Agenda item

a)  Leeds City Council Revenue Budget and Council Tax 2017/2018

To consider the report of the Deputy Chief Executive on the proposals for the City Council’s Revenue Budget for 2017/2018 and the Leeds element of the Council Tax to be levied in 2017/2018.

b)  Capital Programme Update 2017 – 2020

To consider the report of the Deputy Chief Executive on the Capital Programme for the period 2017-2020.

c)  Treasury Management Strategy 2017/2018

To consider the report of the Deputy Chief Executive on the Treasury Management Policy and Strategy for 2017/2018.

Further to Minute No.130, 14th December 2016, the Deputy Chief Executive submitted a report regarding the proposals for the City Council’s Revenue Budget for 2017/2018 and the Leeds element of the Council Tax to be levied in 2017/2018.

The Board noted that the final Local Government Finance Settlement was still to be received from Government, and as such, the submitted reports were based upon the provisional Settlement, with Members discussing the implications of such matters when considering the overall budget setting process.

Members also highlighted the high level of demand which existed in respect of adult social care provision, and the limited resources available to meet such demands.

(A)  Leeds City Council Revenue Budget and Council Tax 2017/2018

RESOLVED –

(a)  That Executive Board recommends to Council the adoption of the following:

  i.  That the revenue budget for 2017/18 totalling £492.67m be approved. This means that the Leeds element of the Council Tax for 2017/18 will increase by 1.99% plus the adult social care precept of 3%. This excludes the Police and Fire precepts which will be incorporated into the report to be submitted to Council on the 22^nd February 2017;

  ii.  That approval be given for grants totalling £75k to be allocated to parishes;

  iii.  That approval be given to the strategy at appendix 9 of the submitted report in respect of the flexible use of capital receipts;

  iv.  That, in respect of the Housing Revenue Account, Council be recommended to approve the budget with:

·  A reduction of 1% in dwelling rents in non-Private Finance Initiative areas.

·  An increase of 2% in dwelling rents in PFI areas.

·  A 5% increase in garage rents.

·  A 2% increase in district heating charges.

·  That service charges for multi-storey flats be increased by £2 per week.

·  That service charges for low/medium rise properties be increased by £1 per week.

·  That the charge for tenants who benefit from the sheltered support service currently paying £2 a week be increased to £4 per week.

(b)  That officers be authorised to begin consultations without delay on the proposals to introduce new fees and charges and increases to existing fees and charges;

(c)  That the Executive Board’s thanks be extended to Scrutiny Boards for their comments, and in considering the specific recommendations made:

i)  The Board agrees that, during 2017/18, there should be further review of fees and charges, including revisiting the previous report and recommendations from Scrutiny Board (Strategy and Resources) in order to help ensure that the Council maximises its income streams;

ii)  The Board agrees that, as part of the development of the ‘Leeds £’ approach, there should be a review of joint funding arrangements in order to help ensure a consistent and strategic approach that is fair and equitable to all partners involved;

iii)  The Board agrees that, where any directorate is anticipating a significant budget overspend, support be given to the need for the section 151 Officer and the relevant Director to work closely and proactively with the relevant Scrutiny Board in order to provide suitable assurance that there is robust financial risk management and transition planning in place;

iv)  The Board agrees that for all proposed budget savings, there is a clear narrative that explains how the savings will be achieved, including (but not limited to) service redesign and service commissioning/ decommissioning;

v)  The Board notes the comments of the Scrutiny Board (Adult Social Services, Public Health, NHS) in respect of the Adult Social Care precept and the assurances provided through the submitted report on the justification and how the additional funding will be utilised.

(d)  That the update to the 2017/18 to 2019/20 medium-term financial strategy, and the intention to present a fully updated financial strategy to the Board at its meeting in July 2017, be noted.

(B)  Capital Programme Update 2017 – 2020

The Deputy Chief Executive submitted a report setting out the proposed Capital Programme for the period 2017-2020.

RESOLVED –

(a)  That Executive Board recommends to Council:

(i)  the approval of the Capital Programme for 2017-20 totalling £1,282.4m, including the revised projected position for 2016/17, as presented in Appendix F to the submitted report;

(ii)   the approval of the revised Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) policy for 2016/17, as set out in Appendix D to the submitted report.

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

(c)  That Executive Board approval be given to the following injections into the capital programme:

·  £116.2m, of annual programmes as set out in Appendix A(iii) of the submitted report to be funded by £37.2m LCC borrowing, £8.5m HRA Borrowing, £64.5m of HRA specific resources and £6.0m of general fund specific resources;

·  £20.3m, of pressures as set out in Appendix A(iii) to the submitted report funded by £14.3m of net borrowing and £6.0m of general fund specific resources.

(With it being noted that the above resolutions to inject funding of £136.5m will be implemented by the Chief Officer (Financial Services)).

(d)  That Executive Board approval be given to the delegation of the future injections and ‘authority to spend’ of the acquisition of strategic assets in support of the Council’s financial strategy, to the Director of City Development and the Chief Finance Officer in consultation with the relevant Executive Board Member for Regeneration, Transport and Planning and Group Leaders of Executive Board.

(C)  Treasury Management Strategy 2017/2018

The Deputy Chief Executive submitted a report setting out the Treasury Management Strategy for 2017/2018 and which provided an update on the implementation of the 2016/17 strategy.

RESOLVED –

(a)  That the Treasury Strategy for 2017/18, as set out in Section 3.3 of the submitted report be approved, and that the review of the 2016/17 strategy and operations, as set out in Sections 3.1 and 3.2, be noted;

(b)  That full Council be recommended to set the borrowing limits for 2016/17, 2017/18, 2018/19 and 2019/20 as detailed in Section 3.4 of the submitted report, and to note the changes to both the Operational Boundary and the Authorised limits;

(c)  That full Council be recommended to set the treasury management indicators for 2016/17, 2017/18, 2018/19 and 2019/20 as detailed in Section 3.5 of the submitted report;

(d)  That full Council be recommended to set investment limits for 2016/17, 2017/18, 2018/19 and 2019/20 as detailed in Section 3.6 of the submitted report;

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

(The matters referred to in Minute Nos. 138(A)(a)(i)-(iv)(Revenue Budget and Council Tax); 138(B)(a)(i)-(ii)(Capital Programme) and 138(C)(b)-(e)(Treasury Management Strategy), given that they were decisions being made in accordance with the Budget and Policy Framework Procedure Rules, were not eligible for Call In)

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