Agenda and minutes

1.    Councillor Don Davis declared a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in relation to agenda item 5a (Annual Budget & Council Tax 2019/20 and Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) Update).  His interest arose due to his current employment with the Citizens’ Advice Bureau, a recipient of ongoing grant funding from the Council.

2.    The Director of Legal and Governance (and Monitoring Officer), on behalf of Members and Officers present at the meeting, declared a general Non Disclosable Pecuniary/Other Interest in respect of items related to the setting of the Council Tax for 2019/2020.

At this point in the proceedings and in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 30.1, Councillor Matthew Relf moved suspension of Council Procedure Rule 16.4, in relation to the "Content and Length of Speeches", to enable the Portfolio Holder for Finance to deliver his budget speech for his allocated total of 15 minutes in one slot rather than over the 3 budget agenda items in 5 minute slots.

Agenda items 3, 4 and 5a would still be taken separately and the Portfolio Holder for Finance would still exercise his right of reply on each motion if required.  All other Members wishing to speak would still utilise the five-minute allocation as prescribed.  Having been seconded by Councillor Rachel Madden, the motion was duly carried.

Council was requested to approve the recommendations from the Cabinet meeting held on 18^th February, 2019 in relation to the Capital Strategy.

RESOLVED that

a)    the proposed Capital Strategy, as appended to the Cabinet report, be approved;

b)    the proposed non treasury Investment Strategy contained within Appendix 1 to the Cabinet report and the annex which documents the process and responsibilities in respect of Commercial Property Investment, be approved;

c)    it be noted that subject to the receipt and evaluation of expected CIPFA guidance in respect of Commercial Investment Property acquisitions, it may be necessary to submit a revised Capital Strategy for Council approval (Capital Strategy paragraph 6.2 refers).

Reason:

The Capital Strategy provides an overarching framework on how capital investment decisions should be undertaken by the Authority.  It is a statutory requirement to produce a Capital Strategy from 2019/20.

(During consideration of this item, Councillor Cathy Mason left the room at 7.45 p.m. and returned to the meeting at 7.46 p.m.)

Council was requested to approve the recommendations from the Cabinet meeting held on 18^th February, 2019 in relation to the Treasury Management Strategy Statement, Minimum Revenue Policy and Prudential Indicators.

RESOLVED that

a)    the Annual Investment Strategy, be approved;

b)    the revised Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) Policy, be approved;

c)    the proposed Prudential Indicators, as outlined in the report, be adopted;

d)    the remaining contents of the Cabinet report, as presented, be noted.

Reasons:

The Treasury Management Strategy Statement recommendations will allow for effective Treasury Management operations within the Authority and the revised Minimum Revenue Provision Policy will ensure that Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) charges will be applied more effectively.

The Prudential Indicator ratios offer a benchmark by which any future capital expenditure decisions should be made and the Treasury Management Code of Practice requires Council approval of these Policies.

(During consideration of this item, Councillor Lachlan Morrison left the room at 7.49 p.m. and returned to the meeting at 7.51 p.m.)

Council was requested to approve the recommendations from the Cabinet meeting held on 18^th February, 2019 in relation to the Annual Budget and Council Tax Setting for 2019/20 and an update for the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS).

(Councillor Don Davis had previously declared a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in respect of this item.  His interest was such that he left the meeting at 7.52 p.m. and took no part in the discussion or voting thereon).

During consideration of the item, the Chief Executive took the opportunity to clarify the reasons for incorporating the suite of recommendations into the report thus ensuring Members could consider the various different financial aspects of the process as part of the Council’s overall budget package.

The meeting was adjourned at 8.30 p.m. and reconvened at 8.39 p.m.

(In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 30.1, Councillor Helen-Ann Smith moved suspension of Council Procedure Rule 23 [Conclusion of Proceedings] to enable the meeting to continue beyond 9.30 p.m. should this be necessary in order for the Council to give proper consideration to the determination of its budget. Having been duly seconded and voted upon, Council agreed with this course of action.)

RESOLVED that

a)    a freeze in the level of the District’s own Council Tax for 2019/20, setting the Band D equivalent at £185.46; the same as in 2018/19, be approved;

b)    the proposed Revenue (General Fund) and HRA 2019/20 Budgets as set out in the Cabinet report (Sections 3 and 4), be approved;

c)    the proposed Capital Programme and associated borrowing 2018/19 to 2022/23 as set out in the Cabinet report (Section 5), be approved;

d)    the 2018/19 Revised HRA and Capital Budgets as set out in the Cabinet report (Sections 4 and 5), be approved;

e)    it be noted that the precept figures from Nottinghamshire County Council,

Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Authority, Police and Crime Commissioner and the two Parish Council’s within the District have been incorporated into the Council Tax recommendation to Council;

f)     the estimated financial challenge in the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) for 2020/2021 and 2021/22, and the planned approach to address the challenge, as outlined in Section 6 of the Cabinet report, be noted;

g)    an updated MTFS be brought back to Cabinet after the 2018/19 Accounts have been closed and audited;

h)    the proposed use of reserves as set out in the Cabinet report (Table 6

(Revenue) and Table 11 (HRA), be approved;

i)     the comments and advice of the Corporate Finance Manager (Section 151 Officer), provided in compliance with Section 25 of the Local Government Act 2003, as to the robustness of the estimates included in the 2019/20 Budget and the adequacy of the reserves for which this budget provides, as outlined in Section 7 of the Cabinet report, be noted and accepted;

j)     the Fees and Charges set out in this report which were not available for inclusion in the Fees and Charges report to Cabinet on 26th November 2018, as outlined in Sections 3.10 to  ...  view the full minutes text for item C.75

RESOLVED

that the Council Tax levels for 2019/20 on the basis of a Band “D” tax level for the District Council’s own expenditure of £185.46 (nil increase), be approved as follows:-

1.    That it be noted that on 17th January 2019 the Council calculated the Council Tax Base for 2019/20

a.    for the whole Council area:  33,542.5

b.    for dwellings in those parts of its area to which a Parish precept relates –

The Parish of Annesley and Felley:  548.0

The Parish of Selston:  3,710.9

2.    That the calculation of the Council Tax requirement for the Council’s own purposes for 2018/19 (excluding Parish precepts) is £6,220,792.

3.    That the following amounts be calculated for the year 2019/20 in accordance with Sections 31 to 36 of the Act:

5.    That the Council, in accordance with Sections 30 and 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, hereby sets the aggregate amounts shown in the tables below as the amounts of Council Tax for 2019/20 for each part of its area and for each of the categories of dwellings.

  2019/20 Council Tax amounts by band: