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Contact: Democratic Services Committee Manager
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Apologies Minutes: Apologies were received from Councillors Moore, Thornburrow and Wade. |
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Declarations of Interest Minutes:
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Minutes: The minutes of the meeting held on 22 October 2024 were approved as a
correct record and signed by the Chair. |
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Public Questions Minutes: There were no public questions. |
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HRA Budget-Setting Report (BSR) 2025/26 Additional documents:
Minutes: Recommendations of
the Executive, which met on 10 February 2025, are set out in the Housing
Revenue Account (HRA) Budget Setting Report (BSR) 2025/26 which went to meeting
of the Housing Scrutiny Committee held on 4 February 2025. Unless otherwise
specified, all references in the recommendations to appendices, pages and
sections relating to the Budget-Setting Report
can be found via the Council agenda page: Agenda for Council on Monday, 24th February, 2025, 6.00 pm -
Cambridge Council The Chief Finance
Officer reminded Members that the recommendations were now to full Council. Councillor Bennett
said the following:
i.
As the Executive Councillor for Housing had
noted 60% of tenants received some sort of state benefit help but some were
still struggling financially.
ii.
It was important to highlight the work of
Council’s Financial Inclusion Officers who could support tenants to maximise
their social security benefits and assist with accessing other funds.
Encouraged Councillors to make a referral if they knew of any individuals who
required support.
iii.
The Council’s Financial Inclusion Officers were
extremely knowledgeable and did an outstanding job. The Executive resolved
unanimously to: Review of Rents
and Charges a) Recommend that
full Council approve that council dwellings rents for all social rented and
social shared ownership properties be increased in line with government
guidelines, with an increase of 2.7%, being inflation as measured by the
Consumer Price Index (CPI) at September 2024 of 1.7%, plus 1%. Rent increases
will take effect from 1 April 2025. This equates to an average rent increase of
£3.37 per week. b) Recommend that
full Council approve that affordable housing rents, inclusive of service
charge, are also increased by 2.7% in line with the increase for social rents.
This equates to an average rent increase of £5.06 per week. c) Recommend that
full Council approve that rents for affordable shared ownership properties are
increased by RPI as at September 2024, 2.7% plus 0.5%, as allowed for in the
lease requirements for these properties. d) Recommend that
full Council approve that garage and parking space charges for 2025/26 are
increased by inflation at 2.7%, in line with dwelling rents, and approve
changes in charges for parking permits, as set out at table 10 on page 28 of
the attached Housing Revenue Account Business Plan Update and Budget Setting
Report 2025/26. e) Recommend that
full Council approve the proposed service charges for Housing Revenue Account
services and facilities, as shown in Appendix D of the attached Housing Revenue
Account Business Plan Update and Budget Setting Report 2025/26. f) Recommend that
full Council approve the proposed leasehold administration charges for 2025/26,
as detailed in Appendix D of the attached Housing Revenue Account Business Plan
Update and Budget Setting Report 2025/26. g) Recommend that
full Council approve that service charges continue to be recovered at full
estimated cost, as detailed in Appendix D of the attached Housing Revenue
Account Business Plan Update and Budget Setting Report 2025/26, recognising
that local authorities should endeavour to limit increases to inflation as
measured by CPI at September 2024 (1.7%) plus 1%, wherever possible. HRA Revenue h) Recommend that
full Council approve (with any amendments) the revenue savings, pressures and
bids set out at Appendix F of the attached Housing Revenue Account Business
Plan Update and Budget Setting Report 2025/26. i) Recommend that
full Council approve the resulting Housing Revenue Account revenue budget as
summarised at table 5 on page 20 of the attached Housing Revenue Account
Business Plan Update and Budget Setting Report 2025/26. Housing Capital j) Recommend that
full Council approve the capital bid set out at Appendix F of the attached
Housing Revenue Account Business Plan Update and Budget Setting Report 2025/26. k) Recommend that
full Council approve the updated Housing Capital Investment Plan as shown at
Appendix E of the attached Housing Revenue Account Business Plan Update and
Budget Setting Report 2025/26. l) Recommend that
full Council approve the proposed approach to financing the Housing Capital
Investment Plan as set out at table 11 on page 31 of the attached Housing
Revenue Account Business Plan Update and Budget Setting Report 2025/26. Treasury
Management m) Recommend that
full Council approve the revised need to borrow over the life of the Business
Plan, to sustain the proposed level of capital investment, which includes
delivery of the 10 Year New Homes Programme. n) Recommend that
full Council recognise that the constitution delegates Treasury Management to
the Chief Finance Officer (Part 3, para 5.11), with Part 4F, C16 stating; ‘All
executive decisions on borrowing, investment or financing shall be delegated to
the Chief Finance Officer, who is required to act in accordance with CIPFA’s
Code of Practice for Treasury Management in Local Authorities’. o) Recommend that
full Council recognise that the decision to borrow significantly to build new
homes impacts the council’s ability to set-aside resource to redeem the HRA
Self-Financing debt at the point at which the loan portfolio matures, resulting
in a need to re-finance debt at the point of maturity. General p) Recommend that
full Council approve inclusion of a capital budget for Disabled Facilities
Grant expenditure and associated grant income from 2025/26 onwards, based upon
2024/25 net grant awarded, with delegation to the Chief Finance Officer to
approve an in year increase or decrease in this budget in any year, in direct
relation to any increase or decrease in the capital grant funding available for
this purpose, as received from Cambridgeshire County Council through the Better
Care Fund. q) Recommend that
full Council approval of delegation to the Chief Finance Officer, as Section
151 Officer, to determine the most appropriate use of any additional Disabled
Facilities Grant funding, for the wider benefit of the Shared Home Improvement
Agency. r) Recommend that
full Council approve delegation to the Director of Communities to review and
amend the level of fees charged by the Shared Home Improvement Agency for
Disabled Facilities Grants and repair assistance grants, in line with any
recommendations made by the Shared Home Improvement Agency Board. s) Recommend that
full Council approve delegation to the relevant Director, in consultation with
the Chief Finance Officer, to draw down resource from the ear-marked revenue
reserve or capital reserve for potential debt redemption or re-investment, for
the purpose of open market land or property acquisition or new build housing
development, should the need arise, in order to meet deadlines for the use of
retained right to buy receipts or to facilitate future site redevelopment. t) Recommend that
full Council approve delegation to the Chief Finance Officer to make any
necessary technical amendments to detailed budgets in respect of recharges
between the General Fund and the HRA. |
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General Fund Budget Setting Report 2025/26 to 2029/30 Appendix I (ii) to the
report contains exempt information during which the public is likely to be
excluded from the meeting subject to determination by the Executive following
consideration of a public interest test. This exclusion would be made
under paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972. Additional documents:
Minutes: Recommendations of
the Executive, which met on 10 February 2025, are set out in the Budget Setting
Report which went to Strategy & Resources Scrutiny Committee also held on
10 February before the meeting of the Executive. The Executive noted the summary of changes on the General
Fund revenue positions which had been highlighted at the Strategy &
Resources Scrutiny Committee. Unless otherwise
specified, all references in the recommendations to appendices, pages and
sections relating to the Budget-Setting Report which can be found via the
Council agenda page: Agenda for Council on Monday, 24th February, 2025, 6.00 pm -
Cambridge Council As the meeting
immediately followed the meeting of the Strategy and Resources where the
Budget-Setting Report had been scrutinised there was no further debate, and the
Chair went straight to the vote. The Executive resolved
unanimously to: General
Fund Revenue Budgets: a)
Recommend to Council for approval the revenue pressures and bids shown in
Appendix D(a) and the revenue savings and increased income shown in Appendix
D(b). b)
Recommend that Council confirms delegation to the Chief Finance Officer of the
calculation and determination of the council tax taxbase which is set out at
Appendix A(a). c)
Recommend that Council approves the increase to the city council share of
council tax for 2025/26 at 2.99%, and the updated council tax levels as set out
on page 17 of the attached Budget Setting Report 2025/26. Note
that the council’s preceptors (Cambridgeshire Police & Crime Commissioner,
Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Fire Authority, Cambridgeshire County Council
and Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority) will meet to confirm
their precepts on or before 13 February 2025, following which the formal
council tax calculation will be carried out for approval by Council. d)
Recommend that Council delegates authority to the Chief Finance Officer to
reallocate budgets between services in relation to corporate and/or
departmental restructuring, and any reallocation of support service and central
costs in accordance with the CIPFA Service Reporting Code of Practice for Local
Authorities (SeRCOP). General
Fund Capital Plan: e) Recommend
that Council approves the capital proposals set out at Appendix E(a), the
revised capital plan set out at Appendix E(c), and the revised capital funding
approach set out on page 28 of the attached Budget Setting Report 2025/26. f)
Recommend that Council approves the Capital Strategy 2025/26 attached at
Appendix H. General
Fund Reserves: g)
Recommend that Council note the impact of budget proposals upon General Fund
unallocated reserves, as set out on page 34 of the attached Budget Setting
Report 2025/26. h)
Recommend that Council note the key risks to the council’s financial
sustainability highlighted in the table on pages 30-31 of the attached Budget
Setting Report 2025/26. i)
Recommend that Council approve in principle a contribution to the Civic Quarter
Development Reserve equivalent to the net underspend against budget for the
2024/25 financial year (currently forecast at £4.0 million). j)
Recommend that Council approve the transfers to earmarked reserves totalling
£6.602 million in 2025/26 as set out on pages 32-33 of the attached Budget
Setting Report 2025/26. Section
25 Report: k)
Recommend that Council note the Chief Finance Officer’s Section 25 Report,
covering the robustness of estimates and adequacy of reserves, included at
section 7 of the attached Budget Setting Report 2025/26. Treasury
Management Strategy: l)
Recommend that Council approves the Treasury Management Strategy 2025/26
attached at Appendix G, including the prudential and treasury management
indicators set out at Annexe C. m)
Recommends that Council approves a change to the maturity structure prudential
indicator, such that all new borrowing will have a maturity of at least 5 years
(rather than the previous 10 years), as explained at paragraph 3.8 of Appendix
G. Other:
n)
Recommend that Full Council reconfirm that the incomes below will be
disregarded (if above the £10 statutory disregard) when calculating entitlement
to housing benefit and/or council tax reduction. These schemes are often called
local or modified schemes: · War
disablement pension · War
widow, widower or surviving civil partner pension · Armed
Forces Independence Payment Note that
the estimated cost to the council for payments of housing benefit made under
the local scheme is £1,777.50 and for council tax reduction less than £50. o)
Recommend that Council note the Equality Impact Assessment in Appendix F
covering all General Fund budget proposals. p)
Recommend that Council note the schedule of proposed fees and charges for
2025/26 in Appendix I(i) and Confidential Appendix I(ii) |