Agenda item

·       Report HOF265 by the Strategic Director Corporate Focus and Head of Finance.

(Enclosure)

 

·       Report HOF264 by the Strategic Director Corporate Focus and Head of Finance.

(Enclosure)

Decision:

 

General Fund (Revenue)

           

            That Cabinet recommends part a. to c. to Council:

 

a.          to set a General Fund budget requirement of £13.170M for 2014/15 shown at Appendix A to report HOF265 (inclusive of special expenses)

b.          to approve a level of Council Tax for 2014/15 (no increase same level as 2013/14)

c.          to note the indicative base estimates for 2015/16 and 2016/17 as detailed in the summary at Appendix A to report HOF265;

 

Capital Programme

 

 That Cabinet recommends d. to e. to Council:

 

d.              to approve the General Fund Capital programme for 2014/15 to 2018/19 as detailed at Appendix C page 1 to report HOF265

e.              to approve the Capital Financing statement as detailed at Appendix C page 2 to report HOF265

 

Reserves and balances 

 

That Cabinet recommends f. to Council:

 

f.                To note the movements in Revenue and Capital reserves and balances as detailed in Appendix D to report HOF265.

 

Treasury Management and prudential indicators

 

That Cabinet recommends g. to Council:

 

g.       To approve the Treasury Management Strategy provided at Appendix E to report HOF265;

 

 

Considerations/reasons for decision:

 

1)              Report HOF265 from the Strategic Director Corporate Focus and the Head of Finance in relation to:

·         Budget Estimates 2014/15.

·         The Districts basic amount of Council Tax for 2014/15 and the Government’s Council Tax freeze grant enabling the Council Tax to be held at 2013/14 level.

·         Provisional settlement figures for 2015/16 announced by Government which show a continuing reduction in the amount of Revenue Support Grant that will be provided by £1.2M.

·         Reserves and Balances

·         The Capital Programme 2014/15 - 2018/19

·         Treasury Management and Investment Strategy

2)       The budget for 2014 /15 and indicative budgets for 2015/16 to 2016/17 have been drawn up to take account of the Council's various strategies, policies and the financial context, in particular:

 

·             The Corporate Plan – 2021 Vision

·             The Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS)

·             Service Strategies and Plans

·             Asset Management Strategy

·             The economic context and recent grant announcements

·             The 2013/14 forecast outturn

3)       The proposals have regard to accounting requirements and external factors affecting the budget including:

·             The Prudential Code for controlling Local Government capital.

·             The grant settlement from Government for future years.

·             The impact of the economic climate placing a higher demand on particular services in relation to social care and well being, specifically benefit advice and support and homelessness.

·             Investment Income and fees and charges.

4)       The need to keep the Medium Term Financial Strategy under review and updated following national policy announcements, in particular any further changes to funding arrangements.

5)       Confirmation from the Section151 Officer that the budget presented to the Cabinet for 2014/15 was robust in its formulation and the level of reserves were adequate for the organisation.

6)       Consultations undertaken with members of the Council’s Citizens’ Panel and the wider community via an on-line survey which were receptive to an increase in Council Tax going forward.

7)       Comments made about the clarity of descriptions within the report and the inclusion of words to add clarity.

8)       Comments made thanking the Officers and their team for all the hard work in putting the budget together.

9)       Comments made by the Strategic Director Corporate Focus and the Head of Finance.

10)          Comments made by the Leader thanking all those who had been involved in the budget preparation including the Resources PDG. Due to hard work and diligence a balanced budget had been produced without the necessity to increase the Council Tax.  The achievement made should not be under estimated.

 

 

 

 

 

Decision:

 

Housing Revenue Account (HRA)

 

That Cabinet recommends a. to d. to Council:

 

a.              to approve dwelling rent increases in accordance with Government guideline rent providing an average rent of £78.13 (an average rental increase of 5.13%)

b.              to approve an increase in garage rents of 3.2%

c.              to approve an increase in service charges by 3.2%  

d.              to approve the Housing Revenue Account for the year 2014/15 (including the  items at Appendix A to report HOF264) and indicative years 2015/16 and 2016/17 as shown at Appendix B to report HOF264

 

Investment Programmes

 

 That Cabinet recommends e. to f. to Council:

 

e.              to approve the Housing Investment programme for 2014/15 to 2018/19 as shown at Appendix C to report HOF264

f.                to approve the Capital Financing statement as detailed at Appendix C to report HOF264

 

Reserves and balances 

 

That Cabinet recommends g. to Council:

 

g.              To approve the movements in HRA revenue and Capital reserves and balances as detailed in Appendix D to report HOF264.

 

 

Considerations/reasons for decision:

 

1)              Report HOF264 from the Strategic Director Corporate Focus and the Strategic Director Community & Environment.

2)              The introduction of self-financing and the changes introduced by the Localism Act had meant that the Council could embark on a programme of housing related projects.

3)              A new medium term Housing Strategy had been adopted, together with an updated Tenancy and Allocations policy and a comprehensive review of the HRA Asset Management Strategy was being undertaken.

4)              The Council’s existing policy to meet rent convergence (the process whereby the rental levels are in line with similar properties in the social sector). At the level of individual dwellings, the percentage increase depended upon each property’s proximity to its target, increases varied between 4.13% and 5.57%.  For most properties the rent convergence target would happen in 2015/16.

5)       Changes by central government to the level of housing benefit being paid to social housing tenants.

6)       Consultations undertaken with tenants.

7)       The introduction of a number of welfare reform changes and the Local Council Tax Support scheme.

8)       The HRA Budget and indicative budgets for 2015/16 to 2016/17 had been drawn up to take account of the relevant Council's strategies, policies and the financial context, in particular:

·     The Corporate Plan

·     The Housing Business Plan

·     Service Strategies and Plans

·     HRA Asset management Strategy

·     The economic context and recent grant announcements

·     The 2013/14 HRA forecast outturn

9)       Comments from the Leader once again thanking all those involved in the preparation of the HRA budget for all their hard work and the difficult decisions that had been made.