Agenda item

Report of the Head of Finance

Councillor N J Rushton presented the report to Members and thanked the Finance Team for all their hard work.  He referred to the route the budget had taken to get to this stage, where Members’ comments were invited.

The recommendations as detailed within the report were moved by Councillor N J Rushton and seconded by Councillor R Blunt.

The Chairman referred to the amendments to the motion, which had been circulated in the additional papers.  He invited Councillor S Sheahan to put forward his amendment. 

Councillor S Sheahan outlined the amended budget as detailed within the additional papers and thanked the Finance Team for assisting with the amended budget.  The motion was seconded by Councillor J Geary.

A full and lengthy debate was held before the Chairman put the motion to the vote.  A recorded vote being required, the voting was as detailed below.

The amendment was declared LOST.

The Chairman referred Members to the substantive motion as set out within the agenda.

A further debate was held which received wide support for the budget, however, there was some opposition to the zero percent increase in council tax and a heated discussion ensued in relation to some members’ perception of the regeneration of Coalville Town Centre.

The Chairman then put the substantive motion to the vote. A recorded vote being required, the voting was as detailed below.

The motion was declared CARRIED.

RESOLVED THAT:

1.      The General Fund Revenue Budget for 2023/24 as summarised in section 2 of the report be approved.  This includes:

a)    Freezing the District Council’s share of Council Tax in 2023/24.

b)    Changes to the fees and charges as detailed in appendix 3(a) to 3(c), effective from 1 April 2023.

c)     The authority be delegated to the Head of Community Services to consider any objections received in relation to the proposed variation of fees for vehicle and operators licenses under S.70 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976, to determine whether in light of any objections the variation in fees should be modified and to set another date on which the variation in fees will come into force, with or without modification, after consideration of said objections.

2.      The General Fund Revenue Budget for 2024/25 to 2027/28 (appendix 1) be noted.

3.      The Corporate Charging Policy 2023 – 2026 (appendix 3D) be approved.

4.      The proposed General Fund Capital Programme (appendix 4) for 2023/24 and planned financing, as set out in section 3 of the report be approved.

5.      The remaining elements of the General Fund Capital Programme 2024/25 – 2027/28 be noted.

6.      The Fleet replacement Programme for 2024/25, be approved to allow vehicles to be ordered in advance once approval has been given to move from this development to the active pool (appendix 4).

7.      The Special Expenses Revenue Budget for 2023/24 (appendix 6) be approved as summarised in section 4.  This includes:

a)    Setting the Special Expense Band D Council Tax at the levels detailed in table 4 of the report.

8.      The continuation of NWLDC in the Leicestershire and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership (LLEP) Business Rates Pol in 2023/24 be approved.

9.      The drawdown of reserves to fund the one-off budget proposals as detailed in the General Fund Budget Summary 2023/24 to 2027/28 (appendix 1) be approved.

10.   The contribution to reserves as detailed in the General Fund Budget Summary 2023/24 to 2023/28 (appendix 1) be approved.

11.   The authority to be delegated to the S151 Officer in conjunction with the Corporate Portfolio Holder to action a virement on grounds maintenance and events to realign the budgets on special expenses.