The report has been circulated with the Cabinet Agenda for its meeting on 17^th January 2019. The relevant Minute and report has been referred direct to the Policy & Resources Scrutiny Committee for consideration.

The Committee considered Minute 609 of Cabinet held on the 17^th January 2019 which had been referred direct to the Policy and Resources Scrutiny Committee together with a joint report of the Deputy Chief Executive (People) and Strategic Director (Finance and Resources) setting out the Housing Revenue (HRA) budget for 2019/20, together with the information necessary to set a balanced budget as required by legislation.

In response to questions that an Equalities Impact Assessment had not been undertaken in respect of the proposals contained in the report, the Cabinet Member for Adults and Housing said that this would be considered as part of the proposals to be discussed by Cabinet at the meeting on 12^th February 2019.

Resolved:-

That the following decisions from Cabinet be noted:-

“1. That a rent reduction of 1% on secure tenancies, as required by the Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016, be endorsed.

2. That an average rent increase of 4.86% on shared ownership properties, be endorsed.

3. That the proposed rent changes in 1 and 2 above be effective from 1 April 2019.

4. That the increase in garage rents by 2.5% to £11.70 per week for tenants (£14.04, being £11.70 plus VAT for non-tenants), with all variants on a standard garage receiving a proportionate increase, be endorsed.

5. That the South Essex Homes core management fee of £5,738,000 for 2019/20, be endorsed, with additional one-off funding also being made available of:

·           £10,000 for the data cleansing, training and embedding of new data protection practices in compliance with General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR); and

·           £140,000 to undertake a project to achieve better integration between the various ICT systems that the company uses, with the aim to achieve efficiencies going forward.

6. That the South Essex Homes proposals for average changes of 4% in service charges and 17% in heating charges, be endorsed.

7. That the following appropriations, be endorsed:

·           £60,000 to the Repairs Contract Pensions earmarked reserve;

·           £1,397,000 to the Major Repairs earmarked reserve; and

·           £444,000 HRA to the Capital Investment earmarked reserve.

8. That, subject to 1 to 7 above, the HRA budget as set out in Appendix 1 to the submitted report, be endorsed.

9. That the value of the Council’s capital allowance for 2019/20 be declared as £37.326M, as determined in accordance with regulation 16 of the Local Authorities (Capital Finance and Accounting) (England) Regulations.”

Note: This is an Executive Function save that approval of the final budget following Cabinet on 12^th February 2019, is a Council Function.

Cabinet Member: Cllr Cox

The report has been circulated with the Cabinet Agenda for its meeting on 17^th January 2019. The relevant Minute and report has been referred direct to all Scrutiny Committees for consideration.

The Committee considered Minute 611 of Cabinet held on 17th January 2019, which had been referred direct by Cabinet to all three Scrutiny Committees, together with a report of the Corporate Management Team presenting the draft revenue budget for 2019/20.

Resolved:-

That the following decisions of Cabinet be noted:-

“1. That the 2019/20 draft revenue budget and any required commencement of consultation, statutory or otherwise, be endorsed.

2. That it be noted that the 2019/20 draft revenue budget has been prepared on the basis of a Council Tax increase of 4.49%, being 2.99% for general use and 1.5% for Adult Social Care.   

3. That it be noted that the 2019/20 draft revenue budget has been prepared using the provisional local government finance settlement and that the outcome from the final settlement will need to be factored into the final budget proposals for Budget Cabinet and Budget Council.

4. That the 2019/20 revenue budget, as endorsed, be referred to all three Scrutiny Committees, Business sector and Voluntary sector to inform the Budget Cabinet, which will then recommend the Budget and Council Tax to Budget Council.

5. That the Schools budget position and that the recommendations for the  Education Board on 22 January 2019, as set out in Appendices 11and 11(i) to the submitted report, be noted and referred to the People Scrutiny Committee and then to Budget Cabinet and Budget Council.

6. That the direction of travel for 2020/21 and beyond, noting the need for the organisation to move to a longer term and outcome based budgeting approach as set out in Section 15 of the report, be endorsed.”

Note: This is an Executive Function save that approval of the final budget following Cabinet on 12th February 2019 is a Council Function.

Cabinet Member: Cllr Lamb

The report has been circulated with the Cabinet Agenda for its meeting on 17^th January 2019. The relevant Minute and report has been referred direct to all Scrutiny Committees for consideration.

The Committee considered Minute 611 of Cabinet held on 17th January 2019, which had been referred direct by Cabinet to all three Scrutiny Committees, together with a report of the Corporate Management Team presenting the draft revenue budget for 2019/20.

Resolved:-

That the following decisions of Cabinet be noted:-

“1. That the 2019/20 draft revenue budget and any required commencement of consultation, statutory or otherwise, be endorsed.

2. That it be noted that the 2019/20 draft revenue budget has been prepared on the basis of a Council Tax increase of 4.49%, being 2.99% for general use and 1.5% for Adult Social Care.   

3. That it be noted that the 2019/20 draft revenue budget has been prepared using the provisional local government finance settlement and that the outcome from the final settlement will need to be factored into the final budget proposals for Budget Cabinet and Budget Council.

4. That the 2019/20 revenue budget, as endorsed, be referred to all three Scrutiny Committees, Business sector and Voluntary sector to inform the Budget Cabinet, which will then recommend the Budget and Council Tax to Budget Council.

5. That the Schools budget position and that the recommendations for the  Education Board on 22 January 2019, as set out in Appendices 11and 11(i) to the submitted report, be noted and referred to the People Scrutiny Committee and then to Budget Cabinet and Budget Council.

6. That the direction of travel for 2020/21 and beyond, noting the need for the organisation to move to a longer term and outcome based budgeting approach as set out in Section 15 of the report, be endorsed.”

Note: This is an Executive Function save that approval of the final budget following Cabinet on 12th February 2019 is a Council Function.

Cabinet Member: Cllr Lamb

The report has been circulated with the Cabinet Agenda for its meeting on 17^th January 2019. The relevant Minute and report has been referred direct to all Scrutiny Committees for consideration.

The Committee considered Minute 611 of Cabinet held on 17th January 2019, which had been referred direct by Cabinet to all three Scrutiny Committees, together with a report of the Corporate Management Team presenting the draft revenue budget for 2019/20.

Resolved:

That the following decisions of Cabinet be noted:-

“1. That the 2019/20 draft revenue budget and any required commencement of consultation, statutory or otherwise, be endorsed.

2. That it be noted that the 2019/20 draft revenue budget has been prepared on the basis of a Council Tax increase of 4.49%, being 2.99% for general use and 1.5% for Adult Social Care.   

3. That it be noted that the 2019/20 draft revenue budget has been prepared using the provisional local government finance settlement and that the outcome from the final settlement will need to be factored into the final budget proposals for Budget Cabinet and Budget Council.

4. That the 2019/20 revenue budget, as endorsed, be referred to all three Scrutiny Committees, Business sector and Voluntary sector to inform the Budget Cabinet, which will then recommend the Budget and Council Tax to Budget Council.

5. That the Schools budget position and that the recommendations for the  Education Board on 22 January 2019, as set out in Appendices 11and 11(i) to the submitted report, be noted and referred to the People Scrutiny Committee and then to Budget Cabinet and Budget Council.

6. That the direction of travel for 2020/21 and beyond, noting the need for the organisation to move to a longer term and outcome based budgeting approach as set out in Section 15 of the report, be endorsed.”

Note: This is an Executive Function save that approval of the final budget following Cabinet on 12th February 2019 is a Council Function.

Cabinet Member: Cllr Lamb

Report of Strategic Director (Finance and Resources) attached

The Cabinet considered a report of the Corporate Management Team presenting the draft General Fund Revenue budget for 2019/20.

Resolved:

1. That the 2019/20 draft revenue budget and any required commencement of consultation, statutory or otherwise, be endorsed.

2. That it be noted that the 2019/20 draft revenue budget has been prepared on the basis of a Council Tax increase of 4.49%, being 2.99% for general use and 1.5% for Adult Social Care.   

3. That it be noted that the 2019/20 draft revenue budget has been prepared using the provisional local government finance settlement and that the outcome from the final settlement will need to be factored into the final budget proposals for Budget Cabinet and Budget Council.

4. That the 2019/20 revenue budget, as endorsed, be referred to all three Scrutiny Committees, Business sector and Voluntary sector to inform the Budget Cabinet, which will then recommend the Budget and Council Tax to Budget Council.

5. That the Schools budget position and that the recommendations for the  Education Board on 22 January 2019, as set out in Appendices 11and 11(i) to the submitted report, be noted and referred to the People Scrutiny Committee and then to Budget Cabinet and Budget Council.

6. That the direction of travel for 2020/21 and beyond, noting the need for the organisation to move to a longer term and outcome based budgeting approach as set out in Section 15 of the report, be endorsed.

Reason for Decision:

Budget scrutiny is at the core of the Council’s corporate planning framework. It is a complex process that is fully integrated with strategic service planning. Annually, prior to the start of the year, the Council agrees the budget using a consistent, transparent and prudent approach.

Other Options:

None

Note:- This is an Executive Function save that approval of the final budget following Cabinet on 12th February 2019 is a Council Function.

Referred direct to all three Scrutiny Committees.

Cabinet Member: Cllr Lamb

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