Issue - meetings

Budget 2018/19

 

 

Meeting: 07/03/2018 - Council (Item 65)

65 Budget 2018/19 - KEY DECISION (Minute EXB 111 refers) pdf icon PDF 422 KB

Executive Board considered the attached report.

 

RECOMMENDED: That Council adopt the resolution set out in Appendix A attached to the report, which includes setting the budget at £109.227m, the Council Tax requirement of £47.447m (before Parish, Police and Fire precepts) and the Band D Council Tax for Halton of £1,377.88.

Minutes:

 

The Executive Board had considered a report setting out a recommendation to Council in respect of the Budget, Capital Programme and Council Tax for 2018/19. Since then, the Cheshire Fire Authority and the Cheshire Police and Crime Commissioner had set their budgets and council tax precepts and these had been included in the report to full Council.

 

The Executive Board had recommended that Council adopt the resolution set out in Appendix A of the report, which included setting the budget at £109.227m, the Council Tax requirement of £47.447m (before Parish, Police and Fire precepts) and the Band D Council Tax for Halton of £1,377.88m.

 

Councillor Wharton, Resources Portfolio holder, thanked all the Officers involved for their support in producing this budget and wished to record his thanks to the Members of the Executive Board, the Budget Working Group and the Chairs of the Policy and Performance Boards for their contribution. In addition, he thanked the Leader for his help and support in delivering this budget.  

 

In accordance with Standing Order 16 (3), a recorded vote was taken.

 

          The following Members voted FOR the motion:

 

Councillors Abbott, S. Baker, M. Bradshaw, J. Bradshaw, D. Cargill, E. Cargill, Carlin, Cassidy, Dennett, Edge, Fry, C. Gerrard, Gilligan, Harris, P. Hignett, R. Hignett, S. Hill, V. Hill, Horabin, Howard, Jones, M. Lloyd Jones, P. Lloyd Jones, C. Loftus, K. Loftus, Logan, A. Lowe, J. Lowe, MacManus, McDermott, A. McInerney, T. McInerney, Morley, Nelson, Nolan, Parker, Philbin, Polhill, C. Plumpton Walsh, N. Plumpton Walsh, June Roberts, Rowe, Sinnott, G. Stockton, J. Stockton, Thompson, Wall, Wallace, Wharton, Woolfall, Wright and Zygadllo.

 

There were no votes against the motion.

         

There were no abstentions.

 

RESOLVED: That Council adopt the following resolution:-

 

1)    The policies outlined in this paper be adopted, including the budget and council tax for 2018/19, the savings set out in Appendix B and the Capital Programme set out in Appendix F.

 

2)    That it be noted that at the meeting on 6 December 2017 the Council agreed the following:

 

(a)      The Council Tax Base 2018/19 for the whole Council area is 34,435 (item T in the formula in Section 31B(3) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as amended (the Act) and

 

(b)      For dwellings in those parts of its area to which a Parish precept relates, be set out as follows:

 

Parish

Tax Base

 

 

Hale

665

Daresbury

172

Moore

328

Preston Brook

338

Halebank

529

Sandymoor

1,112

 

          being the amounts calculated by the Council, in accordance with Regulation 6 of the Regulations, as the amounts of its Council Tax Base for the year for dwellings in those parts of its area to which special items relate.

 

3)    Calculate that the Council Tax requirement for the Council’s own purposes for 2018/19 (excluding Parish precepts) is £47,447,298.

 

4)    In accordance with the relevant provisions of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 (Sections 31 to 36), the following amounts be now calculated by the Council for the year 2018/19 and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 65

Meeting: 22/02/2018 - Executive Board (Item 111)

111 Budget 2018/19 - KEY DECISION pdf icon PDF 422 KB

Minutes:

The Board considered a report of the Operational Director, Finance, which outlined a recommendation to Council in respect of the Budget, Capital Programme and Council Tax for 2018/19.

 

It was noted that at the time of writing, the Cheshire Police and Crime Commissioner and the Cheshire Fire Authority had not set their budgets and Council Tax Precepts. However, final figures would be reported to Council when the information was available.

 

The Government announced the Final Local Government Finance Settlement figure for 2018/19, which was in line with the Provisional Settlement figure announced on 19 December 2017. The main change was the announcement of a one-off Adult Social Care Support Grant for 2018/19 to the value of £0.399m. As part of the Liverpool City Region (LCR), the Council would continue to participate in the pilot Business Rates Retention Scheme. Government had confirmed that the pilot scheme would operate under a “no detriment” policy in that no Council operating as part of the pilot would see a reduction in their funding, in comparison to what would have been received previously.

 

The Board was advised that the Medium Term Financial Strategy, approved on 16 November 2017, had identified a funding gap of around £5.6m in 2018/19, £13.2m in 2019/20 and £3.3m in 2020/21. The Strategy had the following objectives:

 

·       Deliver a balanced and sustainable budget;

·       Prioritise spending towards the Council’s five priority areas;

·       Avoid excessive Council Tax rises;

·       Protect essential front line services; and

·       Deliver improved procurement.

In terms of consultation, it was noted that the Council used various methods to listen to the views of the public and Members’ own experiences through their Ward work was an important part of that process. Individual consultations had taken place in respect of specific budget proposals and equality impact assessments would be completed where necessary.

 

On 6 December 2017, the Council approved initial budget savings totalling £2.2m and further proposed savings were shown at Appendix B. The departmental analysis of the budget was shown at Appendix C, and the major reasons for change from the current budget were outlined for Members’ information in Appendix D. It was noted that the proposed budget total was £109.227m.

 

The Board was advised that the proposed budget incorporated grant figures announced in the Provisional Grant Settlement and included £2.152m for the New Homes Bonus and £3.045m for Improved Better Care Funding, paid to councils for the second year.

Further information was provided on the budget outlook. As part of the Local Government Finance Settlement for 2016/17, the Government had published indicative Settlement Funding Allocations for the three years up to 2019/20. Local Authorities had been asked to produce and publish an efficiency plan setting out their forecast budget position through to 2019/20, along with their proposed efficiency measures to achieve annual balanced budget positions. The Council’s efficiency plan was published on 14 October 2016. The Medium Term Financial Strategy had been updated to take account of the 2018/19 finance settlement, multi-year allocations and saving measures already agreed or proposed.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 111