Agenda item

a)  Leeds City Council Revenue Budget and Council Tax 2015/2016

To consider the report of the Deputy Chief Executive on the proposals for the City Council’s Revenue Budget for 2015/16 and the Leeds element of the Council Tax to be levied in 2015/2016.

b)  Capital Programme Update 2015-2018

To consider the report of the Deputy Chief Executive on the Capital Programme for the period 2015-2018.

c)  Treasury Management Strategy 2015/2016

To consider the report of the Deputy Chief Executive on the Treasury Management Policy and Strategy for 2015/2016.

(A) Leeds City Council Revenue Budget and Council Tax 2015/2016

Further to Minute No. 128, 17^th December 2014, the Deputy Chief Executive submitted a report regarding the proposals for the City Council’s Revenue Budget for 2015/2016 and the Leeds element of the Council Tax to be levied in 2015/2016.

The Board was advised that the budget proposals which would be submitted to Council for determination would include details of the recently announced final local government finance settlement and also the £4.85m which had been awarded to the Council from the Department for Education’s (DFE) Innovation Fund. In noting this information, the Chair outlined details, which would be submitted to Council for determination, of proposals regarding the allocation of the £1.151m which had been received by Leeds as part of the final local government finance settlement.

Emphasis was placed upon the unprecedented financial challenges that the Council continued to face, and the pressures which were being placed upon Local Authorities with regard to ensuring the delivery of key public services.

In response to an enquiry, the Board was provided with details of how much money the Council had received from New Homes Bonus to date and how much it expected to receive over the coming year. Also, officers undertook to provide specific figures to the Member in question on this matter in due course.

RESOLVED –

(a)  That Council be recommended to approve the Revenue Budget for 2015/2016, totalling £522.632m, as detailed and explained in the submitted report and accompanying papers, with a 1.99% increase in the Leeds’ element of the Council Tax for 2015/2016, subject to the following increases: £300k in respect of local welfare support; £250k in respect of Children’s Services and £601k in respect of Adult Social Care, together with the inclusion of associated expenditure and income in respect of £4.85m grant which has been awarded from the DFE’s Innovation Fund;

(b)  That Council be recommended to approve the allocation of grants totalling £92k to Parishes, as detailed in paragraph 6.18.3 of the submitted report;

(c)  That in respect of the Housing Revenue Account, Council be recommended to: -

(i)  approve the budget, with an average rent increase figure of 2.88%;

(ii)  approve that the charge for garage rents be increased to £7.39 per week (based on 52 rent weeks);

(iii) approve that service charges of £1 per week be introduced for low/medium rise properties in receipt of additional services;

(iv)  approve that service charges for multi-storey flats are increased by £1 per week to £1.86p;

(v)  approve that the earmarked reserve for Welfare Change is reduced by £1,303k.

(d)  That Executive Board approval be given to transitional relief for business properties with rateable values up to and including £50,000 being added to the Local Scheme of Reliefs approved by Executive Board on 14th February 2014.

(B) Capital Programme Update 2015-2018

The Deputy Chief Executive submitted a report setting out the proposed Capital Programme for the period 2015-2018, which included details of forecast resources for that period. In addition, the report also provided a review of 2014/2015 scheme spend.

Members discussed in detail the importance of fiscal devolution, and the key benefits which could be realised by such freedoms. Specific examples were provided of how fiscal devolution could assist the city and city region, with Members highlighting the need to continue to raise such matters with the Government.

RESOLVED –

(a)  That the following be recommended to Council:-

(i) That the capital programme, as presented in Appendix G to the submitted report, be approved;

(ii) That the revised Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) policy for 2014/2015, as set out in Appendix D to the submitted report be approved;

(iii)  That the proposed MRP policies for 2015/2016, as set out in Appendix E to the submitted report,be approved.

(b)  That Executive Board approval be given to the list of land and property sites, as shown in Appendix B to the submitted report, beingdisposed of in order to generate capital receipts for use in accordance with the MRP policy.

(C) Treasury Management Strategy 2015/2016

The Deputy Chief Executive submitted a report setting out the Treasury Management Policy and Strategy for 2015/2016, together with the revised affordable borrowing limits under the prudential framework. In addition, the report also provided a review of strategy and operations in 2014/15.

Responding to an enquiry, the Board received further detail regarding the Council’s borrowing strategy.

RESOLVED –

(a)  That Executive Board approval be given to the initial treasury strategy for 2015/2016, as set out within Section 3.3 of the submitted report, and that the review of the 2014/2015 strategy and operations, as set out in Sections 3.1 and 3.2 of the submitted report, be noted;

(b)  That Council be recommended to set the borrowing limits for 2014/15, 2015/16, 2016/17 and 2017/18, as detailed in section 3.4 of the submitted report, and to note the changes to both the Operational Boundary and the Authorised limits (both have been reduced for borrowing, whilst both have been increased for other long term liabilities reflecting new PFI schemes);

(c)  That Council be recommended to set the treasury management indicators for 2014/15, 2015/16, 2016/17 and 2017/18 as detailed in section 3.5 of the submitted report;

(d)  That Council be recommended to set the investment limits for 2014/15, 2015/16, 2016/17 and 2017/18 as detailed in section 3.6 of the submitted report;

(e)  That Council be recommended to adopt the revised Treasury Management Policy Statement.

(The matters referred to in Minute Nos. 148(A)(a)-148(A)(c)(v), 148(B)(a)(i) – 148(B)(a)(iii) and 148(C)(b) - 148(C)(e) being matters reserved to Council, were not eligible for Call In)

(Under the provisions of Council Procedure Rule 16.5, Councillors A Carter and Golton both required it to be recorded that they respectively abstained from voting on the decisions referred to within this minute)