Agenda item

To consider the recommendations made by Cabinet, at their meeting held on 11 February 2014, in relation to:

 

a)          The Council’s Capital Programme Budget for 2014/15 – 2018/19

b)          The Council’s Revenue Budget proposals for 2014 to 2019 and

c)           The Council’s Treasury Management Strategy Statement and Prudential Indicators for 2014/15 – 2018/19

 

These recommendations are set out in the attached report and will be moved by the Council Leader.

 

Note:

The original budget reports to Cabinet, on which their recommendations are based, were circulated to all Members on 3 February 2014 and can be found on the Council’s website, here:

 

http://democracy.york.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=733&MId=7645&Ver=4

Councillor Alexander moved, and Councillor Simpson-Laing seconded, the recommendations of the Cabinet, as set out in paragraphs 35 to 37 of the report at pages 1 to 3 of the additional Council papers, circulated prior to the meeting and republished with the online agenda, as follows, in relation to:

 

a)      The Council’s Capital Programme Budget for 2014/15 – 2018/19

b)      The Council’s Revenue Budget proposals for 2014 to 2019 and

c)      The Council’s Treasury Management Strategy Statement and Prudential Indicators for 2014/15 – 2018/19

 

“Capital Strategy

35.    Cabinet recommends that Council;

             i.        Agree to the revised capital programme of £182.700m that reflects a net overall increase of £38.132m (as set out in paragraph 53 table 7 and in Annex B). Key elements of this include:

 

a.   Extension of prudential borrowing funded Rolling Programme schemes totalling £11.050m as set out in table 2 and summarised in table 7;

 

b.   New schemes totalling £6.120m including an increase in prudential borrowing of £5.325m as set out in table 3 and summarised in table 7;

 

c.   New externally funded schemes totalling £12.003m as set out in table 4 and summarised in table 7;

 

d.   An increase in HRA funded schemes totalling £8.959m funded from HRA balances of £8.959m as set out in table 5 and summarised in table 7.

 

            ii.        Approve the full restated programme as summarised in Annex A totalling £182.700m cover financial years 2014/15 to 2018/19 as set out in table 8 and Annex A

 

Reason:     To set a balanced capital programme as required by the Local Government Act 2003.

 

Revenue Budget

36.    Cabinet recommends that Council;

             i.        approve the budget proposals outlined in the Financial Strategy report, in particular;

 

                               a.    The net revenue expenditure requirement of £124.186m

 

                               b.    A Council Tax requirement of £71.768m

 

                               c.    The revenue growth proposals as outlined in the body of the report

 

                               d.    The revenue savings proposals as outlined in Annex 3 and 4

 

                               e.    The fees and charges proposals as outlined in Annex 5

 

                               f.      The Housing Revenue Account budget set out in Annex 6

 

                               g.    The dedicated schools grant proposals outlined in Annex 7

 

            ii.        Note that the effect of approving the income and expenditure proposals included in the recommendations would result in a 1.9% increase in the City of York Council element of the council tax.

 

Reason: To ensure a legally balanced budget is set.

Treasury Management Strategy Statement and Prudential Indicators

37.    Cabinet recommends that Council approve;

             i.        The proposed treasury management strategy for 2014/15, including the annual investment strategy and the minimum revenue provision policy statement

            ii.        The prudential indicators for 2014/15 to 2018/19 in the main body of the Cabinet report

           iii.        The specified and non specified investments schedule (Annex B to the Cabinet report)

          iv.        The scheme of delegation and the role of the Section 151 officer (Annex D to the Cabinet report)

Reason:              To enable the continued effective operation of the Treasury Management function and ensure that all Council borrowing is prudent, affordable and sustainable.”

Conservative Amendment

Councillor Steward then moved and Councillor Healey seconded, an amendment to the above recommendations on behalf of the Conservative Group, as follows:

“Capital Strategy

 

In paragraph 35 (i), first line, replace ‘£182.700m’ with ‘£180.700m’ and second line, replace ‘£38.132m’ with ‘£36.132m’

 

Under paragraph 35 (i), insert new sub paragraph:

 

(e) ‘Removal of £2m of expenditure related to Reinvigorate York.’

 

In paragraph 35 (ii), second line, replace ‘£182.700m’ with ‘£180.700m’

 

Revenue Budget

 

In paragraph 36 (i),sub paragraph (a), delete ‘£124.186m’ and replace with ‘£122.848m’

 

In sub paragraph (b), delete ‘£71.768m’ and replace with ‘£70.430m’

 

In sub paragraph (c)add at the end of the sentence ‘subject to the following amendments;

 

·        an additional £200k to fund pothole repairs

 

·        an additional £143k for gully cleaning

 

·        an additional £130k to fund 10 new apprentices

 

·        an additional £91k to increase the contribution to the general reserve

 

·        an additional £74k to fund 100 new litter bins and the cost of emptying them

 

·        an additional £48k to extend green bin collections into November each year

 

·        an additional £40k to reinstate salt bins that have been removed related to prior year budget savings

 

·        a reduction of £180k for the Funding the Capital Programme growth item as a result of the revenue implications of the proposed capital strategy changes as set out in paragraph 35 (i) (e).

 

In sub paragraph (d)add at the end of the sentence ‘subject to the following amendments;

·          Add new proposal to remove uncommitted budget related to the Delivery and Innovation Fund to save £608k

 

·          Add new proposal to use the 2014/15 additional New Homes Bonus allocation to save £559k

 

·          Add new proposal to reduce budgets related to trade unions, including convenors, release arrangements and accommodation costs, by £110k so as to meet statutory minimum requirements

 

·          Add new proposal to reduce Cabinet Members by two to save £29k

 

·          Removal of  proposal:

o   CES402 – Parking Services (Minster badge removal) £200k’

 

In paragraph 36 (ii), second line, delete ‘1.9%’ and replace with ‘0%’.  Insert new text after ‘City of York Council element of the council tax’as follows ‘resulting in the Council being able to accept the Council Tax Freeze Grant of £778k.”

 

In accordance with the recently issued recommendations in the Department for Communities and Local Government regulations it was confirmed that a named vote would be taken on all votes in relation to the setting of the budget.

 

A named vote was then taken on the Conservative amendment, with the following result:

 

For	Against	Abstained
Cllr Barton	Cllr Alexander	Cllr Gunnell (Lord Mayor)
Cllr Doughty	Cllr Barnes	Cllr Aspden
Cllr Galvin	Cllr Boyce	Cllr Ayre
Cllr Gillies	Cllr Crisp	Cllr Burton
Cllr Healey	Cllr Cunningham-Cross	Cllr Cuthbertson
Cllr Richardson	Cllr D’Agorne	Cllr Firth
Cllr Steward	Cllr Douglas	Cllr Hyman
Cllr Warters	Cllr Fitzpatrick	Cllr Jeffries
Cllr Watt	Cllr Fraser	Cllr Orrell
Cllr Wiseman	Cllr Funnell	Cllr Reid
	Cllr Hodgson	Cllr Runciman
	Cllr Horton
	Cllr King
	Cllr Levene
	Cllr Looker
	Cllr McIlveen
	Cllr Merrett
	Cllr Potter
	Cllr Riches
	Cllr Scott
	Cllr Semlyen
	Cllr Simpson-Laing
	Cllr Taylor
	Cllr Watson
	Cllr Williams
10	25	11

 

The Conservative amendment was declared LOST.

 

First Liberal Democrat Amendment

Councillor Aspden then moved, and Councillor Ayre seconded, an amendment on behalf of the Liberal/Democratic Group.

“Capital Strategy

 

In paragraph 35 (i), first line, replace ‘£182.700m’ with ‘£168.356m’ and second line, replace ‘£38.132m’ with ‘£23.788m’

 

Under paragraph 35 (i), insert new sub paragraphs:

 

(e) ‘Reduce borrowing and expenditure totalling £14m related to the following existing schemes currently within the Economic Infrastructure Fund:

 

·        £9.5m related to the Infrastructure Investment Plan

·        £2.0m related to Reinvigorate York

·        £1.5m related to Newgate Market

·        £1.0m related to the Digital and Media Arts Hub’

 

(f) ‘Remove the following schemes from the Economic Infrastructure Fund, totalling £809k, and transfer the equivalent amount of funding to the new Future York Fund:

 

·        £559k Super Connected Cities

·        £150k Financial Inclusion and Action Policy Plan

·        £100k Economic Inclusion Programme’

 

(g) ‘Remove the Officer Delivery Team from the Economic Infrastructure Fund, reducing the value of the programme by £344k’

 

(h) ‘Delay £1.11m of investment in the new IT Development Plan from 2014/15 until 2015/16.’

 

In paragraph 35 (ii), second line, replace ‘£182.700m’ with ‘£168.356m’

 

Revenue Budget

 

In paragraph 36 (i),sub paragraph (a), delete ‘£124.186m’ and replace with ‘£122.848m’

 

In sub paragraph (b), delete ‘£71.768m’ and replace with ‘£70.430m’

 

In sub paragraph (c)add at the end of the sentence ‘subject to the following amendments;

 

·        A reduction of £550k in Funding the Capital Programme growth item as a result of the revenue implications of the proposed capital strategy changes as set out in paragraph 35 (i) (e) and (f), as amended

 

·        Removal of the £200k General Reserve contribution growth item

 

·        Removal of the £200k Contingency growth item

 

·        Removal of the £100k York Financial Assistance Scheme growth item

 

·        Removal of the £50k Business Rates discount growth item

 

·        An additional £600k to reinstate the Fair Access to Care Services criteria to ‘Moderate’

 

·        An additional £500k to establish a Community Fund budget

 

·        An additional £185k to reinstate the Highways Infrastructure budget removed in 2013/14

 

·        An additional £100k to increase the Gulley Cleaning budget

 

·        An additional £100k to increase Preventative spend

 

·        An additional £100k to increase Highways budgets

 

·        An additional £96k to extend green waste collection provision to an extra two months

 

·        An additional £50k to increase Young Peoples Services budgets

 

·        An additional £48k to increase Carers Support budgets

 

·        An additional £20k to fund a review of Household Waste and Recycling Centre facilities at Towthorpe and in the west of York

 

·        An additional £17k to reinstate some capacity for bin collection in the city

 

·        An additional £10k to reinstate the Winter Maintenance budget removed in 2012/13

 

·        An additional £10k to reinstate the Allotment budget removed in 2013/14’

 

In sub paragraph (d)add at the end of the sentence ‘subject to the following amendments;

·          Add new proposal to abolish the Delivery and Innovation fund to save £1,000k

 

·          Add new proposal to remove the remaining General Reserve contribution budget of £450k

 

·          Add new proposal to payments to the Council’s Venture Fund to save £411k

 

·          Add new proposal to abolish the Quality Bus Contract to save £158k

 

·          Add new proposal to remove the Economic Infrastructure Fund Delivery Team and bring the corresponding amount of New Homes Bonus funding into the revenue budget to save £86k

 

·          Add new proposal to remove the Assistant Director for Transformation post to save £80k

 

·          Add new proposal to reduce trade union budgets to save £55k

 

·          Add new proposal to reduce cabinet members by two to save £29k

 

·          Bring forward CBSS5017 Training Provision from 2015/16 to save £50k in 2014/15

 

·          Bring forward a proportion of CBSS5012 West Offices Income from 2015/16 to save £20k in 2014/15

 

·          Removal of  proposals:

o   CES402 - Parking Services (Minster badge removal) £200k

o   CS05B - Transforming Young Peoples Services - Further Stretch £150k

o   CANS514 - Sports Facilities £120k

o   CES205 - Highways Budgets £100k

o   CANS12 - Community Centres £70k

o   CES05B - Taxi Card £63k

o   CS07 - Children's Respite Care £50k

o   CES14 - Traffic Systems £50k

o   CES401 - Highways Services £40k

o   H&W413 - Community Facilitator Posts        £34k

o   CSES406 - Children's Centres Operational Budget       £30k

o   AC10B - Respite Services Care Review £26k

o   CANS09 – Allotments £25k

o   CANS07 - Bowling Greens £22k

o   CSES412 - Voluntary Sector Grants £20k

o   CES202 - Winter Maintenance £20k

o   CANS20 - Play Grants £20k

o   CANS110 - Environmental Protection Unit £3k’

 

Under paragraph 36 (i), insert new sub paragraph:

 

h.    ‘Creation of the Future York Fund totalling £5.5m up to 2016/17 and including unspent funding from the abolished Delivery & Innovation Fund (£306k), the Economic Infrastructure Fund (£809k), the Venture Fund (£1,494k) and New Homes Bonus (£2,883k).  Initial spending commitments against the fund will include:

 

·        Super Connected Cities £569k

·        Financial Policy & Action Plan £150k

·        Economic Inclusion £100k

·        Waterworld £450k

·        Adult Care Transformation £200k

·        Carbon Reduction Scheme £50k

·        Business Rates Scheme £50k

·        Access York £40k

·        Rail Policy £8k’

 

In paragraph 36 (ii), second line, delete ‘1.9%’ and replace with ‘0%’.  Insert new text after ‘City of York Council element of the council tax’as follows ‘resulting in the Council being able to accept the Council Tax Freeze Grant of £778k.”

 

A named vote was then taken on the first Liberal/Democrat amendment, with the following result:

 

For	Against	Abstained
Cllr Aspden	Cllr Alexander	Cllr Gunnell (Lord Mayor)
Cllr Ayre	Cllr Barnes	Cllr Barton
Cllr Cuthbertson	Cllr Boyce	Cllr D’Agorne
Cllr Firth	Cllr Burton	Cllr Doughty
Cllr Hyman	Cllr Crisp	Cllr Galvin
Cllr Jeffries	Cllr Cunningham-Cross	Cllr Gillies
Cllr Orrell	Cllr Douglas	Cllr Healey
Cllr Reid	Cllr Fitzpatrick	Cllr Richardson
Cllr Runciman	Cllr Fraser	Cllr Steward
Cllr Warters	Cllr Funnell	Cllr Taylor
	Cllr Hodgson	Cllr Watt
	Cllr Horton	Cllr Wiseman
	Cllr King
	Cllr Levene
	Cllr Looker
	Cllr McIlveen
	Cllr Merrett
	Cllr Potter
	Cllr Riches
	Cllr Scott
	Cllr Semlyen
	Cllr Simpson-Laing
	Cllr Watson
	Cllr Williams
10	24	12

 

The first Liberal Democrat amendment was declared LOST.

 

Green Amendment

Councillor D’Agorne then moved and Councillor Taylor seconded, an amendment to the above recommendations on behalf of the Green Group, as follows:

“Capital Strategy

35.       Cabinet recommends that Council;

i.               Agree to the revised capital programme of £182.700m that reflects a net overall increase of £38.132m (as set out in paragraph 53 table 7 and in Annex B). Key elements of this include:

 

                               a.    Extension of prudential borrowing funded Rolling Programme schemes totalling £11.050m as set out in table 2 and summarised in table 7;

 

                               b.    New schemes totalling £6.120m including an increase in prudential borrowing of £5.325m as set out in table 3 and summarised in table 7;

 

                               c.    New externally funded schemes totalling £12.003m as set out in table 4 and summarised in table 7;

 

                               d.    An increase in HRA funded schemes totalling £8.959m funded from HRA balances of £8.959m as set out in table 5 and summarised in table 7.

 

ii.      Approve the full restated programme as summarised in Annex A totalling £182.700m cover financial years 2014/15 to 2018/19 as set out in table 8 and Annex A

 

Reason: To set a balanced capital programme as required by the Local Government Act 2003.

 

Revenue Budget

 

In paragraph 36 (i),sub paragraph (a), delete ‘£124.186m’ and replace with ‘£124.890m’

 

In sub paragraph (b), delete ‘£71.768m’ and replace with ‘£72.472m’

 

In sub paragraph (c)add at the end of the sentence ‘subject to the following amendments;

 

·        An increase in the Financial Assistance Scheme growth item of £50k

 

·        Removal of the £200k General Reserve contribution growth item

 

·        An additional £190k to cover the costs of holding a referendum and rebilling as a result of proposing a Council Tax higher than 2%

 

·         An  additional £100k to retain support and premises for the most needy young people in the city whilst capacity and partnerships are built with the voluntary and community services sector

 

·        An additional £50k to create a capacity pot for the voluntary and community services sector delivering youth provision in the city

 

·        An additional £43k to support the reduction in waiting times for Mental Health services’

 

In sub paragraph (d)add at the end of the sentence ‘subject to the following amendments;

·          Add new proposal to remove uncommitted budget related to the Delivery and Innovation Fund to save £608k

 

·          Amend CES00B to reduce the reduction in City and Environmental Service staffing costs by £200k

 

·          Amend CSES402 by retaining 2 FTEs for Early Intervention work at a cost of £68k

 

·          Amend CANS06 to retain the locking and unlocking of park gates at a cost of £68k

 

·          Remove CANS558 Food Safety Inspections and invest further funding so that this service is retained fully in house at a total cost of £35k

 

·          Amend CANS07 by £11k to restore half of the proposed reduction to bowling greens

 

·          Amend CS11 Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services at a cost of 9k to reverse savings not yet delivered

·          Removal of proposals:

o    CANS17 - Library Services £150k

o    H&W422 - End of Life Care team £88k

o    CANS12 - Community Centres £70k

o    CS07 - Children's Respite Care £50k

o    H&W402 - Day Care for 24 hour Residential Customers £43k

o    H&W413 - Community Facilitator posts £34k

o    AC19 - Sheltered Housing with Extra Care £33k

o    CSES406 - Children's Centres Operational Budgets £30k

o    H&W423 - Reduce Day Care for Supported Living Customers £29k

o    CANS09 - Allotments £25k

o    CES203 - Waste Strategy £24k

o    CES203A - Waste Strategy £24k

o    CES202 - Winter Maintenance £20k

o    CANS20 - Play Grants £20k

o    CSES412 - Voluntary Sector Grants £20K

o    H&W417 - Carers Service £15k

o    CES307 - Community Transport £10k

o    CANS110 - Environmental Protection Unit £3k

 

In sub paragraph (e)add at the end of the sentence ‘subject to the addition of a reduction in the householder pre-application enquiry charge to £10.00 (current £58.00) where the enquiry relates to solar panels or double glazing.  This action will be cost neutral and not affect paragraphs (c) and (d) above.’

 

In paragraph 36 (ii), second line, delete ‘1.9%’ and replace with ‘2.9%’.  Insert new text after ‘City of York Council element of the council tax’as follows ‘resulting in the Council having to hold a referendum.’

 

A named vote was then taken on the Green amendment, with the following result:

 

For	Against	Abstained
Cllr D’Agorne	Cllr Alexander	Cllr Gunnell (Lord Mayor)
Cllr Taylor	Cllr Aspden
	Cllr Ayre
	Cllr Barnes
	Cllr Barton
	Cllr Boyce
	Cllr Burton
	Cllr Crisp
	Cllr Cunningham-Cross
	Cllr Cuthbertson
	Cllr Doughty
	Cllr Douglas
	Cllr Firth
	Cllr Fitzpatrick
	Cllr Fraser
	Cllr Funnell
	Cllr Galvin
	Cllr Gillies
	Cllr Healey
	Cllr Hodgson
	Cllr Horton
	Cllr Hyman
	Cllr Jeffries
	Cllr King
	Cllr Levene
	Cllr Looker
	Cllr McIlveen
	Cllr Merrett
	Cllr Orrell
	Cllr Potter
	Cllr Reid
	Cllr Riches
	Cllr Runciman
	Cllr Scott
	Cllr Semlyen
	Cllr Simpson-Laing
	Cllr Steward
	Cllr Warters
	Cllr Watson
	Cllr Watt
	Cllr Williams
	Cllr Wiseman
2	42	1

 

The Green amendment was declared LOST.

 

Second Liberal Democrat Amendment

Councillor Ayre then moved, and Councillor Aspden seconded, the second amendment on behalf of the Liberal/Democratic Group as follows:

“Capital Strategy

36.       Cabinet recommends that Council;

i.     Agree to the revised capital programme of £182.700m that reflects a net overall increase of £38.132m (as set out in paragraph 53 table 7 and in Annex B). Key elements of this include:

 

a.  Extension of prudential borrowing funded Rolling Programme schemes totalling £11.050m as set out in table 2 and summarised in table 7;

 

b.  New schemes totalling £6.120m including an increase in prudential borrowing of £5.325m as set out in table 3 and summarised in table 7;

 

c.  New externally funded schemes totalling £12.003m as set out in table 4 and summarised in table 7;

 

d.  In increase in HRA funded schemes totalling £8.959m funded from HRA balances of £8.959m as set out in table 5 and summarised in table 7.

 

ii.  Approve the full restated programme as summarised in Annex A totalling £182.700m cover financial years 2014/15 to 2018/19 as set out in table 8 and Annex A

 

Reason: To set a balanced capital programme as required by the Local Government Act 2003.

 

Revenue Budget

 

In paragraph 36 (i),sub paragraph (a), delete ‘£124.186m’ and replace with ‘£122.848m’

 

In sub paragraph (b), delete ‘£71.768m’ and replace with ‘£70.430m’

 

In sub paragraph (c) add at the end of the sentence ‘subject to the following amendment;

 

·        Removal of the £200k General Reserve contribution growth item’

 

In sub paragraph (d) add at the end of the sentence ‘subject to the following amendment;

·        Add new proposal to remove £360k of the existing General Reserve contribution budget’

 

In paragraph 36 (ii), second line, delete ‘1.9%’ and replace with ‘0%’.  Insert new text after ‘City of York Council element of the council tax’as follows ‘resulting in the Council being able to accept the Council Tax Freeze Grant of £778k.’

 

A named vote was then taken on the second Liberal/Democrat amendment, with the following result:

 

For	Against	Abstained
Cllr Aspden	Cllr Alexander	Cllr Gunnell (Lord Mayor)
Cllr Ayre	Cllr Barnes
Cllr Barton	Cllr Boyce
Cllr Cuthbertson	Cllr Burton
Cllr Doughty	Cllr Crisp
Cllr Firth	Cllr Cunningham-Cross
Cllr Galvin	Cllr D’Agorne
Cllr Gillies	Cllr Douglas
Cllr Healey	Cllr Fitzpatrick
Cllr Hyman	Cllr Fraser
Cllr Jeffries	Cllr Funnell
Cllr Orrell	Cllr Hodgson
Cllr Reid	Cllr Horton
Cllr Richardson	Cllr King
Cllr Runciman	Cllr Levene
Cllr Steward	Cllr Looker
Cllr Watt	Cllr McIlveen
Cllr Warters	Cllr Merrett
Cllr Wiseman	Cllr Potter
	Cllr Riches
	Cllr Scott
	Cllr Semlyen
	Cllr Simpson-Laing
	Cllr Taylor
	Cllr Watson
	Cllr Williams
19	26	1

 

The second Liberal Democrat amendment was declared LOST.

 

A named vote was then taken on the original motion, with the following result:

 

For	Against	Abstained
Cllr Gunnell (Lord Mayor)	Cllr Aspden	Cllr Taylor
Cllr Alexander	Cllr Ayre
Cllr Barnes	Cllr Barton
Cllr Boyce	Cllr Cuthbertson
Cllr Burton	Cllr D’Agorne
Cllr Crisp	Cllr Doughty
Cllr Cunningham-Cross	Cllr Firth
Cllr Douglas	Cllr Galvin
Cllr Fitzpatrick	Cllr Gillies
Cllr Fraser	Cllr Healey
Cllr Funnell	Cllr Hyman
Cllr Hodgson	Cllr Jeffries
Cllr Horton	Cllr Orrell
Cllr King	Cllr Reid
Cllr Levene	Cllr Richardson
Cllr Looker	Cllr Runciman
Cllr McIlveen	Cllr Steward
Cllr Merrett	Cllr Warters
Cllr Potter	Cllr Watt
Cllr Riches	Cllr Wiseman
Cllr Scott
Cllr Semlyen
Cllr Simpson-Laing
Cllr Watson
Cllr Williams
25	20	1

 

The original motion was then declared CARRIED and it was

 

RESOLVED:       That the Cabinet recommendations in respect of the Capital Programme, Financial Strategy and Treasury Management Strategy Statement and Prudential Indicators be approved. ^1.