Venue: By remote video conference
Link: View Scrutiny Committee
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APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Minutes: Apologies for absence from Committee Members were received from Councillors Holmes and Smith. All Councillors were invited to attend the meeting and Councillors Bains, Illingworth, Lumley, Pritchett, Steadman and Wood were not in attendance. |
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To approve the minutes of the previous meeting Minutes: The Chair requested the following two amendments to the
minutes: (a) Minute 82 - Portfolio
Holder for Climate Access and Engagement Annual Presentation - Page 6 - the following sentence
be deleted (3rd bullet point from the bottom) : ‘Any decisions that were to be
made about changes to any committee or a specific part of the Council
then the Chairs’ of the Committees or the Members under impact would be
consulted in advance.’ The following to be added to
what was the 4th bullet point from the bottom and is now the 3rd bullet
point from the bottom : ‘Members would be consulted
regarding any changes to the way in which meetings were convened and
broadcast.’ (b) Minute 82 - Portfolio Holder for
Climate Access and Engagement Annual Presentation - Page 7 - the following be
deleted (3rd bullet point from the top) : ‘there had only been 55 sold’ and replaced by the following : ‘there had only been an in year increase of 55
tickets sold currently.’ Subject to the
foregoing, the minutes of the meeting held on 22 December 2020 were confirmed
and authorised to be signed by the Chair. |
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DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST PDF 50 KB Members to declare any interest as appropriate in respect of items to be considered at this meeting. Minutes: A personal interest
in respect of County Councillors Orson, Pearson and Posnett was noted as being
on record for any matters which related to the Leicestershire County Council. Councillor Browne declared
a personal interest in any matters involving debate on staffing in the
community safety section due to his wife being a part of that team. Should this
be raised, he would not take part in the debate nor vote. |
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SCRUTINY OF THE BUDGET AND MEDIUM TERM FINANCIAL STRATEGY PDF 452 KB Following an introduction from the Portfolio Holder for Corporate Finance and Resources, the Director for Corporate Services will provide a presentation on the Budget and the Medium Term Financial Strategy. Note: · The reports below are due to be presented to Cabinet on 9 February 2021 (All reports and appendices are currently in draft format as further amendments may be necessary upon receipt of the final finance settlement) · Cabinet has requested that Scrutiny Committee review and provide comment on the proposals ·
The reports will be presented to Full Council
for approval on 24 February 2021 (a)
REVENUE BUDGET 2021/22 AND MEDIUM TERM
FINANCIAL STRATEGY 2021/25 Report on the Revenue Budget for 2021/22 including the proposed level
of council tax for borough council purposes and the Medium Term Financial
Strategy. Scrutiny is asked to note and provide feedback to Cabinet on the draft
report. Please
note that Appendix C of this report (Parish Council Precepts) is not currently
available and does not impact on the borough council’s budget or level of
council tax, but will impact on the final Council Tax calculations. This
appendix will be available for Cabinet and Council in February. Note: Provisional and outstanding items are
highlighted in the report and appendices and will be confirmed for the Cabinet
meeting where possible. (b) CAPITAL
PROGRAMME 2021-22 Report on the Capital Programme for 2021-22 (to be presented to Cabinet on 9 February
2021 alongside the Capital Strategy) Scrutiny is asked to note and provide feedback to Cabinet on the draft
report. (c) REVENUE
BUDGET PROPOSALS 2021-22 - HOUSING REVENUE ACCOUNT (HRA) Report on the Revenue Budget Proposals 2021-22 – Housing Revenue Account
and the proposed rent increase Scrutiny is asked to note and provide feedback to Cabinet on the draft
report. Additional documents:
Minutes: Following an introduction by Councillor de Burle, the Portfolio Holder for Corporate Finance and Resources, the Director for Corporate Services gave a presentation on the Budget and the Medium Term Financial Strategy. It was noted that · the reports listed at (a)-(c) below that were previously circulated to the Committee were due to be presented to Cabinet on 9 February 2021 and were in draft format as further amendments may be necessary upon receipt of the final finance settlement · Cabinet had requested that the Scrutiny Committee and all Members review and provide comment on the proposals. All Members had been invited to the meeting for this purpose ·
The final reports would be presented to Full
Council for approval on 24 February 2021 (a) Revenue Budget 2021/22 and Medium Term
Financial Strategy 2021/25 (b) Capital Programme 2021-22 (c) Revenue Budget Proposals 2021-22 - Housing
Revenue Account (HRA) The following points were raised and responded to (as required) by the
relevant Portfolio Holder or Officer, all of which would be passed to the
Cabinet to form part of their deliberations in finalising the budget for
2021/22: ·
Not
supportive of freezing Project Officer post as it was felt the post should be
filled to ensure programmes could be delivered. ·
How
much would it cost the Council for empty properties and what measures would be
taken to ensure voids were reduced and properties were not empty for long
periods and were brought to modern standards so that tenants remained – this
had an impact on Council Tax Exemption and on the Housing Revenue Account
(HRA). Response: Properties
had been neglected for several years causing an increase in voids due to the
condition of properties. There was a Housing Improvement Plan in place to
correct this although there was some hold up in repairs due to Covid. In the next 12 months it was believed the Council
would address the issues working alongside TFEC. There was an annual plan and
the 30 year long term HRA business plan is being developed. The condition of the
properties was constantly reviewed and there was no overnight fix. The 2019/20
costs attributed to voids totalled £15.5k and this exercise would be repeated
to understand the costs this year. ·
There
had been significant swing away from Special Expenses to boost General Expenses
(up 4.2%) and what was the justification? Why was the Council spending less on
the town this year than last year? Also rural wards had seen no evidence of
expenditure on their areas but there had been a rise in Council tax. Response : Expenditure on Special Expenses had reduced and levelled off in part due to less growth proposals or investment proposals coming forward. Also there were some increases on income to Special Expenses. An increase in houses built increased the yield too, even if Council Tax was not increased, more properties would mean higher Council Tax income therefore inflationary increase was covered and had not suffered from cost pressures experienced in the General Fund. ... view the full minutes text for item 87. |
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URGENT BUSINESS To consider any other items that the Chair considers urgent Minutes: There was no urgent business. |