60 BC/20/24 GENERAL FUND BUDGET 2021/22 AND FOUR-YEAR OUTLOOK PDF 864 KB
Cabinet Member for Finance
In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 19.3, immediately after any vote is taken at a budget decision meeting of the Council the names of Councillors who cast a vote for the decision or against the decision or who abstained from voting shall be recorded in the Minutes of that meeting.
At its meeting on 4 February 2021, Cabinet considered Paper BCa/20/32, together with an addendum to the General Fund Budget. Paper BC/20/24 now includes all the relevant updated information plus the tax base, precepts and council tax band information at parish level, together with the necessary recommendations.
Proposed amendment from the Green Group also attached.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
60.1 The Chair invited the Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Ward to introduce Paper BC/20/24.
60.2 Councillor Ward provided a summary of the General Fund Budget to Members. He thanked the Finance Team and the Section 151 Officers for preparing a balanced budget.
60.3 Councillor Ward MOVED the recommendations in the report which was SECONDED by Councillor Arthey.
60.4 Councillor Jamieson introduced his Amendment, as detailed in the Agenda and MOVED the Amendment.
60.5 Councillor Lindsay SECONDED the Amendment.
60.6 The Chair asked Councillor Ward if he accepted the Amendment, to which he responded that he did not.
60.7 Members debated the Amendment and Councillor Arthey said that though he agreed with many of the issues in the Amendment, this was not the right way to achieve them. He addressed the four parts of the Amendment and thought that just allocating money to address issues was not the way and that this required a more constructive approach.
60.8 Councillor Gould thought that climate change was the biggest challenge faced by the Council and she felt that the Council had to do something and needed to speak up for the people they represented.
60.9 Councillor Malvisi said a plan was being followed in relation to biodiversity and that the issues were being addressed. She detailed the various projects and funding for the bio-diversity projects.
60.10 Councillor Jan Osborne responded to the Housing issues and advised Members that a retrofit programme was being defined and funded. The request in the Amendment was already in the budget for 2021-22.
60.11 Councillor Davis stated that funding for Local Citizens Advice was already in the budget and had recently been scrutinised by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
60.12 Councillor McCraw thought that the Amendment was not evidence based. He pointed Members to the Budget and that Babergh District Council did not have the money due to serious gaps in the budget for the next couple of years.
60.13 Councillor Maybury stated that she supported the Amendment, though there were some points with which she did not agree. However, she agreed with that planning enforcement required additional support and that training was never a waste of time. Further, that the free pre-application advice for community needs, would be a way to help communities in a post-Covid-19 recovery period. She supported food banks and the funding for an additional Tree Officer to help this department including tree protecting orders.
60.14 Councillor Hinton thought there was some good points within the Amendment but considered if the Council could reduce costs to pay for other services. He questioned why accommodation costs in Endeavour House were going up next year to £128K.
60.15 Councillor Lindsay, the Seconder of the Amendment, asked that the Members supported the Amendment, as it was very modest sums involved in the projects. The Amendment addressed the priorities of the Council and he questioned whether the Cabinet Members and the Leader were doing enough to deal with the issues addressed in the Amendment. He thought it ... view the full minutes text for item 60
61 MC/20/24 GENERAL FUND BUDGET 2021/22 AND FOUR-YEAR OUTLOOK PDF 984 KB
Cabinet Member for Finance
In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 19.3, immediately after any vote is taken at a budget decision meeting of the Council the names of Councillors who cast a vote for the decision or against the decision or who abstained from voting shall be recorded in the Minutes of that meeting.
At its meeting on 8 February 2021, Cabinet considered Paper MCa/20/29, together with an addendum to the General Fund Budget. Paper MC/20/24 now includes all the relevant updated information plus the tax base, precepts and council tax band information at parish level, together with the necessary recommendations.
Proposed amendment from the Green and Liberal Democrat Group also attached.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
61.1 The Chairman invited the Cabinet Member for Finance to introduce Paper MC/20/24 and to move the Recommendations within the report.
61.2 Before introducing the paper Councillor Whitehead expressed his sincere thanks to the Finance team.
61.3 Councillor Whitehead introduced the report and highlighted that the focus from Central Government had focused its attention on fighting Covid-9 and generous government assistance had meant that reserves did not have to be used to the extent that was originally anticipated. However, several finance reviews had been delayed making the future beyond March 2022 uncertain.
61.4 Councillor Whitehead PROPOSED recommendations 3.1, 3.2, 3.3 and 3.4 in the report.
61.5 Councillor Morley SECONDED the proposal and stated that due to the careful management of the financial position in recent years under the stewardship of Councillor Whitehead, Mid Suffolk District Council was now seeing the benefits by avoiding many of the financial challenges being faced by other local authorities and that now was the time to use the Councils’ financially strong position to invest back into communities to both stimulate and support swift recovery.
61.6 Councillor Field PROPOSED the Amendments which were detailed in the agenda reports pack.
61.7 Councillor Warboys SECONDED the Amendments and said that the Amendments supported the Mid Suffolk District Council’s six strategic priorities and would help enable the Council to achieve its goal of being carbon neutral by 2030. They had also been scrutinised by the Section 151 Officer and were achievable without compromising the budget or increasing council tax or rents.
61.8 The Chairman asked Councillor Whitehead if he accepted the Amendments or any elements of the Amendments.
61.9 Councillor Whitehead stated that it was clear that the opposition had spent time and diligence in putting the Amendments together. However, at the last Cabinet meeting it had been announced that there were four pots of £1 million to be allocated for economy, housing, communities and wellbeing and it was intended for cross party discussions to decide how this money should be allocated. Councillor Whitehead asked if Councillor Field and the Opposition would be willing to withdraw the Amendments and take part in cross party workshops to work together to allocate the significant sums of money to the benefit of the Council’s residents and communities.
61.10 To provide confidence to the Opposition around the cross party working, Councillor Whitehead suggested adding additional wording to Recommendation 3.1 so that it would now read ‘That the General Fund Budget proposals for 2021/22 and four-year outlook set out in the report be approved, and that recommendations to Cabinet be prepared, using a balanced, cross-party approach, for the allocation of the additional £4m of funding for investment in our local economy, housing, the wellbeing of our residents and in our communities. This cross-party approach would also give consideration to the budget amendments proposed in 2020/21 and 2021/22.’
61.11 Councillor Field stated that there was a broad area of agreement between both halves of the Council and that a genuine offer to indulge in ... view the full minutes text for item 61