Agenda item

To consider the following referrals from Cabinet:

 

7.1       CA/018/20       11 February 2020       Budget 2020/21

7.2       CA/019/20       11 February 2020       Q3 Budget Monitoring Report

7.3       CA/021/20       11 February 2020       Senior Officer Pay Policy

Resolved:

That the following be approved:

11 February 2020

 

7.1      CA/018/20    Budget 2020/21

 

A recorded vote was held:

 

38 For, 3 Against and 6 Abstentions.

 

Decision

 

General Fund Revenue Estimate

 

a)    set a Dacorum Borough Council General Fund Council Tax  requirement of £12.086m, and a provisional amount of £13.058m for the combined Borough Council and Parish Councils’ requirement for 2020/21;

b)    approve a Band D Council Tax increase of £5 (2.48%) for Dacorum Borough Council;

 

c)    approve the base estimates for 2020/21, as shown in Appendix A1, and the indicative budget forecasts for 2020/21 – 2023/24, as shown in Appendix A2;

 

d)    approve the forecast balances of Revenue Reserves as shown in Appendix J, and approve section 10 of this report as the updated Reserves Strategy;

 

e)    approve increases in Fees and Charges for 2020/21 as set out in Appendices C3, D3, and E3;

 

f)     approve and adopt the Treasury Management Strategy for 2020/21, attached at Appendix K;

 

g)    approve and adopt the Capital Strategy for 2020/21, attached at Appendix L;

 

h)    note that this budget paper, if approved by Council, will form part of the Medium Term Financial Strategy.

Capital Programme

i)      approve the Capital Programme for 2020/21 to 2024/25, as detailed in Appendix I and Appendix M respectively;

 

j)      approve the financing proposals in Appendix I subject to an annual review of the financing options by the Corporate Director (Finance & Operations), in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Finance and Resources, during the preparation of the Statement of Accounts.

Housing Revenue Account (HRA)

k)    set dwelling rents according to the new MHCLG Rent Standard, which provides for a rent increase of CPI+1% (2.7% in total).  The average dwelling rents is proposed to increase to £103.12 in 202/21, from its current level of £100.47(based on 52 weeks); 

 

l)      approve the HRA estimate for 2020/21 as shown in Appendix F.

Employer Terms & Conditions

m)   note that the hourly rate of all Council employees continues to exceed the rate proposed by the rates of the Living Wage Foundation, for 2019/20 (to be reviewed annually thereafter).

Statement by Chief Finance Officer

 

n)    approve the statement by the Chief Finance Officer regarding the robustness of the budget estimates and level of reserves as set out in Appendix M.

 

7.2       CA/019/20       Q3 Budget Monitoring Report

 

Decision

 

1. Consider the budget monitoring position for each of the above accounts;
   
   
2. Recommend to Council approval of the revised capital programme to move £4.956m slippage identified at Quarter 3 into financial year 2020/21 as detailed in Appendix C;
   
   
3. Recommend to Council approval of supplementary revenue budgets funded from reserves:
   
   

• Supplementary budget of £40k in the Neighbourhood Delivery service, funded from the Management of Change reserve, to fund interim resource to support delivery of new service initiatives
  
  
• Additional budget of £30k in the Elections service, funded from drawdown of £30k from the Election reserve
  
  
• Supplementary budget in the Planning service of £103k to fund the revenue costs of implementation of new Planning software, funded from the Planning & Regeneration reserve
  
  
• Supplementary budget of £170k to fund costs relating to the Hand Arm Vibration legal case, to be funded from the Litigation Reserve.
  
  
• Supplementary budget of £28k in Waste Services to fund consultancy work to support service improvements, funded from the Management of Change reserve
  
  
• Supplementary budget of £80k in the garages employees budget to fund interim resource, funded from the Invest to Save reserve
  
  
• Supplementary budget of £60k to fund one-off expenditure for a garage stock condition survey, funded from the Invest to Save reserve
  
  

4. Recommend to Council approval of supplementary capital budgets required to deliver several service changes as set out below:
   
   

• A capital budget of £66k to fund replacement boilers at Berkhamsted Leisure Centre
  
  
• A capital budget of £55k to fund new poolside flooring at Berkhamsted Leisure Centre
   
• Additional capital budget of £598k in the Affordable Housing Development fund, funded from Housing one-for-one (‘1-4-1’) receipts

 

5. Recommend to Council additional reserves drawdowns as set out below:
   
   

• Drawdown of £1,750k from the Vehicle Replacement Reserve to fund capital investment in the Council’s waste fleet
  
  
• Drawdown of £8k from Tring Swimming Pool reserve to fund capital works at the site.
  
  

6. Approve a capital virement of £900k to reallocate budget for the acquisition of Eastwick Row from the HRA New Build General budget to the Eastwick Row budget
   
   
7. Agree the annual update of the Council’s flexible use of capital receipts strategy at Appendix D of this report.

 

 

7.3       CA/021/20       Senior Officer Pay Policy

Decision

 

The adoption of the Pay Policy for 2020/21 as set out in appendix 1 to the Cabinet report.

That the following be approved:

 

11 February 2020

 

7.1      CA/018/20    Budget 2020/21

 

MOTION

 

The following Motion was proposed by Councillor Tindall and seconded by Councillor England:

 

LIBERAL DEMOCRAT BUDGET PROPOSAL 2020/2021   

 

 

Table 1, General Fund one-year expenditure initiatives:

 

		2020/21    £000’s	2021/22    £000’s
1.	Increase the Strategic Planning and Environment Budget by £100k to fund new, one-off initiatives to improve air quality, particularly around schools, evaluation on site, and investment in public Electric Charging Points.	100	0
2.	Increase the Strategic Planning and Environment Budget by £50k to fund a trial of 10 solar powered compactor litter bins across the borough, at a cost of c£5k each.	50	0
3.	In recognition of the urgency of the work, increase the Strategic Planning and Environment Budget by £100k to fund the catch-up in outstanding tree work including the assessment of sites for additional planting.   It is also envisaged that this will include an overview of Development in Dacorum in order that the right number and in particular the right species of trees are planted as a contribution towards the work of reducing the Borough’s carbon footprint.	100	0
4.	Addition to the Housing and Communities Budget to fund four additional Enforcement Officers for a trial period of one year.	120	0
5.	Addition to the Finance and Resources Budget to fund a comprehensive study of the present communication methods of the council including improvement of the telephone system.	100	0
6.	Increase the contribution to the Climate Change Reserve by a further £700k, over and above the £300k proposed in the Budget Report to deliver a total reserve contribution of £1m.   These funds would be available to the Strategic Planning and Environment Budget to provide one-off finance for climate change measures to reduce the Council’s carbon footprint, including a Community Climate Change Fund available to residents and community groups. Although the reserve contribution would be made in a single year, it is anticipated that it would fund projects over a two- to three-year period.	700	0
	Sub-Total of A	1,170	0

 

 

Table 2, General Fund two-year expenditure initiatives:

 

 

		2020//21    000’s	2021/22    000’s
7.	Addition to the Finance and Resources Budget for a part-time fixed-term post, the holder to advise and coordinate councillors, towns and parishes to use Community Infrastructure Levy funds for the benefit of local residents in accordance with agreed local protocols.  Subject to review for the second year.	50	50
8.	An addition to the Housing and Communities budget to fund community facing Sports and Leisure Projects for an initial trial two-year period.  Subject to review for the second year.	50	50
9.	An addition to the budget of Clean, Safe and Green to enhance the appearance of the Borough by work on verge maintenance, graffiti removal and clearance of growth from paths.  Second year subject to review.	80	80
	Sub-Total of B	180	180
	General Fund Total Budget Amendment	1,350	180

 

 

Housing Revenue Account

 

Table 3, HRA one-year expenditure initiative:

 

 

		2020//21    000’s	2021/22    000’s
10	An addition of £1m to the Housing Revenue Account to provide for the introduction of energy saving measures on the council’s housing stock.   In order not to detract from the current new build programme or the investment in existing stock already outlined in the HRA Business Plan, this will be funded by borrowing £1m over a period of 20 years. The repayment will be made as a single amount at the end of the 20 year period.	1,000

 

S151 Officer Comments

 

General Fund

 

The proposed spending plans are all for a fixed term and therefore can be funded through one off funding streams without additional risk to the Council’s financial sustainability in the medium-term.

 

The £180k required to fund the second year proposals, if progressed, would still be funded through the New Homes Bonus received in 20/21, and would need to be ring-fenced within reserves in case required in 2021/22.

 

Housing Revenue Account

 

The duration of borrowing should not exceed the life of the asset it is funding. Therefore in order to borrow £1m for this initiative over a 20-year period, the expenditure would need to meet the following criteria:

 

• The individual elements of expenditure would need to be in excess of £10k; and,

 

• The council would need to benefit from the expenditure for a period of 20 years.

 

Assuming that these conditions were met, and that the repayment of principal was made on maturity of the debt, the financial implications for the HRA Business Plan would be:

 

• Additional interest costs of c£30k per annum, which could be funded through a reduction in the annual Revenue Contribution to Capital – this would not have a material impact on the planned capital programme; and,

 

• A repayment of £1m in 2040/41, which at today’s prices would equate to roughly £600k. This amount is low enough that a decision on whether to refinance or repay could be made nearer the time, informed by an updated HRA Business Plan.

 

Councillor Tindall made the following statement to propose the Motion:

“In rising to propose this motion, I need to stress that the Liberal Democrat proposals are not amendments to the council’s budget, but fully costed additions which are intended to enhance the council’s programme over the coming year, with the emphasis on climate change and reducing the council’s carbon footprint.

 

Last year, we made a start with a number of motions jointly agreed.  But in our opinion we need to speed up the process by which we acknowledge the climate emergency, and do what we can to eliminate the risk to the planet.  It is a strange world where the financial failings of the government led to the rollover of local government financial arrangements which has in turn provided Dacorum with windfalls in respect of the negative revenue support grant and other payments which may, in the future, not survive the fair funding review, expected in the next financial year.

 

The question was should we save that money for a rainy day, or use it for the benefit of our communities.  Given recent global and local events, from the Australian bush fires to the consecutive weekend storms in Britain to our minds, the rainy days have arrived, and we need to use whatever available resources we have, without putting at risk the sound financial future of this Council as it faces the uncertain future of this country with a questionable government led by an unstable prime minister with the attention span of a gnat and a Chancellor still wet behind the ears.

 

We applaud this Council’s administration in wanting to have money in the bank and take precautions to ensure that we can weather the economic storms that will come when Boris flounders, but having looked at the actual storms we can expect as climate change rushes towards us, we have come to the conclusion that not to make use of the opportunities afforded us by the financial windfalls would be not taking the opportunity to protect the futures of our children and grandchildren.

 

I will only speak directly to some of our proposals as speakers will follow -

 

In noting the administration’s intention to appoint a Climate Officer which is welcomed we feel it is important that that individual whomever they be has sufficient resources to get on with the job, hence the major part of our additional budget is to boost the funds available to spend on this important work.”

 

Councillor Claughton said he hoped members of the council would support the addition of these items in the budget given the importance of the climate emergency, in particular item 3; an increase in strategic planning and environment project of £100k to fund catch up in outstanding tree work including assessment of sites. He welcomed the councils plan to plant 1000 trees by the end of 2020. Councillor Anderson announced at the last council meeting that DBC had or planned to plant 70 trees in January and 70 in February. Whilst this is good news, he felt Dacorum’s ambitions were relatively modest compared with other councils and he shared some statistics from other councils. He welcomed the council planting 21 new street trees in Berkhamsted of which 13 in his own ward of Berkhamsted Castle. However 21 trees were felled in his ward alone in 2018/19. Although the council has a policy of replacing trees where we are able, the definition includes financial and physical constraints. This has been a problem for some time. A FOI request to the council revealed that in 2012-17, 43 trees were removed and only 22 were planted in the whole of Berkhamsted. He finalised with a quote from George Orwell “the planting of a tree is a gift which you can make to posterity at almost no cost and with almost no trouble, and if the tree takes root it will far outlive the visible effect of any of your other actions, good or evil.”

 

Councillor Griffiths said she wouldn’t be supporting the motion on the basis that all seems to be plucked from the air. She said there was lots of work going on in the council and they had been using APS (Association of Public Services) base line of corporate buildings, and using Shift for baseline of housing stock. They are also looking into what they can do with new builds. She attended a training session on 18 February called ‘moving to zero carbon’ with the housing and planning departments and any other interested officers. She said it was a very interesting conversation and the expert was explaining that if we all converted over to charging and using electric vehicles, we need to cut down on gas heating as gas is the biggest polluter and all went to electric, the system would fall over. We do not have the infrastructure to deliver, we should have it by 2050, by not by 2030. They were looking at air source pump heating but that was now old hat. They are now looking at ground source heating pumps but they are very noisy. What about district heating plan? There is all new stuff being investigated. Apparently the city councils are doing a lot of the work becoming exemplars. There is also talk of doing hydrogen and gas mix which is better than total hydrogen because of health and safety. There will be a report going to Cabinet later in spring baselining information to take forward. There is lots of work going on already in housing. We can’t restrict money to one area for climate change initiatives because we work on basis of fabric first and doing a whole property. She said it wouldn’t fit in to our plan but we do have a plan, it is being rolled out and we have a baseline.

 

Councillor Birnie said Councillor Griffiths made some interesting points but it seems that council was not the place to make new policy. He said Council meetings were to approve or reject policies that have maturely developed through the committee system and our opposition colleagues have the right to participate. The opposition seeks to rush us into populist measures, none of which has been through the scrutiny committee.For example there is a new local plan Task & Finish group which includes the leader of the opposition amongst others and some of these proposals have been discussed there, yet no member of the opposition have pressed in budget scrutiny’s to include these measures when they had the opportunity. He said he recently attended Cabinet for the budget consideration which is usually the last chance for changes. He proposed some reserves to deal with problems with our communication system and both the leader of the opposition and his deputy were present yet neither of them supported him. In addition he mentioned Air Quality which he was passionate about and the positive action in the Boroughs air quality management areas, however all the opposition have offered is the tired and impractical mantra of getting residents out of their cars.At the Air Quality action plan steering group, it was left to the Portfolio Holder of Community and Regulatory services, Councillor Banks, to lambast the refusal of the County Council to help our residents in Apsley to change the road layout around Durrants Hill the opposition member on that committee remained silent. This Conservative council has great respect throughout the County and at Central Government level for its financial prudence. We shouldn’t jeopardise this reputation by blowing money on this “vote catcher” wish list. He finalised that he wouldn’t be supporting this motion.

 

Councillor England read the following statement:

 

“There are several aspects to this Budget Amendment but I want to concentrate on two themes which surely deserve support from across the Chamber:

The Climate Emergency and the Communications we need.

We have nine years to provide leadership locally on reducing our Carbon Footprint – that is our Carbon Budget.

 

We don’t have elections until 2023, so really what we are interested in is not the politics, but the compounding effect of the early measures we take, in two ways:

First the direct effect on CO2, air quality, plastic pollution and bio-diversity produced by the actions of the Council in providing services and operating The Forum, Cupid Green etc.

 

And then the indirect effect; the many incremental changes that will also need to be made by residents and businesses, wise choices which help address the same issues.

 

That is why we are arguing the case for an extra £1.1m to be allocated to dealing with the Climate emergency. The next year will be crucial; we need to realise that Year One (2020) affects our level of achievement nine times as much as 2028/29.

2020 is the year when we ensure the funds are available to choose the ways we will act – and ask individuals, businesses to act.

 

There are proposals in this Alternative Budget that aim to put Dacorum Borough Council in a position to avoid some of the costs that the Climate Emergency can be expected to bring.

 

In the next year we need the ability to choose measures and to take early action which can prevent higher Climate Emergency avoidance costs accruing later.

We need to properly fund the Emergency work and bandwidth for planning to avoid the costs of unchecked Climate Change

 

The envelope for this Budget is the ability to react to Climate Emergency while maintaining control of the council finances in the medium-term. Rather like early braking being designed to dissipate speed even before a manoeuvre is selected to swerve or otherwise avoid a crash.

 

Easing Bottlenecks:

Many of the key measures to be taken and areas to change are subject to bottlenecks, e.g.

·         the need to train and re-train heating engineers,

·         The need to assess programmes of tree-planting,

·         and the need to encourage and lead a local switch to EVs.

No regrets about:

·         the need to improve air quality for schoolchildren

·         Improving Air Quality – what is not to like?

It is this bottleneck type of problem, which manifests in various challenges, which inspires the amendment allowing for the drawing on reserves, in order to help address them.

 

This could mean the Tree Work, or the training of local people to become Heat Pump Engineers, or Litter-minimising volunteers!

 

These and the following three items are “No Regrets policies”, since the need for the work is already recognised, and the benefits will not be realised unless these are begun immediately, even if the choices are imperfect.”

 

Councillor Allen spoke in support of item 4 of the motion. As a new councillor he regularly finds that residents approach him about the reduction in effectiveness and visibility of front line services with the result that allotments, parks, car parks, garage blocks and other public spaces are falling into disrepair. Increasingly there seems to be a feeling that the solution to this is Street Champions and relying on the public’s good will. However, we need to have a human scale local responsive and visible set of staff supporting and working alongside residents whilst these schemes pick up momentum so that we can bring the community along and resolve ragged edges that seem to be appearing according to residents in his ward.

 

Councillor Banks said whilst appreciating climate emergency there was a number of reasons why she wouldn’t be supporting the motion. Firstly under the air quality action plan 2019-2024 there was a holistic approach to reduce emissions based on air quality measurements of scientific data. The action plan was approved through the scrutiny process and was working with the County Councils highways services to promote awareness of air quality. Whilst initiatives raise awareness and will have an effect, she suggested they would not tackle root causes but simply raise expectations and lack effectiveness. She said although we need to consider behavioural change, there is not enough lithium in world to produce the batteries for the number of electric vehicles we are planning to be using. The electric vehicle charging points will be considered in context as evidence based strategy but not as an isolated initiative. With reference to the suggestion we should employ four enforcement officers for a trial one year period, this is not realistic or cost effective. It is doubtful we would attract the calibre of candidates required for 12 months. Enforcement Officers also require extensive training. We already have a strategy in place to strengthen our enforcement by using more effective means by working in partnership with other agencies. With reference to the telephone system, she outlined some statistics. One of the drivers for this system was to reduce calls handled by staff and the automated system to route calls to correct service areas. This resulted in a significant reduction of staff needed in the customer services department.  She advised the KPIs had been achieved so that was not an issue and analysis showed we have had three formal complaints and none referred to the telephone system. There were 10 service requests; 6 were for the time taken to answer the call which equates to 0.001% of calls. She said the issue was not with the telephony system and any members and public should be reporting issues to Tracy Lancashire by email.

 

Councillor Anderson said it was good to have the opposition budget in advance of this meeting as it usually appears on the night. He said the administration was available months in advance and scrutinised on two occasions before this point. He said he can’t support the motion as it contained a great deal of problems. We all want the air quality problem to be resolved and all support what council is already doing but the budget proposal contains no detail and only lasts one year. In terms of charging points, the rapid charge points take 30 minutes or more so the only practical place to charge is at home. With that in mind why should we invest public money in pointless charging points? We already have an air quality action plan we are working to. With regards to solar powered litter bins, he thought we had already covered this in previous years and decided it was a daft idea. He said they were silly, don’t work well, particularly lousy value for money; it costs £250 for a normal bin and £5000 for a solar bin. We already have an effective bin emptying network. He referred to Councillor Claughton’s comments and reiterated that we can’t have additional street trees because of the problems they cause to the tarmac and the underground cables so it wasn’t an option. In terms of climate change, anyone would think we were actually cutting the budget instead of increasing it by £300k. In terms of the year 2 proposals there is no Parish Councillor that needs to be advised on how to spend money. He made reference to the £800k on Clean, Safe and Green and pointed out there was no definition on what this involves. So many of these things we are already doing, are daft or have no details.

Councillor Wyatt-Lowe said she hadn’t intended on speaking but wanted to address the inconsistencies in Councillor Tindall’s remarks, particularly about the current Government of this country. Surely if the opposition is so fearful about the financial future of this country they would be supportive and be urging this administration to continue with its prudent and stable financial conduct. If everything was as bad as Councillor Tindall painted, we would be keeping every penny to combat what the future may hold. She said she won’t be supporting this motion even though she finds the ideas interesting.

 

Councillor Williams said from what he understood from Councillor England’s statement we are broadly on the same page with the need to tackle climate change and the issues that arise from that. He said it seemed to be drafted on the basis that the opposition assumed the administration haven’t considered how they would fund the work from appointing a climate change officer and create a climate change action plan that they would bring to Cabinet in the spring. That assumption is wrong. It is the intention of the administration to use some of the Dacorum development reserve to fund some of the climate change action we may want to do in the future. This motion highlights the regular difference between Conservative and Liberal Democrat budgets which usually seems to spend more money; to spend money on one off reserves on schemes you wouldn’t be able to continue beyond year one because you can’t be certain of the funding. Our approach is to put the funding into the budget and come up with a plan that is costed and allocate funding accordingly. He felt there was more benefit for a focused headline than a prudent budget process. He said the reason he couldn’t support this motion was because it puts the cart before the horse to allocate money to un-costed and unworked projects.

 

Councillor Hollinghurst said he had been a Councillor for a long time and he remembered an occasion in the 1980s when Peter Benson was the Portfolio Holder for Housing and he warned us then about climate change. We have no reason to think that climate change is anything new and it has been known to us for about for 50/60 years. It has been a long time coming and we have done very little. Peter Benson said we should look carefully at our building regulations and our designs as he was an architect. Warmer air produces stronger winds and warmer seas produce more water vapour, a combination of that would be powerful storms and floods impacting on buildings. Nobody has been taking action fast enough to head off the disastrous consequences arising from extra energy in the atmosphere. People have spoken about inability to mitigate the present situation by current technology. This is wrong and we can do an awful lot. 30% power from wind turbines goes to waste because we haven’t got the storage capacity to store it for future use. We are in an emergency and must act quickly. That is why trees are so important. It is important that we try and mitigate some of the disastrous effects for our grandchildren. Please support the amendment.

 

Councillor Uttley said Councillor Hollinghurst passionately covered some of what she wanted to say. She reiterated that there were complex technological opportunities that may be considered but that can’t be used as an excuse for not taking advantage of simple solutions, such as planting trees. This is an emergency and discussion about saving money for later doesn’t really acknowledge the emergency situation. In terms of the discussions about the telephone system and clearly there is a problem with understanding what the issues are. Personally if she is put through to the wrong department she puts the phone down and starts again. In terms of sports and leisure, Dacorum figures have slipped below baseline measure. We need to get our residents active and that is why it is included in the amendment. She supported the motion.

 

Councillor Tindall said the experts say we only have 10-15 years to do something. He said they hadn’t made specific demands about there the money is spent because this is an emerging field and technology is advancing at a great rate so what we propose now might not be suitable in a years’ time. He referred to the comment of source of funding and said we are not spending reserves but taking from grants or bonuses instead of putting money away for a rainy day as we need to act now. He hoped members were inspired to change their minds and he thanked the whole chamber for the conduct and level of debate. It is to be welcomed and casts a merit upon all Councillors for the way they have spoken.

 

A recorded vote was held:

 

19 For and 28 Against.

 

Therefore the Motion was lost.

 

The Council then proceeded to the preliminary budget proposal.

 

Councillor Elliot moved the item CA/018/20 - Budget 2020/21 and made the following statement:

 

“The Budget Context

 

Over the last 9 years, this council has successfully risen to the challenge of saving over £7m whilst simultaneously protecting and improving the services we provide to our residents. This budget outlines plans to save a further £800k in 2020/21.

 

The medium-term future of local authority finance will remain uncertain until the outcome of Government’s Fair Funding Review, which will determine how funding will be allocated to local authorities beyond 2021.

 

That is why this council has proposed a budget for 2020 with a strong focus on sustainability, and continuing to deliver its corporate priorities into the medium-term. We have already made significant strides towards balancing the budget in future years, having identified initiatives of over £500k to address MTFS savings targets beyond 2021.

 

Continuing to invest in the Borough

 

Despite the extent of the financial challenges we have faced, this council’s history of prudent financial management means that we are in a position to propose a highly ambitious capital investment programme in excess of £280m over the next 5 years to further enhance the services we provide to our residents, and the environment in which they live.

 

Some of the areas identified for capital investment include:

 

o   £90m investment in our existing housing stock, which continues to provide high quality homes for tens of thousands ofpeople across our borough

 

o  £115m investment in our ambitious and successful housing new-build programme … helping more people to live affordably in an area which has some of the highest house prices in the country

 

o  £50m investment in various ventures which combine social benefit with financial return, including significant investment in a new sports centre in Berkhamsted and plans to develop out the former Civic Centre site in Hemel Hempstead

 

o  £4m investment in working with Housing Association partners to facilitate affordable housing developments, and the delivery of additional temporary accommodation for some of our most vulnerable residents

 

o  £7m investment in community facilities including car parks, cemeteries, and leisure

 

Maintaining our front-line services

 

Protecting and improving our front-line services has been a central objective for this Council throughout the last 9 years of unprecedented financial challenge.

 

I am proud that this Council has overcome 70% funding reductions to successfully deliver this objective, and once again I can announce that this budget will maintain our front-line services in 2020/21.

 

The Council has worked hard to deliver its savings targets through efficiencies rather than cuts, and has developed a culture of innovation and a strong focus on continuous improvement.

 

This has enabled us to deliver savings through a range of initiatives including:

 

o  more efficient staffing structures linked into better ways of working and improved use of technology; and,

 

o  a more commercial approach to contract negotiation and the provision of good quality services that also deliver increased income generation, recent examples of which include:

 

§  An innovative approach to Temporary Accommodation within council-owned property, which will generate additional income of £300k next year;

 

§  The recent leisure contract which will also deliver a further £300k of income in 2020/21;

 

§  Successfully leasing part of The Forum to the CCG, which has not only fed a continued focus on efficient working for council staff, but has contributed over £250k of income over the first year.

Council Tax

 

As part of the budget for 2020/21, the Council is proposing to increase Council Tax by £5 for a Band D property, which equates to less than 10 pence per week.

 

Central government is likely to consider each council’s ability to raise tax when deciding how much funding it will provide in the future in simple terms, Government is likely to reduce future funding by an amount that it expects the council to raise through increasing its council tax.

 

Proposing this increase in line with government expectation means that we have done all we can to protect Dacorum’s overall funding position for future years.

 

This approach was strongly endorsed through the Council’s budget consultation process, with 90% of residents involved supporting the decision to increase Council Tax by the maximum permissible amount in order to protect front line services.

 

Housing

 

Following an end to the statutory requirement for local authorities to reduce housing rents, the Council is next year proposing to increase rent levels for the first time in five years. The average rent for a council property next year will be £103.12 per week, which is £3 per week lower than it was in 2015.

 

Despite the 4-year period of enforced rent reductions, the Council has continued to make housing delivery one of its key priorities, and this summer we are on target to complete our 300^th new home.

 

This trend will continue in2019, the Council approved plans to make use of newly available borrowing within the HRA to deliver a further 370 homes across the borough over the next 4 years.

 

We are also investing in the infrastructure that will enable us to deliver our housing obligations to the most vulnerable in our community in the best way possible.

 

A further 12 new build Temporary Accommodation units are scheduled for completion in spring 2020, to add to the 44 TA beds already available in the council’s purpose built hostel, The Elms.

 

In Conclusion

 

Unquestionably, the Council faces significant financial challenges in the years ahead in particular beyond 2021 with the outcome of the Fair Funding Review due to be announced in late 2020.

 

However, I remain confident that with the processes this council has in place, the culture of innovation we continue to develop, and most of all with the continued commitment of Officers and Members we will continue to deliver for our residents.

 

I would like to thank all officers across all Council services for all their hard work over the year.

 

Mr Mayor I have no hesitation in recommending this budget to the Council.”

 

Councillor Griffiths supported the motion and said she wanted to highlight some of the work going on in the housing area. Grenfell was a major disaster and they now had requirements coming out from that. Fire safety and ongoing investment in ICT systems to help prioritise expenditure in this area is a key part of the budget. There is also the Environmental Impact Assessment by compiling the data required to establish the CO2 baseline position using the fabric first approach. There is also smart monitoring and use of AI to assist in reducing the energy consumption. She said there was lots of work going on in the private rented sector and the development of a new strategy.

Councillor Tindall said the opposition didn’t intend to change this budget but were just proposing additions. Therefore he supported the budget.

 

Councillor Williams felt that the views expressed by the opposition was that the administration wasn’t taking the climate emergency seriously and he assured Councillors that wasn’t the case but just that there is a difference in approach. He referred to the point about public charging points and advised they had already had surveys done and were looking at installation. He said they had also been in discussions with UKPN for advice to support those charging points. He emphasised that we do take the issue seriously but we just approach it in a different way.

 

Councillor Elliot summarised with the following statement:

 

“The fundamental difference with the amended budget is that it allocates £1.5m of expenditure to several specific areas whereas the Administration budget is contributing it all to the Dacorum Development Reserve.

 

The benefit of our approach, as opposed to the amended budget, is:

 

1.    By contributing to reserves, we retain the flexibility to fund our initiatives in the future but at the same time we are also holding a higher reserves cushion in the event that the Fair Funding Review is significantly worse than anticipated. (This is unlikely to be the case because we have a robust MTFS, but the FFR is a very significant unknown in terms of future funding and it pays to be prudent until it is announced in late 2020.) If we negotiate the FFR as expected, we might then choose to increase reserves-funded expenditure based on more a more informed picture of our medium-term financial position.

 

2.     The Climate Change Strategy is currently being prepared and is scheduled for Cabinet in late Spring/early summer. This Strategy will inform a sustainable approach to investment in environmental measures that would enable the Council to get maximum vfm from its climate response. There is a risk that investing in climate change initiatives before this strategy is complete could lead to a less efficient approach.  

Councillor Allen mentioned frayed amenities in Dacorum, has he not seen:

·         The new splash park and new play area in Gadebridge Park

·         The new car park in Berkhamsted

·         Parks within Dacorum have won many awards

·         The Jellicoe Water Gardens

·         New sports centre proposed for Berkhamsted

As Councillor Birnie alluded to, the opposition has had ample opportunity to put proposals through two lots of joint overview and scrutiny committees and as usual is ill thought out pie in the sky thinking. Similar to their previous national leader thinking she could be our next Prime Minister! The voters of East Dunbartonshire delivered their verdict on her, I have the same verdict on this Alternative budget.”

A recorded vote was held:

 

38 For, 3 Against and 6 Abstentions.

 

Decision

 

General Fund Revenue Estimate

 

a)    set a Dacorum Borough Council General Fund Council Tax  requirement of £12.086m, and a provisional amount of £13.058m for the combined Borough Council and Parish Councils’ requirement for 2020/21;

b)    approve a Band D Council Tax increase of £5 (2.48%) for Dacorum Borough Council;

 

c)    approve the base estimates for 2020/21, as shown in Appendix A1, and the indicative budget forecasts for 2020/21 – 2023/24, as shown in Appendix A2;

 

d)    approve the forecast balances of Revenue Reserves as shown in Appendix J, and approve section 10 of this report as the updated Reserves Strategy;

 

e)    approve increases in Fees and Charges for 2020/21 as set out in Appendices C3, D3, and E3;

 

f)     approve and adopt the Treasury Management Strategy for 2020/21, attached at Appendix K;

 

g)    approve and adopt the Capital Strategy for 2020/21, attached at Appendix L;

 

h)    note that this budget paper, if approved by Council, will form part of the Medium Term Financial Strategy.

Capital Programme

 

i)      approve the Capital Programme for 2020/21 to 2024/25, as detailed in Appendix I and Appendix M respectively;

 

j)      approve the financing proposals in Appendix I subject to an annual review of the financing options by the Corporate Director (Finance & Operations), in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Finance and Resources, during the preparation of the Statement of Accounts.

Housing Revenue Account (HRA)

 

k)    set dwelling rents according to the new MHCLG Rent Standard, which provides for a rent increase of CPI+1% (2.7% in total).  The average dwelling rents is proposed to increase to £103.12 in 202/21, from its current level of £100.47(based on 52 weeks); 

 

l)      approve the HRA estimate for 2020/21 as shown in Appendix F.

Employer Terms & Conditions

 

m)   note that the hourly rate of all Council employees continues to exceed the rate proposed by the rates of the Living Wage Foundation, for 2019/20 (to be reviewed annually thereafter).

Statement by Chief Finance Officer

 

n)    approve the statement by the Chief Finance Officer regarding the robustness of the budget estimates and level of reserves as set out in Appendix M.

 

 

 

7.2       CA/019/20       Q3 Budget Monitoring Report

 

Decision

 

1. Consider the budget monitoring position for each of the above accounts;
   
   
2. Recommend to Council approval of the revised capital programme to move £4.956m slippage identified at Quarter 3 into financial year 2020/21 as detailed in Appendix C;
   
   
3. Recommend to Council approval of supplementary revenue budgets funded from reserves:
   
   

• Supplementary budget of £40k in the Neighbourhood Delivery service, funded from the Management of Change reserve, to fund interim resource to support delivery of new service initiatives
  
  
• Additional budget of £30k in the Elections service, funded from drawdown of £30k from the Election reserve
  
  
• Supplementary budget in the Planning service of £103k to fund the revenue costs of implementation of new Planning software, funded from the Planning & Regeneration reserve
  
  
• Supplementary budget of £170k to fund costs relating to the Hand Arm Vibration legal case, to be funded from the Litigation Reserve.
  
  
• Supplementary budget of £28k in Waste Services to fund consultancy work to support service improvements, funded from the Management of Change reserve
  
  
• Supplementary budget of £80k in the garages employees budget to fund interim resource, funded from the Invest to Save reserve
  
  
• Supplementary budget of £60k to fund one-off expenditure for a garage stock condition survey, funded from the Invest to Save reserve
  
  

4. Recommend to Council approval of supplementary capital budgets required to deliver several service changes as set out below:
   
   

• A capital budget of £66k to fund replacement boilers at Berkhamsted Leisure Centre
  
  
• A capital budget of £55k to fund new poolside flooring at Berkhamsted Leisure Centre
   
• Additional capital budget of £598k in the Affordable Housing Development fund, funded from Housing one-for-one (‘1-4-1’) receipts

 

5. Recommend to Council additional reserves drawdowns as set out below:
   
   

• Drawdown of £1,750k from the Vehicle Replacement Reserve to fund capital investment in the Council’s waste fleet
  
  
• Drawdown of £8k from Tring Swimming Pool reserve to fund capital works at the site.
  
  

6. Approve a capital virement of £900k to reallocate budget for the acquisition of Eastwick Row from the HRA New Build General budget to the Eastwick Row budget
   
   
7. Agree the annual update of the Council’s flexible use of capital receipts strategy at Appendix D of this report.

 

 

7.3       CA/021/20       Senior Officer Pay Policy

 

Decision

 

The adoption of the Pay Policy for 2020/21 as set out in appendix 1 to the Cabinet report.