Agenda and draft minutes

Apology received from Cllr Mary Weale, Chair of Overview and Scrutiny.

Any Member of the Leadership Team, or any other Member present in the meeting, who has a disclosable pecuniary interest in a matter to be considered at the meeting is reminded to disclose the interest to the meeting and to leave the meeting room while any discussion or vote on the matter takes place.

Members are also reminded that if they have any other significant interest in a matter to be considered at the meeting, whether registered or not, which they feel should be declared in the public interest, such interests should be declared to the meeting. In such circumstances Members should consider whether, a member of the public, with knowledge of the relevant facts would reasonably regard the interest as so significant that it is likely to prejudice their consideration or decision making. If the Member considers that to be the case, they should leave the meeting room while any discussion or vote on the matter takes place.

No Members made any declaration of interest.

The minutes of the Meeting held on the 22 January are submitted for confirmation.

Leadership Team confirmed and the Leader signed as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 22 January 2025.

(i)             Draft Budget reports

(ii)            Overview & Scrutiny Committee Budget Working Group report

Cllr. Elizabeth Campbell, Leader of the Council (Chair), introduced the report, which outlined the background to the proposed decision. She stated that the report presented the latest position on the revenue budget for 2025/26, ahead of Full Council setting the Council Tax and Budget for 2025/26 at the meeting on 5 March 2025.

Cllr. Johnny Thalassites, Lead Member for Finance, Customer Services & Net Zero, said he was satisfied with the balanced budget for the forthcoming financial year. He stated that the General Fund would be used to fund service areas such as inflation, service demand, temporary accommodation, inflationary pressures within social care, non-social care inflation, and the impact of the increase in employers’ national insurance on the Council’s contracts.

The Leadership Team was advised that, over the period from 2024/25 to 2027/28, the Council planned to invest capital expenditure of £195.619m in the borough’s housing needs, schools and early years provision, highways, transport, environment and open spaces, and Council buildings and digital infrastructure.

Cllr. Campbell welcomed the report and thanked the Lead Member for Finance, Customer Services & Net Zero, as well as the officers who had worked hard to put together a comprehensive budget report. She then read out a short statement on behalf of the Chair of Overview and Scrutiny regarding the Working Group report’s which was included in Appendix 7.

The Leadership Team noted the recommendations in the Overview and Scrutiny Working Group report.

The Leadership Team RESOLVED, for the reasons set out in paragraph 3.1 and elsewhere within the report, that the recommendations at paragraph 2.1 (i- xvii) to 2.2 (i-ix) be adopted.

1.       The Leadership Team:

i.                   Approved the revenue budget estimates for submission to Council as summarised in Appendix 1 of this report.

ii.                 Noted the findings of the budget consultation with residents, local businesses, the voluntary sector, the Select Committees and Overview and Scrutiny Committee as set out in Appendix 6 and Appendix 7.

iii.                Noted the risks and uncertainties relating to the 2025/26 budget as set out in Section 28.

iv.                Approved the increase in fees and charges as set out in Section 22 and Appendix 15, with the full schedule available on the council website.

v.                 Approved the revised Capital Programme for the period 2024/25 to 2027/28. Full details are set out in Appendix 12 and Appendix 13.

vi.                Delegated the decision for the funding of the Capital Programme to the Section 151 Officer to fund the programme in the most cost-effective way for 2025/26 and all future years. The indicative assumed funding is set out in Table 13 and Table 14.

vii.              Noted the allocation of the Dedicated Schools Grant to the schools, High Needs and Early Years Budget as set out in Section 32.

viii.             Agreed the planned use of reserves as set out in Section 29.

ix.                Noted the advice of the Executive Director of Resources, who is the Council’s Section 151 Officer, on the level of reserves and robustness of estimates in setting the budget as required by  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Cllr Sof McVeigh, Lead Member for Housing Management, Housing Safety & Building New Homes, introduced the report, which outlined the background to the proposed decision. She highlighted the challenges facing the Housing Revenue Account Budget (HRA) over the coming year and advised that, to meet these challenges and deliver high-quality decent homes, it was recommended that rents be increased by 2.7%, grounds maintenance by 10%, and caretaking and cleaning by 6.8%. Additionally, significant savings on both revenue and capital expenditure were proposed to deliver a balanced budget and business plan.

Cllr Sof McVeigh, Lead Member for Housing Management, Housing Safety & Building New Homes, spoke on the 5-year Capital Programme, advising that the Council was currently spending almost £400m on refurbishment works across all its Council estates to ensure they meet the Decent Homes Standard, which will benefit both residents and the Council in the future.

The Leadership Team RESOLVED, for the reasons set out in paragraph 3.1 – 3.4 and elsewhere within the report, that the recommendations at paragraph 2.1 to 2.6 be adopted.

The Leadership Team:

(i)                Agreed a rent increase of 2.7% in line with the government rent standard and that service charges for Grounds Maintenance be increased by 10%, and for caretaking and cleaning and porterage and supervision by 6.8% with the remaining service charges to be increased by 2.7%, reflecting current estimates of costs to be incurred.

(ii)               Noted a reduction in the average communal heating charge.

(iii)              Recommended to Council to approve the HRA Budget for 2025-26 as set out in Appendix 1

(iv)             Approved the fees and charges for 2025/26 as set out in Appendix 2

(v)               Considered and recommend that Council approve the updated Medium Term Financial Plan for the HRA

(vi)             Noted the key assumptions in the business plan and the inherent risks and uncertainties as set out in sections 7 to 10 of this report.

Action by: Executive Director of Housing & Social Investment

Cllr. Johnny Thalassites, Lead Member for Finance, Customer Services & Net Zero, introduced the report, which outlined the background to the proposed decision.

The Leadership Team welcomed the report, and Members were pleased that with government funding for another six months, the Council could continue funding initiatives, such as providing Free School Meals during school holidays for eligible children, which were desperately needed in the borough.

The Leadership Team RESOLVED, for the reasons set out in paragraph 3.1 – 3.2 and elsewhere within the report, that the recommendations at paragraph 2.1 to 2.3 be adopted.

The Leadership Team agreed to:

(i)                Transfer funding to schools in the borough to support families eligible for Free School Meals with a meal offer for the February half term & Easter holidays, at a total cost of £315,856.

(ii)               Use the remaining HSF funding (£575,304) to support a one-off cash payment to low-income households, principally all households on the Low-Income Family Tracker (LIFT) dashboard.

(iii)              Repurpose the Low-Income Support Payment underspend from 2024 (approximately £213,000) to further enhance our cash payment offer. Combining the remaining HSF funding with the repurposed Low Income Support Payment (LISP) underspend will take the total value of cash support to £50.

Action by: Executive Director of Resources

Cllr. Johnny Thalassites, Lead Member for Finance, Customer Services & Net Zero, introduced the report, which outlined the background to the proposed decision.

The Leadership Team RESOLVED, for the reasons set out in paragraph 3.1 and elsewhere within the report, that the recommendations at paragraph 2.1 (1- 3 (a-f)) be adopted.

The Leadership Team recommend that the Council, having regard to the revised CIPFA Treasury Management in the Public Services Code of Practice:

(i)                Adopt the four clauses as part of the Council’s Financial Procedure Rules as outlined in paragraph 1.1 of Appendix 1.

(ii)               Approve the Treasury Management Policy Statement as set out in Appendix 1.

(iii)              Approve the annual Treasury Management Strategy Statement, incorporating the Annual Investment Strategy for 2025/26, specifically:

a)                the proposed Prudential Indicators which set maximum limits on treasury management activity as set out in Appendix 2 of the report,

b)                the Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) Policy 2025/26 as set out in Appendix 3,

c)                 the proposed use of investment instruments as set out in Section 6,

d)                the use of specified and non-specified investments as set out in Appendix 4,

e)                the governance arrangements as set out in Appendix 6, and

f)            the Creditworthiness Policy for 2025/26 as set out in              Appendix 5.

Action by: Executive Director of Resources

Cllr. Emma Will, Lead Member for Property, Parks and Leisure, introduced the report, which outlined the background to the proposed decision. She explained that the Council uses its property portfolio primarily to support the delivery of Council services and the priorities of the Council Plan.

Cllr. Will also explained that the Council Asset Strategy and Council Asset Management Plan would enable capital spending to be planned, while allowing the Council to review its property regularly to ensure it meets service and resident needs. Additionally, these plans would allow the Council to forecast potential financial savings or generate additional income through its property.

The Leadership Team RESOLVED, for the reasons set out in paragraph 3.1 to 3.3 and elsewhere within the report, that the recommendations at paragraph 2.1 to be adopted.

The Leadership Team approved the Interim Council Asset Strategy 2025 – 2030 as appended to this report.

Action by: Executive Director of Housing & Social Investment

[Each written report on the public part of the Agenda as detailed above:

(i)     was made available for public inspection from the date of the Agenda;

(ii)    incorporates a list of the background papers which (i) disclose any facts or matters on which that report, or any important part of it, is based; and (ii) have been relied upon to a material extent in preparing it. (Relevant documents which contain confidential or exempt information are not listed.); and

(iii)    may, with the consent of the Chairman and subject to specified reasons, be supported at the meeting by way of oral statement or further written report in the event of special circumstances arising after the despatch of the Agenda.]

There were no items considered urgent.

If required, the Leadership Team will resolve to exclude the press and public from the meeting should any specific item of business so require on the grounds that discussions may involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

Some reports on the agenda may include confidential information which is exempt from publication. The Leadership Team may need to discuss this information in private session before decisions are taken afterwards, in public session.

The Leadership Team did not consider any items without the press and public.