Agenda item

Matters considered by the Cabinet

Minutes:

(a)          Calculation of Council Tax Base and other Tax Setting Issues

Councillor Fleming proposed and Councillor Scholey seconded, the recommendation from Cabinet.  The report set out details of the calculation of the District’s tax base for Council tax setting purposes.

Resolved:  That

a)   the report of the Chief Finance Officer for the calculation of the Council’s tax base for the year 2018/19 be approved;

b)   pursuant to the report of the Chief Finance Officer and in accordance with the Local Authorities (Calculation of Council Tax Base) Regulations 1992 (as amended) the amount calculated by the Sevenoaks District Council as its Council tax base for the whole area for the year 2018/19 shall be 49,902.89;

 

c)      pursuant to the report of the Chief Finance Officer and in accordance with the Local Authorities (Calculation of Council Tax Base) Regulations 1992 (as amended) the amount calculated by the Sevenoaks District Council as the Council tax base for 2018/19 for the calculation of local precepts shall be:

 


Parish

Tax Base

Ash-cum-Ridley

2,431.82

Badgers Mount

329.31

Brasted

779.00

Chevening

1,443.19

Chiddingstone

600.18

Cowden

402.07

Crockenhill

656.44

Dunton Green

1,180.38

Edenbridge

3,548.58

Eynsford

930.38

Farningham

657.83

Fawkham

280.51

Halstead

777.21

Hartley

2,538.28

Hever

598.98

Hextable

1,643.18

Horton Kirby & South Darenth

1,298.26

Kemsing

1,813.75

Knockholt

628.51

Leigh

877.50

Otford

1,687.32

Penshurst

831.38

Riverhead

1,242.10

Seal

1,223.02

Sevenoaks Town

9,470.04

Sevenoaks Weald

621.15

Shoreham

686.26

Sundridge

925.22

Swanley

5,485.19

Westerham

1,985.12

West Kingsdown

2,330.73

d)     any expenses incurred by the Council in performing in part of its area a function performed elsewhere in its area by a parish or community Council or the chairman of a parish meeting shall not be treated as special expenses for the purposes of section 35 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992.

 

(b)         Treasury Management Strategy for 2018/19

Councillor Fleming proposed and Councillor Scholey seconded, the recommendations from Cabinet.  The report sought approval of the Treasury Management Strategy 2018/19.

Resolved:  That the Treasury Management Strategy for 2018/19 be approved.

 

(c)          Budget and Council Tax Setting 2018/19

Councillor Fleming proposed and Councillor Scholey seconded, the recommendations within the report and from Cabinet. 

The Leader spoke to the motion stating that Members had before them another balanced 10 year budget, an achievement still unique within Local Government and an achievement recognised again this year by peers from across the sector.  The Council had followed last year's success with two awards from CiPFA, including their Grand Prix Prize and the highest accolade in local government the LGC Council of the Year, a win in which the Council’s financial self-sufficiency had played no small part.  He could guarantee with absolute certainty that the budget in front of Members would also be unique in the positivity of its message: investment in services, not cuts; increased investment in assets, not cuts; which demonstrated that the Council was a seriously different Council.

 

There was however no getting away from the fact these were incredibly difficult times for the local government sector.  In the last eight years Sevenoaks District Council's revenue support grant had fallen by over five million pounds.  In simple terms that meant the direct grant funding for every man, women and child within the District had reduced from £55.95 in 2010 to zero, absolutely nothing this year and risks remained. The spectre of the 'negative Revenue Support' was live and certain parts of the Council’s financial future was beyond its control. But the Council had put itself in absolutely the best possible position as the property portfolio had grown and was performing well.

 

He thanked all Members and officers who had helped to make it a reality. Last year he had spoken about plans being brought forward in Swanley, Edenbridge and Sevenoaks as the Council looked to build out the aspirations of those communities.  Some of this work had taken longer than hoped for but he believed would now move at pace. Self-sufficiency and a property portfolio were never the end of the story, they were always to give the Council an opportunity to make decisions which would best serve the communities represented.

 

Members knew that he strongly believed that the Council should always balance the make-up of the money it had to spend.  The main three pillars that remained after the removal of government support were Council Tax, Savings and Investment income, and over reliance on any one of the three he believed destabilised the authority.

 

The Secretary of State had been clear when he stood at the dispatch box to deliver the local government settlement.  He believed that Council tax increases should keep pace with inflation and he had made this possible by raising the referendum limit to 3%, which followed a theme over the last few years as Councils moved away from direct government support.  For Sevenoaks it would mean an increase of £6.03, as proposed, taking the total Sevenoaks District Council Tax figure to £208.80, or £4.00 a week.

 

The Leader stated that the work that Members and officers at Sevenoaks District Council had already done and the outcomes achieved had gained the Council national recognition.  Whilst awards weren't why anyone came into local government,  they did act as a yard stick with which to measure against others and to coin a phrase they 'keep us honest' not allowing backsliding or any resting on our laurels.  Over the coming years the Council needed to go further, faster, and would need to both learn from others and lead.

 

 

He stated that there would undoubtedly be challenges ahead, and the Council’s future was not without risk, some of it falling outside of the Council’s control, so it would need to make sure it was fit for, ready for, and up for these challenges

 

The work carried out and the work the Council continued to do, supported by the balanced ten year budget before Members was the solid foundation that makes him believe that Sevenoaks District would not just survive but would thrive in the future.  He commended the budget to Members.

In response to a question the Chief Finance Officer stated that Kent County Council had held their budget meeting that day and he could report that agreement had been reached as per report recommendations.

 

The vote was taken.

 

For

Against

Abstention

Cllr. Abraham

Cllr. Ball

Cllr. C. Barnes

Cllr. J. Barnes

Cllr. Mrs Bayley

Cllr. Brown

Cllr. Dr. Canet

Cllr. Clark

Cllr. Coleman

Cllr. Dickins

Cllr. Dyball

Cllr. Edwards-Winser

Cllr. Esler

Cllr. Eyre

Cllr. Firth

Cllr. Fleming

Cllr. Gaywood

Cllr. Grint

Cllr. Hogarth

Cllr. Horwood

Cllr. Kelly

Cllr. Kitchener

Cllr. Krogdahl

Cllr. Lake

Cllr. Layland

Cllr. London

Cllr. Lowe

Cllr. Maskell

Cllr. McArthur

Cllr. McGarvey

Cllr. McGregor

Cllr. Mrs. Morris

Cllr. Parkin

Cllr. Parson

Cllr. Pearsall

Cllr. Piper

Cllr. Purves

Cllr. Raikes

Cllr. Scholey

Cllr. Searles

Cllr. Miss. Stack

Cllr. Thornton

 

 

42

0

0

It was therefore

Resolved:  That the

a)     Summary of Council Expenditure and Council Tax for 2018/19 set out in Appendix E to the report, be approved;

 

b)     10-year budget 2018/19 to 2027/28 which is the guiding framework for the detailed approval of future years’ budgets set out in Appendix B to the report be approved, including the growth and savings proposals set out in Appendix C-D to the report, and that where possible any variations during and between years be met from the Budget Stabilisation Reserve;

 

c)     Capital Programme 2018/21 and funding method set out in Appendix H to the report be approved;

 

d)     changes to reserves and provisions set out in Appendix I to the report, be approved;

e)     Capital Programme 2018/21, and Asset Maintenance 2018/19 budget of £561,000 be approved (Cabinet 6 February 2018 – Capital Programme & Asset Maintenance 2018/21);

f)      it be noted that at the Cabinet meeting on 11 January 2018 the Council calculated as its Council tax base for the year 2018/19:

i)         for the whole Council area as 49,902.89 being Item T in the formula in Section 31B of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as amended, (the “Act”); and

ii)       for dwellings in those parts of its area to which a parish precept relates as in the attached Appendix L;

g)     Council tax requirement for the Council’s own purpose for 2018/19 (excluding Town and Parish precepts) be calculated as £208.80;

h)     following amounts be calculated for the year 2018/19 in accordance with Sections 31 to 36 of the Act:

(i)

£56,248,220

being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A(2) of the Act taking into account all precepts issued to it by Town and Parish Councils.

(ii)

£41,601,000

being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A(3) of the Act.

(iii)

£14,647,220

being the amount by which the aggregate at (h)(i) above exceeds the aggregate at (h)(ii) above, calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 31A(4) of the Act, as its Council tax requirement for the year (Item R in the formula in Section 31B of the Act).

(iv)

£293.51

being the amount at (h)(iii) above (Item R), all divided by (f)(i) above (Item T), calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 31B of the Act, as the basic amount of its Council tax for the year (including Town and Parish precepts).

(v)

£4,227,497

being the aggregate amount of all special items (Town and Parish precepts) referred to in Section 34 (1) of the Act (as per Appendix K to the report).

(vi)

£208.80

being the amount at (h)(iv) above, less the result given by dividing the amount at (h)(v) above by the amount at (f)(i) above (Item T), calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 34 (2) of the Act, as the basic amount of its Council tax for the year for dwellings in those parts of its area to which no Town or Parish precept relates.

 

i)       it be noted that for the year 2018/19 the Kent County Council, the Kent Police & Crime Commissioner and the Kent & Medway Towns Fire Authority had issued precepts to the Council in accordance with Section 40 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, for each category of dwellings in the Council’s area as indicated in the table below -

Valuation Bands

Precepting Authority

 

Sevenoaks District Council
£

Kent County Council

£

Kent Police & C.C.

£

Kent & Medway Towns Fire Authority
£

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

139.20

162.40

185.60

208.80

255.20

301.60

348.00

417.60

825.12

962.64

1,100.16

1,237.68

1,512.72

1,787.76

2,062.80

2,475.36

112.77

131.56

150.36

169.15

206.74

244.33

281.92

338.30

50.34

58.73

67.12

75.51

92.29

109.07

125.85

151.02

 

 

 

 

 

j)      Council, in accordance with Sections 30 and 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, hereby sets the aggregate amounts shown in Appendix Nto the report as the amounts of Council tax for the year 2018/19 for each part of its area and for each of the categories of dwellings; and

k)     Council’s basic amount of Council tax for 2018/19, shown in (h)(vi) above, is not excessive in accordance with principles approved under Section 52ZB of the Local Government Finance Act 1992.

 

 

Supporting documents:

 

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