Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Flynn and Savage.

There were no declarations of interest.

Minutes of the meeting held on 15 October 2018.

The minutes of the last meeting had been circulated with the agenda.

Upon a vote it was unanimously

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on the 15 October 2018 be agreed and signed as a correct record.

The Mayor confirmed that carol singing would be taking place on Thursday at 5pm in aid of the Mayor’s charity.

The Leader wished to thank colleagues who had taken part in the photograph outside the Municipal Offices to show support for the local campaign against gender-based violence ‘Glostakeastand

He also wished to pass on his thanks to all those involved in the WW1 remembrance weekend which he felt had done Cheltenham proud. He also passed on his good wishes to Pat Pratley, Chief Executive, who he hoped to see well again n the new year.

Councillor Harman presented a petition to the Mayor requesting that Boots Corner be re-opened at the earliest opportunity. He advised that it was on behalf of the Conservative group and the wider community and it had received around 5200 signatures.

In response to a question, Councillor Harman confirmed that the petition was the same petition that Alex Chalk had emailed about.

These must be received no later than 12 noon on Tuesday 4 December 2018.

These must be received no later than 12 noon on Tuesday 4 December 2018.

Report of the Cabinet Member Finance

The Cabinet Member Finance reminded Members that councils had discretionary powers to set the level of council tax discount on empty properties and CBC had already used its discretionary powers in respect of empty properties and second homes as detailed in appendix 2.  She explained that in December 2017 the Council agreed to charge the 50% empty homes premium in respect of properties which had been empty and unfurnished for more than 2 years from April 2018. She reported that new legislation had now come in to force extending discretionary powers to increase the level of premium from April 2019. The rating allowed the following :

·         From 1st April 2019 - 100% premium, 200% council tax liability, for properties which have been empty for 2 years or more

·         From 1 April 2020 - 200% premium, 300% council tax liability, for those properties which have been empty for 5 years or more

·         From 1 April 2021 300% premium, 400% council tax liability, for those properties which have been empty for 10 or more

The Cabinet Member informed that in October 2018, 119 properties in Cheltenham had been empty for more than 2 years and were subject to the premium. In October 2017 the number of properties which had been empty for more than 2 years was 80. She explained that based on the 119 properties and the council tax level for 2018/19, increasing the premium to 100% in 2019/20 would increase council tax income by approximately £12,000 for this Council. The Government had reported that nationally, where councils had been charging the premium consistently year on year, there had been a significant reduction in the number of homes being charged the premium.  Whilst Cheltenham’s scheme had been running for just nine months she informed Members that since April 2018 25 properties that were charged the premium had become occupied.

The Cabinet Member reported that two letters of representation had been received from investors at Honeybourne Gate and one from the managing agent requesting that in their particular circumstances consideration be given to exempting them from the scheme. She explained that whilst appreciating the particular investment difficulties these investors found themselves in, the potential reward needed to be considered against any risks and when considering these letters Cabinet believed it would be difficult to make an exception in this case. All Members of Council had received a copy of these letters and she requested that they should also give consideration to the requests.

The Cabinet Member noted that a certain level of empty homes was inevitable and was a feature of a healthy housing market, however properties which had been empty and unfurnished for 2 years or more were often subject to deterioration that could affect the fabric of the property and could cause damage to neighbouring homes. With increased pressure to find housing for people in need homeowners should be encouraged to bring long term empty homes into use to the benefit of all residents. Increasing the empty homes premium to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

Report of the Cabinet Member Finance

The Cabinet Member Finance introduced the report and explained that in April 2013 the council introduced its local council tax support scheme. She explained that council tax support for pensioners was not localised and continued to be provided for by a national scheme and in Cheltenham there were approximately 2,400 of pension age.

She explained that council tax support was given to around 6,000 households in Cheltenham at an annual cost of just under £6m. This included working and pension age claimants. Approximately 60% (3600) of those households were of working age. The cost of the council tax support scheme was met by this council and the precepting authorities.

The Cabinet Member reported that based on 2017/18 data, CBC was one of 37 councils out of 326 whose local council tax support scheme had not been amended to date to reflect reduced government funding.

The Cabinet Member then went on to explain that Cheltenham became a full Universal Credit area in January 2018. As the number receiving Universal Credit increased, the administration of calculating local council tax support entitlement became greater. This was because Universal Credit was reassessed on a monthly basis and any changes in income would mean that a different level of income needed to be taken into account for assessing council tax support. A change in the level of council tax support, however small, meant that a revised council tax bill needed to be issued. Issuing revised bills on a monthly basis was not sustainable for this authority or for those in receipt in managing their budgets.

The Cabinet Member informed Members that a consultation exercise on proposals for a revised council tax support scheme for 2019/20 was undertaken from 25 July until 9 September 2018 and was widely promoted. 130 people responded to the consultation which was considered a good response when compared to some other councils. Consultation was also undertaken with Gloucestershire County Council, Gloucestershire Police and the parish councils. The responses to the consultation had been analysed as outlined in appendix 3. Together with the income and household composition of the current council tax support caseload, these responses had been used to design the proposed scheme which was summarised in appendix 2.

The Cabinet Member explained that the income bands set the percentage discount to be awarded based on the level of household income. The overriding aim of the scheme was to:

Protect the most vulnerable individuals and families by continuing to provide 100% support to those on the lowest income

Provide some financial support to low income individuals and families, based on their level of income

Minimise the number of changes to the amount of support awarded and therefore the amount of council tax payable due to monthly Universal Credit reassessments

Reduce the overall cost of the scheme to the taxpayer

The scheme would be based on 5 income bands with the highest band providing support at 100% of the council tax liability, then reducing to 80%,60%,40% and 20% as household income increased.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

Report of the Cabinet Member Finance

The Cabinet Member Finance introduced the report and explained that treasury had changed immensely over the last few years with movement away from deposits in high street banks and diversifying treasury management into new areas.

The Council’s treasury management strategy for 2018/19 was approved in February this year. Key to the strategy was the successful identification, monitoring and control of risk. She reported that CIPFA published new versions of the Prudential Code for Capital Finance in Local Authorities and the Treasury Management Code of Practice but had yet to publish the local authority specific Guidance Notes to the latter. The Ministry for Housing Communities and Local Government published its revised Investment Guidance which came into effect from April 2018.

The Cabinet Member explained that the updated Prudential Code included a new requirement for local authorities to provide a Capital Strategy, which was to be a summary document to be approved by full council covering capital expenditure and financing, treasury management and non-treasury investments. This capital strategy would be submitted to council for approval in February 2019.

The Cabinet Member then summarized the economic update for the first six months provided by the council’s treasury advisors and which was outlined in the report.

The following other points were highlighted :

·         The treasury management summary position from April to September showed that the council had net borrowings of £53.569  arising from its revenue and capital income and expenditure.

·         The councils strategy to fund a number of capital asset purchases had been the use of temporary borrowing and then take long term borrowing from the Public Works Loan Board. At the back end of September the Council took out 38 Maturity loans with the PWLB for £43.083m to fund the purchase of several commercial properties within the Borough. The loans were taken out over 3yrs to 40yrs with the average rate of 2.57%. This had saved £940k in interest over the life of the borrowing when compared to the original business cases.

·         During the six month period the council’s investment balance ranged between £16.625m and £65.234m due to timing differences between income and expenditure.

·         In February this year the Investment income for 2018/19 was budgeted to be £328,200. The average cash balances representing the council’s reserves and working balances, was £25.154m during the period this report covers. It anticipated an investment outturn of £477,700 at a rate of return of 2.03% for this financial year. Estimated surplus for investment income was £149.5k for the financial year.

·         Net loans and investments were estimated to be £593,500 over the original budget but after aligning budgets with the business cases for the commercial properties purchased the estimated year end will come in on budget.

Finally, the Cabinet Member wished to thank all officers who worked tirelessly to ensure that the council achieved the best possible from its investments and borrowings.

Members also wished to congratulate the Cabinet member and officers for proactively managing the balanced treasury portfolio. CBC set an example to other authorities by investing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

Motion A

Proposed by: Councillor Clucas, seconded by: Councillor Barrell

That this Council being mindful of the findings presented in the 2018 children’s needs assessment report, resolves to support a year of action, called No Child Left Behind that will:

·           Highlight the issue of children growing up in poverty in Cheltenham and the inequality between them and their more affluent peers,

·           Start to address the inequality gap beginning with 12 month programme of events and activities

·           Be a call to action for all sectors to work together to make transformational change over the longer-term to fight child poverty and create new mechanisms for ensuring that every Cheltenham child thrives.

·           Set up a CWG to examine the potential for change and to invite Children’s Champions to be members’

That councillors consider nominating themselves to be Children’s Champions to support the council in the delivery of the No Child Left Behind programme.

The council invite other organisations to formally commit to supporting the No Child Left Behind programme”

As proposer of the motion, Councillor Clucas gave a brief overview of the issue. She advised that, as colleagues were aware from the recent Members seminar an assessment focussing on the needs of children in Cheltenham had been conducted. This had identified a number of serious concerns for children living in Cheltenham and so Cheltenham Borough Council and its partners had committed to a year of action, called No Child Left Behind. The initiative aimed to highlight the issue of children growing up in poverty in Cheltenham and the inequality between them and their more affluent peers, start to address the inequality gap and be a call to action for all sectors to work together to make a transformational change over the longer-term. The results of the assessment had identified a number of children who lacked access to adequate food, issues of safety and the inability to afford period products. She explained that they would be working with partner organisations including Gloucestershire County Council, public health and local schools to make a real difference to local children. She felt that all Councillors had a responsibility to residents in their wards and invited them to be part of the initiative. She also encouraged all Members to put themselves forward for the Cabinet Member Working Group which they hoped to be cross party.

Councillor Barrel seconding the motion explained that their aspirations were for every child in Cheltenham to thrive as the needs assessment had identified considerable areas of concern. She advised that it would be a 12 month programme of events and activities aimed at making a real difference to local children. She acknowledged that poverty was wider than just money and they needed to look at other factors such as stress as a result of exam pressures and the prevalence of social media, which could act as a platform for bullying and abuse. She cited issues of crime, drugs and self harming, noting that in a recent study 22% of girls and 9% boys  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

There were none.