Agenda item

The Leader gave an update on the Savings and Transformation Strategy adopted at the budget meeting in February to address the significant financial challenges facing the Council over the next four years and to underpin the Medium Term Financial Strategy.  He referred to the savings of £200,000 arising from in-service efficiencies that had been delivered and reflected in the Estimates for 2016/17.  Reports were expected to forthcoming meetings of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, General Purposes Committee and the various advisory boards with proposals for cost efficiencies, savings and opportunities for new income.  Attention was drawn to the detailed report and research paper published that day on financial arrangements with parish councils and how to address the funding of concurrent functions provided by the Borough Council.  Further information would become available once the Cabinet had considered the matter on 20 April.

The Leader referred to the Borough Council’s work with the other two West Kent districts, the County Council and others including the Police and Health Services to seek opportunities for a more cost effective way of delivering local services in order to drive up standards, minimise duplication and deliver best value.  He was pleased to report that those discussions, many of which were complex by their very nature, continued to progress well and a meeting of Kent Council Leaders was due to be held the following day.

Commenting that small businesses continued to form the backbone of the Borough’s economic community, the Leader was pleased to report that analysis by the finance team indicated that from April 2017 just over 1,900 businesses (representing 53.4% of all businesses within the Borough) would qualify for either small business relief or be eligible for the small business multiplier and so pay less in business rates as a result of the changes announced in the Chancellor’s budget.  He referred Members to the report to the next meeting of the Cabinet for a more detailed analysis of the impact of the business rates relief.

The Council had traditionally maintained one of the highest collection rates for both business rates and domestic council tax.  The Leader advised that the in-year collection rates had now been finalised ready for return to government indicating that the rates remained very high with council tax at 98.87% and business rates at 99.43%.  Officers were particularly pleased that the council tax result exceeded the targets set including the working age CTR claimants' collection at 83.17% which was almost 2.5% better than last year.  The Leader referred to the very high level of contact from residents at the start of the new financial year when the annual council tax bills had been sent out to every household.  He paid tribute to the staff who had key roles to play in supporting residents  including advising them about relevant benefits and possible discounts available and helping them make the best choice of payment to avoid getting into difficulty. 

Members were informed that along with all the district councils in Kent, the Council was due to review the current Council Tax Reduction Scheme this year in readiness for 2017/18.  The Cabinet would be looking at the work carried out by the Kent Finance Officers group with a view to going out to consultation in June on possible amendments to the current Council Tax Reduction scheme.  This was an important piece of work as it needed to balance the fact that the money being passed down from central government to help fund  the scheme was being reduced all the time,  whilst at the same time the Council wished to support those residents most in need.  The Leader indicated that the report on this important topic was also published that day and would be considered by the Cabinet the following week.

A long standing strategic aspiration of the Council had been the regeneration of Tonbridge Town Lock.  Undertaken and funded in partnership with the Environment Agency and through developer contributions, the Leader was pleased to inform Members that the project was now completed.  He also reported that since the last meeting, the new health suite at Larkfield Leisure Centre had been opened, signifying an important investment in one of the Council’s award winning leisure facilities to meet customer expectations and again working in partnership with the Leisure Trust.

Finally, the Leader reported that throughout March and into April, events had taken place in virtually every area of the Borough, supporting the national ‘Clean for The Queen’ campaign which was designed to encourage communities to help councils clear up litter hotspots in time for the Queen’s 90^th birthday in April.  In the Borough nearly 400 volunteers had collected over 300 sacks of rubbish and 15 new Street Monitors were signed up. This project formed part of the Borough Council's ongoing commitment to the national ‘Love Where You Live’ campaign and the local Kent Resource Partnership ‘Love Kent Hate Litter’ campaign.