Issue - meetings

Officer: Lisa Taylor

Key decision: Council Tax recommendations are reserved to Council. Housing rents and charges are Key Executive Decisions

The Leader of the Council delegated authority to the Cabinet to make the following decisions:

RESOLVED: To recommend to full Council

1.     A 1.99% increase in the Council Tax for Croydon Services (a level of increase Central Government has assumed in all Councils’ spending power calculation).

2.     A 2.00% increase in the Adult Social Care precept (a charge Central Government has assumed all councils’ will levy in its spending power calculations).

3.     The GLA increase of 3.6%.

With reference to the principles for 2020/21 determined by the Secretary of State under Section52ZC (1) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 (as amended) confirm that in accordance with s.52ZB (1) the Council Tax and GLA precept referred to above are not excessive in terms of the most recently issued principles and as such to note that no referendum is required.  This is detailed further in section 3.8 of the report.

4.     The calculation of budget requirement and council tax as set out in Appendix D and E.  Including the GLA increase this will result in a total increase of 3.92% in the overall council tax bill for Croydon.

5.     The revenue budget assumptions as detailed in the report and the associated appendices.

6.     The programme of revenue savings, income and growth by department for 2020/21 (Appendix A).

7.     The Council’s detailed budget book for 2020/21 (Appendix B).

8.     The draft Capital Programme as set out in section 11, table 18 and 19 of the report, except where noted for specific programmes are subject to separate Cabinet reports.

9.     To increase the Asset Investment Fund by £100 million to £300 million.

10.To note there are no proposed amendments to the Council’s existing Council Tax Support Scheme for the financial year 2020/21.

11.The adoption of the Pay Policy statement at Appendix H.

RESOLVED: To agree

1.     A rent increase for all Council tenants for 2020/21, in line with the Government’s social rent policy which has legislated to increase social rents by CPI + 1%, which is equal to 2.7%

2.     No increase to Garage and Parking space rents.

3.     2% increase to the service charges for caretaking, grounds maintenance and bulk refuse collection as detailed in section 12 of the report.

RESOLVED: To note

1.     That in respect of the Council’s public sector equalities duties where the setting of the capital, revenue and HRA budget result in new policies or policy change the relevant service department will carry out an equality impact assessment to secure delivery of that duty including such consultation as may be required.

2.     The progress being made towards balancing the Council’s financial position for 2019/20 as at Quarter 3 and the current projected outturn forecast of £2.371m as set out in the report at item 5b on the agenda.

3.     The response to the provisional local government settlement which is attached at Appendix F of the report.

4.     That pre-decision scrutiny of the proposed budget 2020/21 took place at the Scrutiny and Overview  ...  view the full decision text for item 19

The Leader thanked the Cabinet Member for Finance & Resources, the Section 151 Officer and her team for their work in producing the budget. It was stated that while increases in council tax were not desired it was prudent to ensure the council had a balanced budget. Ongoing budget pressures continued, however the Leader stated he hoped that the Government budget, which was to be announced on 11 March 2020, would reflect the pressures local government were under.

The Leader commended the budget to Cabinet.

Cabinet was provided with a presentation from the Cabinet Member for Finance & Resources which gave an overview of the financial pressures the council continued to face and the proposed budget. It was recognised that the scale of cuts facing local government were not to the same level as previous years but that there had not been a rebalancing of the central government grant which would address the high levels of demand for adult social care which were being experienced nationally.

The Croydon specific challenges of being historically underfunded were raised by the Cabinet Member, including the borough having the same level of challenges as an inner London borough but being funded as an outer London borough and the continued underfunding of Unaccompanied Asylum Seeker Children (UASC) by the Home Office. Despite these challenges, the Cabinet Member stated the council continued to manage its budget.

The Cabinet Member welcomed the small increase in grant the council would receive in 2020/21; however it was stated that this was against the backdrop of a ¾ decrease in grant in recent years which had placed a huge amount of stress on council resources.

In terms of the 2020/21 budget, the Cabinet Member informed Members that there was a planned contribution of £5m to the reserves as it was recognised that significant risks remained. It was proposed to increase council tax by 1.99%, which was the level that Government assumed council tax would be raised, and which 93% of councils were doing nationally.

Prudent financial management was at the heart of the budget with money being placed in reserves, contingency budgets and detailed plans for proposed savings.

Despite the challenges faced by the council it had continued to deliver manifesto commitments and had protected and invested in frontline services. The Cabinet Member noted that over the six years of the Labour Administration there had been a net growth of £42m in people services, which it was stated was in direct contrast to the previous administration which had cut those services.

The council would continue to be innovative, it was stated, which would enable frontline services to be protected. Additionally, with the council focussing on prevention, there were benefits which could be realised not only for residents but also for the council’s budget. Innovative measures included looking at sustainable solutions to combat the climate emergency and it was noted that there was a specific budget to tackle this.

Three quarters of the budget, the Cabinet Member noted, was allocated to people based  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19