Agenda item

Medium Term Financial Strategy (General Fund Budget 2015-16 including Council Tax Setting), Housing Revenue Account (including Housing Rents), Capital Programme 2015/16-2019/20, Local Government Financial Settlement and Treasury Management Strategy (Revised 2014/15 and 2015/16)

Decision:

Cabinet RECOMMENDED to Council:

(a) Approval of the Capital Programme and the associated funding up to the year ending 31 March 2020 as set out in Appendix A1 of the report.

(b) Approval of the revenue estimates for 2015-16 in the General Fund summary as set out in the revised version of Appendix B1 included as part of the supplementary agenda and circulated at the meeting.

(d) Approval of the Medium Term Financial Strategy for the General Fund, as set out in Appendix B3(A) of the report, based on the assumptions contained within the report.

(e) Approval of the fees and charges proposed for 2015-16 as set out in Appendix B4 , including those relating to the planning pre-application service.

(f) That the Executive Management Team be instructed to identify additional income or savings of £670,000 from 2015-16.

(g) That the Council Tax requirement for 2015-16 is £7,478,550.

(h) That the Council sets the amount of Council Tax for each of the relevant categories of dwelling in accordance with Section 30(2) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 on the basis of a District Council Tax for general expenses on a Band D property of £125.31 plus the relevant amounts required by the precepts of Parish Councils, Cambridgeshire County Council, the Cambridgeshire Police and Crime Commissioner and the Cambridgeshire Fire Authority, details of those precepts and their effect to be circulated with the formal resolution required at the Council meeting.

(i) Approval of the Housing Revenue Account estimates and the rent increase for the financial year ending 31 March 2016, as set out in Appendices C and C1 of the report, with the rent increase being in accordance with rent restructuring guidance from the Department for Communities and Local Government.

(j) Approval of the service and other charges for housing services for the financial year ending 31 March 2016 as set out in Appendix C2 of the report.

(k) Approval of the Housing Revenue Account business plan summary for the next 30 years to 31 March 2045 as set out in Appendix C3 of the report.

(l) Approval of the Borrowing and Investment Strategy for the year to 31 March 2016 as set out in Appendix D1 of the report.

(m) Approval of the prudential indicators required by the Prudential Code for Capital Finance in Local Authorities for the year to 31 March 2016 as set out in Appendix D2 of the report.

(n) That the Executive Director (Corporate Services) be given delegated authority to issue the final version of the Estimates Book, incorporating the amendments required from the Council’s decisions.

Minutes:

NOTE – Councillor Nick Wright declared a non-disclosable pecuniary interest in this item with regard to the A14 upgrade as he owned land that the new A14 would potentially go through.

Cabinet considered a report which set out the Council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy.

Councillor Simon Edwards, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Finance and Staffing, in presenting the report, circulated the following documents at the meeting:

· a revised section of the report to correct typographical errors in the amounts quoted in paragraphs 21 and 25 of Appendix B;

· a revised version of Appendix B1, consistent with the correct values in paragraph 25 of the revised version of Appendix B;

· a table outlining more information regarding the New Homes Bonus and Infrastructure Reserve Fund, in addition to paragraph 17 of Appendix B in the report.

Councillor Edwards highlighted that the Medium Term Financial Strategy had been considered in some detail by Cabinet on 14 November 2014, but reported the following updates:

· further reductions in government grant funding would mean the Council receiving £830,000 less in 2015/16 than it did in the previous year;

· the Medium Term Financial Strategy’s savings target had been reduced to £670,000, as £400,000 had already been saved as a result of the restructure of waste services and the introduction of new waste collection rounds. In addition, more modelling had taken place since November on business rates which had indicated a slightly more favourable position than originally anticipated;

· the Strategy included an increase in Council Tax of 1.99%, which equated to an annual increase of £2.45 per band D home;

· £5 million had been allocated in the Infrastructure Reserve Fund as a contribution to the A14 improvement scheme. This was funded via New Homes Bonus and the first £1.8 million of receipts in each year would be used to offset expenditure previously covered by the Housing Planning Delivery Grant. It was also proposed that a proportion of New Homes Bonus receipts in each year would be contributed towards the Greater Cambridge City Deal;

· in terms of the capital programme, it was proposed to invest £500,000 in solar panels for the car park at South Cambridgeshire Hall and at the Waterbeach Depot. The £500,000 should be recovered within seven years of their introduction, subject to the detailed business case currently being worked up.

Councillor Mark Howell, Portfolio Holder for Housing, presented the Housing Revenue Account and emphasised that the 2.2% inflationary figure to be applied in this year’s rent was in line with revised government guidelines and also reflected the September 2014 Consumer Price Index, which now had to be used instead of the Retail Price Index. The average rent per week would therefore be £103.95.

Councillor Robert Turner, Portfolio Holder for Planning, referred to the proposed increase in fees and charges relating to the planning pre-application service. He considered this issue at his Portfolio Holder meeting on 3 February 2015 and stated that he was determined to deliver the level of service expected by those using and paying for it, and that officers were fully behind this.