Agenda and minutes

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Council Offices, Coalville

Contact: Democratic Services  01530 454512

Items
No. Item

18.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

 

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors V Richichi and N Smith.

                                                                                

Councillor N J Rushton was also invited to attend however, unfortunately due to County Council Commitments he had to decline.

 

Councillor S Sheahan commented that it would have been good to have Councillor N J Rushton in attendance, and that nothing had stopped him from appointing a substitute.  

 

19.

Declaration of Interests

Under the Code of Conduct members are reminded that in declaring disclosable interests you should make clear the nature of that interest and whether it is pecuniary or non-pecuniary.

Minutes:

Councillor J G Coxon declared a non-pecuniary interest in item 5 – Draft Revenue Budget Proposals and Capital Programmes 2015/16 as a Member of Ashby Town Council.

 

Councillor D Everitt declared a non-pecuniary interest in item 5 – Draft Revenue Budget Proposals and Capital Programmes 2015/16 as a Member of Whitwick Parish Council.

 

Councillor M Specht declared a non-pecuniary interest in item 5 – Draft Revenue Budget Proposals and Capital Programmes 2015/16 as a Member of Coleorton Parish Council.

 

Councillor A C Saffell declared a non-pecuniary interest in item 5 – Draft Revenue Budget Proposals and Capital Programmes 2015/16 as a Member of Castle Donington Parish Council.

 

Councillor S Sheahan declared a non-pecuniary interest in item 5 – Draft Revenue Budget Proposals and Capital Programmes 2015/16 as a Member of Leicestershire County Council.

 

20.

Public Question and Answer Session

To receive questions from members of the public under rule no.10 of the Council Procedure Rules. The procedure rule provides that members of the public may ask any question on any matter in relation to which the Council has powers or duties which affect the District, provided that three clear days’ notice in writing has been given to the Head of Legal and Support Services.

Minutes:

 

There were no questions received.

 

21.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 142 KB

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 1 October 2014

Minutes:

 

The Deputy Monitoring Officer asked the Chairman to consider a clarification to the minutes. At the last meeting, The Deputy Monitoring Officer advised that the Members for each authority made the appointments in respect of the Leicestershire Revenues and Benefits Partnership; and as such there would be Member involvement.

 

However, following the Meeting the Deputy Monitoring Officer was advised that appointments in relation to the Revenues and Benefits Partnership had been delegated to the Management Board and that no Members sit on the Management Board.

 

Councillor S Sheahan commented that Partnerships such as the Revenue and Benefits one take democracy further away from the people as it excluded Members. 

 

RESOLVED THAT:

 

The minutes of the meeting held on 1 October 2014 be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

 

22.

Draft Revenue Budget Proposals and Capital Programmes 2015/16 pdf icon PDF 123 KB

Report of the Head of Finance

Additional documents:

Minutes:

 

The Head of Finance presented the report to Members, stating that this Item gave the Committee the opportunity to comment on the Councils Revenue Budget proposals for the next financial year and invited Members to make comments that would be minuted and presented to Cabinet on the 10th February 2015 and Council on the 24th February 2015. 

 

The Head of Finance drew attention to the two Appendices of the report and went through each individually. He informed Members that Appendix 1 was a copy of a Report that went before Cabinet on November 2014 which provided details of the Cabinets 2015/16 General Fund Revenue Budget proposals and the savings that had been put in place, to meet the projected budget shortfall.

 

The Head of Finance informed Members that the report first of all picked up with the Medium Term Financial Strategy 2015/16 – 2018/19 that had been approved by Cabinet which identified a budget shortfall of £365,000 for the ensuing year and an overall shortfall of £1.4 million by the end of the Medium Term Financial Strategy in 2018/19.

 

Members were informed that an under spending of approximately £800,000 was forecast in 2014/15 from the General Fund, and that the main reason for this was due to an increase in income. In particular from planning fees, Recycling Income and savings incurred from reducing the number of Employees.

 

It was highlighted, that there were a number of financial uncertainties that the Council was facing. The Head of Finance explained how volatile the Council’s income from business rates was.

 

The Head of Finance explained that the Council used to receive a pre-determined allocation from Central Government, however as a result of recent changes, income was volatile, and that now made it difficult to monitor the budget and prepare the budget going forward. There was much less certainty in determining how much income the Council would receive.   

 

Another area of uncertainty that was highlighted was around the New Homes Bonus Scheme.  The Head of Finance stated that there was always a risk that changes could be made to the scheme, or it could be discontinued altogether and consequently there was a risk of around £2 million within the Councils budget planning as a result.

 

Members were informed that Budget Savings for the next year were going to be achieved by actions that had already been put in place and he provided the Policy Development Group with an update on the following initiatives introduced to meet the projected shortfall of £365,000 for 2015/16:

 

 

 

 

Reduction in Revenues and Benefits Partnership Contributions:

 

The Head of Finance informed Members that it had been identified that the Partnership between the three partner Councils would create savings approaching £400,000 a year, which North West Leicestershire District Council would receive a share off.

 

ICT Efficiency Savings:

 

It was stated that efficiency savings in ICT, mainly around contracts and the renewal of ICT programme Licences were saving money and that the ICT budget had been reduced by £70,000 in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.

23.

Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Budget Proposals for 2015/16 pdf icon PDF 513 KB

Report of the Head of Finance and Director of Housing

Minutes:

The Director of Housing presented the report to Members.

 

He informed Members that the report was an updated version of a report that had been presented to Cabinet on 18 November 2014. He stated that the overall forecast for the current year shows a deficit close to £900,000, largely as a result of unplanned expenditure on the Decent Homes Programme. Members were informed that this deficit was funded from the Housing Revenue Account Reserves, and that the reserves currently stood at £4.37 Million.

 

In relation to rents, the Director of Housing advised Members that the current government policy (due to expire in March 2015) was to try and achieve rent convergence or target rents nationally for all social housing tenants. The idea being that Council and Housing Association tenants should pay similar rents for similar properties. He advised Members that historically the Council had charged low rents and that currently only 25% of the Council’s tenants paid target rent; in contrast most local authorities had 90% of tenants paying the target rent. New government guidelines, effective from April 2015, suggest that rent increases should be limited to the Consumer Price Index plus 1% each year. He advised that for councils like NWLDC, which still had nearly three quarters of its properties at rents considerably below target rent levels, this would have a substantial impact on the future business plan, and income projections would fall significantly. This could potentially have a detrimental impact with limited funding being available to maintain the decency programme and invest in future stock improvements.  

 

Following a review of the current rent plan, alternative rent increase options were developed for consideration for consultation by Cabinet, and it was agreed by Cabinet to approve option C, which would see rents increase by CPI plus 1% plus up to £4 per week until target rent was reached. This would entail NWLDC using its discretion to set its own rent levels and not following the guidelines. 

 

The Director of Housing advised Members if the Council adopted the new government guidelines, then the Council would have to borrow £7.3 million by 2022 to meet repayments on a £13 million loan. By adopting option C the Council would only have a liability of £1.2 million in 2022. It would also mean the Council having an additional £9 million of income  over the next 10 years to invest in Housing.

 

Councillor S Sheahan expressed his concerns that the Housing Revenue Account spending was not being kept under control, and cited the £900,000 deficit as an example.  He asked officers to explain how they would address the deficit and prevent tenants from having to subsidise overspending on the decent homes programme.

 

The Director of Housing responded that he was confident spending was under control and highlighted that deficit was a result of some incorrect assumptions about what central government would fund and what the Council would have to fund, and wasn’t a case of over spending on the Decent Homes Programme. He advised Members  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23.

24.

Items for Inclusion in the Future Work Programme pdf icon PDF 287 KB

To consider any items to be included in the work programme. The plan of

forthcoming Cabinet decisions and the current work programme are attached for information.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

 

Councillor S Sheahan requested that a scrutiny of the Business Bidding Fund be included.  However, the Head of Finance stated that there would not be much to scrutinise by the time of next meeting, as he did not expect the Council to have awarded many grants to business by then.

 

Councillor S Sheahan also suggested that an item on the Community Task and Finish Group should be included.