Council and councillors

Cabinet received the Mid-Year Revenue Finance Report 2022/23 (Report No. 156/2022) and the Mid-Year Capital Programme Update (Report No. 157/2022) on the 18th October 2022.  Details of the reports can be found on the council’s website: (Public Pack)Agenda Document for Cabinet, 18/10/2022 10:00 (moderngov.co.uk)

Councillor K Payne, Portfolio Holder for Finance, Governance and Performance, Change and Transformation and Saverio Della Rocca, Strategic Director of Resources will provide an update on the medium term financial plan and answer any questions that may arise on the reports submitted.

Cabinet had received the Mid-Year Revenue Finance Report 2022/23 (Report No. 156/2022) and the Mid-Year Capital Programme Update (Report No. 157/2022) on the 18th October 2022.  Details of the reports could be found on the council’s website: (Public Pack)Agenda Document for Cabinet, 18/10/2022 10:00 (moderngov.co.uk)

Councillor K Payne, Portfolio Holder for Finance, Governance and Performance, Change and Transformation and Saverio Della Rocca, Strategic Director of Resources gave an update on the medium term financial plan.  During the discussion, the following points were noted:

·        A presentation was received from the Strategic Director of Resources (copy attached).

·        Members requested if it would be possible in future for reference reports to be included in a paginated agenda pack. 

·        The reasons for the increase in empty homes in Rutland were unknown but there were rules regarding charging council tax on empty homes.  It was confirmed that the Council did charge council tax on empty properties where possible. 

·        Council tax had been raised by 3% in the financial year 2022/23.  For 2023/24, Councils would be allowed to increase council tax by 5% annually without the need for a referendum.

·        Core council tax discounts such as the single person discount would continue to be available as would the council’s discretionary pot of £20k, which was used for supporting those in severe financial difficulties.  Members were informed that any review of the council tax support scheme would require a large piece of consultation work.  This could not be done in time for the next financial year 2023/24 but it was agreed that a review of the support scheme should be undertaken for the 2024/25 financial year. 

·        An estimated £400k could also be generated if the law was changed so that a premium could be charged by the council on second homes in Rutland.

·        Local authorities nationally were experiencing pressure on care fees but Rutland pays a premium on the ‘Cost of Care.’  Rutland County Council did not deal with the quantity of service users to financially sustain care homes.  Most users of care homes in Rutland were self-funders so the care homes did not rely on the users allocated to them from the Council to keep them sustainable.  The Rutland care homes could therefore charge the Council a higher rate.  Members were informed that a letter had been sent to the MP from Councillor Harvey, Portfolio Holder for Health, Wellbeing and Adult Care to highlight and help address this issue.

·        Short-term budget savings had been identified but major projects were being collated by the Council’s Leadership Team to transform the organisation in the medium term.

·        Members were informed that Councils performed best when they focussed on their core activities. Other councils had tried to be creative with income generation and this had created long-term problems but the Council would always be willing to investigate possible income generation.

·        It was noted that all Councillors might consider how capital might be used to help our financial position at the Member Briefing being held on the 5^th December 2022.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee:

a)    AGREED that a review of the Council’s council tax support scheme should be undertaken for the 2024/25 financial year.

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The Strategic Director for Resources and Andrew Merry left the meeting at 8.11p.m.

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