:

Report CSD19041

 

Councillor Colin Smith, seconded by Councillor Graham Arthur, moved acceptance of the recommendations made by the Executive. In moving the recommendations, Councillor Smith confirmed that there were no changes to the final Mayoral precept and the changes to Parking Charges had, since the Executive’s meeting, been agreed by the Environment and Community services Portfolio Holder.

 

The following amendments were moved by Councillor Angela Wilkins and seconded by Councillor Ian Dunn -

 

“The following amendments are proposed to the recommendations of the Executive set out in the Blue Book on pages 73-124. 

 

The following changes be made to the recommended budget for 2019/20:

 

Additional Recommendation (2.1):

 

(l)  sets aside the following funding from earmarked reserves:

 

(i)  £5,000k from the Investment Fund to provide capital funding for new build social housing over a period of two years;

(ii)  £5,000k from the Invest to Save Fund for the provision of modular TA housing;

(iii)  £3,250k from the Growth Fund to support the Local Economy;

(iv)  £5,000k from Better Care Fund and NHS monies (S75 agreements) for investment in public health/social prescribing and CAMHS (subject to CCG agreement);

(v)  £700k from a combination of Member Initiatives and Invest to Save to support a range of initiatives including town centre assemblies, debt advisory service and safer streets.

 

(m)  explores opportunities for income generation arising from the sale of out of Borough commercial property investments (capital receipt of £5,000k) and the commercialisation of some council services (revenue income of £500k per annum – assume full year impact from 2020/21);

 

(n)  agrees the following ongoing revenue expenditure to be met from a corresponding reduction of £199k in the central contingency:

 

(i)  additional staff to support regulation of private rented sector (£50k per annum);

(ii)  re-instate air pollution monitoring equipment (£14k per annum);

(iii)  increase CCTV/lighting in areas affected by ASB / youth violence (£80k);

(iv)  increased service user involvement in commissioning/contract monitoring (£5k per annum);

(v)  improved provision of ‘easy to read’ and re-instatement of BSL interpreter service (£30k per annum);

(vi)  exempt care leavers from council tax (£20k).

 

Further detail is provided in Appendix 1.

 

Amended Recommendation (2.3):

 

3.  That the following amounts be calculated for the year 2019/20 in accordance with Sections 31 to 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as amended (the Act):

 

(a)  £537,264k being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A(2) of the Act.

 

(b)  £377,413k being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates or the items set out in Section 31A(3) of the Act.”

 

Further detail was set out in an appendix (attached as Appendix E to these minutes.)

 

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

 

Accordingly, the recommendations of the Executive, as moved by Councillor Colin Smith and seconded by Councillor Graham Arthur, were CARRIED as follows -

 

That Council - 

 

(1)  (a)  Approves the schools budget of £76.722 million which matches the estimated level of Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) after academy recoupment (a reduction of £922k - see (b) below);

 

(b)  Approves the draft revenue budgets (as in Appendix 2) for 2019/20 to include the following updated changes:

 

(i)  DfE have refused a disapplication request by the Council resulting in increased costs of £1m (£922k reduction in DSG income due to Academy recoupment and £78k to an increase in expenditure for maintained schools).  This is offset by a reduction of £788k held in the Central Contingency for additional 2019/20 High Needs (SEN) Funding.  The shortfall of £212k will be met from the Government’s additional 2018/19 High Needs Funding which will be reflected in the next Budget Monitoring 2018/19 report to Executive. 

 

(ii)  Parking Income £308k.

 

(iii)  Other minor variations totalling £65k mainly relating to Business Rate Levy funding and updated collection fund surplus. 

 

  (c) Agrees that Chief Officers identify alternative savings/mitigation within their departmental budgets where it is not possible to realise any savings/mitigation reported to the previous meeting of the Executive held on 16th January 2019;

 

  (d)  Approves the following provisions for levies for inclusion in  the budget for 2019/20:

 

 

£’000

London Pensions Fund Authority

452

London Boroughs Grant Committee

249

Environment Agency (flood defence etc.)

249

Lee Valley Regional Park

312

Total

1,262

   

  (e)  Approves a revised Central Contingency sum of £10,943k to reflect the changes in (b) and (d);

 

  (f)  Notes that the 2019/20 Central Contingency sum includes significant costs not yet allocated and there will therefore be further changes to reflect allocations to individual Portfolio budgets prior to publication of the Financial Control Budget;

 

  (g)  Approves the revised draft 2019/20 revenue budgets to reflect the changes detailed above;

 

  (h)    Sets a 4.99% increase in Bromley’s council tax for 2019/20 compared with 2018/19 (2.99% general increase plus 2% Adult Social Care Precept) and notes that, based upon their consultation exercise, the GLA are currently assuming a 8.9% increase in the GLA precept;

 

    (i)  Notes the latest position on the GLA precept, as above, which will be finalised in the overall Council Tax figure to be reported to full Council (see section 12);

 

  (j)  Approves the approach to reserves outlined by the Director of Finance (see Appendix 4);

 

  (k)  Executive agree that the Director of Finance be authorised to report any further changes directly to Council on 25th February 2019.

 

(2)  Council Tax 2019/20 – 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:

 

 

2018/19

£

2019/20

£

Increase

£

Increase

%

(note #)

Bromley (general)

1,094.18

1,128.80

34.62

2.99

Bromley (ASC precept)

64.30

87.46

23.16

2.00

Bromley (total)

1,158.48

1,216.26

57.78

4.99

GLA *

294.23

320.51

26.28

8.93

Total

1,452.71

1,536.77

84.06

5.79

* The GLA Precept may need to be amended once the actual GLA budget is set.

 

(#)  in line with the 2019/20 Council Tax Referendum Principles, the % increase applied is based on an authority’s “relevant basic amount of Council Tax” (£1,158.48 for Bromley) – see paragraph 6 below.  Any further changes arising from these Principles will be reported directly to Council on 25th February 2019.

 

(3)   Council formally resolves as follows:

 

1.  It be noted that the Council Tax Base for 2019/20 is 131,428 ‘Band D’ equivalent properties.

 

2.  Calculate that the Council Tax requirement for the Council’s own purposes for 2019/2020 is £159,851k.

 

3.  That the following amounts be calculated for the year 2019/20 in accordance with Sections 31 to 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as amended (the Act):

 

(a)  £531,584k being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A(2) of the Act.

 

(b)  £371,733k being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates or the items set out in Section 31A(3) of the Act.

 

(c)  £159,851k 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)  £1,216.26 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. 

 

(4)  It is noted 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.

 

(5)  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 2019/20 for each part of its area and for each of the categories of dwellings.

 

Valuation

Bands

London Borough of Bromley

£

Greater London Authority

£

Aggregate of Council Tax Requirements

£

A

810.84

213.67

1,024.51

B

945.98

249.29

1,195.27

C

1,081.12

284.90

1,366.02

D

1,216.26

320.51

1,536.77

E

1,486.54

391.73

1,878.27

F

1,756.82

462.96

2,219.78

G

2,027.10

534.18

2,561.28

H

2,432.52

641.02

3,073.54

 

(6)  That the Council hereby determines that its relevant basic amount of council tax for the financial year 2019/20, which reflects a 4.99% increase (including Adult Social Care Precept of 2%), is not excessive.  The Referendums Relating to Council Tax Increases (Principles) (England) Report 2019/20 sets out the principles which the Secretary of State has determined will apply to local authorities in England in 2019/20.  Any further changes arising from these Principles will be reported directly to Council on 25th February 2019.  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 Gareth Allatt, Graham Arthur, Yvonne Bear, Julian Benington, Nicholas Bennett, Mike Botting, Katy Boughey, Mark Brock, Mary Cooke, Aisha Cuthbert, Peter Dean, Judi Ellis, Robert Evans, Simon Fawthrop, Peter Fortune, Kira Gabbert, Will Harmer, Christine Harris, Samaris Huntington-Thresher, William Huntington-Thresher, David Jefferys, Charles Joel, Kate Lymer, Christopher Marlow, Robert Mcilveen, Russell Mellor, Alexa Michael, Peter Morgan, Keith Onslow, Tony Owen, Angela Page, Neil Reddin, Will Rowlands, Richard Scoates, Colin Smith, Diane Smith, Gary Stevens, Melanie Stevens, Harry Stranger, Kieran Terry, Pauline Tunnicliffe, Michael Turner and Stephen Wells.

 

The following Members voted against the motion -

 

Councillors Kathy Bance, Kevin Brooks, Ian Dunn, Simon Jeal, Josh King and Angela Wilkins.

 

The following Members abstained -

Councillors Kim Botting and David Cartwright.

Supporting documents: