Meeting documents

Cabinet
Thursday 19 February 2009 5.30 pm

Date:
Thursday, 19th February, 2009
Time:
5.30pm
Place:
Reception Room, Civic Centre, Arnot Hill Park, Arnold
 

Attendance Details

ItemDescriptionResolution
127 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE.
Business for item 127
 
128 TO APPROVE AS A CORRECT RECORD THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 10 FEBRUARY 2009.
 RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the above meeting, having been circulated, be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.
129 DECLARATION OF INTERESTS.
Business for item 129
 
130 CAPITAL PROGRAMME 2009/10
Business for item 130
RESOLVED: to recommend to Council on 4 March 2009 that:

i) The capital financing available for 2009/2010 be noted.

ii) The likely resources available for 2010/11 and 2011/12 be noted.

iii) The capital programme for 2009/10 at Appendix 1 be approved.
131 GENERAL FUND REVENUE BUDGET AND SERVICE PLAN 2009/10
Business for item 131
RESOLVED:-

A. To recommend to Council on 4 March 2009:

i. A Council Tax increase of 2.44% to balance the financing of a Net Budget Requirement of £14,478,500 in 2009/10

ii. That the detailed budgets and service plans for 2009/10 be approved.

B. To approve the HRA budget as detailed in paragraph 4 of the report.
132 ANY OTHER ITEMS WHICH THE CHAIRMAN CONSIDERS URGENT.
Business for item 132
 
The meeting closed at 5.45 pm

Attendance Details

Present:
R.F. Spencer(Chairman), A.S. Bexon, G.V. Clarke, W.H. Golland, R.J. Nicholson, J.M. Parr, V.C. Pepper, W.J. Clarke (Observer), A.J. Gillam (Observer), G.E. Withers (Observer)

Business

Business
ItemBusiness
127None were received
129None Declared
130The Head of Corporate Services submitted a report that summarised the Council's capital programme for 2009/2010 and future years in the light of the Council's priorities and the resources available

The Cabinet had made its final budget proposals after consideration of the comments made by the Policy Review Scrutiny Committee in respect of the draft budget and their comments were summarised in paragraph 4.5 of the report.

The capital programme determined by Cabinet would be referred to the Council Budget meeting on 4 March 2009 for final approval.

The table in the report summarised the proposed Capital Programme for 2009/10 and the full programme of schemes was presented at Appendix 1.
131The Senior Management Team on behalf of the Leader of the Council submitted a report that presented the General Fund Revenue Budget and Service Plan for 2009/10 for approval.

The final Housing Revenue Account Budget 2009/10, containing post LSVT residual expenses, was also presented for approval. The Secretary of State for the Department of Communities and Local Government had given consent to close the Housing Revenue Account on 31 March 2010.

The Cabinet had made its final service plan and budget proposals after consideration of the comments made by the Policy Review Scrutiny Committee in respect of the draft service plan and budget and their comments were included in paragraph 5.9 of the report.

Statutory consultation with business ratepayers was currently being undertaken and any responses received would be presented at the meeting.

The final Budget and Service Plan proposals determined by Cabinet would be considered at the Council Budget meeting on 4 March 2009. The Borough Council has a statutory responsibility to determine its Council Tax by 10 March.

The Council's organisational mission put the development and delivery of a Sustainable Community Strategy at the heart of its role. In December 2008, Council (and the Gedling Partnership) had agreed a new Vision and Priorities document around which a new Sustainable Community Strategy was being finalised. The priorities set out in that document incorporated priorities set out in the Borough Council's Strategic Corporate Plan agreed in Summer 2008. Given the pivotal role of the Sustainable Community Strategy, and the strong alignment between priorities expressed in that document and those set out in the Strategic Corporate Plan, this budget and service plan had been developed around the new Sustainable Community Strategy priorities which was now seen as the overall priorities for the Borough, with the addition of a further priority theme, "Transforming Gedling", to reflect the Council's Transformation Programme and related organisational improvement.

The tables in the report highlighted the main areas of increased expenditure and additional efficiencies.

The table in the report summarised the proposed General Fund Budget for 2009/10. The detailed budgets were presented at Appendix 4. The major variances between the original estimate for 2008/09 and the estimate for 2009/10 were analysed by Portfolio at Appendix 5.

In light of the overall financial position and the need to reduce net revenue expenditure significantly in order to achieve a balanced budget over time, there were no Revenue Resource Developments included in the budget proposal for 2009/10. The Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP, at paragraph 6 of the report, also assumed no future ongoing revenue development bids.

The report also detailed the Medium Term Financial Plan and the Financial Risk Issues.

The Head of Corporate Finance submitted a further report that indicated that a Council Tax increase of 3% was required in 2009/10 to balance the budget unless further budget reductions or efficiencies were identified.

To achieve a balanced budget over the life of the Council's Medium Term Financial Plan it was proposed that further payroll reductions of £45,000 per annum were included in the budget and that a Council Tax increase of 2.44% was recommended to Council. A table submitted showed the impact of the proposals.

After consideration it was :-
132None