Council and democracy
Home > Council and Democracy > Issue
Executive
Amendment
Matter for decision
The report detailed amendments to the Budget-Setting Report
2016/17 that was recommended to Council by the Executive at its meeting on the
21 January 2016.
Unless otherwise stated, any reference in the
recommendations to sections, pages and appendices relate to Version 1 of the
Budget Setting Report (BSR) 2016/17.
New or updated information
·
Section
25 Report (Robustness of Estimates and Adequacy of Reserves):
This report is made under the Local
Government Act 2003, which requires that the Chief Financial Officer report to
the authority, when making the statutory calculations required to determine its Council Tax or precept, on the robustness
of the estimates made for the purposes of the calculations, and the adequacy of
the proposed financial reserves [Section 10, page 61 refers].
Information awaited:
·
Final
Local Government Finance Settlement:
As yet, the proposals in the
provisional 2016/17 settlement have not been confirmed. Further changes may be
necessary once the relevant report has been laid before the House of Commons.
Decision of the
Executive Councillor for Finance and Resources
The Executive Councillor approved the amendments:
(a) Section 25 Report
To insert the EXECUTIVE section 25 report
into the BSR
And
authorised the section 151 Officer to make necessary changes to the Budget
Setting Report 2016/17, to be considered by Council at the meeting on the 25
February 2016, to reflect the impact of changes for the above.
Note that further changes are expected for Council, which
will be notified and then incorporated into the BSR in respect of:
·
Council Tax Base 2016/17 and Council Tax Setting
2016/17 [Appendices A(a) and A(b), pages 62 and 63
refer], following notifications from precepting
authorities.
·
Any other minor typographical amendments.
Reason for the
Decision
As set out in the Officer’s report
Any alternative
Options Considered and Rejected
Not applicable
Scrutiny
Considerations
The Committee resolved by 6 votes to 0 to endorse the
recommendations as set out in the Officer’s report.
The Executive Councillor approved the recommendations.
Conflicts of Interest
Declared by the Executive Councillor (and any Dispensations Granted)
No conflicts of interest were declared by the Executive
Councillor.
Liberal Democrat
Amendment
The Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group introduced the
item.
Members of the Committee questioned the Liberal Democrat
Councillors about the Liberal Democrat amendments. The Liberal Democrat answers
are set out below.
City Centre &
Public Places
B0001 Tree Planting programme [5 years]
i.
The £35,000 proposal would extend and enlarge
the tree planting scheme which was already in place. The scheme would provide
for a tree to be given to every year 4 primary school pupil in Cambridge.
ii.
The cost of the trees was estimated at £12 per
tree and £12 for logistics/ delivery costs.
iii.
It was estimated that there were likely to be
1000 school children at a cost of approximately £25 per child this would
utilise £25,000 of the funding proposed.
iv.
Any remaining funding could be used by the
Council to plant further trees and to replace trees that had reached the end of
their life.
Delete S3836 Parks and Open Space – Event Income
i.
It was believed that the Council had not
achieved the correct formula to enable an increased number of events to take
place on the Council’s public open space.
ii.
It was not being stated that events should be
stopped but the Council should investigate the correct approach before any
additional events were agreed.
Strategy and
Transformation
B0002 Referrals to the Chronically Excluded Adult Programme
[4 years]
i.
This proposal sought to address street life
anti-social behaviour, some of these individuals may be homeless but some may
not.
ii.
Punishment had limited effectiveness for these individuals and was
not particularly sustainable where they suffered addictions or mental health
problems. It was hoped that this work could build upon the work already done by
the County Council and would add to the skills of the City Council so that a
resourceful solution could be found rather than a punitive one.
Communities
B0004 Support to refugees [2 years]
i.
The City Council played a substantial lead role
in this area, however it was considered that further expertise was required
especially for refugees who did not fall within the Government Refugee
programme.
ii.
It was anticipated that the role could work with
the Citizens Advice Bureau and Ethnic Community Forum.
iii.
The reason that the post was proposed for a 2
year period was because this was a pilot scheme and it would need to be
reviewed to see whether the post was fit for purpose. It was considered
appropriate that this could be tested after 2 years.
iv.
The remuneration for the post was discussed with senior officers
and provision was proposed to enable comparable payment with posts of similar
responsibility in the Council's own Community Development Team. It was
anticipated that £20,000 would be earmarked for the post and £5,000 towards
travel and training of volunteers. If this 0.5 FTE funding brought forward
complementary funding or time commitment from other voluntary sector sources,
it would be welcome.
v.
Officers had risen to the challenge to deliver the Government’s
Refugee Programme which was in addition to their day jobs. However the Council
did not have the resources without the proposed post to co-ordinate voluntary
assistance.
Planning Policy &
Transport
B0005 Incentivised acquisition of
electrically powered Private Hire Vehicles.
i.
This proposal was proposed to apply to purely
electric vehicles.
ii.
The assumption that renewals for licences would
be at 25% for purely electrical vehicles was a starting point that would need
to be reviewed.
iii.
Not all private hire business was long range. One of the leading
Private Hire companies in Cambridge was looking to pioneer the use of electric
vehicles. Rapid charging points were starting to emerge around the Country.
This proposal was linked to the proposed capital programme C0001.
B0006 Affordable Housing viability analyst
i.
Given the desire to try and maximise affordable
housing provision in planning applications it was considered that a specialist
in house officer was required who could advise the Council.
II0001 Raise parking charges in City Council car parks to
increase revenue by 2%
i.
It was a mistake not to increase car parking
charges as the Council needed to encourage individuals to use alternative forms
of transport to get into the City.
ii.
When charges were frozen for services there was
usually a time in the future when the charges had to be greatly increased to
make up for the period of time when the charges were frozen. Therefore it was
better to slightly increase the charges now than to have a freeze and to have
to greatly increase them in the future.
iii.
In terms of what increase to charges were
proposed it could possibly be applied to 1-3 hour parking charges at an
increase of £0.10 per hour. It was anticipated that Officers would have a
programme that would assist in working the detailed proposals out and any
proposals would need to be consulted on. Any consultation responses would then
be considered in terms of times or car parks where an increase could be
applied.
X0001 Additional Planning Enforcement Officer [5 years]
i.
The number of planning applications had
increased therefore enforcement work needed to keep up.
C0001 Electric Vehicle Rapid Charging points
i.
The Head of Finance advised from a procedural point of view that
the proposal did not have a business case and, would require the approval of
the Executive Councillor for Planning Policy and Transport for the project's
inclusion in the council's capital process. This process would include
the preparation of an outline business case (Part A) followed by the
preparation of a full business case (Part B) which would be reviewed by the
Capital Programme Board. Then the project would be included on either the
Project Under Development list or Capital Plan as
appropriate.
Finance &
Resources
NCL0001 Street Lighting Earmarked Reserve [5 years]
i.
The offer to the County Council for LED lighting
was proposed to be funded from the above target general fund reserve.
ii.
The proposal regarding LED lighting arose
because the County Council needed to save money and this was thought to provide
a sustainable proposal.
iii.
When the street lighting contract was originally
negotiated there was no discussion about any street lights being turned off.
iv.
The city had 5833 street lights and the current cost to upgrade
each was £300-400. But if they were upgraded at the time Balfour Beatty
undertook their 5 year rolling maintenance checks, then the cost could be
expected to be significantly reduced, such that £1.5m could be regarded as a
reasonable estimate of total cost.
v.
If the City Council offered funding to the County Council for the
LED project, then the County's own investment outlay would be commensurately
reduced against its return.
vi.
It was anticipated that any assistance to the County Council would
be interest free. The County Council's financial return had not been quantified
as that exercise would not be carried out unless an offer was actually made.
vii.
The County Council remained the steward of
off-street lighting however they would need some assistance to enable the
conversion to LED lighting to take place.