Agenda item

Prioritising Resources to Deliver Better Outcomes - 2021/22 to 2025/26

Report of Executive Director (Finance and Resources) attached.

Minutes:

The Council considered a report of the Executive Director (Finance and Resources) presenting the Cabinet's integrated revenue and capital budget and Council Tax proposal for 2021/22 financial year, together with Minutes 729 and 730 of Cabinet held on 14th January 2021, Minutes 794 to 796 of Cabinet held 16th February 2021 and Scrutiny Minutes 763, 773, 778 and 779.

 

The Council suspended the relevant parts of Council Procedure Rule 10 to permit the extended budget speeches of the Leader of the Council and of the Leader of the Opposition Group.

 

The substantive budget proposals were voted on by way of a named vote as required by law.  The voting was as follows:-

 

For the budget:

 

Cllrs Ayling, Beck, Borton, Burton, Chalk, Collins, Cowan, Dent, K Evans, George, Gilbert, Harp, Hooper, Jones, Kelly, McDonald, Mitchell, Mulroney, Nevin, Robinson, Shead, Stafford, Terry, Thompson, Wakefield, Ward, Wexham and Woodley (28)

 

Against the budget:

 

Cllrs Aylen, Boyd, Bright, Buck, Burzotta, Cox, Davidson, Dear, F. Evans, Flewitt, Folkard, Garne, Garston, Habermel, Jarvis, McGlone, Moring, Nelson, Salter and Walker (20)

 

Abstentions:

 

Cllr Lamb (1)

 

Absent:

 

None.

 

The Council Budget 2021/22 proposals were carried, as set out as follows:

Resolved:

 

With regard to the Housing Revenue Account Budget 2021/22 and rent setting:

1. That an average rent increase of 1.50% on all tenancies, be approved.

 

2.  That an average rent increase of 1.50% on shared ownership properties, be approved.

 

3. That an increase of 1.50% for garage rents to £12.20 per week for tenants and £14.64 for non-tenants (being £12.20 plus VAT), a rise consistent with the proposal for the main rent increase (all variants on a standard garage will receive a proportionate increase), be approved.

 

 

4. That the proposed rent charges in 1-3 above be effective from 5th April 2021.

 

5. That the South Essex Homes core management fee at £6,336,000 for 2021/22, be approved.

 

6. That the South Essex Homes proposals for average increases of 2.52% in service charges and 10.39% in heating charges to reflect the actual costs incurred, be approved.

 

7. That the following appropriations be approved:

  

·                £60,000 to the Repairs Contract Pensions Reserve; 

·                £4,002,000 to the Capital Investment Reserve and

·                £8,334,000 from the Capital Investment Reserve

 

8. That, subject to resolution 1 through to 7 above, the HRA budget for 2021/22 as set out in Appendix 1 to the submitted report to Cabinet held on 16th February 2021, be approved.

 

9. That the value of the Council’s indicative capital allowance for 2021/22 – 2025/26 be declared as £75,327,000, as determined in accordance with regulation 16 of the Local Authorities (Capital Finance and Accounting) (England) Regulations.

 

With regard to Treasury Management 2021/22

 

10. That the Treasury Management Policy Statement 2021/22 set out at Appendix 1 to the submitted report to Cabinet held on 16th February 2021, be approved.

 

11. That the Treasury Management Strategy 2021/22 set out at Appendix 2 to the report to Cabinet held on 16th February 2021, be approved.

 

12. That the Annual Treasury Management Investment Strategy 2021/22 set out at Appendix 3 to the report to Cabinet held on 16th February 2021, be approved.

 

With regard to the General Fund Revenue Budget 2021/22:

 

13. That the Medium Term Financial Strategy for 2021/22 – 2025/26 set out at Appendix 1 to the submitted report to Cabinet held on 16th February 2021 and the resulting Medium Term Financial Forecast and estimated Earmarked Reserves Balances up to 2025/26 (Annexes 1 and 2 to Appendix 1 to the report), be approved and that any final minor changes/updates of this strategy as required, be delegated to the Executive Director (Finance & Resources).

 

14. That the Section 151 Officer’s statement on the robustness of the proposed budget, the adequacy of the Council’s reserves and the Council’s Reserves Strategy (Appendix 2 to the report to Cabinet held on 16th February 2021), be noted.

 

15. That the appropriation of the sums to earmarked reserves totalling £3.340M for 2021/22 (Appendix 3 to the report to Cabinet held on 16th February 2021), be approved.

 

16. That the appropriation of the sums from earmarked reserves totalling £6.143M, which includes £2.500M (Paragraph 10.15 of the report) to enable a robust budget to be set for 2021/22 set out at Appendix 3 to the report to Cabinet held on 16th February 2021, be approved.

 

17. That a General Fund Budget Requirement for 2021/22 of £135.847M and Council Tax Requirement of £87.636M (Appendix 4a to the report to Cabinet held on 16th February 2021), be approved.

 

18. That it be noted that the 2021/22 revenue budget has been prepared on the basis of using £1.5 million from the Collection Fund surpluses to allow for a smoothing of the budget gap across the lifetime of the Medium Term Financial Strategy to 2025/26 (Paragraph 10.17 of the report).

 

19. That a Council Tax increase of 3.99% for the Southend-on-Sea element of the Council Tax for 2021/22, being 1.99% for general use and 2.0% for Adult Social Care (Paragraph 10.18 of the report), be approved.

 

20. That the position of the Council’s preceptors, be noted:

 

·                Essex Police – proposed Council Tax increase of 4.98%

·                Essex Fire & Rescue Services – no increase in Council Tax

·                Leigh-on-Sea Town Council – no increase in Council Tax

 

21. That no Special Expenses be charged other than Leigh-on-Sea Town Council precept for 2021/22.

 

22. That the proposed General Fund revenue budget investment of £8.122M (Appendix 5 to the report), be approved.

 

23. That the proposed General Fund revenue budget savings and income generation initiatives for 2021/22 of £4.155M (Appendix 6 to the report to Cabinet held on 16th February 2021), be approved.

 

24. That the proposed future outline Budget Transformation Programme 2022/23 – 2025/26 (Appendix 7 to the report to Cabinet held on 16th February 2021), be approved.

 

25. That the proposed range of fees and charges for 2021/22 as amended at the meeting of Cabinet held on 16th February 2021 (Appendix 8 to the report to Cabinet held on 16th February 2021 as amended), be approved.

 

26. That the Dedicated Schools Grant budget and its relevant distribution as recommended by the Education Board (Appendix 9 to the report to Cabinet held on 16th February 2021), be approved.

 

27. That the Capital Investment Strategy for 2021/22 to 2025/26 (Appendix 10 to the report to Cabinet held on 16th February 2021) and the Capital Investment Policy (Annex 1 to Appendix 10), be approved.

 

28. That the new schemes and additions to the Capital Investment Programme for the period 2021/22 to 2025/26 totalling £21M for the General Fund (Appendix 11 to the report to Cabinet held on 16th February 2021), be approved.

 

29. That the new schemes subject to viable business cases (Appendix 11 to the report to Cabinet held on 16th February 2021), be approved.

 

30. That the proposed changes to the current Capital Investment Programme (Appendix 12 to the report to Cabinet held on 16th February 2021), be approved.

 

31. That the proposed Capital Investment Programme for 2021/22 to 2025/26 of £178.6M for 2021/22 to 2025/26 (Appendix 13 to the report to Cabinet held on 16th February 2021) of which £28.3M is supported by external funding, be approved.

 

32. That the Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) Policy for 2021/22 (Appendix 14 to the report to Cabinet held on 16th February 2021) and the prudential indicators (Appendix 15 to the report), be approved.

 

33. That the operational boundary and authorised limits for borrowing for 2021/22 are set at £375M and £385M respectively (Appendix 15 to the report to Cabinet held on 16th February 2021), be approved.

 

With regard to the Council Tax 2021/22:

 

34. That it be noted that on 14 January 2021 the Cabinet calculated the Council Tax Base 2021/22:

                 

(a) for the whole Council area as 58,630.49

 

(b) for dwellings in those parts of its area to which a Parish precept relates (Leigh Town Council) as 8,762.69.

 

35. That the Council Tax requirement for the Council’s own purposes for 2021/22 (excluding town/parish precepts) be determined as £87,636,166.

 

36. That the following amounts be calculated for the year 2021/22 in accordance with Sections 31 to 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as amended (the Act):

 

(a) £372,690,217 being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A(2) of the Act taking into account all precepts issued to it by town/parish councils.

 

(b) -£284,610,834 being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A(3) of the Act.

 

(c) £88,079,383 being the amount by which the aggregate of 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 (including town/parish precepts).

 

(d) £1,502.28 being the amount at 3(c) above, divided by the Council Tax Base shown at 1(a) above, as the basic amount of its Council Tax for the year (including town/parish precepts).

 

(e) £443,217 being the aggregate amount of all special items (town/parish precepts) referred to in Section 34(1) of the Act set out below:

Band A: 33.72; Band B: 39.34; Band C: 44.96; Band D: 50.58; Band E: 61.82; Band F: 73.06; Band G: 84.30; Band H: 101.16

 

(f) £1,494.72 being the amount at 3(d) above less the result given by dividing the amount at 36(e) above by the Council Tax Base shown at 34(a) above, calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 34(2) of the Act, as the basic amount of its Council Tax for the year for dwellings in those parts of its area to which no Town/Parish precept relates.

 

37. That it be noted that the Essex Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner has issued precepts to the Council in accordance with Section 40 of the Act for each category of dwellings in the Council’s area as indicated in the table below:

 

Essex Police: Band A: 139.02; Band B: 162.19; Band C: 185.36; Band D: 208.53; Band E: 254.87; Band F: 301.21; Band G: 347.55; Band H: 417.06

Essex Fire: Band A: 49.26; Band B: 57.47; Band C: 65.68; Band D: 73.89; Band E: 90.31; Band F: 106.73; Band G: 123.15; Band H: 147.78

 

38. That the Council, in accordance with Sections 30 and 36 of the Act, hereby sets the aggregate amounts shown in the tables below as the amounts of Council Tax for 2021/22 for each part of its area and for each of the categories of dwellings:

Band A:1,184.76; Band B: 1,382.22; Band C: 1,579.68; Band D: 1,777.14; Band E: 2,172.06; Band F: 2,566.98; Band G: 2,961.90; Band H: 3,554.28

 

39. That the Council’s basic amount of Council Tax for 2021/22 be determined as not excessive in accordance with the principles approved under Section 52ZB of the Act, and as shown in the calculation below:

 

(a) Percentage increase defined by the Secretary of State as constituting an excessive increase for 2021/22: 5.00%

 

(b) Percentage increase in the Council’s basic amount of Council Tax:

 

2020/21 amount £1,437.39

2021/22 amount £1,494.72

Percentage increase: 3.99%

 

The figure at 39(b) is less than the figure at 39(a) above and therefore the Council’s basic amount of Council Tax for 2021/22 is not excessive and no referendum is required.

 

40. That the amounts payable in each town/parish at each band, comprising aggregate sums derived from all precepts, be as set out below:

 

Unparished area: Band A: 1,184.76; Band B: 1,382.22; Band C: 1.,579.68; Band D: 1,777.14; Band E: 2,172.06; Band F: 2,566.98; Band G: 2,961.90; Band H: 3,554.28;

 

Parished area: Band A: 1,218.48; Band B: 1,421.56; Band C: 1,624.64; Band D: 1,827.72; Band E: 2,233.88; Band F: 2,640.04; Band G: 3,046.20; Band H: 3,655.44

 

Supporting documents:

 

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