Agenda item

For debate and decision.

 

A      Report and recommendations

B      Medium Term Financial Strategy

C      Council Strategy

D      Budget consultation

E      ‘Due regard’ statement

 

 

The Chairman stated that the budget was arguably the most important item of business for the Council each year.  With a minority administration the Council’s task was more complex than in previous years.  The collective objective was to agree the Council budget and Medium Term Financial Strategy and, following discussion with Group Leaders, a pragmatic approach had been agreed on how the budget should be presented and debated.  In order to facilitate this, there would need to be some flexibility to the normal rules of debate.

 

The Chief Executive explained the procedure that would be followed. Firstly, Cllr Mark Hawthorne, Leader of the Council, and Cllr Ray Theodoulou, Cabinet Member for Finance and Change, would be asked to present the recommendations from the Cabinet.

 

Secondly, in order to reach a position where a substantive motion could be debated, the other groups would be invited to propose amendments to the budget but there would be no debate at that stage.  This would be a departure from the normal procedure where only one amendment could be moved and discussed at any one time.  The Chairman therefore proposed that under procedure rule 24.1 the following part of procedure rule 13.5 be suspended for the duration of the budget debate:

 

‘Only one amendment may be moved and discussed at any one time.  No further amendment may be moved until the amendment under discussion has been dealt with.’

 

The Vice-chairman seconded the motion and, on being put to the vote, the motion was supported.

 

Once the amendments had been presented, the Chief Executive advised that the Chairman would call for an adjournment to provide an opportunity for the relevant Group Leaders to reach a common position. 

 

After the adjournment, the Leader of the Council would advise members of those areas where it had been possible to reach agreement.  Any amendments which had not been accepted or withdrawn would then be presented by the groups, debated and voted upon. 

 

Thereafter all members would have an opportunity to debate the budget in line with the normal rules of debate.  At the end of the debate, the Leader of the Council would have the right of reply. 

 

Finally, a recorded vote would be proposed from the Chairman on the substantive motion, seconded by the Vice-chairman.  This fulfilled the expectation of the Government that decisions on the budget and Council Tax were transparent.

 

Cllr Mark Hawthorne, the Leader of the Council, presented the recommendation from the Cabinet meeting held on 5 February 2014.  He said that the proposed budget followed the principles established in recent years: ‘supporting vulnerable people, living within our means, providing the basics as the Council could not do everything and helping communities to help themselves’.  He was proud that despite the cheque from the Government getting smaller, the Council had been able to maintain spending on Adult Social Care at the same level as 2010.  He noted the success of community run libraries and youth activities.  Significant sums had been invested to support the local economy including the ‘Fastershire’ broadband project and the apprentice scheme.

 

The proposal to freeze Council Tax for a fourth successive year would mean that a total of £48.7 million would remain in the pockets of residents.  Although much had been achieved, he recognised that there remained significant challenges ahead for the Council.  The ageing population meant that there would be greater pressure on Adult Social Care and it was critical that there was better integration of health and social care and local communities were empowered to help meet the greater demand for services. It was estimated that the investment in flood alleviation schemes since 2007 had saved around 500 properties.  However, further action was still needed and £500,000 had been allocated for matched funding schemes. 

 

The Council would continue to support the local economy and would be investing in infrastructure schemes across the county including the A417 ‘Missing Link’ at Birdlip.  He recognised, however, that the severe weather in recent months was having a serious impact on the road network and he announced that the Council had submitted a £15 million bid for funds from the Government’s emergency scheme.

 

He said that he was pleased to present a budget with cross-party involvement that protected services to vulnerable people whilst still investing in the local economy.

 

Cllr Theodoulou, the Cabinet Member for Finance and Change, seconded the recommendation from the Cabinet and spoke in support of the proposals.  He stated that savings amounted to £154 million over the period of the last administration and the new Council.  The Council had sold surplus assets, reorganised its accommodation, used smarter procurement methods, reduced debt and become more efficient in its day to day activities.  Difficult decisions had been taken with over 2,000 staff leaving the Council and the number of councillors and the size of the Cabinet being reduced significantly.  Powers were being devolved to a local level through schemes such as ‘Highways Local’ and ‘Active Together’.  Services to vulnerable people were being protected with £242 million of the total budget of £428 million being spent in that area.

 

He reminded members about the Public Sector Equality Duty and the need for them all, as decision makers on the Council Strategy and the Medium Term Financial Strategy, to show ‘due regard’.  He said that all members had been provided with a Due Regard Statement and this recognised the potential for the Council Strategy and budget proposals to have both a positive and negative impact on people within protected groups.  He drew members’ attention to specific examples, including the potential impact on people with disability arising from proposals in the Adult Social Care, Children and Families and Fire Safety budgets.  He assured members that the impact on protected groups would be monitored and the Due Regard Statement updated as plans were implemented.

 

Cllr Colin Hay and Cllr Jeremy Hilton presented the amendments to the budget proposed by the Liberal Democrat Group.  They believed that there was an opportunity to take a relatively small sum from reserves to improve the budget in a number of areas.  Concern was expressed at the way the ‘old’ Council had taken budget decisions, particularly relating to issues such as waste, libraries and the youth service, and it was hoped that the new cross-party approach would result in better decisions. 

 

Liberal Democrat Group budget amendments:

 

a)    £1million to be taken from the Council’s Transformation Reserve to be spent on additional Highway repairs.

b)    To reduce the ‘Active Together’ funding for each councillor from £50,000 to £30,000 in 2014-15 and that £1 million be invested over two years to build upon existing preventative/early help programmes and services to improve young people’s mental health (no additional financial cost).

c)    £35,000 one-off investment to give all year 5 children attending a Gloucestershire school the opportunity to attend a session at the SkillZone (‘to be funded from the Debt Redemption Budget).

d)    Residents’ parking permit fees for the first car to be reduced from £80 to £50 with effect from 1 May 2014 at a cost of £132,000 each year (to be funded from the Debt Redemption Budget).

e)    £10,000 for a study into the use of the pupil premium in Gloucestershire’s schools (already funded by £50,000 one-off investment in Education).

Cllr Lesley Williams and Cllr Steve Lydon presented the amendments to the budget proposed by the Labour Group.  They thanked the leaders of the political groups and officers for their hard work over recent weeks in developing the budget proposals.  They believed that the amendments proposed by the Labour Group were affordable and would benefit the people who were suffering the most through the current ‘cost of living’ crisis. They were concerned, however, that Adult Social Care was underfunded with costs set to rise further in future years.  The Coalition Government had cut local government funding by 40 per cent and, despite the huge savings already made by the Council, a further £32 million was likely to be required over the next two to three years.     

 

Labour Group budget amendments:

 

a)    Additional investment of £211,000 to create a local living wage supplement for Council staff (to be funded from the Debt Redemption Budget).

b)    Additional investment of £350,000 to provide an Apprentice Travel Card (to be funded from the Debt Redemption Budget).

c)    Additional investment of £100,000 to provide a Children in Care and Care Leavers’ Travel Card (to be funded from the Debt Redemption Budget).

d)    Top slicing the ‘Active Together’ funding by £530,000 to fund healthy projects and healthy living campaigns in Gloucestershire’s disadvantaged communities over two years (pooled at district level).  This would leave £40,000 per councillor over two years (no additional financial cost).

e)    Additional investment of £100,000 for a Community Empowerment Chest (to be funded from the Debt Redemption Budget).

f)     No reduction in Children Centres’ funding in 2014-15 at a cost of £168,000 (to be funded from the Debt Redemption Budget).

g)    To provide £50,000 for a ‘Suited and Booted’ fund to provide 16-18 year olds that are on free school meals and in education or training with funds to buy work clothing, tools, or books.

h)   Fire Service measures – Council Strategy appendix ‘How will we measure our performance’

To add under Outcome 4 ‘People and communities are active and resilient’:

·       Number of home safety visits completed

·       Number of business safety visits completed

·       Number of ‘community interactions’ at:

o   External events

o   Fire Stations (detailed by station)

o   Skillzone

 

Cllr Alan Preest and Cllr Richard Leppington presented an amendment to the budget from the UKIP Group.  They recognised that 2014-15 was the final year of the Meeting the Challenge Programme and therefore they would not be proposing any major changes to the budget.  They were concerned at the pressure on the Adult Social Care and Children and Families budgets arising from the increasing demand for services.  They believed that unless the Council followed a ‘zero based’ budgeting approach it was in danger of becoming seriously overstretched in future years.  They also expressed disappointment that the district councils were not supportive of looking at options for local government reorganisation.

 

UKIP Group budget amendment:

 

Estimated saving of £100,000 by not employing Political Researchers (noting that one-off redundancy costs would be payable).

 

The Chairman called for an adjournment to provide an opportunity for the political groups to discuss and agree amendments.

 

During the adjournment the following amendment was also put forward:

 

Additional investment of £450,000 over two years (2014-15 and 2015-16) to improve Young People’s Mental Health Services(to be funded from the Debt Redemption Budget). 

 

Following the adjournment, the Leader of the Council provided details of those budget amendments that had been agreed:

 

a)    Additional investment of £211,000 to create a local living wage supplement for Council staff (to be funded from the Debt Redemption Budget).

b)    Additional investment of £350,000 to provide an Apprentice Travel Card (to be funded from the Debt Redemption Budget).

c)    Additional investment of £100,000 to provide a Children in Care and Care Leavers’ Travel Card (to be funded from the Debt Redemption Budget).

d)    Top slicing the ‘Active Together’ funding by £530,000 to fund healthy projects and healthy living campaigns in Gloucestershire’s disadvantaged communities over two years (pooled at district level).  This would leave £40,000 per councillor over two years (no additional financial cost).

e)    Additional investment of £100,000 for a Community Empowerment Chest (to be funded from the Debt Redemption Budget).

f)     Additional investment of £450,000 over two years (2014-15 and 2015-16) to improve Young People’s Mental Health Services (to be funded from the Debt Redemption Budget).

g)    £35,000 one-off investment to give all year 5 children attending a Gloucestershire school the opportunity to attend a session at the SkillZone (to be funded from the Debt Redemption Budget).

h)   Residents’ parking permit fees for the first car to be reduced from £80 to £50 with effect from 1 May 2014 at a cost of £132,000 each year (to be funded from the Debt Redemption Budget).

i)     £10,000 for a study into the use of the pupil premium in Gloucestershire’s schools (already funded by £50,000 one-off investment in Education).

He advised that the change proposed to the Council Strategy relating to measuring the performance of Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service had also been accepted.

 

The following budget amendments were withdrawn:

 

a)    Labour Group - No reduction in Children Centres’ funding in 2014-15 at a cost of £168,000 (to be funded from the Debt Redemption Budget).

b)    Labour Group - To provide £50,000 for a ‘Suited and Booted’ fund to provide 16-18 year olds that are on free school meals and in education or training with funds to buy work clothing, tools, or books.

c)    Liberal Democrat Group - To reduce the ‘Active Together’ funding for each councillor from £50,000 to £30,000 in 2014-15 and that £1 million be invested over two years to build upon existing preventative/early help programmes and services to improve young people’s mental health (no additional financial cost).

The following budget amendments were not withdrawn and were subject to a debate and vote in the chamber:

 

a)    Liberal Democrat Group - £1million tobe taken from the Council’s Transformation Reserve to be spent on additional Highway repairs.

A number of members noted that the poor state of the roads were the number one concern on the doorstep.  The condition of the roads had deteriorated significantly in recent weeks as a result of the severe weather.  Taking £1 million from the Transformation Reserve would still mean that there was £7.2 million in the reserve at the end of March 2015.  They supported the bid for £15 million from the Government’s severe weather fund but noted that many of the roads in poor condition were not flood damaged.  They expressed concern that the situation had become so bad that it was dangerous to ride a bicycle or motorcycle on some roads.

 

Other members spoke against the budget amendment and believed that the Council should continue with its long term programme to improve the condition of the county’s roads.  The approach in Gloucestershire was working, with the backlog of repairs significantly lower than in other counties such as Dorset and Wiltshire.  The ‘Highways Local’ Scheme was the mechanism for members to address specific problems in their local area.  The bid for £15 million from the Government’s severe weather fund would allow landslips to be addressed and resurfacing works to be undertaken.    

 

On being put to the vote, the budget amendment was not supported.

 

b)    UKIP Group - Estimated saving of £100,000 by not employing Political Researchers (noting that one-off redundancy costs would be payable).

Some members stated that £100,000 would go a long way in supporting Council services.  They noted that the political parties could employ researchers but they felt that they should do so at their own expense. 

 

Other members stated that there was a cost to democracy.  They believed that the political researchers played an important role in supporting members and the wider democratic process.  They referred to their role in helping to reach a negotiated position on the Council budget.  A member said that there might be some confusion between the political researchers employed by the Council and party political support for which members paid a monthly subscription.

 

Another member believed that there was a ‘democratic deficit’ in the current rules for employing political researchers, whereby only the three largest political groups could employ a researcher.

 

On being put to the vote, the budget amendment was not supported.

 

Members then moved into general debate on the budget. 

 

A member said that climate change would result in more severe weather and flooding.  She believed that it was a woeful dereliction of duty by the Cabinet that the Council was not taking concerted action to reduce the emission of green house gases.  She called on the Council to hold a referendum to allow the public to decide on whether funds should be spent on addressing this critical issue.  

 

Some members expressed serious concern about the national cuts to local government and their impact on vulnerable people.  They noted that the Council was facing an overspend on Adult Social Care in 2013-14 and pressure would increase in future years.   They were pleased, however, that the budget proposals included measures to support the lowest paid, young people entering work, public health and community organisations.  They were disappointed, however, that the budget amendment to protect funding of the Children’s Centres had not been supported. 

 

The Cabinet Member for Older People recognised that Adult Social Care was a demand led service and he reassured members that vulnerable people would receive appropriate levels of support.  He paid tribute to his fellow Cabinet members who had made savings in other areas to allow the Adult Social Care budget to be protected. He noted that joint working with the health community was delivering efficiencies and the Council continued to invest funds to support new initiatives.

 

Another member stated that there was much to support in the budget but he was disappointed that the proposal for an additional £1 million for highway repairs had not been supported.  He noted that more detail was required around the working arrangements for the budget amendments relating to a community empowerment chest and travel cards for young people.  He supported the funding of £450,000 to support Young People’s Mental Health Services but recognised that more funding might be required in the future.

 

In summing up, the Leader of the Council was pleased that there had been cross-party support for nearly all of the Cabinet’s draft budget proposals.  He noted that the debate at the meeting had focused on a very small proportion of the total budget.  He said that he was proud that the Council was continuing to protect services to the most vulnerable but had been able to freeze council tax for the fourth successive year.  He recognised that there were significant challenges ahead with joint working required to develop a new corporate strategy.  He hoped that members could continue to work together in the best interests of the people of Gloucestershire.

 

RESOLVED

1	That the 2014/15 update of the Council Strategy 2011-2015 be approved by Council subject to the following amendment:   Fire Service measures – Council Strategy appendix ‘How will we measure our performance’   To add under Outcome 4 ‘People and communities are active and resilient’: ·       Number of home safety visits completed ·       Number of business safety visits completed ·       Number of ‘community interactions’ at: o   External events o   Fire Stations (detailed by station) o   Skillzone
2	That, having considered the additional consultation responses and the Public Sector Equality Duty Assessment, approval is given to the MTFS submitted to Council amended to take account of the following changes:   a)    Additional investment of £211,000 to create a local living wage supplement for Council staff (to be funded from the Debt Redemption Budget). b)    Additional investment of £350,000 to provide an Apprentice Travel Card (to be funded from the Debt Redemption Budget). c)    Additional investment of £100,000 to provide a Children in Care and Care Leavers’ Travel Card (to be funded from the Debt Redemption Budget). d)    Top slicing the ‘Active Together’ funding by £530,000 to fund healthy projects and healthy living campaigns in Gloucestershire’s disadvantaged communities over two years (pooled at district level).  This would leave £40,000 per councillor over two years (no additional financial cost). e)    Additional investment of £100,000 for a Community Empowerment Chest (to be funded from the Debt Redemption Budget). f)     Additional investment of £450,000 over two years (2014-15 and 2015-16) to improve Young People’s Mental Health Services (to be funded from the Debt Redemption Budget). g)    £35,000 one-off investment to give all year 5 children attending a Gloucestershire school the opportunity to attend a session at the SkillZone (to be funded from the Debt Redemption Budget). h)    Residents’ parking permit fees for the first car to be reduced from £80 to £50 with effect from 1 May 2014 at a cost of £132,000 each year (to be funded from the Debt Redemption Budget). i)     £10,000 for a study into the use of the pupil premium in Gloucestershire’s schools (already funded by £50,000 one-off investment in Education). j)     Reduction in additional debt redemption investment from £1.432m to     £54,000.
3	That approval is given for the council tax for each valuation band, and to issue precepts on each district collection fund as set out below:
	Gloucestershire County Council 2014/15 Budget:
			£000
		Original 2013/14 Budget	430,910
		Inflation	4,566
		Cost and spending increases	14,805
		Cost Reductions	-22,174
		Total	428,107
		Less:
		Formula Grant Council Tax Freeze Grant 2014/15 Public Health Grant NHS Funding New Homes Bonus Education Single Grant Education Statutory Responsibility Grant Collection Fund Surplus	153,443 2,488 21,793 11,596 2,546 5,309 1,255 2,543
		Total to be precepted (Council Tax Requirement)	227,134

 

	Taxbase	Total Precept
	Total	£
Cheltenham	39,045.80	42,579,445
Cotswold	36,906.55	40,246,593
Forest of Dean	26,499.93	28,898,174
Gloucester City	34,673.00	37,810,906
Stroud	40,871.90	44,570,807
Tewkesbury	30,287.37	33,028,377
Total		227,134,302

 

 

3	a)	That approval is given to the Capital programme set out in Annex 8  of the MTFS, and delegated authority is given to the Strategic Finance Director to vary allocations between individual schemes in consultation with the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Change.
	b)	That approval is given to the Operational Boundary and Authorised Limits of Borrowing, as set out in the Treasury Management Strategy, at Annex 9 in the MTFS as follows:

 

	c)	Noting that the authorised limit for 2014/15 will be the statutory limit determined under section 3 (1) of the Local Government Act 2003
	d)	That the approval is given to the Prudential Indicators for Treasury Management set out in Annex 9 of the MTFS for
		(i)	Upper limit of fixed interest rate exposure of £450 million of net outstanding principal sums
		(ii)	Upper limit of variable rate exposure of zero of net outstanding principal sums
		(iii)	the maturity structure of borrowings as set out in Annex 9
		(iv)	the upper limit for principal sums invested for more than 364 days of £50 million
	e)	That approval is given to the Treasury Management Strategy set out in Annex 9 of the MTFS.   A motion for a recorded vote had been proposed and seconded by the Chairman and Vice-chairman and received support from at least 10 members.    The voting on the substantive motion on the budget was as follows:   For (25) – Phil Awford, Dorcas Binns, Rob Bird, Tony Blackburn, Jason Bullingham, Andrew Gravells, Tim Harman, Mark Hawthorne, Tony Hicks, Paul McLain, Patrick Molyneux, Nigel Moor, Shaun Parsons, Vernon Smith, Norman Stephens, Lynden Stowe, Mike Sztymiak, Ray Theodoulou, Brian Tipper, Pam Tracey, Robert Vines, Stan Waddington, Kathy Williams, Roger Wilson and Will Windsor-Clive.   Against (1)- Sarah Lunnon   Abstentions (24) – David Brown, Chris Coleman, Dr John Cordwell, Iain Dobie, Bernard Fisher, Jasminder Gill, Colin Guyton, Joe Harris, Colin Hay, Jeremy Hilton, Paul Hodgkinson, Barry Kirby, Richard Leppington, Stephen Lydon, Steve McHale, Paul McMahon, Tracy Millard, Graham Morgan, Brian Oosthuysen, Alan Preest, Nigel Robbins, Simon Wheeler, Bill Whelan and Lesley Williams.