To receive Report no: 38/2021 from the Cabinet on recommendations referred to the Council for determination.

Fees and Charges

 

At this juncture of the meeting, the Chairman, having declared a pecuniary interest, withdrew from the meeting.

 

Councillor Begy took the Chair.

 

Councillors Stephenson and Oxley also withdrew from the meeting having declared pecuniary interests.

 

Members of the Council considered report no: 05/2021 – Fees and Charges, that had been recommended by Cabinet. Councillor G Brown, as the relevant Cabinet Member, proposed the report and thanked the Chief Finance Officer and Finance Team for their hard work. It was noted that no changes had been made since the items were drafted and debated at the Scrutiny Committees on the 27^th and 28^th of January 2021 and no recommendations had been from those Committees.

 

Councillor Razzell seconded the report.

 

There voted in favour:

 

Councillors Ainsley, Begy Blanksby, Bool, A Brown, G Brown, Burrows, Coleman, Dale, Fox, Hemsley, Jones, Lowe, Payne, Powell, Razzell, Waller, Walters, Webb, Wilby and Woodley.

 

There who abstained:

Councillor MacCartney

 

The vote being 21 in favour and 1 abstention, the motion was carried.

 

RESOLVED:

 

a)    That the level of fees and charges for 2021/22 as set out in Appendices 1-4 of the report be approved.

 

b)    That it be noted that taxi and private hire vehicle licenses fees would be subject to change based on the outcome of forthcoming consultation through a public notice procedure and be brought back for approval following that consultation.

 

c)    That it be noted that weekly Residential Home Care rates were subject to a separate report.

 

Councillors Baines, Stephenson and Oxley re-joined the meeting with Councillor Baines resuming the Chair.

 

The Chairman explained that the next two items would be voted for en bloc.

 

 

Treasury Management Strategy & Capital Investment Strategy and Revenue and Capital Budget 2021/22.

 

Members of the Council considered report no: 161/2020 – Treasury Management Strategy and Capital Investment Strategy and report no: 34/2021 – Revenue and Capital Budget 2021/22.

 

Councillor G Brown proposed the reports and noted that the Treasury Management Strategy and Capital Investment Strategy had not changed since Scrutiny had considered and debated the reports.

 

In relation to the budget, it was noted that there was a lot of uncertainty with regards to Local Government finance and many Councils had had to use their reserves to bridge funding gaps. Councillor G Brown elaborated on the consultation responses and noted that 179 members of the public had responded, a significant increase in previous years. It was explained that there had been engagement with other small authorities, in similar financial positions in order to engage their MPs to lobby for a fairer settlement from Government.

 

Councillor Woodley seconded the report.

 

There voted in favour:

 

Councillors Ainsley, Baines, Begy, Bool, A Brown, G Brown, Burrows, Coleman, Dale, Fox, Hemsley, Jones, Lowe, MacCartney, Oxley, Payne, Powell, Razzell, Stephenson, Waller, Walters, Webb, Wilby and Woodley.

 

There who abstained:

Councillor Blanksby

 

The vote being 24 in favour and 1 abstention, the motion was carried

 

RESOLVED:

 

161/2020 – Treasury Management Strategy and Capital Investment Strategy

 

a) That the Treasury Management Strategy in Appendix 1 of the report including the Investment Strategy, Borrowing strategy, Minimum Revenue Provision statement and Capital Expenditure Prudential indicators be approved.

 

b) That the Capital Investment Strategy which is unchanged from that approved last year in Report 05/2020 be approved

 

34/2021 – Revenue and Capital Budget 2021/22

 

1.    That the Revenue Budget of £42.6m for 2020/21 detailed in Section 3 of the report be approved

 

2.    That that the Revenue Budget includes a £2.4m use of Reserves assuming a 3% Council tax rise (in the event that the Council approves a different level of Council tax, the use of Reserves will vary accordingly) be noted

 

3.    That the capital programme as detailed in Section 6 of the report be approved

 

4.    That the creation of a new Earmarked Reserve for Ash Dieback (£500k) as per para 3.5.9 of the report be approved

 

5.    That the minimum reserve level be increased from £2m to £3m to reflect the changing risk profile be approved

 

6.    That the Medium Term financial outlook and commits to taking action in 21/22 to address the deficit position be noted

 

7.    That additional revenue or capital expenditure may be incurred in 2021/22 funded through 2020/21 budget under spends to be carried forward via earmarked reserves be noted. The use of reserves for budget carry forwards is not currently shown in the budget but will have no impact on the General Fund

 

8.    That a deficit of c£186k on the Collection Fund as at 31 March 2021 (Section 4.2 of the report) of which £160k is the Rutland share be approved

 

9.    That the responses to consultation (section 3) of the report be noted

 

10. That the updates since the draft budget was approved (section 2.2) of the report be noted

 

11. That authority be delegated to the s151 Officer to make any necessary changes to the budget arising from the Council tax decision and/or any additional funding received