Agenda item

Councillor T V Rogers to present the draft Budget 2011/12 and Medium Term Plan 2012 – 2016 to be considered in conjunction with Item No. 41 of the Report of the Cabinet.

By reference to a report by the Chief Officers’ Management Team (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) Councillor T V Rogers, Executive Councillor for Finance and Customer Services, presented the draft Budget 2011/12 and Medium Term Plan 2012-16.  Members were reminded of the opportunity taken by the Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Economic Well-Being) to consider the budget on two occasions when areas of concern had been raised which were being addressed by the appropriate Executive Councillors. 

In terms of the revenue support grant, Councillor Rogers announced that the Government had allocated £10.4m in 2011/12 and £9.3m in 2012/13, £700,000 and £1.2m less than forecast in each year respectively.  Indications also appeared to suggest that the Government's proposed New Homes Bonus could generate additional income of £900,000 in 2011/12 rising to £3.4m by 2015/16.

In terms of the success, thus far, of the changes proposed to generate revenue savings, Councillor Rogers reported that reductions in the number of senior staff and consequential re-organisation had saved £300,000 but that work to identify further savings in addition to the existing proposals, would be required.  Having indicated his intention to present the final budget to the Council meeting in February, Councillor Rogers commended the recommendations of the Cabinet on the draft Budget and MTP 2011-16 to the Council and further moved that the following words be added after part (b) of the Cabinet's recommendations -

  "  ; and

  (c)  that in view of the importance of this year's draft Budget and the fact that this is a working document, the Executive Member for Finance and Customer Services be requested to provide a detailed regular update to all Members on progress towards the preparation of the final budget for submission to Council in February 2011 and in the interim, the Cabinet be requested to investigate ways of trying to preserve basic services identified by the Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Economic Well-Being) as summarised in Item No. 28 of their Report."

The amendment to the Motion was duly seconded by Councillor I C Bates.

Councillors J D Ablewhite and P G Mitchell spoke in favour of the amendment.

Further to Minute No. 56 ante, Councillor Mrs M Banerjee reminded the Council that the budget still was in draft form and she suggested that careful consideration needed to be given to the retention of Customer Services Centres.  Similarly, Councillor P D Reeve urged Members to consider continued funding for the operation of CCTV and support for the voluntary sector suggesting that the Council should continue to support services which could revitalise the local economy.  This view was endorsed by Councillor S M Van de Kerkhove.

Regarding the CCTV operation, Councillor J S Watt suggested that the quality of coverage was poor and inadequate for use in any event.

As Vice-Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Economic Well-Being), Councillor G S E Thorpe was of the view that the Council should have considered, in the first instance, its vision for the future and that once this had been agreed, aligned a financial strategy to it.

Whilst required to approve the draft budget, Councillor J A Gray suggested that there still would be opportunities to influence the final budget prior to its approval at the next meeting.

Having commended the Council and the Executive Councillor for their openness on the budget, Councillor M F Shellens contended that the Council would be required to reduce the budget still further because of its previous approach towards the use of reserves and Council Tax and that there still was uncertainty in significant areas such as the number of employees likely to opt for voluntary redundancies and the extent of Government Support Grant.

Councillor D M Tysoe was of the view that the budget remained a working document, that it was responsible and realistic and that it would continue to be subject to robust and detailed examination at Panel meetings before being recommended to Council.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor I C Bates, concurred with the previous speaker and confirmed that the draft budget could still be subject to change given the uncertainties that remained and that there would still be further opportunities for all Councillors to influence the final version through the Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Economic Well-Being).  He added, however, that there were difficult choices to be made and given that there was no intention to increase Council Tax he encouraged Members to support the Motion as amended.

In commending the Council for the consultation which had been undertaken on the budget thus far, the Leader of the Opposition, Councillor P J Downes, proposed the following amendment which was duly seconded -

  "that the following words be inserted after the date '2012/16' in part (a) of the proposed Motion -

  'subject to the deletion of the proposed reduction in funding in the grants budget over the period from 2012/13 to 2014/15 listed as part of the Environmental and Community Health Services budget on page 21 of agenda'; and

  that the following words be insert after part (c) of the Motion -

  '   ; and

  (d)  that the appropriate Officers be requested to investigate and report back on ways of achieving compensatory reductions in expenditure or increases in income to offset the deletion of the proposed reduction in expenditure in the grants budget by, for example:

  (i)  increasing Council Tax annually from April 2012 by 3.5% or 4.5%;

  (ii)  pursuing shared services with other District Councils with greater determination and in particular by unifying the collection of council tax across the District Councils in Cambridgeshire;

  (iii)  making more aggressive savings in the expenditure on Pathfinder House by taking elements out of use quickly as staff numbers fall and by seeking to sub-let as early as possible;

  (iv)  freezing Members' allowances for the next four years;

  (v)  reducing the size of the Council from fifty two to thirty five Members, reducing the size of Cabinet to seven, reducing the number of Scrutiny Panels from three to one with concomitant savings on administration, postage, printing and stationery;

  (vi)  starting to investigate now the possibility of transferring the Leisure Centres to trust status;

  (vii)  considering saving on redundancy costs by offering groups of staff the option of reduced hours (whilst maintaining pension contributions at their previous level); and

  (viii)  reconsidering the other savings proposed by the Liberal Democrat Group last year and earlier this year.".

In the debate that followed Councillors J D Ablewhite, Mrs M Banerjee, I C Bates, J A Gray, S Greenall, N J Guyatt, T V Rogers and M F Shellens spoke.

Upon being put to the vote, the amendment was declared to be LOST.

(In accordance with paragraph 14.4 of the Council Procedure Rules, Councillors M G Baker, W T Clough, P J Downes, S Greenall, Mrs P A Jordan, C M Saunderson, M F Shellens, Mrs P E Shrapnel, G S E Thorpe and S M Van de Kerkhove requested that it be recorded that they had voted for the amendment.)

Whereupon, it was

RESOLVED

  (a)  that the draft budget and Medium Term Plan, appended to the Report of the Chief Officers' Management Team, be approved as the basis for the development of the budget for 2011/12 and the revised Medium Term Plan 2012/16;

  (b)  that no increase in Council Tax be made for 2011/12;

  (c)  that in view of the importance of this year's draft budget and the fact that this is a working document, the Executive Member for Finance and Customer Services be requested to provide a detailed regular update to all Members on progress towards the preparation of the final Budget for submission to Council in February 2011 and in the interim, the Cabinet be requested to investigate ways of trying to preserve basic services identified by the Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Economic Well-Being) as summarised in Item No. 28 of their Report; and

  (d)  that the content of the petition presented by Councillor Mrs A Rees, Yaxley Parish Council be referred for consideration to the Overview & Scrutiny Panel (Economic Well-Being).