a)            Calculation of Council Tax Base and other tax setting issues

 

Councillor Fleming proposed and Councillor Dickins seconded, the recommendation from Cabinet.  The report sought approval the calculation of the District’s tax base for Council tax setting purposes. 

 

Resolved:  That

 

a)   the report of the Chief Officer Finance & Trading for the calculation of the Council’s tax base for the year 2020/21 be approved;

b)   pursuant to the report of the Chief Officer Finance & Trading 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 2020/21 shall be 51,207.88;

 

c)   pursuant to the report of the Chief Officer Finance & Trading 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 2020/21 for the calculation of local precepts shall be:

 

Parish	Tax Base
Ash-cum-Ridley	2,459.75
Badgers Mount	334.98
Brasted	778.10
Chevening	1,456.01
Chiddingstone	604.75
Cowden	449.88
Crockenhill	659.12
Dunton Green	1,321.92
Edenbridge	3,697.28
Eynsford	948.87
Farningham	666.28
Fawkham	292.04
Halstead	778.40
Hartley	2,556.57
Hever	620.75
Hextable	1,698.15
Horton Kirby & South Darenth	1,302.24
Kemsing	1,853.31
Knockholt	634.27
Leigh	961.50
Otford	1,720.71
Penshurst	837.74
Riverhead	1,247.77
Seal	1,303.53
Sevenoaks Town	9,690.61
Sevenoaks Weald	617.77
Shoreham	683.97
Sundridge	937.54
Swanley	5,663.91
Westerham	2,066.03
West Kingsdown	2,364.13

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 2020/21

 

Councillor Fleming proposed and Councillor Dickins seconded, the recommendation from Cabinet.  The report sought adoption of Treasury Management Strategy 2020/21. 

 

Resolved:  That the Treasury Management Strategy for 2020/21 be approved.

 

c)            Capital Strategy 2020/21

 

Councillor Fleming proposed and Councillor Dickins seconded, the recommendation from Cabinet.  The report sought approval of the Capital Strategy report 2020/21.

 

Resolved:  That the Capital Strategy for 2020/21 be approved.

 

d)           Budget and Council Tax Setting 2020/21

 

Councillor Fleming proposed and Councillor Dickins seconded, the recommendation from Cabinet.  The report sought approval of the proposed budget and required level of Council Tax for 2020/21.  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 Leader spoke to the motion stating that Members had before them another balanced 10 year budget, 10 years on from the first, an achievement that remained unique within Local Government and had laid the foundation for the bold budget in front of them tonight.  He could guarantee, with absolute certainty that the budget would be unique across local government in the positivity of its messages: continued investment in services, not cuts; increased investment in assets not cuts; and the most significant capital programme in living memory, delivering investment in and for the District’s communities. 

 

At this point in the municipal year, stock could be taken of the year passed and the opportunities and challenges ahead.  The current municipal year had seen: the completion of another major capital project - investment in the new Sevenoaks Town Car Park, which provided much needed long stay parking and support for the local economy, paid for in part with innovative capital funding through housing; the successful planning application for the new Swanley White Oak Leisure Centre - replacing a centre, although much loved, that, in the most part, has come to the end of it usable life; the work of the Councils two wholly owned companies to bring forward an exciting mixed tenure housing scheme in Westerham which would see the Council deliver the first truly affordable homes in over 30 years a promise made this time last year, and a model that we hope will see us deliver our target of 100 truly affordable homes over the next 10 years; a planning application in on one of the Council’s two town centre sites in Swanley, looking to bring both housing and a business hub to the town; the scoping for the masterplan of the Council owned town centre sites in Sevenoaks, looking to bring education, arts, retail, transport, housing and other uses together over two sites; and in Edenbridge, work to see how we can move forward a refurbishment of the Leisure Centre so it can continue to play an important part in that community for many years to come.  Across the district, the Council continued to show the levels of community leadership and support that could only come on the back of financial responsibility and stability, protecting those universal services that mattered most to residents.  A cursory glance across our southern borders serving as a timely reminder of how fortunate as a Council to continue to have services such as refuse collection and street sweeping in house, delivering (again unique in Kent) a truly weekly service. Alongside enhanced services to those within the community who most need help and support. In the context of local government as a whole, no one looking at this track record or future plans could deny ‘we are a seriously different Council’.

 

However there was no getting away from the fact these were incredibly difficult times for local government.  In the last 10 years Sevenoaks District Council’s revenue support grant has fallen by over five million pounds.  In simple terms, the direct grant funding for every man, women and child within the District had been reduced from £55.95 in 2010 to zero, absolutely nothing two years ago.  The report demonstrated that on top of all of the savings made and pressures absorbed over the last 10 years, the budget had also been reduced by almost £5m or 30% in real terms, spending £1.5m less next year than 10 years ago.  None of this would have been possible without the hard work and diligence put in by members and officers.

 

Risks however remain, the uncertainty of the fair funding review and business rate retention is real, government interference on how services are delivered all come together to mean certain parts of our financial future currently remain beyond our control.  Self-sufficiency and a property portfolio were never the end of the story, they were always to give us the opportunity to make decisions which best served the communities represented. 

 

He strongly believed that the Council should always balance the make-up of the money available to spend.  The main three pillars that remained after the removal of government support were Council Tax, Savings and Investment income, over reliance on any one of which he believed destabilised an authority and put at risk the ability to deliver the positive agenda set out.  That is why above and beyond the actions set out in the budget he had set two new challenges:  firstly removing the retained business rates figure from the budget; and secondly looking at treasury management and reducing the gap between returns and inflation.

 

He stated that despite the challenges ahead all had been done in order to place the Council in the strongest position possible for the future, to lead and serve the communities and residents.  An increase in Council Tax of £4.95 per annum was proposed, taking the total Sevenoaks District Council Tax figure to £219.96 at Band D. A rise of 2.3% - everything for less than a fiver a week.  0.3% would be put into a Net Zero fund.  He stated that there would undoubtedly be challenges ahead, and the future was not without risk, some of which fell outside of the Council’s control, so all that could be done was to make sure the Council was fit for, ready for, and up for the challenges.

 

The work of members and officers at Sevenoaks District Council and the outcomes achieved had gained national and international recognition, and over the coming years the Council would need to go further, faster, and both learn from others and lead.  The work done and the continuing work, supported by the balanced ten year budget before members was the solid foundation that made him believe that the Sevenoaks District would not just survive the future but thrive.  He commended the budget to members.

 

Some Members queried the amount set aside for the Net Zero fund: whether it was enough, where would it go.  It was noted that the first meeting of the working group was to take place which was the first step and the amount set aside was a step in the right direction.

 

The vote was taken by all those present throughout the debate.

 

For	Against	Abstention
Cllr. Abraham Cllr. Andrews Cllr. Ball Cllr. Bayley Cllr. Brown Cllr. Carroll Cllr. Cheeseman Cllr. Clack Cllr. Penny Cole Cllr. Perry Cole Cllr. Coleman Cllr. Collins Cllr. Dickins Cllr. Edwards-Winser Cllr. Esler Cllr. Eyre Cllr. Firth Cllr. Fleming Cllr. Foster Cllr. Grint Cllr. Harrison Cllr. Hogarth Cllr. Hunter Cllr. Layland Cllr. London Cllr. Maskell Cllr. McArthur Cllr. McGarvey Cllr. Nelson Cllr. Osborne-Jackson Cllr. Parkin Cllr. Pender Cllr. Piper Cllr. Raikes Cllr. Reay Cllr. Roy Cllr. Thornton Cllr. Waterton	Cllr. Dr. Canet Cllr. Fothergill Cllr. Griffiths Cllr. Hudson Cllr. Purves
38	5	0

 

It was therefore

 

Resolved:  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 Budget Stabilisation Reserve;

 

c)   the Capital Programme 2020/23 and funding method, as set out in Appendix H to the report, be approved;

 

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

 

e)   the Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme 2019/20, be rolled forward to 2020/21, with effect from 1 April 2020, as set out in Appendix L to the report;

 

f)      the Capital Programme 2020/23 and Asset Maintenance 2020/21 budget of £687,000 be approved;

g)     it be noted that at the Cabinet meeting on 9 January 2020 the Council calculated its council tax base for the year 2020/21

(i)    for the whole Council area as 51,207.88 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 set out in Appendix N to the report;

h)     that the council tax requirement for the Council’s own purpose for 2020/21 (excluding Town and Parish precepts) be calculated as £219.96;

 

i)       the following amounts be calculated for the year 2020/21 in accordance with Sections 31 to 36 of the Act:

(i)	£56,302,245	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)	£40,401,000	being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A(3) of the Act.
(iii)	£15,901,245	being the amount by which the aggregate at (i)(i) above exceeds the aggregate at (i)(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)	£310.52	being the amount at (i)(iii) above (Item R), all divided by (g)(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)	£4,637,560	being the aggregate amount of all special items (Town and Parish precepts) referred to in Section 34 (1) of the Act (Appendix N).
(vi)	£219.96	being the amount at (i)(iv) above, less the result given by dividing the amount at (i)(v) above by the amount at (g)(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.

j)      it be noted that for the year 2020/21 the Kent County Council, the Kent Police & Crime Commissioner and the Kent & Medway Towns Fire Authority have 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	146.64 171.08 195.52 219.96 268.84 317.72 366.60 439.92	900.84 1,050.98 1,201.12 1,351.26 1,651.54 1,951.82 2,252.10 2,702.52	135.43 158.01 180.58 203.15 248.29 293.44 338.58 406.30	52.86 61.67 70.48 79.29 96.91 114.53 132.15 158.58

 

k)     the Council, in accordance with Sections 30 and 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, hereby sets the aggregate amounts shown in Appendix Q to the report, as the amounts of council tax for the year 2020/21  for each part of its area and for each of the categories of dwellings; and

l)      the Council’s basic amount of council tax for 2020/21, shown in (i)(vi) above, was not excessive in accordance with principles approved under Section 52ZB of the Local Government Finance Act 1992.

 

e)           Property Investment Strategy Update

 

Councillor Fleming proposed and Councillor Dickins seconded, the recommendation from Cabinet.  The report sought approval of amendments to the Property Investment Strategy.

 

Resolved:  That the Property Investment Strategy criteria be approved.