Agenda and minutes

Councillor Alcock was elected Chairman for the duration of the meeting.

Where a Councillor has a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest the Councillor must declare the interest to the meeting and leave the room without participating in any discussion or making a statement on the item, except where a councillor is permitted to remain as a result of a grant of dispensation.

There were none.

To scrutinise the draft General Fund and Housing Revenue Account revenue and capital budgets for 2024/25 (report of the Deputy Chief Executive – Corporate Development (s151) enclosed)

Consideration was given to the report of the Deputy Chief Executive – Corporate Development (S151) which sought scrutiny of the draft General Fund and Housing Revenue Account revenue and capital budgets for 2024/25.

The Deputy Chief Executive – Corporate Development (S151) presented an overview of the draft budget for the period 2024/2025 – 2028/29.

The Joint Panel considered the presentation, and the following points were raised:

• Members asked what the New Homes Bonus figure was based on.
  • The Deputy Chief Executive – Corporate Development responded that this figure used to be based on incremental figures which included legacy figures. It is now, however, based on performance within the current financial year.
• Members queried whether the historic cost to the authority of the Internal Drainage Board (IDB) levy had ever been calculated and whether the legality of the levy had ever been challenged.
  • The Deputy Chief Executive – Corporate Development stated that the cost of the levy historically would be very large.
  • The levy was set out in the Drainage Boards Acts and when the cap on council tax was brought in, the legislation was worded in such a way that the drainage levy was caught by it.
  • It was noted that if no cap was in place, a recommendation would have been made to increase council tax to cover the whole cost of the drainage levy.
• Members asked whether the relevant legislation had ever been examined to ensure that the drainage levy’s incorporation into the local authority budget was lawful.
  • The Deputy Chief Executive – Corporate Development responded that this had not been examined in specific detail.
  • The legislation was worded intentionally to stop levies increasing.
• Members were pleased about the news for IDB funding for 2024/25.
• Members stated that appeared bizarre that drainage boards could collect revenue from agricultural businesses but not from individual households, making the drainage levy a cost to the Council.
  • The Deputy Chief Executive – Corporate Development commented  that this was a technical anomaly.
• Members queried how many services broke even.
  • The Deputy Chief Executive – Corporate Development confirmed that Building Control services had to break even legally and that planning fees did a good job of covering the service costs.
  • If capital was added into the costs for car parking, this would provide a very different figure due to investment over the previous financial years.
  • Market stalls also covered their costs.
  • It was noted that green waste  was looking to return to a break-even position.
  • Rental income opportunities were also being pursued, particularly in relation to the Priory Road offices.
• Members asked why waste services had fallen into a deficit and what control did the Council have to return the service to a breakeven position.
  • The Deputy Chief Executive – Corporate Development stated that this was due to an increase in pay, vehicle, and fuel costs.
  • The government pay award had given a 10% rise to the lowest paid and vehicle costs had recently increased by 30-40%.
  • Modelling work was underway to ensure that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

There were none.