Issue - meetings

Item CB 17/19 referred from Cabinet minutes of 9 February 2017

It was proposed by Councillor M Coffin and seconded by Councillor N Heslop that the recommendations at Minute CB 17/19 be adopted.  In accordance with Council Procedure Rule No 8.5 voting was recorded as follows:

Members voting for the motion:

Cllr Mrs J A Anderson, Cllr O C Baldock, Cllr M A C Balfour, Cllr Mrs S M Barker, Cllr Mrs S Bell, Cllr R P Betts, Cllr T Bishop, Cllr P F Bolt, Cllr J L Botten, Cllr T I B Cannon, Cllr M A Coffin, Cllr D J Cure, Cllr R W Dalton, Cllr D A S Davis, Cllr M O Davis, Cllr Mrs T Dean, Cllr T Edmondston-Low, Cllr S M Hammond, Cllr Mrs M F Heslop, Cllr N J Heslop, Cllr S R J Jessel, Cllr D Keeley, Cllr Mrs F A Kemp, Cllr R D Lancaster, Cllr D Lettington, Cllr Mrs S L Luck, Cllr B J Luker, Cllr D Markham, Cllr Mrs A S Oakley, Cllr M Parry-Waller, Cllr S C Perry, Cllr M R Rhodes, Cllr R V Roud, Cllr Miss J L Sergison, Cllr Miss S O Shrubsole, Cllr Ms S V Spence, Cllr Miss G E Thomas, Cllr F G Tombolis, Cllr B W Walker and Cllr T C Walker

Total 40

Members voting against the motion:

None

Members abstaining:

None

RESOLVED:  That the recommendations at Minute CB 17/19 be approved.

Further to the reports to the Finance, Innovation and Property Advisory Board and the Overview and Scrutiny Committee earlier in the cycle, the joint report of the Chief Executive, Director of Finance and Transformation, the Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance, Innovation and Property updated the Cabinet on issues relating to the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) and gave details of the necessary procedure to be followed in order to set the budget for 2017/18.  It also highlighted adjustments made to the Revenue Estimates presented to the Advisory Board and Committee. 

The Director of Finance and Transformation explained that the final local government settlement would not be received until after being debated by Parliament on 22 February but was not expected to be significantly different from the provisional settlement.  However, this meant that the recommended budget was based on provisional figures and the council tax would also need to be set on that basis.  Reference was made to the Council’s decision to accept the four year funding settlement offered by the Government and to the referendum threshold for 2017/18 which had been set at the higher of 2% or £5 (subject to ratification of the final settlement).  Illustrative allocations up to 2019/20 were presented and a comparison of the Council’s Settlement Funding Assessment for the period 2017/18 to 2019/20 with those of the other Kent district councils demonstrated that Tonbridge and Malling continued to receive one of the lowest, if not the lowest, Assessment both in total and per head.

Attention was drawn to recommendations from Advisory Boards and the decision of the Licensing and Appeals Committee regarding the levels of fees and charges to be implemented from 1 April 2017 which had been incorporated in the draft estimates.  Members were reminded of the approach to preparation of the Capital Plan, an updated summary of which was set out at Annex 7 to the report.

The report then described the remaining procedure to be followed in setting the budget for 2017/18 and calculating the council tax.  Consideration was given to the updated MTFS based on a council tax increase of £5 (the upper limit for referendum purposes) for the remainder of the four year settlement period.  The Cabinet also deliberated on the most appropriate guidance to offer the Council as to the way forward for updating the MTFS for the next ten year period and setting the council tax for 2017/18.  Members were advised of the implications of the special expenses scheme for the way in which the council tax was expressed.

An updated copy of the Savings and Transformation Strategy was presented, including revised outline targets and timescales to be revisited and aligned with the latest projected “funding gap”.  Finally, the Director of Finance and Transformation explained the basis on which the statement as to the Robustness of the Estimates and Adequacy of the Reserves had been made, including an understanding that the savings target based on latest projections of £1.6m would be delivered. 

RECOMMENDED:  That

(1)                                                    the fees  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19