To agree the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 7 December 2017, as a correct record.

Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting of Cabinet held on 7 December 2017 be approved and signed as a correct record.

Any interests not already registered

There were no additional declarations of interest.

There were no questions from Members.

There were none.

The Portfolio Holder for Finance presented the report which updated the information Members had considered at Cabinet on 7 December 2017.  It contained several changes including those resulting from the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement which was announced on 19 December 2017.

He highlighted two items.  First of all the Council Tax increase.  He advised that at the last Cabinet meeting Members had supported increases of 2.44% in 2018/19 and 2.38% in 2019/20 as it was expected that these would be the maximum increases possible without holding a referendum. In the draft settlement, the Minister had announced that Council Tax for Districts could be increased by the higher of 3% or £5 for a Band D property in 2018/19 which was linked to inflation.  The report proposed the higher 3% increase in 2018/19 but reducing the 2019/20 increase to 2%, which would result in a £6.03 increase for a Band D property in 18/19.

Secondly he highlighted the Council Tax Base increase which was the lowest in Kent in 2018/19 and also over the last 5 years. The continuing low increase hindered the Council’s ability to raise extra income and therefore improve services for residents.

He advised that if the budget agreed in February was the same as the one proposed in the report before Members, then the Council would remain financially self-sufficient from direct Government funding and once again have a balanced 10-year budget, and remain in a much stronger financial position than the vast majority of other councils.

The Chief Finance Officer reported that the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement was published on 19 December 2017 and further detail had been announced since.  Due to reporting deadlines and the further details, a supplementary agenda which includes updated Appendices B and D and additional SCIAs for Appendix E had been circulated earlier in the week.

In the provisional settlement, the most relevant elements for the Council were the increase to the Council Tax referendum limit, which Cllr Scholey had explained, and that the Kent and Medway Business Rates Retention Bid for 2018/19 was successful.  Many County areas had put in bids and the original intention was for 5 to be approved but eventually the Government had approved 10, and it should result in significant additional income in 2018/19 only.  There remained uncertainties over the future impact of Business Rates Retention (BRR), with the negative Revenue Support Grant (RSG) for 2019/20 still included in the provisional settlement and the new scheme not now due to commence until 2020/21.  Therefore the report showed BRR having no overall impact on the 10-year budget period with the balance being transferred to the Budget Stabilisation Reserve.

Other amendments to the 10-year budget included:

• Updating the Pay Award Assumption for 2018/19 and 2019/20 from 1% to 2%;
• Council Tax – the opportunity to reduce empty property discounts from 19/20 (a separate report explaining the details of this would be presented to Members in due course);
• Collection fund surplus – due to collection rates being  ...  view the full minutes text for item 62.

The Portfolio Holder for Finance presented  the report advising that as part of the budget cycle the Council was required to calculate the council tax base of the district for tax setting purposes for the coming financial year and the calculation had to be approved by Cabinet and Full Council. The tax base was determined by converting all property and occupancy data to the equivalent number of band D properties and the figure was used to calculate the band D charge.

The report showed that the current tax base for 2017/18 is 49,382.42 and the tax base for 2018/19 would be 49,902.89 which was an increase of just over 1%.  Apart from the increase in the number of dwellings, there was a fluctuation in the number of discounts granted each year.  A collection rate of 99.4% had been included which was the same as the rate used in 2017/18, and the timetable leading up to setting the council tax for 2018/19 was also included in the report.

The Principal Accountant further advised that as mentioned in the Budget Update report, the increase in the tax base was the lowest in Kent and the cumulative increase since 2014/15 was also the lowest in Kent.

Members noted that Kent County Council (KCC) was due to set its council tax on the same day as the meeting of Full Council which would set the tax for the whole District.  However their figures should be known by the time of that meeting.

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 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:

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  ...  view the full minutes text for item 63.

IMPLEMENTATION OF DECISIONS

This notice was published on 15 January 2018.  The decision contained in Minute 62 takes immediately.  The decision contained in Minute  63 is a recommendation to Council.