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Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Town Hall, Katharine Street, Croydon CR0 1NX. View directions

Contact: Democratic Services  Email: democratic.services@croydon.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

117/24

Minutes of the previous meeting (TO FOLLOW) pdf icon PDF 110 KB

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 31st January 2024 as an accurate record.

Minutes:

The part A minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on Wednesday 31 January 2024 were agreed as an accurate record.

118/24

Disclosure of Interests

Members and co-opted Members of the Council are reminded that, in accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct and the statutory provisions of the Localism Act, they are required to consider in advance of each meeting whether they have a disclosable pecuniary interest (DPI), an other registrable interest (ORI) or a non-registrable interest (NRI) in relation to any matter on the agenda. If advice is needed, Members should contact the Monitoring Officer in good time before the meeting.

 

If any Member or co-opted Member of the Council identifies a DPI or ORI which they have not already registered on the Council’s register of interests or which requires updating, they should complete the disclosure form which can be obtained from Democratic Services at any time, copies of which will be available at the meeting for return to the Monitoring Officer.

 

Members and co-opted Members are required to disclose any DPIs and ORIs at the meeting.

-      Where the matter relates to a DPI they may not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter and must not stay in the meeting unless granted a dispensation.

-      Where the matter relates to an ORI they may not vote on the matter unless granted a dispensation.

-      Where a Member or co-opted Member has an NRI which directly relates to their financial interest or wellbeing, or that of a relative or close associate, they must disclose the interest at the meeting, may not take part in any discussion or vote on the matter and must not stay in the meeting unless granted a dispensation. Where a matter affects the NRI of a Member or co-opted Member, section 9 of Appendix B of the Code of Conduct sets out the test which must be applied by the Member to decide whether disclosure is required.

 

The Chair will invite Members to make their disclosure orally at the commencement of Agenda item 3, to be recorded in the minutes.

Minutes:

There were none.

119/24

Urgent Business (If any)

To receive notice of any business not on the agenda which in the opinion of the Chair, by reason of special circumstances, be considered as a matter of urgency.

Minutes:

There were no items of urgent business.

120/24

Mayor's Business Plan 2022-2026 Performance Report pdf icon PDF 251 KB

Additional documents:

Decision:

RESOLVED: To

 

Note the Mayors Business Plan performance report (Appendix A and B) with latest data available on 30 November 2023 (unless otherwise stated) regarding overall council and partnership performance, and actions being taken to improve outputs.

Minutes:

The Executive Mayor introduced the Mayor’s Business Plan 2022-2026 Performance Report which provided further update of achieving outcomes and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

 

The Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Homes, Councillor Lynne Hale, shared with Cabinet that the KPIs had shown a clear indication of where the Housing department were and the scale of challenge, they were facing to improve the service. The aim was to build strong sustainable foundations across the service including developing KPIs based on accurate and reliable data, monitoring, and the use of data. The Housing Strategy, which aligned with the recent resident’s charter, was to form as part of the decision process for long-term foundations in the service. The contact centre had faced a significant number of high calls and staff resource issues, and now a new inhouse contact centre had been overwhelmed by the demand. Following the problems seen, a new staffing plan had been developed and a contact centre refreshed with permanent staff appointed receiving bespoke training programme. With shared accommodation being a national problem, Croydon council aimed to refocus services to prevent homelessness at a much earlier stage. There was progression on the key priority of voids, where 650 voids were made to offer homes to families who had spend years on temporary accommodation. Overall, a new NEC system was being stabilised, data was under validation and cleansing, permanent staffing were under recruitment, with refocus on customer service through the customer care training programme, closer performance monitoring and management, would see improvement in service delivery.

 

The Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, Councillor Maria Gatland, shared with Cabinet of the known demand for statutory social work service which had risen by 16% in 2022 and 2023 and highlighted some red indicators, though there was positive factors such as the proportion of 16 and 17 year olds who were not in education, employment or training (NEET) had received positive work with increased availability with face-to-face learning for 16 to 18 year olds, other means to assist learns and a robust , further with an additional case worker externally funded to work with the pupil referral unit in supporting the school year 11 with post 16 planning and transition. Further, the EHPC had a huge amount of work undertaken with quality and design which was highly rated by the DfE. Since June 2022 there was introduction of weekly reporting by team managers to their heads of service for scrutinising weekly performance; further there was equality SEND database to inform practice. Child protection plans was monitored very closely. The transformation with the front door service – the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) with enhanced management oversight would help monitor the indicators which were all under scrutiny.

 

The Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care, Councillor Yvette Hopley, shared with Cabinet in detail that the indicators for the percentage of safeguarding intervention leading to reduction/removal of risk, the rate of 65+ clients in long term care, and the rate of 65+ clients supported to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 120/24

121/24

Brick by Brick Closure Report pdf icon PDF 157 KB

Decision:

RESOLVED:

 

1.1.          To approve that Brick by Brick Croydon Ltd be closed down on a solvent basis as detailed under Option 1 of Section 8.

 

1.2.          To delegate to Corporate Director of Resources (S151 Officer), in consultation with Director of Legal Services, Corporate Director Housing and Director of Commercial Investment & Capital to decide whether the Council under its Housing Revenue Page 82 Account (HRA) and/or General Fund (GF) acquire all or part of the remaining assets and liabilities of BBB if not disposed within a reasonable time frame.

 

1.3.          To delegate to Corporate Director of Resources (S151 Officer), in consultation with Executive Mayor, Lead Member of Finance, Director of Legal Services, Director of Commercial Investment & Capital to negotiate the sale of Brick by Brick Croydon Ltd should an offer that improves the Council’s financial position, against the winddown position, be received before the proposed winddown date of the company.

 

1.4.          To delegate to Corporate Director of Resources (S151 Officer), in consultation with Executive Mayor, Lead Member of Finance, Director of Legal Services and Director of Finance to enter into any final legal agreements on behalf of the Council as Shareholder and/or Lender and make any necessary shareholder resolutions, where relevant to give effect to the recommendations and delegated decisions in this report as part of the winddown process.

 

1.5.          To delegate to Corporate Director of Resources (S151 Officer), in consultation with the Executive Mayor, Lead Member of Finance, Director of Legal Service and Director of Finance to approve the final loan principle write off amount, up to £70m, at the point of winddown.

 

1.6.          To delegate to the Corporate Director of Resources (S151 Officer), in consultation with the Executive Mayor, Lead Member of Finance, Director of Legal Service and Director of Commercial Investment & Capital to issue letters to current Directors requesting their resignations and to approve indemnification of liability in line with the Outside Bodies Protocol approved by Ethics Committee on 8th February 2023.

 

1.7.          To delegate to Corporate Director of Resources (S151 Officer), in consultation with the Executive Mayor, Lead Member of Finance, Director of Legal Service and Director of Commercial Investment & Capital to appoint new Directors on the Board of the BBB.

Minutes:

The Executive Mayor introduced the Brick by Brick Closure Report which was established in 2014 to build council homes and deliver housing projects affordably for the council, however, following the council's declaration of bankruptcy in 2021, the council had to make significant steps to recover money from Brick by Brick and now on a process of winding down Brick by Brick to deliver financial stability to the council.

 

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Jason Cummings, shared with Cabinet that the key momentum was to close Brick by Brick, having reflected that there had been options in managing Brick by Brick with choices to either continue working with Brick by Brick. To close was the right decisions made following the loss made which has now stopped.

 

The Leader of the Opposition, Councillor Stuart King, welcomed the report and asked in relation to recommendation 2.3 of the possible sale of Brick by Brick, and whether there had been enquires that this should be included in the list of recommendations; also, in relation to recommendation 2.2 whether a decision had been made for the asset and liabilities to be released to the general fund or Housing Revenue Account.

 

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Jason Cummings, responded that with regards to recommendation 2.3 and any potential sale, there was opportunity for a party to purchase Brick by Brick, though noted that during the original options submitted, when reviewing market value, a decision was made to continue the build out. This report, however, sought to cover any options that may create exceptional circumstances where the council would have an offer for better value. With regards to recommendation 2.2 and the Housing Revenue Account and general funds, this regarded an assessment of the individual assets that remained by Brick by Brick to be worked through and value assessed for its use. It was currently unknown what assets would remain, though this was to be addressed on an individual basis.

 

The Executive Mayor in Cabinet RESOLVED:

 

1.1.         To approve that Brick by Brick Croydon Ltd be closed down on a solvent basis as detailed under Option 1 of Section 8.

 

1.2.         To delegate to Corporate Director of Resources (S151 Officer), in consultation with Director of Legal Services, Corporate Director Housing and Director of Commercial Investment & Capital to decide whether the Council under its Housing Revenue Page 82 Account (HRA) and/or General Fund (GF) acquire all or part of the remaining assets and liabilities of BBB if not disposed within a reasonable time frame.

 

1.3.         To delegate to Corporate Director of Resources (S151 Officer), in consultation with Executive Mayor, Lead Member of Finance, Director of Legal Services, Director of Commercial Investment & Capital to negotiate the sale of Brick by Brick Croydon Ltd should an offer that improves the Council’s financial position, against the winddown position, be received before the proposed winddown date of the company.

 

1.4.         To delegate to Corporate Director of Resources (S151 Officer), in consultation with Executive Mayor, Lead Member of Finance, Director  ...  view the full minutes text for item 121/24

122/24

Budget 2024-25 and Medium Term Financial Strategy 2024-28 pdf icon PDF 313 KB

Additional documents:

Decision:

RESOLVED: To

 

1.1.          Consider the responses to the budget engagement with residents and statutory consultation with businesses (set out in Section 10 of this report and detailed more fully in Appendix J).

 

1.2.          Consider and have due regard to the equalities impact assessment undertaken on the budget proposals as set out in Appendix N.

 

1.3.          Approve the responses to the Scrutiny and Overview Committee recommendations (to follow after publication of this report – Appendix O) on the budget proposals as set out in Section 20.

 

1.4.          Approve that (subject to Full Council approving the budget and any further decisions required of the Executive) that Corporate Directors be authorised to implement their respective growth and savings proposals for 2024-25 in accordance with the recommendations within this report, the Council's Constitution, Financial Regulations, relevant Schemes of Delegation and undertake any further consultation required, including regarding the Equalities Impacts of specific decisions within the Budget envelope as approved by Full Council.

 

1.5.          Propose to Full Council for approval an increase in the Croydon element of the 2024-25 council tax charge by 2.99% (Band D £53.98).

 

1.6.          Propose to Full Council for approval a 2% increase (Band D £36.11) in the 2024-25 Adult Social Care precept levy.

 

1.7.          Note, based on the Mayor of London’s draft consolidated budget, a proposed 8.58% (Band D £37.26) increase regarding the Greater London Authority precept.

 

1.8.          Propose to Full Council for approval, the calculation of budget requirement and council tax as set out in Appendix I and note that the inclusion of the GLA precept will result in a total increase of 5.69% (Band D £127.35) in the overall Croydon council tax bill.

 

1.9.          Propose to Full Council for approval the setting of the Council’s own total net expenditure budget for 2024-25 at £361.267m.

 

1.10.       Propose to Full Council for approval the detailed programme of revenue savings, income, demand pressures and legacy budget corrections, by directorate, as set out in Appendix C.

 

1.11.       Propose to Full Council the proposed £5m budget in 2024-25 to support delivery of the transformation programme.

 

1.12.       Propose to Full Council the Reserves Policy set out in Appendix M.

 

1.13.       Propose to Full Council for approval that the Corporate Director of Resources be authorised to collect and recover National Non-Domestic Rate and council tax in accordance with the Local Government Finance Act 1988 (as amended) and the Local Government Finance Act 1992.

 

1.14.       Note the revenue budget assumptions detailed in the report and budget projections to 2027- 28 made by the Corporate Director of Resources in agreement with the Chief Executive and with the Corporate Management Team.

 

1.15.       Note the Council’s request for a Capitalisation Direction from the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities [DLUHC] of up to £38m for 2024-25, £9.439m relating to 2019-20 and current assumption that up to a further £38m per annum in exceptional financial support will be required for future years.

 

1.16.       Note that all Directors will be required to report on their projected financial position compared  ...  view the full decision text for item 122/24

Minutes:

The Executive Mayor introduced the Budget 2024-25 and Medium Term Financial Strategy 2024-28 Report which proposed a deliverable budget for 2024-25. The budget planned to include £30 million in savings for 2024-25 with an ongoing asset disposal programme that aimed to deliver £200 million of receipts over the period 2022-2026.

 

The Chair of Scrutiny and Overview, Councillor Rowenna Davis, shared with Cabinet that following the Scrutiny and Overview Committee (the Committee) receiving the report, the outcome concluded with the following:

 

-       That the council could not balance its books without exceptional support of national government, and there was a gap of £38 million pounds wide that was to be filled next year. To fill this hole, the council was to seek permission to borrow from national government for capitalisation and selling assets to meet general expenditure. Though there was no guarantee national government would provide the money for the council to stay afloat.

-       The Committee noted that the council was doing all that they could with ambitious plans for savings, and based on the information provided, it was concluded that those proposed were deliverable whilst meeting the statutory needs of vulnerable residents, although the scale, pace and wide-ranging nature of the savings meant that they would need to be closely monitored.

-       The Homes Sub-Committee had reservations relating to the Housing Revenue Account and was not assured without further data particularly on the housing stock conditions survey which should reveal more on sale of investment needed.

-       In comparison to last years budget there was concern relating to the £5 million pound economic demand pressures budget which had been removed; though the use of this budget had helped balance the books for this years budget to plug the increased costs associated with rises in demand for emergency accommodation; and thus without this extra cushion of the economic demand fund, the pressure on the council to stick to its budget would become even greater.

-       It was important how the council would mitigate risks and, on the risks register in Appendix L, not all risks listed were quantified and some did not have any mitigating actions attached.

-       In regard to transformation, the scale and pace of this was essential though not where it needed to be.

-       The Committee noted that the council was sticking with the government maximum rise of 4.99% in council tax. The reduction of the council tax hardship fund from £2 million pounds to £500,000 pounds was questioned, and the Committee was pleased that the money had been reallocated to the council tax support scheme, though the Committee was not convinced that the low take up of the scheme was due to the lack of need rather than lack of awareness, and more work to promote awareness was advised.

-       Real improvements in the quality of transparency were noted by the Committee, though in the budget an extra £9.4 million pounds of capitalisation above and beyond of what was expected was to be requested from  ...  view the full minutes text for item 122/24

123/24

2023-24 Period 8 Financial Performance Report pdf icon PDF 362 KB

Decision:

RESOLVED:

 

1.1.          To note the General Fund revenue budget outturn is forecast to underspend by £1.3m at Period 8, after the budgeted utilisation of £63m capitalisation directions requested from DLUHC.

 

1.2.          To approve within budget the inter-directorate virement of £2.1m non-pay inflation budget from the Adult Social Care & Health directorate to the Housing directorate on a one-off basis in 2023-24, as set out in paragraph 4.12.

 

1.3.          To note the progress in MTFS savings achievement as set out in paragraph 4.103.

 

1.4.          To note the work that has commenced on the Council’s Transformation Programme as set out from paragraph 4.98.

 

1.5.          To note the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) revenue budget outturn is forecast to overspend by £12.0m.

 

1.6.          To note the General Fund capital programme 2023-24 forecast underspend of £20.7m against the revised capital budget of £127.1m. The 2023-24 General Fund capital budget has been updated to reflect the changes agreed through the Capital Programme and Capital Strategy 2023-29 report at the Cabinet meeting on 6 December 2023.

 

1.7.          To note the HRA capital programme 2023-24 forecast overspend of £1.8m against the revised capital budget of £37.2m. The 2023-24 HRA capital budget has been updated to reflect the changes agreed through the Capital Programme and Capital Strategy 2023-29 report at the Cabinet meeting on 6 December 2023.

 

1.8.          To note the Council’s historic borrowing and subsequent debt burden continues to be critical to the non-sustainability of the Council’s revenue budget. Dialogue with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) continues, and the Council is seeking further financial support from Government in regard to its level of structural indebtedness to ensure it can deliver sustainable local government services.

 

1.9.          To note that the Council continues to operate Spend Control Panels to ensure that tight financial control and assurance oversight are maintained.

 

1.10.       To note that current forecasts are based on the best available information at the time and will be subject to review and change during the financial year.

Minutes:

The Executive Mayor introduced the 2023-24 Period 8 Performance Report, which showed the budget moving into an underspend position.

 

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Jason Cummings, shared with Cabinet that there was improvement in every department, which was a great position for the council to be in. The £5 million pound in-year contingency budget was not being used to balance the budget as the council had moved to an underspend position.

 

The Shadow Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Callton Young, welcomed the report and asked why the adjudication panel ruling regarding the £9.439 million pound payment of the former contractor relating to work dating back to 2011 not mentioned within the report; secondly, why was the £5 million pounds of grant from the Contain Outbreak Management Fund (COMF) in the context of covid only now allocated for spending.

 

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Jason Cummings, responded that there was no in-year impact on the £9.439 million pound in terms of the period monitoring report as it related to a prior accounting year. Relating to the COMF money, the service reviewed and assessed when allocation was to be made at a particular point in time. The impact of covid was still ongoing, and thus the continued use of the money within the time it could be spent was still mitigating the impact of covid and was being used for its original intention. The Director of Finance, Allister Bannin, added that the result of the adjudication related to a contract that finished before 2019/20, and the adjustments in the accounts were being made for 2019/20 as the accounts were still open, as mentioned in three other reports presented within this agenda. Adding to the point on COMF, it was said that every local authority received a lot of money by government during covid and recognised that the effects of covid had a long-term effect, and therefore extended the grant for local authorities to use for a longer period of time. 

 

The Executive Mayor in Cabinet RESOLVED:

 

1.1.        To note the General Fund revenue budget outturn is forecast to underspend by £1.3m at Period 8, after the budgeted utilisation of £63m capitalisation directions requested from DLUHC.

 

1.2.        To approve within budget the inter-directorate virement of £2.1m non-pay inflation budget from the Adult Social Care & Health directorate to the Housing directorate on a one-off basis in 2023-24, as set out in paragraph 4.12.

 

1.3.        To note the progress in MTFS savings achievement as set out in paragraph 4.103.

 

1.4.        To note the work that has commenced on the Council’s Transformation Programme as set out from paragraph 4.98.

 

1.5.        To note the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) revenue budget outturn is forecast to overspend by £12.0m.

 

1.6.        To note the General Fund capital programme 2023-24 forecast underspend of £20.7m against the revised capital budget of £127.1m. The 2023-24 General Fund capital budget has been updated to reflect the changes agreed through the Capital Programme and Capital Strategy 2023-29 report at the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 123/24

124/24

Repairs Contracts Update pdf icon PDF 173 KB

Decision:

RESOLVED:

 

1.1.          To note the progress following mobilisation of the new housing repair contracts on 1 August 2023.

 

1.2.          To agree the actions proposed as outlined in this report and to report back to Members with an update within six months.

Minutes:

The executive Mayor introduced the Repairs Contract Update report which provided an update on the progress of the implementation of the new repairs contract since August 2023.

 

The Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Homes, Councillor Lynne Hale, shared with Cabinet that the report provided an overview of the organisation of the housing response repairs contract and sets out how the service was performing, further highlighting the delivery of social value initiatives. Since August 2023, there had been a significant increase of around 200 additional calls per month, a significant increase in the repair orders rate of 1500 a month, and there had been high levels of sickness absence amongst temporary staff which had impacted service. Admittedly, the new service was not working as well as foreseen with various contributing current and historic factors which had impacted on the ability of the new contractors to deliver the services’ requirement. This spike of demand had caused intense pressure to the in-year 2023/24 budget and the resourcing of staff, as such, additional budget provisions were required for this year and in future years. The service recognised the challenges put before them and were keen to improve in all areas. Positively, the repairs team had significantly reduced the number of legacy VOIDs and had resolved a large number of overdue complaints and Member enquiries.

 

The Corporate Director for Housing, Susmita Sen, added that the council were not only addressing improvement in the existing service but had also improved services with a new IT programme and contact centre, further the transformation of the performance in culture was focused on the residents.

 

The Shadow Cabinet Member for Homes, Councillor Chrishni Reshekaron, noted a number of elements within the report and asked why so many targets had been missed when the contractors had been mobilised more than six months ago.

 

The Executive Mayor responded that the procurement process was based around information provided at the time by the previous contractor which was not visible prior to August 2023. Further, the lack of investment in the housing stock over the last few years had meant that the level of repairs was much higher than what it ought to have been resulting in the struggle of the service to address particular issues. Having acknowledged the problems within the report, the council was striving towards a better investment to deliver better outcomes.

 

The Executive Mayor in Cabinet RESOLVED:

 

1.1.         To note the progress following mobilisation of the new housing repair contracts on 1 August 2023.

 

1.2.         To agree the actions proposed as outlined in this report and to report back to Members with an update within six months.

 

 

125/24

HRA Rent Setting 2024-25 pdf icon PDF 141 KB

Additional documents:

Decision:

RESOLVED:

 

1.1.          To agree the social rents increase of 7.7% from April 2024 based on the current final year of the government’s Social Housing Rent Policy, (applying September 2023 CPI + 1%)

 

1.2.          To agree the request to set the tenants service charges increase at the same level as the rents (7.7%) for the financial year 2024-25.

 

1.3.          To agree the continuation of the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) hardship fund aimed at assisting tenants who are financially impacted by the 2024-25 rent increase, subject to obtaining a further Direction in appropriate terms from the Secretary of State.

 

1.4.          To agree, the nil increase to the garage rents on the proviso that a full review of the viability of assets is carried out in 2024-25 and reported back to Cabinet.

 

1.5.          To agree the request to set the increase in the caravan site plot charges in line with September CPI of 6.7%.

Minutes:

The Executive Mayor introduced the HRA Rent Setting 2024-25 report, which detailed the process undertaken in setting the rents for 2024-25.

 

The Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Homes, Councillor Lynne Hale, shared with Cabinet that the report proposed an increase of social rent of 7.7% which was also a similar increase in the tenants service charges, this equates to an average weekly increase of £7.19 on a 1-bedroom property. An estimate of 68% of the council’s tenants were eligible for housing benefits, though the remaining 32% received no benefits who would potentially be at some point in a financial risk as a result of the increase. The continuation of the housing revenue account specific discretionary fund was therefore proposed to remain in place to assist households in financial difficulties, which was set up in 2023/24 and £59,000 pounds in payment to date had been made to 118 residents.

 

The Shadow Cabinet Member for Homes, Councillor Chrishni Reshekaron, noted that only 2% (97 of the 4795 tenants), had received support in 2023/24 from the HRA discretionary fund who were not entitled to any benefits, and asked what actions would be taken to ensure more tenants were receiving support from the HRA discretionary fund in the next financial year following the decision to increase the rent by 7.7% and the government’s decision to end the household support fund.

 

The Executive Mayor responded that the action to provide a hardship fund had been put in place which would continue in the following financial year. Officers added that there was a multi-prudent approach in addressing the needs of tenants which included the “get to know your tenant”, and there were other benefits tenants were entitled to access support.

 

The Executive Mayor in Cabinet RESOLVED:

 

1.1.         To agree the social rents increase of 7.7% from April 2024 based on the current final year of the government’s Social Housing Rent Policy, (applying September 2023 CPI + 1%)

 

1.2.         To agree the request to set the tenants service charges increase at the same level as the rents (7.7%) for the financial year 2024-25.

 

1.3.         To agree the continuation of the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) hardship fund aimed at assisting tenants who are financially impacted by the 2024-25 rent increase, subject to obtaining a further Direction in appropriate terms from the Secretary of State.

 

1.4.         To agree, the nil increase to the garage rents on the proviso that a full review of the viability of assets is carried out in 2024-25 and reported back to Cabinet.

 

1.5.         To agree the request to set the increase in the caravan site plot charges in line with September CPI of 6.7%.

 

1.1.         To agree the social rents increase of 7.7% from April 2024 based on the current final year of the government’s Social Housing Rent Policy, (applying September 2023 CPI + 1%)

 

1.2.         To agree the request to set the tenants service charges increase at the same level as the rents (7.7%) for the financial year 2024-25.

 

1.3.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 125/24

126/24

HRA Business Plan and Budget Update 2024-25 pdf icon PDF 235 KB

Additional documents:

Decision:

RESOLVED:

 

1.1.          To recommend Full Council to agree the proposed HRA budget for 2024-25.

 

1.2.          To recommend Full Council to agree the update to the HRA 30 years Business plan based on the HRA budget for 2024-25.

 

1.3.          To note the assumptions in the Business Plan and the associated risk.

 

1.4.          To note the ongoing work required on the asset management strategy and the enhanced stock condition surveys that are underway which will further inform the next iteration of the Business Plan.

Minutes:

The Executive Mayor introduced the HRA Business Plan and Budget Update 2024-25 report, which included a £7.1 million increase to invest in council homes and modernise them to a standard fit in line with resident needs.

 

The Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Homes, Councillor Lynne Hale, shared with Cabinet that the report sets out the legislative position in a thirty-year Housing Revenue Account (HRA) business plan and identifies the pressures on the plan. Growth of 33% in the response’s repairs budget was proposed to fund an increase in repairs demand caused by a number of factors. New emphasis had been put in place for fire safety requirements, as requirements to comply with the Fire Safety and Building Safety Acts had been put in place. The council had undertaken requisite surveys and building safety case reviews to ensure compliance. The HRA business plan had more focus for the first five years where there was more certainty on costs, demands, and pressures, that demanded and demonstrated that the investment proposals were fundable subject to the assumptions made within the plan and also that the HRA remained sustainable and viable over the thirty-year period. The budget had been set with the most accurate data available reflecting on the significant pressures on repairs and maintenance costs.

 

The Shadow Cabinet Member for Homes, Councillor Chrishni Reshekaron, had asked whether the risks associated with the capital programme based on a 5% sample survey of the housing stock condition had been considered and had the Improvement and Assurance Panel provided any advice.

 

The Executive Mayor responded that the service had undertaken the inherited 5% housing stock and noted that by March it was anticipated that the housing stock would be up at 40%, further, that the council was working with the Improvement and Assurance Panel around housing which was an area to improve, and more data once received, would be reflected in the business plan. The Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Homes, Councillor Lynne Hale, clarified that the stock condition survey data would need to be worked through which would feed into the asset management strategy, and would enable the service to conduct a full re-budget review of the whole HRA business plan. The Corporate Director for Housing, Susmita Sen, added that the intention to reach 40% by the end of the financial yearend was achievable though data would need to be uploaded, and from that in addition to the asset management strategy, the direction of work within the procurement strategy would need to be clear to receive very good value for money.

 

The Executive Mayor in Cabinet RESOLVED:

 

1.1.         To recommend Full Council to agree the proposed HRA budget for 2024-25.

 

1.2.         To recommend Full Council to agree the update to the HRA 30 years Business plan based on the HRA budget for 2024-25.

 

1.3.         To note the assumptions in the Business Plan and the associated risk.

 

1.4.         To note the ongoing work required on the asset management strategy and the enhanced  ...  view the full minutes text for item 126/24

127/24

Capital Programme and Capital Strategy 2023-29 pdf icon PDF 318 KB

Additional documents:

Decision:

RESOLVED:

 

1.1.          Approve the Council’s 2023-29 General Fund Capital Programme which includes planned expenditure of £479.68m (including capitalisation directions) across the six years.

 

1.2.          Approve the Council incurring nil General Fund borrowing for financial years 2023-24 and 2024-25 and borrowing of £164.67m over 2025-29. The cost of this future borrowing is factored into the Council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy.

 

1.3.          Approve the 2024-25 Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Capital Programme with investment planned of £57.24m with borrowing of nil.

 

1.4.          Approve an increase to the 2023-24 HRA capital budget from £33.248m to £37.162m, owing to increased major repairs and improvements, with this £3.914m increase funded by HRA reserves.

 

1.5.          Approve the Council’s Capital Strategy, as detailed within Appendix A of this report.

 

1.6.          Note the Council’s historic legacy borrowing and debt burden continues to be critical to the sustainability of the Council’s revenue budget. Dialogue with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) continues, and the Council is seeking further financial support from Government in regard to its level of indebtedness to ensure it can deliver sustainable local government services.

 

 

Minutes:

The Executive Mayor introduced the Capital Programme and Capital Strategy 2023-29 report which focused on the maintenance of council assets.

 

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Jason Cummings, shared with Cabinet that there has been a significant improvement in governance put in place over the capital programme and the performance which went into the programme. The report highlighted that the council would be incurring a nil borrowing in the financial year of 2023/24 and 2024/25.

 

The Shadow Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Callton Young, asked for more details on the progress of the debt write-off negotiations or other options the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) had requested for, for Members to know and rigorously challenge the budget.

 

The Executive Mayor responded that the council continued to negotiate with government on moving forward which was not an easy solution as there were a number of issues the government would need to consider. It was clear that the council could not resolve this matter in solitary and attempted to change the way the council operated with the transformation programme in place. The Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Jason Cummings, added that the programme had predicted a borrowing of £164.67 million over a period of time should capitalisation carry on for £38 million pounds per year, though the council’s expectation was for this to not happen. With no resolution at the current moment, the MTFS could only be put forward at it stood though it was agreed it was not sustainable.

 

The Executive Mayor in Cabinet RESOLVED to:

 

1.1.         Approve the Council’s 2023-29 General Fund Capital Programme which includes planned expenditure of £479.68m (including capitalisation directions) across the six years.

 

1.2.         Approve the Council incurring nil General Fund borrowing for financial years 2023-24 and 2024-25 and borrowing of £164.67m over 2025-29. The cost of this future borrowing is factored into the Council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy.

 

1.3.         Approve the 2024-25 Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Capital Programme with investment planned of £57.24m with borrowing of nil.

 

1.4.         Approve an increase to the 2023-24 HRA capital budget from £33.248m to £37.162m, owing to increased major repairs and improvements, with this £3.914m increase funded by HRA reserves.

 

1.5.         Approve the Council’s Capital Strategy, as detailed within Appendix A of this report.

 

1.6.         Note the Council’s historic legacy borrowing and debt burden continues to be critical to the sustainability of the Council’s revenue budget. Dialogue with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) continues, and the Council is seeking further financial support from Government in regard to its level of indebtedness to ensure it can deliver sustainable local government services.

 

 

128/24

Treasury Management Strategy Statement, Minimum Revenue Provision Policy Statement and Annual Investment Strategy 2024/25 pdf icon PDF 955 KB

Decision:

RESOLVED:

 

1.1.         The Treasury Management Strategy Statement 2024/25 as set out in this report;

 

1.2.         The Prudential Indicators as set out in Appendix A of this report;

 

1.3.         The Annual Minimum Revenue Provision Policy Statement (required by the Local Authorities (Capital Financing and Accounting) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2008SI 2008/414) as set out in Appendix B;

 

1.4.         The Borrowing Strategy and Investment Strategy; and

 

1.5.         Note the requirement for Members to undertake training in order to have the appropriate knowledge and skills to enable them to understand and scrutinise the Council’s treasury management.

Minutes:

The Executive Mayor introduced the Treasury Management Strategy Statement, Minimum Revenue Provision Policy Statement and Annual Investment Strategy 2024/25 which detailed how the council managed cash flow and borrowing whilst minimising the level of risk.

 

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Jason Cummings, shared with Cabinet that the council defined its treasury management in line with the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) as the management of the council’s borrowing, investments and cash flows, including its banking, money market, capital market transactions and the effective control of the risks associated with those activities, and the pursuit of optimal performance consistent with those risks. The report highlighted the affordability prudential indicators which published the ratio of debt to net revenue stream of the general fund. This had the ratio of the Capital Financial Requirement (CFR) to the net revenue stream and also the ratio of debt. Reviewing the ratio of the CFR, the net revenue stream was 4.4 times (in March 2023), with the aim of the council to bring it down to 2.5 times to a point of sustainability. The MTFS dropped from 4.4 each year to 3.6, therefore the MTFS as it stood, with the capitalisation directions included showed improvement within the long-term sustainability of the council with more work to achieve without incurring continuous increase of debt.

 

The Shadow Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Callton Young, welcomed the report and had a question on Member training in order to have knowledge and the skills to understand and scrutinise the council’s treasury management and asked whether the required training was scheduled to take place as Members would be asked to approve the strategy at the upcoming budget Council meeting, or whether the training was scheduled for a later time.

 

The Corporate Director for Resources (Section 151 Officer), Jane West, responded that training had been put together for Members which would take place after the budget Council as further discussions with the provider were taking place. It was noted that training had been previously provided, and this training was an update. The Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Jason Cummings, added that there were also existing ongoing training opportunities within the LGA which were also recommended for all Members to take for personal development.

 

The Executive Mayor in Cabinet RESOLVED:

 

1.1.         The Treasury Management Strategy Statement 2024/25 as set out in this report;

 

1.2.         The Prudential Indicators as set out in Appendix A of this report;

 

1.3.         The Annual Minimum Revenue Provision Policy Statement (required by the Local Authorities (Capital Financing and Accounting) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2008SI 2008/414) as set out in Appendix B;

 

1.4.         The Borrowing Strategy and Investment Strategy; and

 

1.5.         Note the requirement for Members to undertake training in order to have the appropriate knowledge and skills to enable them to understand and scrutinise the Council’s treasury management.

 

 

129/24

Review of Council Tax Care Leavers Relief Scheme pdf icon PDF 189 KB

Additional documents:

Decision:

RESOLVED: To

 

1.1 Consider the outcome from the consultation as per 6.14, 6.15 and 6.16 below and the equalities impact assessment.

 

1.2 To agree that the CLRS is updated to only support care leavers where Croydon is the Corporate Parent.

 

1.3 To agree that the CLRS is updated to include only care leavers where they are named as a liable party in line with the Council Tax hierarchy of liability, as per 4.16 below.

Minutes:

The Executive Mayor introduced the Review of Council Tax Care Leavers Relief Scheme which explored the council tax relief given to care leavers ages 18-24. The report further upheld the council’s commitment as corporate parent to Croydon’s own care experienced young people, to provide support in crucial times in their lives.

 

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Jason Cummings, shared with Cabinet of the changes within the report in relation to fairness and savings. The council would continue paying council tax to all Croydon care leavers as part of the support package offered, residing inside the borough and outside of borough where they would also have to pay council tax. The previous system also meant that the council had a responsibility to pay for care leavers that came into the borough from other boroughs, and this was a change that the council had made which would add savings and fairness. Another fairness change was where a care leaver was living in another property, but the principle paying council tax person was not a care leaver, the current system provided free council tax to anyone else residing in that property. The system has now shifted where the council would not offer free council tax relief to anyone that resided in the property. However, the report in paragraph 4.22, covered clarification in regard to foster care arrangements, which would also be under review on the allowance arrangements, and further for carers on the staying put arrangements to include support for council tax scheme so there was no disadvantage.

 

The Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, Councillor Maria Gatland, added that supporting care leavers in Croydon or placed outside Croydon had been a top priority and welcomed the continuation of the council tax support, additionally, the support made to foster carers.

 

The Shadow Opposition Leader, Councillor Stuart King, had a question relating to the corporate parenting principles set to seek the best outcomes for care leavers, and asked how had the council reconciled the requirement to remove council tax relief from households when there was no make-up of the 54 households, to know whether there was an impact or not.

 

The Executive Mayor responded that the council’s responsibility as corporate parents were to look after the care leavers of Croydon. The Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Jason Cummings added for clarification that in reviewing the 54 households this was in relation to a change in the automatic exclusion of the 100% council tax relief which did not preclude the use of the normal council tax support system when the financial assessment of the household council taxpayer was taken into account. The council also had a very good council tax support scheme supporting residents. Further, it was fair to review the impact, if any, this may bring in those households following this change. The Director of Finance, Alister Bannin, added that should a household be affected in paying their council tax they would have access to other council tax support mechanisms  ...  view the full minutes text for item 129/24

130/24

Croydon Companies Supervision and Monitoring Panel - Update Report pdf icon PDF 110 KB

Additional documents:

Decision:

RESOLVED:

 

1.1.          To note the status of Croydon Council companies, excluding Brick by Brick (Croydon) Limited.

Minutes:

The Executive Mayor introduced the Croydon Companies Supervision and Monitoring Panel report which updated work in detail ensuring that appropriate management oversight was in place.

 

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Jason Cummings, shared with Cabinet that this report highlighted an update on the progress and clarity in the current position with Croydon companies. This covered the Croydon affordable homes and related companies and others that still existed. Progress was moving forward in terms of simplification and reduction agenda, though there were some delays in relation to the LLPs and which was still progressing.

 

The Shadow Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Callton Young, welcomed the updated report and the council’s involvement and noted the actions stated that were dependant upon council’s 2019/20 accounts being certified.

 

The Executive Mayor in Cabinet RESOLVED:

 

1.1.         To note the status of Croydon Council companies, excluding Brick by Brick (Croydon) Limited

 

131/24

Exclusion of the Press and Public

The following motion is to be moved and seconded where it is proposed to exclude the press and public from the remainder of a meeting:

 

“That, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information falling within those paragraphs indicated in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended.”

Minutes:

This was not required.

.

132/24

Brick by Brick Closure Report - PART B - Appendix 1

Decision:

RESOLVED: