To agree the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 9 January 2020, as a correct record.

Resolved: That the Minutes of the meeting of Cabinet held on 9 January 2020 be approved and signed as a correct record.

Any interests not already registered

There were no additional declarations of interest.

There were none.

There were none.

The Cleaner and Greener Portfolio Holder introduced the Head of Direct Services who presented the report which updated Members on the progress to date in completing the ‘Vison for Bradbourne Lakes.’  Due to timescales this report had not been considered by the Cleaner & Greener Advisory Committee.

Resolved: That the update on the progress of the Bradbourne Lakes vision implementation be noted.

The Parking Manager presented the report which informed Members of the outcome of the public consultation on the annual review of parking management arrangements for 2020-21, which had proposed moderate increases in: Half hourly and 1-3 hourly charges in Blighs car park; daily and resident and season ticket charges in Sevenoaks Town car park; and hourly and daily parking charges on street in Morewood Close (East), St Botolphs Road area, Morewood Close (West) and Holly Bush Lane and Plymouth Drive areas.

In response to a question from a Member, the Chairman stated that in his view the limited increase in charges at a restricted number of locations had not been shown to deter people from parking in Sevenoaks.

Public Sector Equality Duty

Members noted that consideration had been given to impacts under the Public Sector Equality Duty.

Resolved:  That

a)   the responses to the public consultation be noted; and

b)   the revised parking management arrangements for 2020-21 as detailed below, be agreed. 

The Finance & Investment Portfolio Holder presented the report and introduced the Business Rates Manager who set out the proposals for awarding discretionary rate relief for 2020/21 to ratepayers covered by applications made in 2019/20, and provided an update on the local discretionary rate relief scheme which would be in its final year of operation in 2020/21 and on the retail discount scheme in operation for 2019/20 and 2020/21.  The Finance & Investment Advisory Committee had considered the same report.

Public Sector Equality Duty

Members noted that consideration had been given to impacts under the Public Sector Equality Duty.

Resolved:  That

a)     the proposals for granting relief from business rates for 2020/21 set out in Appendix B to the report, be approved;

b)     the estimated level of local discretionary rate relief to be awarded in 2020/21 as set out in paragraph (26) of eh report, be noted; and

c)     the level of retail discount granted for 2019/20 as set out in paragraph (29) of the report and the approach for implementing the retail discount for 2020/21, be noted.

The Finance & Investment Portfolio Holder presented the report on the Council’s 2019/20 financial results to the end of November 2019, which showed the year end position forecast to be a favourable outturn variance of £40,000, which represented 0.3% of the total net revenue budget. 

The Head of Finance answered questions on this item and indicated that the Finance & Investment Advisory Committee had considered the same report.

Public Sector Equality Duty

Members noted that consideration had been given to impacts under the Public Sector Equality Duty.

Resolved:  That the report be noted.

The Finance & Investment Portfolio Holder presented the report which sought Members comments on a report seeking adoption of the Treasury Management Strategy 2020/21. 

The Principal Accountant advised Members that no major changes had been made to the investment strategy for 2020/21 except for the addition of Bond, Equity, Property and Multi–Asset Funds as available investment instruments. These were collective investment vehicles, intended as longer term investments over which returns could significantly outperform fixed term investments with banks or building societies. However, returns over the short term could be volatile and there were entry and exit fees.  The Finance & Investment Advisory Committee had considered the same report.

Public Sector Equality Duty

Members noted that consideration had been given to impacts under the Public Sector Equality Duty.

Resolved:  That it be recommended to Council that the Treasury Management Strategy for 2020/21 be approved.

The Finance & Investment Portfolio Holder presented the report which presented the Capital Strategy report 2020/21.  The Principal Accountant explained that the Strategy was intended to provide a high level, long term overview of how capital expenditure, capital financing and treasury management activity contribute to the provision of services. It also provided an overview of how the associated risk was managed as well as the implications for future financial sustainability.  The Finance & Investment Advisory Committee had considered the same report.

Public Sector Equality Duty

Members noted that consideration had been given to impacts under the Public Sector Equality Duty.

Resolved:  That it be recommended to Council that the Capital Strategy for 2020/21 be approved.

The Finance & Investment Portfolio Holder presented the report which set out the proposed Capital and Asset Maintenance programmes for 2020/23 together with proposed funding. The Head of Finance set out that the Finance & Investment Advisory Committee had considered the same report.

Public Sector Equality Duty

Members noted that consideration had been given to impacts under the Public Sector Equality Duty.

Resolved:  That

a)    it be recommended to Council that the Capital Programme 2020/23 and funding set out in Appendix B be approved; and

b)   the proposed Asset Maintenance budget of £687,000 for 2020/21 be noted.

The Finance & Investment Portfolio Holder presented the report which provided an update on the progress of the Property Investment Strategy to date and looked at the future direction of the strategy.

He set out that the Property Investment Strategy had been a major tool in helping the council achieve financial self-sufficiency and continue to deliver a balanced 10-year budget.

It was important to continue with the Property Investment Strategy to deliver increased income to fund the revenue budget as the Council continued to receive no direct Government funding.  No changes to the current Property Investment Strategy criteria were recommended.  

The Chief Officer for Finance and Trading set out that this was the annual update report as part of the budget process.  The report provided Members with an update on the progress of the Property Investment Strategy to date and looked at the future direction of the Strategy.

The Strategy was approved by Council in July 2014 to enable the Council to be more in control of its future by aiming to become financially self-sufficient from direct Government funding.  The Strategy had been a major factor in achieving this aim and the 2020/21 budget, if approved, would be the fifth consecutive budget to show the Council as financially self-sufficient, a major achievement for a Local Authority.

The Council had agreed that £50m could be spent on the strategy over four tranches and including the Sennocke Hotel, £29.5m of which had been spent.

All acquisitions had been supported by a thorough business case and approved by the Improvement & Innovation Portfolio Holder and Finance & Investment Portfolio Holder as required.  The schemes had been funded by capital receipts, reserves or internal borrowing.  No external borrowing had been used to date, although Council had approves that external borrowing may be used for future investments.

The budgeted net income for the current year was £1.258m and it was forecast that £1.348m would be achieved.  It was assumed that the income budget would increase by £300,000 by 2023/24.  This was after putting £100,000 per annum into the Property Investment Strategy Maintenance Reserve to help cover future liabilities.

The annual report also gave Members the opportunity to review the Strategy criteria and feed their comments to Council.  The criteria agreed by Council last year could be found at Appendix A.

The Finance & Investment Advisory Committee had considered the same report.

Public Sector Equality Duty

Members noted that consideration had been given to impacts under the Public Sector Equality Duty.

Resolved:  That it be recommended to Council that the Property Investment Strategy criteria be approved.

The Finance and Investment Portfolio Holder presented the report which was the final stage of the budget process that has seen significant member involvement.

If approved, the net expenditure budget for 2020/21 would be £15.6m with the District’s Council Tax increasing by 2.3% resulting in Band D Council Tax being £219.96, an increase of £4.95.  Provision had also been made for

setting up the Net Zero Transition Fund.

The Portfolio Holder was pleased to say that the report once again left the council with a fully funded self-sufficient budget over the next 10 years.

The Chief Officer for Finance and Trading set out that the report contained various appendices including budget amounts for all service areas, growth and savings items recommended as well as pay costs and a risk analysis.

With regards to the 10-year budget, the major changes were listed in Appendix D on p.223.  These included:

•        a number of growth and savings/additional income items that had previously been presented to Cabinet;

•        Council Tax increase of 2.3% in 2020/21 (£4.95 pa for a Band D property) but remaining at 2% for later years;

•        increased assumptions for Property Investment Strategy income as presented in the previous report;

•        interest receipts increasing from £250,000 to £300,000 per year;

•        transferring the Council Tax increase above 2% to a new ‘Net Zero Transition Fund’.

The Final Local Government Finance Settlement had not yet been announced but no changes from the provisional settlement affecting this Council were expected.

Appendix J contained a review of reserves which only included one recommendation to set up the Net Zero Carbon Emissions Reserve.

Appendix L summarised the Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme proposed for 2020/21.

He set out that appendices M to Q were not included in the papers but would be included in the Council version of the report after the other preceptors have set their Council Tax.  He explained that the report included his opinion, as the Statutory Finance Officer, on the robustness of the budget estimates and adequacy of reserves.

If approved, the net expenditure budget for 2020/21 would be £15.6m with the District’s Council Tax increasing by 2.3% resulting in Band D Council Tax being £219.96, an increase of £4.95.

He explained that the report once again left the Council with a fully funded self-sufficient budget over the next 10 years, a rare achievement in Local Government.

Public Sector Equality Duty

Members noted that consideration had been given to impacts under the Public Sector Equality Duty.

Resolved:  That it be recommended to Council that

a)     the Summary of Council Expenditure and Council Tax for 2020/21 set out in Appendix E be approved;

b)     the 10-year budget 2020/21 to 2029/30 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  ...  view the full minutes text for item 64.

IMPLEMENTATION OF DECISIONS

This notice was published on 6 February 2020. The decisions contained in Minutes 58 and 59 take effect immediately.  The decision contained in Minute 57 takes effect on 14 February 2020.  The decisions contained in Minutes 60, 61, 62, 63 and 64 are references to Council.

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