Agenda item

2020/21 Council Tax

Minutes:

Report CSD20019

 

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.

 

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 55-107. 

 

The following changes be made to the recommended budget for 2020/21:

 

Amended Recommendation (2.1):

 

(e)   Approves a revised Central Contingency sum of £12,081k to reflect the   changes in (d) and (p) to (v);

 

Additional Recommendation (2.1):

 

(l)   Agrees that £635k be carried forward from underspends in the 2019/20 Central Contingency to fund costs in 2020/21 relating to: 

 

·  implement light controlled pedestrian crossing at Chislehurst Crossroads at a cost of £350k;

·  install a 20mph speed limit for schools at a cost of £285k;

 

(m)   Requests that officers review options to revise CPZ charges to be based on emissions with higher charges introduced for second and subsequent vehicles at the same address. The scheme proposals to be self-financing;

 

(n)   Agrees to additional one off funding of £2m to be utilised over 4 years towards building maintenance with monies to be met from the Council’s Invest to Save Fund earmarked reserve;

 

(o)  Agrees the removal of the payment of council tax by care leavers up to the age of 25 years funded from a further increase in the empty homes premium for properties empty for more than two years to 100% (assume changes from October 2020);

   

(p)   Provision of landlord and tenant support services at an annual cost of £70k to be funded from the Council’s 2020/21 Central Contingency Sum;

 

(q)   Agrees to additional funding of £300k per annum for respite services to be funded from the IBCF monies set aside (£1,677k to support hospital discharge);

 

(r)   Apply London Living Wage as the minimum pay level for Council staff at an annual cost of £25k per annum to be funded from the Council’s 2020/21 Central Contingency Sum. Also agree to commission a review at a cost of £25k to consider the implication of applying London Living Wage as a minimum pay for all LBB contractors. The review to be funded from the Commissioning Authority Programme earmarked reserve;

 

(s)   Agrees additional funding of £100k for mental health services with costs met from the Council’s 2020/21 Central Contingency Sum;

 

(t)   Agrees additional funding of £250k for public health with costs to be met from the Council’s 2020/21 Central Contingency Sum;

 

(u)  Agrees one off funding of £200k for installation of additional CCTV cameras to be funded from the Environmental Initiatives/High Street and Parks Improvement earmarked reserves. The ongoing running costs of £40k to be met from the Council’s 2020/21 Central Contingency Sum;

 

(v)  Agrees additional funding of £100k for youth services/facilities with costs to be met from the Council’s 2020/21 Central Contingency Sum;

 

(w)  Agrees funding of £50k per annum for Small Business Grants with the cost to be met from the Growth Fund Earmarked Reserve over a four year period;

 

(x)   Agrees one off funding of £5m from the Council’s Invest to Save Fund earmarked reserve to provide Carbon Zero 2029 Target initiatives/investment;

 

(y)   Agrees funding of £250k per annum for additional staff to aid the housing development programme with the costs for four years to be met from the Council’s Growth Fund earmarked reserve;

 

(z)   Notes that any ongoing costs will be reviewed as part of the 2021/22 budget preparation.

 

 Further details are provided in Appendix 1 (Appendix E to these minutes).

 

Amended Recommendation (2.3):

 

3.  That the following amounts be calculated for the year 2020/21 in accordance with Sections 31 to 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as amended (the Act):

 

(a)   £545,579k being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A(2) of the Act.

 

(b)  £378,596k being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates or the items set out in Section 31A(3) of the Act.”

 

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 £79.506m which matches the estimated level of Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) after academy recoupment;

 (b)  Approves the draft revenue budgets (as in Appendix 2 to the report) for 2020/21 to include the following updated changes:

 

(i)    minor variation of £27k relating to the collection fund surplus/ collection fund surplus set aside.

 

  (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 15th January 2020;

 

 (d)  Approves the following provisions for levies for inclusion in the budget for 2020/21:

 

 

£’000

London Pensions Fund Authority *

447

London Boroughs Grant Committee

248

Environment Agency (flood defence etc.) *

252

Lee Valley Regional Park *

309

Total

1,256

   *  Provisional estimate at this stage 

 

  (e)  Approves a revised Central Contingency sum of £12,666k to reflect the changes in (d);

 

  (f)  Notes that the 2020/21 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 2020/21 revenue budgets to reflect the changes detailed above;

 

  (h)    Sets a 3.99% increase in Bromley’s council tax for 2020/21 compared with 2019/20 (1.99% general increase plus 2% Adult Social Care Precept) and notes that, based upon their consultation exercise, the GLA are currently assuming a 3.6% 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 of the report);

 

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

 

  (k)  Executive agrees that the Director of Finance be authorised to report any further changes directly to Council on 24th February 2020.

 

(2) Council Tax 2020/21 – 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:

 

 

2019/20

£

2020/21

£

Increase

£

Increase

%

(note #)

Bromley (general)

1,128.80

1,153.00

24.20

1.99

Bromley (ASC precept)

87.46

111.77

24.31

2.00

Bromley (total)

1,216.26

1,264.77

48.51

3.99

GLA *

320.51

332.07

11.56

3.61

Total

1,536.77

1,596.84

60.07

3.91

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

 

(#)  in line with the 2020/21 Council Tax Referendum Principles, the % increase applied is based on an authority’s “relevant basic amount of Council Tax” (£1,216.26 for Bromley) – see paragraph 6 below.  Any further changes arising from these Principles will be reported directly to Council on 24th February 2020.

 

(3)  Council formally resolves as follows:

 

1.  It be noted that the Council Tax Base for 2020/21 is 132,026 ‘Band D’ equivalent properties.

 

2.  Calculate that the Council Tax requirement for the Council’s own purposes for 2020/2021 is £166,983k.

 

3.  That the following amounts be calculated for the year 2020/21 in accordance with Sections 31 to 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as amended (the Act):

 

(a)  £543,554k being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A(2) of the Act.

 

(b)  £376,571k being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates or the items set out in Section 31A(3) of the Act.

 

(c)  £166,983k 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)  £1,264.77 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)  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

 

(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 2020/21 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

843.18

221.38

1,064.56

B

983.71

258.28

1,241.99

C

1,124.24

295.17

1,419.41

D

1,264.77

332.07

1,596.84

E

1,545.83

405.86

1,951.69

F

1,826.89

479.66

2,306.55

G

2,107.95

553.45

2,661.40

H

2,529.54

664.14

3,193.68

 

(6)  That the Council hereby determines that its relevant basic amount of council tax for the financial year 2020/21, 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 2020/21 sets out the principles which the Secretary of State has determined will apply to local authorities in England in 2020/21.  Any further changes arising from these Principles will be reported directly to Council on 24th February 2020.  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.

(7)  Set aside a sum of £2m in 2019/20 as an earmarked reserve for transformation funding for health and social care.

(8)  Set aside a sum of £993k in 2019/20 as an earmarked reserve for health estate development in Bromley.

 

The following Members voted in favour of the motion -

 

Councillors Gareth Allatt, Graham Arthur, Yvonne Bear, Julian Benington, Nicholas Bennett, Kim Botting, Mike Botting, Mark Brock, David Cartwright, Mary Cooke, Aisha Cuthbert, Peter Dean, Nicky Dykes, Judi Ellis, Robert Evans, Simon Fawthrop, Peter Fortune, Kira Gabbert, Hannah Gray, Christine Harris, Colin Hitchins, Samaris Huntington-Thresher, William Huntington-Thresher, David Jefferys, Charles Joel, Christopher Marlow, Robert Mcilveen, Russell Mellor, Alexa Michael, Peter Morgan, Keith Onslow, Tony Owen, Angela Page, Chris Pierce, Neil Reddin, Will Rowlands, Michael Rutherford, Richard Scoates, Suraj Sharma, Colin Smith, Diane Smith Gary Stevens, Melanie Stevens, Harry Stranger, Kieran Terry, Michael Tickner, Pauline Tunnicliffe, Michael Turner and Stephen Wells.

 

The following Members voted against the motion -

 

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

 

Supporting documents: