Decision details

(Report of Director of Finance and Transformation)

The report referred to the budget consultation launched by Kent County Council and drew attention to the proposal to withdraw the payments made to district councils in respect of second homes discounts.  Consideration was given to whether a response should be made by the consultation deadline of 24 November 2015.

It was noted that the annual payment to the Borough Council of around £31,000 was not part of the base budget but had supported one-off projects such as the Tonbridge Memorial Garden and funding towards the Community Safety Partnership.  The Cabinet supported a response advocating a phased withdrawal of funding over three years; expressing concern about the detrimental effect of a piecemeal approach to savings proposals; and providing examples of the opportunities for supporting the wider community that would be lost on the withdrawal of funding.

The Leader advised that a meeting of Kent Council Leaders was scheduled for 24 November and suggested a mechanism for enabling the Council’s response to the consultation to be informed by that discussion and within a strategic context.

The Cabinet resolved that:

(1)             a response be made to the consultation regarding second homes discount payments;

(2)             authority be delegated to the Leader, in liaison with the Director of Finance and Transformation, Cabinet Member for Finance, Innovation and Property and Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, to formulate a response incorporating the three points set out above but informed by the outcome of the meeting of Kent Council Leaders on 24 November; and

(3)             details of the final response be reported for information to the next meeting of the Finance, Innovation and Property Advisory Board.