61 BC/20/25 HOUSING REVENUE ACCOUNT (HRA) 2021/22 BUDGET AND FOUR-YEAR OUTLOOK PDF 295 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/20/33, the Housing Revenue Account. Paper BC/20/25 is unchanged from the Cabinet meeting and includes the necessary recommendations.
Proposed amendment from the Green Group also attached.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
61.1 The Chair invited the Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Ward to introduce Paper BC/20/25.
61.2 Councillor Ward introduced the paper and provided a summary of the Housing Revenue Account Budget (HRA) and Four-Year Outlook report.
61.3 Councillor Ward PROPOSED Recommendations 3.1 to 3.7 as detailed in the report.
61.4 Councillor Jan Osborne thanked the Cabinet Member for Finance for his introduction to the report and stated that as Cabinet Member for Housing she was fortunate to see first-hand the work of the Housing Service each day. She also said that the income received by the HRA was invaluable to support tenants by ensuring the housing provided was safe, decent and somewhere tenants were proud to call home and she SECONDED Councillor Ward’s proposal.
61.5 Councillor Jamieson introduced his Amendment as detailed in the Agenda and PROPOSED the Amendment.
61.6 Councillor Lindsay SECONDED the Amendment and reserved his right to speak.
61.7 The Chair asked Councillor Ward if he accepted the Amendment, to which he replied that he did not.
61.8 Councillor Maybury commented that she agreed with the Amendment because to reduce the Council’s use of fossil fuels and install heat source pumps would be the way forward for the Council.
61.9 Councillor Jan Osborne stated that officers were currently working to develop a revised Housing Revenue Business Plan which would set out the ambitions and investments in the medium to long term and this was expected to be brought forward during the summer after a consultation period involving all Members. Therefore, there was no benefit to creating a specific reserve for the HRA housing stock.
61.10 Councillor McCraw stated that he would not be supporting the Amendment, as it was an ill-defined proposal unsupported by evidence.
61.11 Councillor Lindsay commented that a lot of work had gone into the Amendment and was offended by the assumption that no research had been undertaken. He said that he appreciated that the team were struggling to undertake an audit of the housing stock in relation to how much energy they were leaking. The process needed to be accelerated and officers needed the money to enable them to undertake this work.
Note: Councillor Holt Left the meeting at 8:43pm.
61.12 The Amendment as detailed in the Agenda was put to Members for voting.
By 9 votes for and 22 votes against, the Amendment was LOST.
In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 19.3, the vote was recorded as follows:
For |
Against |
Abstain |
|
Clive Arthey |
|
Sue Ayres |
|
|
Melanie Barrett |
|
|
|
Peter Beer |
|
|
David Busby |
|
|
Sue Carpendale |
|
Trevor Cresswell |
|
|
|
Derek Davis |
|
|
Sian Dawson |
|
|
Mick Fraser |
|
Jane Gould |
|
|
|
Honor Grainger-Howard |
|
|
Kathryn Grandon |
|
Richard Hardacre |
|
|
|
John Hinton |
|
|
Bryn Hurren |
|
Leigh Jamieson |
|
|
Robert Lindsay |
|
|
|
Elisabeth Malvisi |
|
Margaret Maybury |
|
|
|
Alastair McCraw |
|
|
Mary McLaren |
|
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Mark Newman |
|
|
Zac Norman |
|
|
John Nunn |
|
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Adrian Osborne |
|
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Jan Osborne |
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Alison Owen |
|
|
|
Lee Parker |
|
|
Stephen Plumb |
|
|
John Ward |
|
TOTAL 9 |
TOTAL 22 |
|
61.12 Members returned to the original motion and the Chair invited questions.
61.13 Councillor Hinton queried that there was no proposed increase to garage charges ... view the full minutes text for item 61
62 MC/20/25 HOUSING REVENUE ACCOUNT (HRA) 2021/22 BUDGET AND FOUR-YEAR OUTLOOK PDF 294 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/20/30, the Housing Revenue Account. Paper MC/20/25 is unchanged from the Cabinet meeting and includes the necessary recommendations.
Proposed amendment from the Green and Liberal Democrat Group also attached.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
62.1 The Chair invited Councillor Whitehead to introduce Paper MC/20/25 and to move the Recommendations in the report.
62.2 Councillor Whitehead encapsulated the main subjects in the report and MOVED Recommendations 3.1 to 3.7.
62.3 Councillor Hadingham SECONDED the Recommendations and reserved her right to speak.
62.4 Councillor Field PROPOSED the Amendment, which was detailed in the Agenda and made a short introduction of the Amendment.
62.5 Councillor Warboys SECONDED the Amendment and outlined the reasons behind the Amendment, including that Council had a responsibility, as a major provider for housing, and that this Amendment would bring economic resilience to the budget. The Amendment had been scrutinised by the Section 151 Officers and did not include any increases to council tax or rents.
62.6 The Chair asked whether Councillor Whitehead accepted the Amendment, and Councillor Whitehead replied that he did not accept the Amendment, as the Capital expenditure had a modest increase of £2.5m over two years and an ambitious 30 Year Housing Revenue Plan which would be brought forward later in the year.
62.7 Members debated the Amendment and Councillor Otton began by stating that she supported the Amendment, as there was a lack of good insulated social housing, which would be essential in the coming years, as an increasing number of families would be unable to provide housing for themselves.
62.8 Councillor Eburne thought that the Amendment would improve the lives of tenants and that the Council would need to look to the future when budgeting for the HRA. She was not aware of the referred Housing Revenue Plan and asked that this information was shared with Members.
62.9 Councillor Mansel said that the Council should be committed to build its own housing for social rent and not only affordable rent, which was only a reduction to 80% of the rent. Some tenants could not afford this. Mid Suffolk District Council had a high tenancy rent in comparison to income. It was important to undertake the work for retrofitting of council housing stock to reduce carbon emissions when heating up homes, as this would not only support tenants but also help the Council to meet the challenge of carbon neutral by 2030.Councillor Geake stated that social housing was the only way to solve the housing crisis, and there was a need to provide good social housing, which would enable tenants to save up for a deposit to buy their own homes.
62.10 Councillor Amorowson thought this amendment would allow the Council to show leadership for the spirit of wellbeing and embrace those values.
62.11 The Chair asked if Councillor Field would like to provide a finishing statement before the vote, which he declined.
62.12 Councillor Whitehead informed Members that the HRA Business Plan would be presented to Members in due course.
62.13 The Amendment was put to Members for voting.
By 16 votes for and 18 against, the vote was LOST
To Vote on the amendment to the 2021/22 HRA Budget as proposed by the Green and Liberal ... view the full minutes text for item 62