Agenda item

Cabinet, at its meeting on 30 January 2020, considered a report on the draft revenue budget 2020/21, and the capital programme to 2024/25.

The report of the interim head of finance, which Cabinet considered, has been circulated to all councillors. Please bring this to the Council meeting. 

At its meeting Cabinet resolved the following:

(a)      that Cabinet is minded to adopt recommendation 1 and minded to recommend Council to adopt recommendation 2, as set out in the interim head of finance’s report to Cabinet on 30 January 2020, subject to a reduction from £500,000 to £410,000 in recommendation 2(e) by halving the councillor grants budget from £180,000 to £90,000;

(b)      that Cabinet invites Scrutiny Committee’s comments on (a) above; and

(c)       that Cabinet reconsiders the interim head of finance’s budget report at a Cabinet meeting on 11 February 2020 at 9.30am and makes recommendations to Council on 13 February 2020. 

At its meeting on 4 February the Scrutiny Committee resolved to recommend Cabinet to allocate £500,000 to fund the Communities Capital and Revenue Grant Scheme and not to half the councillor grants budget from £180,000 to

£ £90,000.

The committee did not support Cabinet’s minded decision to maintain car park fees and charges at current levels pending a review of fees and charges later in the year.

Cabinet’s recommendations will be circulated to all councillors following the meeting on 11 February 2020.

Prior to the conclusion of the debate on this item, and prior to the expiry of two and a half hours, Council agreed, in accordance with council procedure rule 12, to extend the meeting for a further period not exceeding 30 minutes, and to defer the consideration of motions on notice (agenda item 15) until the Council meeting on 20 February 2020.

Mrs Camps-Walsh addressed Council against the Cabinet decision, made at its meeting on 30 January, to withdraw grant support for groups progressing neighbourhood plans. She stated that, contrary to information contained in the Cabinet report, the end of the grant support will have a significant detrimental effect on communities and could reduce the number of plans progressed. No consultation had been undertaken with neighbourhood plan groups. The other grants referred to in the report involved a complicated application process. To date the government had not confirmed whether government funding to local authorities would cease and therefore such a decision was premature. No analysis of the savings was set out in the report.  

The chairman referred to regulations that require councils to record the names of those councillors voting in favour, against or abstaining from any vote on the budget, including amendments, and the council tax. In accordance with the regulations he would call for a named vote on each of these matters at this meeting.

The chairman reminded councillors that they were not entitled to vote on any issue affecting the level or administration of the council tax or other decisions which might affect the making of any such calculation such as the budget, if they were over two months in arrears with their council tax payments. Where such circumstances applied, councillors were under a statutory obligation to disclose the restriction placed on them and refrain from voting at the relevant meeting. No councillor made any such declaration.

Council considered Cabinet’s recommendations, made at its meetings on 11 February 2020, on the revenue budget 2020/21, and the capital programme to 2024/25.

The Scrutiny Committee considered the report at its meeting on 4 February 2020.  The committee recommended Cabinet allocate £500,000 to fund the Communities Capital and Revenue Grant Scheme and not to half the councillor grants budget from £180,000 to £90,000. The committee did not support Cabinet’s minded decision, made at its meeting on 30 January, to maintain car park fees and charges at current levels pending a review later in the year.

Council noted the report of the chief finance officeron the robustness of the budget estimates and the adequacy of the reserves.

Councillor Turner, Cabinet member for finance, presented the Cabinet’s proposals for the revenue budget 2020/21 and capital programme to 2024/25. On behalf of the council he thanked officers for their part in continuing to control costs and in preparing the draft budget.  

Councillor Turner moved and Councillor Cooper seconded a motion to approve Cabinet’s recommendations as follows: to

1.    set the revenue budget for 2020/21 as set out in appendix A.1 to the interim head of finance’s report to Cabinet on 30 January 2020;

2.    approve the capital programme for 2020/21 to 2024/25 as set out in appendix D.1 to the report, together with the capital programme changes as set out in appendix D.2 to the report;

3.    set the council’s prudential limits as listed in appendix E to the report;

4.    approve the medium term financial plan to 2024/25 as set out in appendix F to the report;

5.    allocate £500,000 to fund the Communities Capital and Revenue grant scheme; and

6.    ask officers to review the Medium Term Financial Strategy 2018/19 to 2022/23 following the 2020 spending review and Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government announcements of changes to the council’s future funding streams. 

In moving the recommendation Councillor Turner drew attention to the funding issues facing the council – rising expenditure with lower central government funding and lower investment returns. 

A number of councillors spoke against the budget proposals.  Some expressed disappointment that the Cabinet had not engaged with other political groups during the budget process as had been the case in previous years. The objectives of the transformation activity fund were vague with no measurable targets. The savings proposals and increase in fees would impact on rural communities most – for example the increase in the charge for dog litter bin collections and cuts to the planning enforcement team reducing staff  resources to address unauthorised/speculative development. A number of councillors opposed cuts to neighbourhood planning grants and expressed the view that the alternative funding could be difficult for groups to access. The one year grant to fund the work programme of the Climate Emergency Advisory Committee was inadequate and failed to address the urgency of the climate emergency. There were no proposals to harness the economic benefits of the River Thames. Others expressed concern at the lack of capital funding for leisure and arts facilities – Didcot Wave and Cornerstone. Concern was also expressed regarding the delay to the review of car park fees and charges which currently showed a deficit. A number of councillors noted that a  failure to increase council tax in previous years had placed pressure on the council’s reserves to support the revenue budget and there were no plans to address the gradual decline in these reserves. Others did not support the reduction in the budget for grants which local communities rely on to fund community projects. 

However, the majority of councillors supported the budget proposals. The inclusion of a transformation budget will include a review of a number of services and have the aim of achieving greater income generation. The reduction in the grants budget, whilst regrettable, was necessary and should not detract from the financial support provided to many organisations over recent years. The support for the one-year work programme aimed at helping to tackle the climate emergency in South Oxfordshire would help the council work towards achieving its zero target for all its facilities by 2025 and support other initiatives. In light of the uncertainty over New Homes Bonus, and in anticipation of the government’s review of local government funding, it was necessary to set a prudent budget recognising the current pressures on funding. The budget did this with immediate cost savings and increased charges for some council services, garden waste and dog bin emptying services, and protected front line services.

In accordance with regulations requiring councils to record the names of those councillors voting in favour, against or abstaining from any vote on the budget the chairman called for a recorded vote which was carried with the voting being as follows:

RESOLVED: to

1.    set the revenue budget for 2020/21 as set out in appendix A.1 to the interim head of finance’s report to Cabinet on 30 January 2020;

2.    approve the capital programme for 2020/21 to 2024/25 as set out in appendix D.1 to the report, together with the capital programme changes as set out in appendix D.2 to the report;

3.    set the council’s prudential limits as listed in appendix E to the report;

4.    approve the medium term financial plan to 2024/25 as set out in appendix F to the report;

5.    allocate £500,000 to fund the Communities Capital and Revenue grant scheme; and

6.    ask officers to review the Medium Term Financial Strategy 2018/19 to 2022/23 following the 2020 spending review and Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government announcements of changes to the council’s future funding streams.