Issue - meetings

Report of the Cabinet Member Finance & Community Development and Chief Finance Officer

The following is the recommended process to be followed for the debate relating to the Council’s Budget for 2011 - 2012, (Agenda item 13). The rules of procedure shall be varied accordingly for this item only.

1.         The Mayor to propose suspension of the following rules of debate:

-           That the time limit on speeches is relaxed with regard to the following speeches:-

§         Cabinet Member Finance and Community Development, (F), when moving the motion to adopt the budget being proposed by the Cabinet (“the Cabinet’s budget”), Stage 2(i).

§         Group Leaders when making Budget Statement on behalf of group, Stage 3(i) – (ii).

-           To permit the Cabinet Member F and Group leaders to speak more than once in the debate, (in addition to any right of reply etc), for the purpose of putting and answering questions at Stage 2(iii).

2.         Budget Statement and moving of motion.

(i)         The Cabinet Member F shall deliver the budget statement and formally move the resolutions set out in paragraph 1.2 of the report of the Cabinet Member Finance. (N.B. Not time limited)

(ii)        The seconder shall formally second the motion. (N.B. The seconder may reserve their speech until later in the debate prior to the closing speeches) 5 minute limit applies.

(iii)       Members may then ask questions of the Cabinet Member F (who may refer them to the Chief Finance Officer when appropriate), on matters relating to agenda item 13. (N.B. members are limited to one question only, without supplementary, and the Cabinet Member F shall wait until all questions have been put before responding).

3.         Statements by Group Leaders

(i)         Statement on behalf of the Conservative Group including tabling but not moving, any proposed amendment to the Cabinet’s budget. (no time limit)

(ii)        Statement on behalf of the People Against Bureaucracy Group including tabling, but not moving, any proposed amendment to the Cabinet’s budget. (No time limit).

4.         Formal moving, Seconding, debating, discussion and voting on any amendments tabled in the following order:

            - People Against Bureaucracy Group

            - Conservative Group

N.B. 

§         The Cabinet Member F has the right to a speech in reply at the end of the debate on any amendment. (10 mins).

§         The mover of an amendment may speak to move the amendment, (10 mins), and also has the right of reply to the debate immediately before the speech of the Cabinet Member F. (10 mins).

§         Amendments carried will become part of the substantive motion going forward. Once all proposed amendments have been debated and put to the vote the final version of the motion shall go forward to the next stage.

5          Consideration of Amendments

(a)       If the Cabinet’s budget has not been amended, the Cabinet Member Finance and Community Development to formally propose the budget (no speech), and the final proposal will be debated and voted upon subject  ...  view the full agenda text for item 12

Members returned at 4.10pm.

The Mayor, to facilitate the presentation of the Budget, proposed suspension of certain rules of debate, namely:-

That the time limit on speeches is relaxed with regard to the following speeches

• Cabinet Member Finance and Community Development when moving the motion to adopt the budget being proposed by the Cabinet.

• Group leaders or Group spokesperson when making budget statements on behalf of their group.

The Cabinet Member Finance and Community Development and Group Leaders could also speak more than once in the debate (in addition to any rights of reply etc) for the purpose of putting and answering questions. 

This was agreed by Council.

The Cabinet Member Finance and Community Development referred Members to the joint report of himself and the Chief Finance Officer as circulated with the agenda.  The report summarised the revised budget for 2010/11 and Cabinet’s final budget proposals for 2011/12 following consultation.

The Cabinet Member Finance and Community Development introduced the

budget proposals with a detailed speech (please refer to the papers for agenda item 4 for Council on 25 February 2011 for a full copy)  

The Cabinet Member Finance and Community Development moved acceptance of the 2011/12 Budget as set out in the report.  The motion was seconded by Councillor Jordan, who reserved his right to speak.

The Cabinet Member Finance and Community Development then responded to questions on the proposed Revenue and Capital Budget, with some input from the relevant Cabinet Members;

• Why under the new waste collection scheme, were areas such as Lansdown Road considered differently?

o       It was recognised that areas such as Lansdown Road had a large amount of multiple occupation housing and didn’t necessarily have storage at the front or rear of the building to house additional bins.  All residents would be offered this service but some tailor made solutions were required.

• With dwindling resources and the cost of maintaining the Municipal Offices, when would Cabinet accept the benefits of moving to a new location?

o       Cabinet were awaiting a report on the accommodation strategy but in reality, the Municipal Offices were relatively cheap to occupy and as such there was doubt about whether major savings would be achieved by such a move. Overview & Scrutiny Committees would be given the opportunity to comment on the report.

• Why was it taking such a time to arrange new management for the various park cafes, surely this didn’t bode well in view of strategic commissioning?

o       All cafes would be open by Race Week (15-18 March) and this had always been the timescale to which officers had been working. A significant amount of effort had gone into finalising arrangements with the new contractors.

• The Council Tax freeze was shown as a cost incurred and not a grant in future years, why was this?

o       The £197k grant that had been received from Government in support of the council tax freeze was shown in Appendix 2. The MTFS at appendix 11 took consideration of marginal changes over the next  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12

Joint report of the Cabinet Member for Community Development and Finance and the Chief Finance Officer.

Resolved that it be recommended to Council that:

1. The revised budget for 2010/11 be approved;
   
   
2. The final budget proposals detailed in this report and supporting appendices, including a proposed council tax for the services provided by Cheltenham Borough Council of £187.12 for the year 2011/12 (a 0% increase based on a Band D property) be approved.
   
   
3. The growth proposals, including one off initiatives at Appendix 3 be approved.
   
   
4. The reserve re-alignments at Appendix 8, as outlined in section 10 be approved.
   
   
5. The proposed capital programme at Appendix 9, as outlined in Section 11 be approved and the intention to fund the replacement of vehicles and recycling bins through prudential borrowing where deemed appropriate be noted.
   
   
6. The proposed Property Maintenance programme at Appendix 10 be approved.
   
   
7. The updated Medium Term Financial Strategy at Appendix 11 including the impact of the ‘bridging the gap’ programme on the forecast budget gap be approved;
   
   
8. A level of supplementary estimate of £100,000 for 2011/12 as outlined in section 15 be approved.
   
   
9. The creation of the budget working group be approved, with 2 members nominated from each overview and scrutiny committee, to support the process of developing the budget process and improving scrutiny as outlined in Appendix 13.
   
   

The Cabinet Member for Community Development and Finance introduced the joint report of himself and the Chief Finance Officer which had been circulated with the budget papers.  The report summarised the revised budget for 2010/11 and the Cabinet’s final budget proposals for 2011/12.

The Chief Finance Officer highlighted an amendment to the report. The council had received notification on 7 February of a change to the government settlement and the figure for the Formula Grant in 2012/13 set out in table 4.1 of the report should now read £5.518 million and not £5.473 milion. He emphasised that this was a one-off amount in that particular year where the government had found some additional funding to support councils.

The Cabinet Member highlighted the changes that had been made to the draft budget presented to Cabinet on 21 December 2010 following a period of extensive consultation. These changes were supported by additional funding made available by a rephasing of pensions costs.

§         A one-off reinstatement of verge cutting for 2011/12. The council would also be giving the county council notice of their intention to terminate the contract so that it can be renegotiated on more favourable terms.

§         There would be no transitional funding to Cheltenham Festivals but instead the budget proposed £140,000 worth of funding for improvements to Montpellier and Imperial Gardens. The Festivals will also continue to have free use of the gardens in the coming year. The changes would support the festivals in their aims but would also be for the benefit of the people of Cheltenham as the Cabinet recognized the need to manage any potential conflicts in the use of the gardens. The renegotiation of the catering contract in 2012 would give the festivals more opportunity to raise additional catering income. He felt that these changes would provide a framework for Cheltenham Festivals being commercially successful in their own right without the need for ongoing financial support from the Council.

§         An additional two years extra funding had been allocated for the oiling of seagull eggs to combat the problems with seagulls in the town.

§         The budget proposed to reinstate £6,000 of the original £10,000 allocated to the Arts Council. This money was redistributed by the Arts Council and provided valuable support to organisations in the town.  

§         Finally the Cabinet Member Finance referred members to recommendation 9 which approved the creation of a budget working group to support the process of developing the budget. He felt there was a real need for scrutiny members to keep up to speed with the budget throughout the year and develop their expertise in budget matters and this working group would provide a focus for that.

In commenting on the budget, Cabinet Members made the following points:

• The public consultation had been very effective and had resulted in changes to the draft budget. There had been some very meaningful input from the initial red/green dot exercise and the focus groups that followed and valuable lessons had been learned  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9