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Apologies for absence Minutes: An apology for absence was received from Councillors Julie Flatman and Jill Wilshaw. |
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To receive any declarations of pecuniary or non-pecuniary interest by Councillors Minutes: There were no declarations of interest. |
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MCa/17/5 Confirmation of the Minutes of the meeting held on 5 June 2017 PDF 310 KB Minutes: By a unanimous vote
RESOLUTION
That the minutes of the meeting held on 5 June 2017 were confirmed as a correct record. |
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To receive notification of petitions in accordance with the Council's Petition Scheme Minutes: None received. |
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MCa/17/6 2016/17 Financial Outturn PDF 401 KB Cabinet Member for Finance – John Whitehead Decision: The following decision has been taken by the Cabinet and will come into effect on 19 July 2017 unless the call in procedure is activated:
Report Title/Ref No: 2016/17 Financial Outturn / MCa/17/6
Decisions Made by Cabinet: 1. That the 2016/17 financial outturn as set out in this Report be noted 2. That the following net transfers of £528k be approved with the General Fund reserves; a) Transfer of £250k, being the income from Snoasis to an earmarked reserve, referred to in paragraph 10.9 of this report; b) Transfer of £257k, being the 2015/16 deficit on the business rates Collection Fund from the Business Rates Equalisation reserve, referred to in paragraph 10.9 of this report; c) Transfer of £535k, being the balance of the General Fund favourable variance, to the Transformation Fund, referred to in paragraph 10.8 of this report 3. That the General Fund carry-forward requests that individually exceed £25k and totalling £314k referred to in paragraph 10.12 of this Report be approved 4. That the Capital carry-forward requests referred to in paragraphs 10.20 and 10.21 of this Report totalling £26.085m be approved 5. That the transfer of £72k, being the HRA deficit for the year (£790k better than planned) per paragraph 10.25, from Reserves be approved 6. That the HRA Capital carry-forward requests that exceed £25k referred to in paragraph 10.32 of this Report totalling £751k be approved
Reason for Decisions: To manage the financial impact of the 2016/17 outturn position
Alternative Options Considered and Rejected: None
Any Declarations of Interest declared: None
Any Dispensation Granted: None
Minutes: Councillor Whitehead in introducing the report said that the report summarised the 2016/17 financial outturn for the General Fund, Housing Revenue Account, and capital programme and that the outturn had been through a general audit for the fiscal year 2016/17.
There had been a change to the general funding caused by the descaling of the funding from Central Government, however despite this it was reported that the Outturn for the 2016/17 was positive. The distribution of net transfers of funds from the General Fund were outlined in recommendation 2.1 and 2.2.
The Housing Revenue Account had been budgeted for a significant in-year deficit, but had performed above expectation with a deficit of less than 10%. The favourable revenue and HRA capital position was a result of the decisions taken during the year and had contribute positively to the 30-year budget and the debt cap situation.
The positive outturn was a result of the budget holders and their collective diligence to ensure that the outturn remained robust for Mid Suffolk District Council.
Councillor Whitehead proposed the recommendations which were seconded by Councillor Glen Horn.
Councillor Whitehead, Cabinet Member for Finance, made Members aware of a correction to page 13 under the heading of Photo Voltaic (PV) Panels. The number of properties should be 168 and not 68.
Councillor Otton said she appreciated that £250,000 had been allocated to SnOasis, but queried what the consequence would be if staff pay were to raise above the 1% pay increase and if the reduction of interim officers would improve on the savings.
Councillor Otton wanted to know when it would be possible to begin a marketing campaign for the Building Control Service and if enough money had been budget for the cost of Premises Expenditure, as the annual cost was set to £25,000 and this cost had previously not been enough to cover this item. She also asked for an update on Shared Legal Services’ recruitment.
Councillor Otton continued by saying that she felt that too much money was being allocated to the Transformation Fund and that she could not support this allocation.
In response to Councillor Otton’s questions, Councillor Whitehead, Cabinet Member for Finance responded that staffing had been budget carefully and that £100,000 had been set aside to ensure enough funding for this purpose. The Premises Expenditure was changed from the original draft and the actual cost was different from the budget. He said the Shared Legal Services was an ongoing process and that staffing was being addressed. Arthur Charvonia, Chief Executive, informed Members that recruiting was still ongoing for Shared Legal Services and once this had been completed the service would be fully operational.
Councillor Gowrley, Leader of the Cabinet, informed Members that a report on the Transformation Fund would be presented at the next Cabinet meeting in August.
Councillor Andrew Stringer ask if the £71,000 for Shared Legal Services was an overspend, which was confirmed by the officers. He also wanted clarification on what was included in the £41,000 ... view the full minutes text for item 15. |
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MCa/17/7 Business Rates - Discretionary Relief Scheme PDF 166 KB Cabinet Member for Finance – John Whitehead Additional documents: Decision: Report Title/Ref No: Business Rates – Discretionary Relief Scheme / MCa/17/7
Decisions Made by Cabinet:
1. That Cabinet approves the discretionary local rate relief policy 2. That Cabinet give authority to the Assistant Director – Corporate Resources in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance and the Leader to vary the scheme this year and in future years to keep it in line with Government guidance and local circumstances 3. That the Cabinet give authority to the Shared Revenues Partnership to administer and determine applications for relief within the policy
Reason for Decision: To allow a discretionary local rate relief policy to be implemented
Alternative Options Considered and Rejected: None
Any Declarations of Interest declared: None
Any Dispensation Granted: None
Minutes: Councillor Whitehead introduced the report. He advised Members that after the revaluation which ended in April 2017 the statutory transitional relief and small businesses rate relief was put in place as detailed in point 9.10, page 38. Local authorities had been urged to design their own relief policies, so they could grant relief to the business in the greatest need of business rate relief. Appendix A set out in detail the relief available, the criteria and the decision and appeal procedures for the Local Rate Relief Policy.
Councillor Whitehead moved the recommendations which were seconded by Councillor Glen Horn.
Councillor David Whybrow asked for clarification of the number of small business being supported by this scheme and if the funding level in bullet point 3.1 on page 35 presented the full maximum finding available from Central Government.
In response to the question the Member for Finance said the that 300 million had been made available to 200 Local Councils. It was also clarified that the shared revenues partnership had identified 14 properties, which could apply for the Business Rate Relief in addition to other Government funded relief available to small businesses.
Members asked further questions on how the Council intended to communicate the Business Relief to the businesses and were informed that businesses which had been identified as appropriate for the relief would be contacted.
Councillor Penny Otton enquired if a report on small businesses’ discretionary relief distributions for small rural business services would be made available to Members.
Members requested further information on what would happened to the unspent funding from the Business Rate relief scheme if not enough businesses applied for the relief.
The Assistant Director for Finance said that a response from Central Government was expected to establish if unspent relief funds could be carried forward to future years. If this was the case, Cabinet Members and Officers may had to review the policies to enable a redistributed of the underspent funds for the duration of the Relief Scheme.
There had been no feedback from Suffolk Chambers and Federation of Small Businesses as suggested in bullet point 6.3, page 36.
By a unanimous vote
RESOLUTION 1
That Cabinet approves the discretionary local rate relief policy
RESOLUTION 2
That authority be given to the Assistant Director – Corporate Resources in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance and the Leader to vary the scheme this year and in future years to keep it in line with Government guidance and local circumstances
RESOLUTION 3
That authority be given to the Shared Revenues Partnership to administer and determine applications for relief within the policy
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Cabinet Member for Housing – Jill Wilshaw Additional documents: Decision: Report Title/Ref No: Housing Revenue Account – Summary of the 30 Year Business and Financial Plan Update / MCa/17/8
Decision Made by Cabinet: That Cabinet recommends to full Council that the updated 30 year business and financial plan is approved.
Reason for Decision: To enable Members to approve changes to the 30 year Housing Revenue Account (HRA) business and financial plan for the district Alternative Options Considered and Rejected: None
Any Declarations of Interest declared: None
Any Dispensation Granted: None
Minutes: Councillor Nick Gowrley introduced the Report and explained to Members that the self-financing scheme introduced in 2011/12 required that housing stock holding authorities had to have a 30 – year business plan outlining the management of the housing stock.
The summery of the updated position of the business plan now ensured that that the Council would be in a financial secure position and keep the budget under the debt cap and would enable the Council to deliver additional homes in the future.
Councillor Gowrley moved the recommendation which was seconded by Councillor Gerard Brewster.
Members were generally pleased with this scheme as it reflected the Government White Paper for Housing. Some Member felt that caution was necessary when managing the community-led affordable housing schemes. It would also be necessary to be open minded for future change to the scheme and how it was managed. Some Members felt that the scheme could have included new build and higher levels of environmental standards.
Councillor Penny Otton expressed some reservation on the Sheltered Housing and de-sheltering scheme which had taken place and thought it would be a helpful to have a review on the success of the scheme.
Members were informed that a review was due in April 2018 as detailed on page 85 of the report.
Councillor Rachel Eburne, Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee informed Members that the Committee had considered the report and that one of their concerns was that the report only recommended an annual review. The Overview and Scrutiny Committee had forwarded a recommendation to Cabinet was that a reporting framework for performance monitoring system be put in place.
Councillor Nick Gowrley agreed that the Business Plan would need constant monitoring and updating and be reviewed by Portfolio Holders’ reports and committees such as Joint Housing Board as it was important to have tenants’ involvement in the monitoring process.
By a unanimous vote
RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL
That the updated 30 year business and financial plan be approved |
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MCa/17/9 Community Housing Fund PDF 256 KB Cabinet Member for Housing – Jill Wilshaw Additional documents: Decision: Report Title/Ref No: Community Housing Fund / MCa/17/9
Decision Made by Cabinet: That the recommendations as set out in paragraph 8 of the report be approved
Reason for Decision: To enable the funding received to be used to promote Community-led Housing to communities across the DIstrict
Alternative Options Considered and Rejected: None
Any Declarations of Interest declared: None
Any Dispensation Granted: None Minutes:
Councillor Gowrley introduced the report and said that the Community Housing Fund was introduced at the start of 2017 and that Mid Suffolk had received a total of £225,746 for the first year’s allocation. The Fund was supporting the local community-led affordable housing schemes and was to enable sufficient capacity, capability, and confidence within local groups to develop housing projects. The recommendations in the report detailed the allocation and spending of the Community Housing Fund.
Councillor Gowrley moved the recommendations as detailed in paragraph 8 on page 92 - 95 which were seconded by Councillor David Whybrow.
Councillor David Whybrow said that the Community Housing Fund Scheme depended on the allocations of funding detailed in paragraph 8, page 92 – 95 and that the management of the funds would determine the success of the delivery of the Community Housing Fund Scheme.
Councillor Andrew Stringer said that the Government were attempting to target areas which had a high proportion of second homes and enquired if there was a corporate approach on how to target the appropriate areas of this scheme.
The Professional Lead – Housing Enabling explained that the report detailed the problems connected with not just second homes but also the affordability of homes and that a variety of date had been investigated to determine the allocation of the funding. She said that all parishes had problems with affordable homes and that this year’s funding would be allocated to those parishes how were already applying for this funding. It was the intention to send information to all parishes to inform them of the Community Funding Scheme and encourage application for funding.
Councillor Penny Otton said that the parishes were likely to need support to apply and manage the Community Housing Fund Scheme. She said she felt that the scheme was targeting appropriate areas such as community-led affordable housing project detailed in bullet point 2.2 page 87.
By a unanimous vote
RESOLUTION
To approve the recommendations set out in paragraph 8, page 92 – 95. |
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Matters referred by the Overview and Scrutiny or Joint Audit and Standards Committee Minutes: There were no matters referred by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee or Joint Audit and Standards Committee.
Councillor Rachel Eburne, Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee enquired if the recommendations forwarded to Cabinet with regards to the work on the Neighbourhood Plan were being responded to and if the Senior Leadership Team would report back to the Committee on how officer intended to support the parishes on the neighbourhood planning.
Mike Evans, Strategic Director, said that officers were working on the recommendations and would report back to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee within the six months deadline. |
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MCa/17/10 Forthcoming Decisions List PDF 95 KB Minutes: RESOLUTION
That the Forthcoming Decisions List be noted.
The business of the meeting concluded at 3.25pm.
…………………………………………… Chairman |