Agenda and 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.

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting

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.

Members to declare any interest as appropriate in respect of items to be considered at this meeting.

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.

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.

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.

To consider any other items that the Chair considers urgent

There was no urgent business.