Agenda item

Report of the Cabinet Member Finance

The Cabinet Member Finance presented the Covid-19 recovery revised budget 2020/21 and a copy of her speech is attached to these minutes. 

The following responses were given to Member questions:

• Bereavement services- Cremations were taking place but without the full extent of the service for relatives and mourners due to Covid restrictions. As a result, the fee income had reduced.
• Additional cost to Ubico-this was due to the changing nature of the profile of the waste and recycling crews were collecting. Recycling figures were increasing but there was an increase in residual waste collection resulting in an added cost.
• Council tax and business rates-it was acknowledged that there would be a significant impact on cash flow but it was deemed too early to make a judgement as to the magnitude of the losses and how much would be irrecoverable. Once this was know there would be significant lobbying of Government to seek further loss of income compensation.

Group Leaders were invited to address Council.

On behalf of the Conservatives, Cllr Harman thanked the Executive Director Finance and Assets for his significant contribution in bringing forward these innovative proposals. He acknowledged the ongoing crisis and recognised the government’s flexibility for authorities to use capital receipts to support budgets in the short term. Longer-term, the reconfiguration of the council was necessary and with the successful shift to home working there had been a significant change to the delivery of services. He expressed his support for the proposals.

On behalf of the PAB, Cllr Stennett welcomed the proposals and fully supported them. He expressed caution that when disposals were undertaken sight should not be lost of consultation and adherence to procedures. He wished to put on record his thanks to the Executive Director Finance and Assets and the finance team. 

The Leader acknowledged that this council had suffered significantly because of Covid.  There were two things he wished to highlight, firstly that the Council would remain in existence to assist with the crisis and secondly that it was able to continue with its long-term plan in the community by delivering its high priority projects. He recognised that the council was in a better position than some authorities to tackle the situation. This was partly due to sound financial planning over decades, which meant that the authority owned assets, which it could capitalise on over a three year period. It was also due to the flexibility and innovation of the response to the situation and in that regard, he paid tribute to the Executive Director Finance and Assets and the Cabinet Member Finance.

In the debate that ensued the following points were made by Members :

• The Chair of Budget Scrutiny explained that the group had examined the proposals and whilst spending capital receipts to meet revenue was not ideal, it was recognised that this was a short-term approach and the group were happy to support.
• The proposed solution was innovative and met legal requirements.
• The extent to which the council was committing assured the town’s future, e.g. continuing the rapid development of the golden valley and cyber central project to its conclusion. Thanks were given to those officers who were supporting this project.
• The Chair of Audit, Compliance and Governance highlighted that the independent auditors had given high praise to the council at the recent committee meeting and this was due to the decades of prudent fiscal responsibility. Many councils in the country were looking at Cheltenham as a template of fiscal resilience, which was a credit to the Executive Director Finance and Assets and his team and the Cabinet Member Finance.
• The commitment to the provision of affordable homes in the town was welcomed. The proposals also aimed to continue supporting those that needed support to address issues of homelessness.
• Members recognised the need to look at the council’s asset base, particularly in light of changing work habits and the impact this has had, for example, on the use of council owned car parks. It was also suggested that going forward it may be time to look at the airport which was jointly owned with Gloucester City Council.
• Emphasis was placed by some Members on prioritising mixed use developments, particularly in the town centre, as lifestyles of residents had changed as a result of Covid 19.

In summing up, the Cabinet Member Finance highlighted that due to the authority’s diverse investment portfolio the pandemic was having little impact. This budget provided the council with three years ‘breathing time’ to plan carefully and think ahead.

The Chair moved to a recorded vote.

RESOLVED (unanimously) THAT

1. the estimated position in respect of collection rates for council tax and business rates for 2020/21 (paras 3.37 to 3.44) be noted.
2. the revised Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) policy as detailed in Appendix 2 (paras 4.12 to 4.16) be approved.
3. the revised capital programme with £1.7m capital receipts previously allocated to the High Street works to be reallocated to repaying the MRP as detailed in paras 4.19 to 4.20 be approved.
4. the identified asset disposals as detailed in paras 4.22 to 4.29 be noted.
5. the virements as summarised in Appendix 3 be approved, in order to produce a balanced General Fund (GF) revised budget for 2020/21.
6. It be noted that future budget monitoring reports will assess the position against this revised budget and further decisions may be required depending on the economic impact being experienced as the year progresses.
7. the additional budget and funding for Cyber Central (Golden Valley development) as set out in section 5 be approved.
8. the flexible use of capital receipts strategy as detailed in Appendix 4 (paras 5.21 to 5.26) be approved.
9. the budget-setting timetable at Appendix 5 and note the 2021/22 budget process outlined in section 6 be approved.
10. Notes the intention for this Council to remain in the Gloucestershire Business Rates Pool in 2021/22 as outlined in section 7 and note that the Council reserves the right to withdraw after the local government finance settlement announcement.
11. the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) revised budget for 2020/21 as summarised in Section 8.

FOR : Cllrs Atherstone, Babbage, Baker, Barnes, Barrell, Boyes, Britter, Brownsteen, Clucas, Coleman, Collins, Cooke, Dobie, Fisher, Flynn, Harman, Harvey, Hay, Hegenbarth, Hobley, Holliday, Horwood, Jeffries, Jordan, Mason, McCloskey, McKinlay, Oliver, Parsons, Payne, Seacome, Stafford, Stennett, Sudbury, Wheeler, Whyborn, Wilkinson, Williams

AGAINST: 0

ABSTENTIONS: 0