Agenda item

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 3.13 of the Cabinet report, be approved;

k)    the use of in-year Capital Receipts up to 2020/21 to maximise

capitalisation opportunities arising from service transformation to deliver

efficiencies and improved services to residents and clients, thereby minimising the impact of costs on the Revenue Budget as included in the Flexible Use of Capital Receipts Strategy 2018/19 (approved by Council on 11th October 2018), be approved.

Reason:

To approve the recommendations in accordance with the Local Government Finance Act 1992, thus ensuring the Council sets its annual budget by 10th March in the preceding financial year.