Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Andrew Lansley, Chris Mason and Andrew Wall.

Councillors Smith and Williams declared an interest in Agenda item 9 as board members of Cheltenham Borough Homes and announced their intention to leave the room for that item.  Councillor Hay declared an interest in Agenda item 8 as a trustee of the Cheltenham Trust.

Minutes of the Extraordinary meeting held on 26 January 2015

It was noted that the number of councillors voting against the motion in Agenda item was 17 and not 19 as recorded in the papers circulated. This had already been amended on the council’s website.

Upon a vote it was unanimously

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Extraordinary meeting of Council held on 26 January 2015 as amended be agreed and signed as an accurate record.

The Mayor informed Members that he had been advised by the Group Leader of the PAB, Councillor Malcolm Stennett that Councillor John Payne had been appointed as substitute on Planning Committee following notification to the Chief Executive, Andrew North. This followed on from the December Council meeting when Council agreed to increase the size of the Planning Committee to 15 with an additional PAB member. Councillor Adam Lillywhite became a member of the committee having been a substitute thus leaving a vacancy for a PAB substitute.

The Mayor advised that he had written a letter of sympathy to the Mayor of Annecy following the Paris shootings and he read out a letter he had received back from Annecy who had been very appreciative of the council’s gesture.

The Leader wished to put on record his thanks to Martin Quantock for his work as Town Centre Manager and in support of the Cheltenham Business Partnership. He had now retired but was still working one day a week on a temporary basis in supporting the bid for the Business Improvement District. Kevin Blackadder had been appointed by the Cheltenham Business Partnership as Martin’s interim replacement on a 3 day per week basis and the Leader had already met with him earlier that week.

The Leader advised that the official dates for the public enquiry on the JCS and the Leckhampton Planning Enquiry had now been announced which had required a block booking of all the committee rooms. This may mean some changes to committee meetings in terms of venues and timings during this June/July period.

There were 7 public questions and these are set out in the appendices to these minutes.

There were 18 public questions and these are set out in the appendices to these minutes.

Report of the Cabinet Member Finance

The Mayor invited the Cabinet Member Finance to introduce the budget which would then be followed by a statement from the Director of Resources, Mark Sheldon as the Council’s Section 151 officer. To facilitate the presentation of the Budget, the Mayor 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 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 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 unanimously by Council.

The Mayor reminded Members that a recorded vote must be held  on any significant decision relating to the budget or council tax (including any amendments) as set out in Part 4A – Council Procedures Rule 14.5 as required by the ‘Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2014’. This will apply to agenda items 8 and 9.

The Cabinet Member Finance introduced the 2015/16 budget proposals with a detailed speech (please see Appendix 1).

The Cabinet Member Finance moved acceptance of the 2015/16 budget as set out in the report. The motion was seconded by Councillor Jordan who reserved his right to speak.

The Director of Resources referred to appendix 2 in the budget papers which set out his assessment of the budget and the financial risks which were set out in the form of a risk table. He explained that he had a statutory duty as the Council’s Section 151 officer to make this report to Council and they must have regard to it when making decisions on the Council's budget and at the council tax setting meeting.  He made the following points:

• A modest return was predicted as a result of treasury management activity.
• He was satisfied that sufficient provision had been made in the budget and MTFS for future pay awards and pension-fund costs.
• A prudent approach had been adopted in the New Homes Bonus projections after consultation with the budget scrutiny working group.
• Some reserves had been reduced this year through usage but overall the general reserve remained in his previously recommended range of £1.5 to £2 million.
• There was a sound business strategy to support the MTFS through commissioning, shared services and other projects. He acknowledged that there were still some gaps to be filled.
• He acknowledged that the decision to freeze council tax had been a political one but was justifiable given that there was some government funding to support a freeze
• The asset management plan was being reviewed and there would be important decisions to be made later in the year on the use of the North Place receipt and the council would need to look at all the options objectively.
  
  

In conclusion his overall view was that the budget was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

Report of the Cabinet Member Finance

Having declared a personal and prejudicial interest in this agenda item Councillors Smith and Williams left the chamber and did not participate in the debate.

The Mayor informed Members that proceedings would return to standing orders.

The Cabinet Member Finance introduced the report which summarised the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) revised forecast for 2014/15 and the Cabinet’s interim budget proposals for 2015/16 for consultation.

The Cabinet Member believed that the new Housing Revenue Account budget painted a picture of success. A surplus was being predicted for the current year of £58,000 compared to the original estimate, despite an increase in repairs and maintenance costs caused by storm damage earlier this year.

The budget for the coming year provided expenditure on repairs and maintenance of over £4m. It also provided for investment of £6.7m in property improvements and major repairs and over £400,000 invested in services for tenants, especially vulnerable people and those who are in difficulty because of the Government’s welfare reform. The reserves remained sufficiently healthy for an allocation of £2m to a reserve to fund new build.

Encouragingly, in the budget for the coming year an income of £188,000 from the feed-in tariff could be expected, which was as a result of the investment in solar panels in the past year.

The proposed rent increase continued to follow Government guidelines, which makes it 2.2%.  It was proposed to align rents with the Government’s formula rent when tenancies change hands. This is a small change as rents have almost reached formula rents already.  It would be a small increase for most, and for some properties it would  actually mean a small reduction in rent.

The budget had been consulted on and had been well received by the Tenant Scrutiny Improvement Panel. Finally, the Cabinet Member thanked management and staff at CBH for their achievements.

The Cabinet Member Housing said that self financing had given CBH more freedom to operate and he commended their achievements and the support of the community services team.  Tenants would be moving into the St Pauls phase 2 development in March or April of this year and CBH continued to offer improved services to tenants, particularly in the management of debts and financial advice.

A member asked how much had been paid to private householders for home improvements as part of this development. 

The Cabinet member advised that no cash had gone directly to householders but had been used to pay for the design work and work subsequently undertaken.

In his summing up the Cabinet Member Finance highlighted that the HRA budget was in a healthy situation and they must continue to ensure they deliver cost effective and value for money services given the opportunities offered by self-financing. He thanked CBH and their senior management team and commended the recommendations to Council.

A recorded vote having been required, upon a vote the recommendations in the report were all CARRIED unanimously.

Voting For 29: Councillors Babbage, Barnes, Britter, Chard, Clucas, Coleman, Fisher, Fletcher, Harman, R  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

Report of the Cabinet Member Finance

The Cabinet Member Finance introduced the report and explained that the Treasury Management and Annual Investment Strategy 2015/16 had been scrutinised by the Treasury Management Panel to whom he was grateful. He said that the Council had operated in accordance with the Prudential Indicators and would continue to do so. The priorities for the Council’s investments had been security and liquidity and this is represented a prudent approach in the current financial climate. In terms of the annual investment strategy the Council operated a very sophisticated system to determine the creditworthiness of investment counterparties. The Cabinet Member hoped that this strategy and general approach of investment gave the Council the confidence and security it needed.

Upon a vote it was unanimously

RESOLVED that the Treasury Management Strategy Statement and Annual Investment Strategy for 2015/16 at Appendix 2 be approved including:

1.    The general policy objective ‘that Council should invest prudently the surplus funds held on behalf of the community giving priority to security and liquidity’.

2.    That the Prudential Indicators for 2015/16 including the authorised limit as the statutory affordable borrowing limit determined under Section 3 (1) Local Government Act 2003 be approved.

3.    Revisions to the Council’s lending list and parameters as shown in Appendix 3 are proposed in order to provide some further capacity. These proposals have been put forward after taking advice from the Council’s treasury management advisers Capita Asset Services and are prudent enough to ensure the credit quality of the Council’s investment portfolio remains high.

4.    For 2015/16 in calculating the Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP), the Council will apply Option 1 in respect of supported capital expenditure and Option 3 in respect of unsupported capital expenditure as per section 21 in Appendix 3.

Report of the Chief Executive

The Chief Executive introduced the report which explained that Councillor Duncan Smith had served as Deputy Mayor since last year’s Annual Council Meeting and Members would be asked to elect him as Mayor at this year’s Annual Meeting. In accordance with the Order of Precedence in Appendix 2 Members had been approached to ascertain if they were willing and able to have their name put forward for appointment as Deputy Mayor for 2015-16. Councillor Chris Ryder had indicated a willingness to put her name forward as Deputy Mayor subject to no other eligible councillor wishing to do so.

RESOLVED that

The Order of Precedence in Appendix 2 be noted and that Councillor  Duncan Smith and Councillor Chris Ryder will be put to the Annual Council Meeting for election as Mayor and Deputy Mayor respectively for the municipal year 2015 - 2016.

None received.

None received.