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 8th February 2024, Cabinet considered Paper BCa/23/40, the Housing Revenue Account Budget for 2024/25. Paper BC/23/39 includes all relevant updated information and includes the necessary recommendations.
Minutes:
93.1 A short break was taken between 7:10pm and 7:23pm before the commencement of Paper BC/23/39.
93.2 The Chair invited Councillor Ward, Cabinet Member for Finance, Assets, and Investments, to introduce Paper BC/23/39.
93.3 Councillor Ward introduced Paper BC/23/39 to Members outlining its purpose and PROPOSED the recommendations as detailed in the report.
93.4 Councillor Saw SECONDED the proposal.
93.5 Councillor Maybury requested clarification on recommendation G. The Cabinet Member for Finance, Assets, and Investments responded that the PWLB loan was due to be repaid in 2024/25 and that the recommendation referred to agreeing to repay this rather than taking out a new PWLB loan and refinancing.
93.6 Councillor Hendry asked if the Cabinet Member for Housing could provide the Council with assurance that an increase in rent would come hand-in-hand with improvements to services and repairs of properties. Councillor Carter, Cabinet Member for Housing, responded that the condition of current housing stock was poor due to years of systemic underfunding and that this increase in rent would be put directly into improving the condition of these houses as a top priority.
93.7 Councillor McLaren questioned what support was in place for tenants that are not in receipt of Universal Credit and fall outside the safety net. The Director for Housing responded that the Council employed financial inclusion officers who were assessing tenants’ situations and were able to assist with budgeting.
93.8 Councillor Maybury queried how many properties currently had an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of E or below. The Director for Housing responded that as part of the energy retrofit programme the plan was to retrofit 100 properties with around 170 properties in Babergh currently receiving an EPC rating of E or below.
93.9 Councillor Maybury further questioned if the Government were still planning on removing leaseholds. The Director for Housing responded that this was not the case.
93.10 Councillor Beer requested the average timeframe between a tenant reporting an issue in their property and the completion of any necessary repairs. The Cabinet Member for Housing responded that she did not have this figure to hand but that a recent change of contractors would mean that repairs would happen quicker with the aim of a reporting to completion timeline being 14 days maximum.
93.11 Councillor Holt questioned what was constituting the high costs of roofing under planned maintenance and response. The Director for Housing responded that the housing department has a 30 year plan of proposed works and that there was a significant amount of aged roofs needing immediate repair that needed to be spread across the first 5 years of the delivery of this plan.
93.12 Councillor Holt further questioned how many properties currently had storage heaters. The Director for Housing responded that this figure would be identified and communicated outside of the meeting.
93.13 Councillor Holt requested for councillors to receive frequent updates about the properties in their wards scheduled for repairs and the proposed timescales for completing these.
93.14 Councillor Maybury asked if future reports could include a consistent method of reporting figures and timescales.
In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 19.3, the vote was recorded as follows:
For |
Against |
Abstain |
Jane Carruthers |
Peter Beer |
Daniel Potter |
Jessie Carter |
Margaret Maybury |
Isabelle Reece |
Paul Clover |
Brian Riley |
|
Derek Davis |
|
|
Helen Davies |
|
|
Sallie Davies |
|
|
Simon Dowling |
|
|
Kathryn Grandon |
|
|
Ruth Hendry |
|
|
Michael Holt |
|
|
Leigh Jamieson |
|
|
Alistair McCraw |
|
|
Mary McLaren |
|
|
Elisabeth Malvisi |
|
|
Mark Newman |
|
|
John Nunn |
|
|
Adrian Osborne |
|
|
Lee Parker |
|
|
Stephen Plumb |
|
|
Tim Register |
|
|
Deborah Saw |
|
|
Laura Smith |
|
|
John Ward |
|
|
John Whyman |
|
|
|
|
|
TOTAL 24 |
TOTAL 3 |
TOTAL 2 |
By 24 votes For, 3 votes Against and 2 abstentions
It was RESOLVED:
1.1 That Council approves:
(a) The HRA Budget proposal proposals for 2024/25 set out in this report.
(b) That a CPI + 1% increase of 7.7% for social rents, equivalent to an average rent increase of £7.92 and a RPI + 0.5% (9.4%) increase for affordable rent of £11.13, a week to be implemented.
(c) That the RPI increase of 8.9% in garage rents, equivalent to an average rent increase of £3.83 or £4.71 (private rental), a month be implemented.
(d) That an increase for sheltered housing service charges, equivalent to £49.12 a month, be implemented.
(e) That an increase for sheltered housing utility charges, equivalent to £28.95 a month, be implemented, following no utility increase for 3 years from (2019/20).
(f) That in principle, Right to Buy (RTB) receipts should be retained within the Housing Revenue Account, to enable continued development and acquisition of new council dwellings.
(g) That a £6m PWLB loan due to be repaid in 2024/25 be repaid rather than refinancing at a higher interest rate.
(h) That the Revenue Contribution to Capital is increased from £4.48m to £5.572m.
Supporting documents: