Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Room

Contact: Christine Lewis 

Items
No. Item

21.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Councillors Checkland and Matthews

22.

Declarations of Interest

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interests.

23.

Minutes of the Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 58 KB

Minutes:

The minutes of the previous meeting were signed as a correct record.

24.

Work Programme pdf icon PDF 90 KB

Minutes:

The Committee noted the work programme and reference was made to the discussions at the O&S Coordinating Group.  It was noted that it was suggested to have an item on communications however it was agreed that as this had been considered recently, it was not required and for the Overview & Scrutiny Officer to send the report to the Committee for information.

 

RESOLVED:  That the work programme be noted.

25.

Draft Medium Term Financial Strategy 2019-2024 pdf icon PDF 2 MB

Minutes:

The Committee received a report on the draft Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) for 2019-2024 which took into account the reports that had been approved at Cabinet and Council updating it. It was reported that there would be a consultation on the MTFS however this had been moved back to the General Election. The Cabinet Member for Finance and Procurement wished to record his thanks to the Head of Service and the Finance team for their work in producing the new MTFS.

 

The Cabinet Member then reported that it was a safety first budget but not a stand still one and that there was uncertainty after 2020-21.  He reported that the final government settlement may not be known until after the Election but he would notify Members of it when received. 

 

The Head of Finance and Procurement then gave a presentation giving further details on the balance of funding Local Government Finance reforms, revenue budget variations and Capital bids and a longer projection beyond the period of the MTFS.

 

The Institute of Financial Studies report on English Local Government Funding was released on 13th November 2019 and it was reported that Council Tax made up almost 50% of revenue and Business Rates accounted for 30%. It was noted that the IFS report stated that the majority of Local Government would come from these sources from 2021/22 but would not be able to keep pace with rising demands and costs. 

 

It was then reported that there had been a delay for New Homes Bonus and Business Rates/ Fair Funding and the Head of Service presented some scenarios regarding the Fair Funding Review and the impact on the budget if Car Parking income were to be included.

 

It was then confirmed that looking beyond the current MTFS, the gap between expenditure and funding continues to increase and needs addressing.

 

The Chairman then invited questions from the Committee and summarised that there were four major threats in the MTFS which were

·         Pressure of Friary Grange Leisure Centre/new Leisure Centre and sinking funds

·         Fair Funding Review (including the risk car parking income forms part of the review)

·         Property Investment Strategy

·         Housing Growth

 

It was confirmed that the Property Investment Strategy was for acquisition only and the property company was for residential development.  It was noted that a review of the Property Investment Strategy would be forthcoming the Committee I the near

 

The Committee felt the Council was in the same position that it was last year with only one year settlement known so focus should be on the year 2020/21 when there would be no funding and the position of the New Homes Bonus and Business Rates were unknown and could affect the budget greatly.  It was felt that there could be some difficult choices of what services could be delivered and whether those discussions would come to O&S first.  It was noted that these choices were very much unknown at this time.   It was also noted that any transitional period of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25.

26.

Exclusion of Press and Public

RESOLVED: “That as publicity would be prejudicial to the public interest by reason of the confidential nature of the business to be transacted, the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business, which would involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3  of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972”

 

IN PRIVATE

 

Minutes:

RESOLVED: That, as publicity would be prejudicial to public interest by reason of the confidential nature of the business to be transacted the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business which would involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 as amended.

 

                                                IN PRIVATE

 

 

27.

Fit for the Future: Fundamental Review of the Revenues and Benefits Service

Minutes:

This item was confidential and considered in private.

28.

Commercial Property Acquisition - IRPL

Minutes:

This item was confidential and considered in private.