Agenda item

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 Hay, C Hay, Holliday, Jeffries, Jordan,  Lillywhite, McCloskey, McKinlay, Murch, Payne, Rawson, Regan, Reid, Ryder, Seacome, Stennett, Thornton, Walklett, Wheeler and Whyborn.

Against 0: and no Abstentions

RESOLVED THAT

1)    the revised HRA forecasts for 2014/15 be noted.

2)    the HRA budget proposals for 2015/16 including a proposed rent increase of 2.2% and increases in other rents and charges as detailed at Appendix 5 be approved.

3)    the proposed HRA capital programme for 2015/16 as shown at Appendix 3 be approved.

4)    the transfer of £2m to an earmarked revenue reserve to finance future new build in the HRA be approved.